Phoenix From The Ashes
by Pyeknu
Summary: A sequel to Metroanime's "Crippled," crossover with Urusei Yatsura and other series. What if Ranma, after he was crippled, met the reborn Emperor Líng of Hàn, now living as Moroboshi Hiromi? How will Ranma react as he learns of the incredible world of the tōshi…and the Avalonians? Ranma/Ryomō; Ataru/Ryofu/Chinkyū; Akane/Koshaji; Shampoo/OC; Ukyō/Sonsaku; Nabiki/OC; Kasumi/OC.
1. First Meetings

_"I am," I said to no one there,  
And no one heard at all, not even the chair.  
"I am," I cried. "I am," said I,  
And I am lost, and I can't even say why,  
Leavin' me lonely still…  
_Neil Diamond, _I Am…I Said_ (1971)

* * *

_**Phoenix From the Ashes**_  
by Fred Herriot

Proofreading of latter parts by Rashaan Butler and Rose1948

Plot suggestions made by Gogmagog.

Military information thanks to D.A. Paterson, FJAG, Pusser and Mikeninercharlie.

Based on _Ranma 1/2_ and _Urusei Yatsura_, created by Takahashi Rumiko; and _Ikkitōsen_, created by Shiozaki Yūji.

Including characters and references from _Mahō Sensei Negima_, created by Akamatsu Ken; the _True Love Story_ series, created by ASCII and Enterbrain; _Koihime Musō_, created by BaseSon; the Jack Ryan novels, created by Tom Clancy; _Men In Black_, created by Lowell Cunningham; _Dōkyūsei_, created by ELF; _Dōsōkai_, created by F&C Company; _Due South_, created by Paul Haggis; _Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor_, created by Headgear (Oshii Mamoru, Itō Kazunori, Izubuchi Yutaka, Takada Akemi and Yūki Masami); _"Crocodile" Dundee_, created by Paul Hogan; _Cityhunter_ and _Angel Heart_, created by Hōjō Tsukasa; _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_, created by Kaishaku (Ōta Hitoshi and Shichinohe Terumasa); _Zipang_, created by Kawaguchi Kaiji; _Maria-sama ga Miteru_, created by Konno Oyuki; _Indiana Jones_, created by George Lucas; _Zenkoku Seifuku Bishōjo Grand Prix_, created by Lyceen; _Sea Patrol_, created by Hal and Di McElroy; _Ojō-sama Express_, created by MediaWorks; _Ch'ŏn'gun_, written and directed by Min Chun'gi; _NOëL_, created by Pioneer LDC; _Harry Potter_, created by Joanna K. Rowling; _Contact_, created by Carl Sagan; _Aozora Shōjotai_, created by Shimizu Toshimitsu; _Dominion Tank Police_, created by Shirō Masamune; _Battle Royale_, created by Takami Kōshun; _Dan Cooper_, created by Albert Weinburg; _WKRP in Cincinnati_, created by Hugh Wilson; _Sōten Kōro_, created by Yi Hagin and King Gonta; and _Top Gun_, created by Ehud Yonay, Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr.

Ataru's quote in Part 33 comes from _A Tale of Two Cities_ (1859), written by Charles J.H. Dickens. The Saint Crispin's Day Speech comes from _Henry V_ (ca. 1599), written by William Shakespeare.

_In A Class of Her Own_ (production date unknown), written and produced for a video by Parks Canada for the H.M.C.S. _Haida_ National Historic Site of Canada, copyright by Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada; the lyrics used here under the applicable non-commercial reproduction provisions of the _Copyright Act_ (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada.

_Soldiers_ (1981), written by written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, first released on the ABBA studio album _The Visitors_, produced by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, released by Polar Music.

Derived from the fanfic _The Bet: Crippled_, written by Gregg Sharp. This story also contains characters and situations from the fanfic series _Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year_, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot; _Crippled: Body and Souls_, written by Kevin D. Hammel; and _Triwizard Tales_, created by Clell Harmon.

* * *

**WRITER'S INTRODUCTION**

_This is a rewrite of a story I did back in 2000 as a "sequel to a sequel" to one of Gregg's _Bet _fanfic series that was making the rounds in places like RAAC and the FFML at the time. For those who don't remember the original story, much less Kevin's carry-on of the story, this is all based on an alternate outcome of the events depicted in the Shampoo arc of Volume 4 of the_ Ranma _manga (manga episodes #31-36). _

_Recently, I've been re-reading the original story and I found that a lot could be changed in that story. Also, given my recent discovery of the world of_ Ikkitōsen _(not to mention the story that's based on), I decided to toss in some extra elements. _

_Note that all detailed explanations will come at the end of each part._

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, Saturday 26 June 2010, after breakfast…

"Ohayō gozaimasu, Saotome-san."

Ranma's eyes fluttered open as she heard that polite voice, and then she turned to gaze on the teenager standing beside her bed, dressed now in hospital scrubs but without any sort of overcoat to mark her as a doctor. Realizing she — the name tag on her blouse read **TARIKO** — was too young to be a nurse, Ranma then smiled. "You one of those volunteers that work here?" she asked, her voice quiet and filled with pain.

"Hai. I'll be your nursing assistant today. My name's Tariko, but you just read that on my name tag," the brown-haired tomboy with the chocolate eyes stated with a kind smile before she moved over to scan through the notes on the chart at the end of the patient's bed. Staring at the notes and diagrams there, she then whistled. "Damn! Who the hell did you piss off so much that they'd do THAT to you?"

"Some self-centred creep I ran into while I was on a training trip with Oyaji in China," Ranma replied as Tariko put the chart aside, and then moved to check all the nutrients and drugs being fed through an IV into her arm. "Comes from some place with some weird laws. 'Cause I defeated her as a girl, she believes she has to kill me." She then glanced down to the bandages wrapped around her lower chest and abdomen. "She came pretty close," she then admitted, a wry smile crossing her face.

Tariko blinked as the patient's words echoed in her mind for a moment, and then she walked back to stare once more at the chart, quickly seeing three particular kanji written on a special note concerning how this patient was to be bathed. "Jusenkyō?" Though she knew of how those characters were said in Mandarin — "Zhòuquán-xiāng" — she said it in the Japanese way just in case the patient couldn't remember the original name. "You actually went THERE?" she asked as she stared in shock at Ranma.

"You know about it?"

A smirk. "Heard about it from two of my sisters," she admitted. "Place in Qīnghǎi with these springs, all magically cursed. Fall into one of them, you get the body of whoever or whatever drowned there how-many-years ago. You fell into the Spring of Drowned Girl, right? The Niángnìquán?" As Ranma nodded, Tariko chuckled as she put back the chart, and then moved to begin monitoring vital signs. "Did you know?"

A snort. "No. Oyaji couldn't read a damned word of Chinese and we were too intent on training to listen to the guide's warning. I belted him into a spring and he came out a panda. Shocked the hell out of me enough that he got a good one and sent me into a spring. _Poof_! Instant girl!" She waved to her breasts in emphasis.

"Did you go to the Nǚjiézú village afterwards?"

Ranma blinked. "Huh?"

Tariko smirked. "The Joketsuzoku?"

A nod. "Yeah. That's where I met Shampoo; she's the one who did this to me."

She waved, this time at the bandages. Tariko sighed. "Yeah, I've heard of them and their laws, too. Then again, you have to understand that for the longest of times, that area of China's been a pretty rough place." She then moved to take blood pressure. "The laws are meant to protect them from potential Trojan horses. You know about their law concerning what happens if an outsider male defeats a Nǚjiézú woman?" On seeing Ranma nod, Tariko then perked. "Don't tell me you did THAT, too!"

"Yeah…"

A laugh. "Damn! If this was six months ago, I'd probably be in the same damned boat if I ever went there!" Tariko said as she fought back a snicker while she finished with the blood pressure, then moved to take Ranma's temperature via the ear. "Still, all's not lost," she then said. "Your father came by to look in on you?"

A shake of the head. "Nah! No one's been in to see me. Not Oyaji, not any of the Tendō family, not even Doc Tōfū." Quickly noting Tariko's curious look, she smirked. "Oyaji got me engaged to the youngest daughter of his old training partner. Girl named Tendō Akane. We…well…" Her voice then trailed off.

Tariko blinked as she stared at the patient, a sudden chill gripping her heart. She had heard of Akane. One of her classmates at Tomobiki High School had once been a flunky of Akane's older sister Nabiki and the rumours about how most of the male population attending nearby Fūrinkan High School attacked Akane every morning in some warped attempt at getting dates from her had made their way back to Tomobiki. Having also heard of Akane's growing frustration and mistrust of the whole male gender, Tariko then shook her head. "She actually helped Shampoo do this to you?" she demanded.

Ranma's sapphire eyes went wide on hearing that, and then she gasped before a cough of bloody mucus escaped her. Instantly, Tariko moved to help…

* * *

Sometime later…

Tariko was relaxing in the staff cafeteria enjoying her lunch; since today was a Saturday, she would be spending the whole day here at the hospital. A notepad computer was in her hand as she absently tapped words into the memory so she could keep in mind what she had just learned. And what she had learned had been quite unpleasant.

And in a way, very DAMNED familiar…

Saotome Ranma was the only child of a practitioner of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū, one of the more esoteric martial arts disciplines known in Japan. Ever since he — _Have to remember THAT part_, Tariko reminded herself — could remember, he had been training to become a master of that art under his father's tutelage, wandering all over Japan and most of the Pacific Rim to pick up everything he could learn. The cursed springs in the valley of Zhòuquán-xiāng had been the last major stop, where Ranma's life was forever changed. And thanks to Ranma's run-in with the Nǚjiézú village…!

Tariko shook her head. That was beside the point now. Even if modern Terran medical science couldn't repair the awful damage done to Ranma's spine, she did know of other ways he could be allowed to walk again, not to mention regain his form and function. All it required right now was to make the necessary arrangements.

But what would happen afterwards?

The poor man — hell, he was just a year younger than she saw herself as! — was now honour-bound to marry one of the Tendō sisters and honour was something that Ranma prized about all else. To go back on that promise would — in his eyes — disgrace him to the point where actually taking his own life in seppuku became the only option.

She tried not to make a face on thinking of that. Tariko had utterly NO use for the bushidō garbage a lot of Japanese still tried to govern their lives with. In her eyes, those beliefs had been horribly warped from the original purpose of the warrior's code, especially thanks to the militarists that eventually led the Land of the Rising Sun into World War Two decades before. And it was THOSE beliefs that had ultimately murdered her paternal grandfather Kokeru. He had been a kamikaze pilot for the Navy in the last years of the war, though he never did end his life in a suicide attack on an American warship. However, the shame of NOT sacrificing himself for an ungrateful Emperor in the defence of a nation that had been thoroughly brainwashed into believing that victory or death were the ONLY options after they took on the Americans…!

"And what is your prognosis for Saotome-san, Moroboshi-sensei?"

Tariko gasped on hearing that kind voice, and then she turned before she gave the smiling doctor standing close to her an annoyed look. "You scared me!"

A chuckle escaped Dō Kazua as he sat next to her, placing his lunch down. He was in his mid-twenties, in the first year of his internship here at Nerima General. A handsome man, he had blue-tinted black hair and dark brown eyes. He also sported a gold magatama earring off his left lobe. He had been the junior surgeon assigned to the trauma ward when Ranma had been brought in. "So what have you found out?" he asked as he nodded to her notepad. "Concerning Ranma? Do we need your sister?"

"Most likely," she admitted as she picked up her chopsticks and began to eat her rāmen. "The blade ran right through his body. Four of his vertebrae were destroyed and the spinal column was totally shredded. Given that he was cursed at Zhòuquán-xiāng of all places, I doubt using any type of regeneration technology we got from the Avalonians would help." She then sighed. "What's the news about his relatives?"

"So far, we haven't heard a thing from the Tendō home, much less Ranma's father," he noted. "We have learned his mother is still alive."

She perked. "His mom?"

"Saotome Nodoka. Turns out that when they married, Ranma's father — he was actually born as Hayashi Genma — changed his name at her family's insistence."

"Old fashioned blue-blood, huh?"

A nod. "I think so. I was about to get the police to contact her…"

"Don't."

Kazua blinked. "Why?"

A sigh. "A gut feeling," Tariko admitted. "Far as Ranma ever knew, his mother was dead. If he was on the road for so long, I doubt he has any clear memory of her." She then smirked. "And don't forget the curse. She would remember a boy, not a girl."

He took that in, and then he nodded. "Yeah, that's true. And given that he was raised with a very strict sense of honour, the chances are there she might not accept him back with open arms," he noted. His training — unlike that of many of his peers from Keiō University — had included a lot of unique lessons that weren't normally covered in the university lecture rooms or the laboratories. And Kazua — as did all those who wore magatama-shaped earrings as a symbol of what they had once been many incarnations ago and many years in the past — intrinsically understood what questions of honour could eventually lead warriors such as Saotome Ranma to. "Okay, we keep her mother away from this until we get him back on his feet. What about his father?"

A shake of the head. "According to Ranma, he hasn't shown up at all. Neither have any of the other people he's been living with." A sigh. "We better keep a close eye on him. I'm going to get Onē-san here to take a look at him as soon as…"

"There is no need, Tariko."

Tariko's breath caught in her throat on hearing that tonally-flat voice, and then she sighed before turning to glare at the woman standing behind her. Dressed in a black martial arts gi, she had a black belt wrapped around her, it emblazoned with the kanji 地 representing "earth" in gold thread at the open ends. Closely resembling Tariko, the newcomer had a fuller head of hair and her eyes were almost pitch black. She also appeared to be a woman in her early twenties in lieu of the seventeen year-old girl Tariko was. "DAMN IT, Onē-san! Willya QUIT doing that to me? You're as damned bad as Cherry!" she spat as Kazua laughed. "How the HELL did you…?"

The ghost of a smile crossed Moroboshi Negako's face. "Tariko, you know not to ask that question," she stated as she turned away. "I will go examine Ranma."

And with that, she walked off. Tariko watched her go, and then she shook her head. "You know, Kazua-kun, of all of us — Onē-san, Ataru, Hiromi and me — I think I'm the only NORMAL one in the whole damned family!" she admitted.

Kazua laughed even harder…

* * *

An hour later…

"So you were not aware of the various Nǚjiézú-outsider contact laws when you confronted Shānpú on the challenge log in their village?"

"Yeah," Ranma — now back to being a man, which was one great relief for him — said as he lay on his stomach. The bandages had been taken away to allow him to be reverted to his birth-form and give Negako a chance to examine the wound on his back. "Of course, it didn't help either of us that Oyaji and I ended up eating the first prize for their tournament beforehand," he admitted, closing his eyes.

"That is good," Negako stated. "At least you are starting to realise how much you have NOT learned during your trip with Genma." She then focused a little ki into her fingers before projecting that into the sewed-in slit in the patient's back. "You have missed much during your trip, Ranma. You will clearly need some time away from Genma's influence to allow you to better function in society as a whole."

He made a face. "You mean school and all that? That's boring!"

She gazed at him. "Yes, to someone who has been effectively brainwashed into believing that the martial arts are the be-all and end-all of life, they would seem quite boring," she stated as she moved to focus another burst of ki into his back.

He jolted. "Wait a sec'…'BRAINWASHED?'" he demanded as he tried to use his arms to push him up. "What the hell are you talking about…HEY!"

A jab to a point on his neck dropped him back to the bed, though she was there to ensure his already-abused body wasn't battered around even more. "Remain still. I am not finished," she stated as she shifted his arms under his chin to allow him to breathe clear. Once he was in position, she turned back to look in on his wound.

_Damn! She's even worse that Doc Tōfū!_ he thought as he sensed more ki being pushed into him. "So what do you mean by being brainwashed?" he then asked.

Negako lightly smiled. "Ranma, as a martial arts teacher, Genma is well skilled and quite innovative. He actually — from what I can sense of him from here — has created his own martial art forms. However, he does not intrinsically understand how to be a father. In essence, he only understands how to be a teacher. And because he only understood how to treat you as his student, anything that would require him to behave as a normal father eluded him." She then moved to push another ball of ki into his body. "When you were a child, you often wept at your separation from your mother. Instead of trying to soothe your feelings and make you understand why he felt it was necessary for you to be separated from her, he forced you to suppress those feelings and admonished you for being weak and behaving like a woman. Do you remember that?"

He blinked, and then he nodded; at least that paralysis point she used allowed him to do that much. "Yeah, I do. But showin' your feelings and all that…"

"Makes you vulnerable in combat?"

Another nod. "Yeah."

"Alright. Let me enquire this, then: Are you always in a combat situation?"

Silence.

"No, not really."

"So why behave as you were always in a combat situation?" Negako asked. "To do that — even to someone as highly and as thoroughly trained as yourself, Ranma — could see you eventually enter a situation where you might find yourself reacting to a non-threatening situation with lethal force." Instantly sensing a protest about to escape him, she placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Ranma, do you not use insults to force your opponents to make mistakes and make themselves vulnerable to your attack?"

He blinked, and then nodded. "All the time."

"And that is an effective method of combat," she stated as she turned back to his wound. "But it can also be used against you. Look at how uncomfortable you are speaking of this to me. Look how uncomfortable you were dealing with various situations forced on you while you were residing at the Tendō residence, especially given how Akane, Kasumi and Nabiki tried to adapt to the novelty of your curse." She gazed on him. "You are quite strong and skilled as a martial artist, Ranma. You are also quite vulnerable due to Genma's inability to understand how to prepare you for life in society as a whole. You need to remove that vulnerability and understand what society is truly all about. Then you will be able to better function as a part of it."

He took that in. "How…?"

"That, we will work on in the future," she stated as she walked over to ring the buzzer to summon a nurse. "In the meantime, I will allow your body to rest and you will be allowed to remain this way for the remainder of the day. I will return to do a second treatment tomorrow. I have some things to discuss with Kazua."

He remained still as Tariko came into the room, a dressing tray in hand, though his mind was rolling over what he had just been told…

* * *

An hour later…

"The Neko-ken?"

"Indeed," Negako stated before she slightly nodded as Tariko handed her a cup of tea. They were currently in Dō Kazua's private office space, which was a mere cubicle he shared with other interns whenever they needed to get away from the wards. "He experienced that training when he was seven. He survived it even after multiple exposures to the pit of starved felines, but currently suffers from a very acute case of ailurophobia. Since his return to Japan, he has not been exposed to any cats, but it is only a matter of time." Her dark eyes then narrowed. "He has endured other interesting training exercises, but that is the most profound one I could detect."

Blinking as he felt his mind about to crash on hearing what his guest had just told him, the doctor then shook his head. "Who did that to him?" he hoarsely demanded. "Gods! That training was banned for a reason! Whoever did that to him…!"

"Genma."

Silence.

"What a jerk," Tariko breathed out.

"Agreed," Kazua stated. "All right. The police have been around asking what happened. From what one of the detectives told me, the Tendō family are staying totally mum about what happened that sent him to intensive care. No doubt, they're trying to mask things that happen at that place which they don't want made public." He then nodded. "I'll get the police over here to take Ranma's statement and hint about the Neko-ken and everything else. That should convince a judge to step in and put some injunctions on Ranma's father and his friend from making things worse." After taking a moment to write that down, he asked, "What do we do about getting his spine cured?"

"We must obtain clone bodies for him," Negako stated.

More silence.

"I noticed you said 'bodies,' Negako-sama," the doctor noted.

"Unfortunately so. Ranma's long-term suppression of what would be viewed as 'normal' emotions forced a split in his psyche. The Neko-ken and his exposure to Zhòuquán-xiāng exacerbated it to the point where a break can possibly occur."

Kazua's jaw dropped as his eyes flicked over to Negako's sister, who was now white-faced at what the older-looking woman had just revealed. "You mean like what happened to Ataru-kun and Tariko-chan," he then stated.

"Exactly. And that does not factor in the fact that Ranma's soul was exposed to the soul of Liú Yān during his and Genma's rather hasty departure from China."

Even more silence.

"Ryūen Kunrō…?" Kazua stated. "I never saw a magatama…!"

"The magatama containing that one's soul is currently with Ranma's personal belongings at the Tendō home," Negako stated. "I can fetch it quite easily."

A nod. "Alright. Can you do it without problems?"

An eyebrow arched. "Kazua, remember who you are speaking to."

Tariko laughed as the doctor flustered in embarrassment…

* * *

Tomobiki, just before nightfall…

"You seem very disturbed by something, Onē-san. Are you alright?"

Tariko perked on hearing that question, and then she sighed. "No, Hiromi-chan, I'm not," she admitted before taking a bite of her rice. "Ran into something at the hospital which really got me upset," she then admitted. "Onē-san had to go look into it. There's this patient there; he got stabbed with a sword through the back and wound up crippled. As we're finding out more about him, it…" She shook her head.

Moroboshi Muchi gazed at her from the head of the table. "How bad?"

"Bad," Tariko emphasized. "Onē-san could get him back on his feet, but there are going to be complications." She then gazed at the virtual twin seated across the table from her, though this one had a silver magatama hanging off her ear. "Your type of complications, Hiromi-chan. He found a magatama while he was in China."

Hiromi blinked. "Who?"

"Liú Yān. Or as he would be addressed here, Ryūen Kunrō."

Eyes locked on Negako, who sat at the other end of the table from Muchi and his wife Kinshō, with Ataru to Negako's right. "Who was that?" Kinshō asked.

"Kunrō-dono — Lord Jūnláng — was governor of Yízhōu when I was on the Dragon Throne, Okā-san," Hiromi explained. "He actually was one of the more able officials at the court until a friend of his persuaded him to take the governor's post to avoid the infighting that was starting to rock the court at the time." Everyone was quick to see the flash of shame and guilt in her eyes as she spoke of that time. "After everything began to fall apart, he used Yízhōu as his personal power base until such time as he could eventually pass it to his youngest son, Liú Zhāng, Lord Jìyù. The territory would eventually be passed on to Lord Xuándé after his death a couple decades later."

Everyone gazed at her. "You mean Sonami-chan?" Ataru quietly asked.

A nod. "Hai."

"So if this Ryūen Kunrō was given her own body, she would be inclined to attend Seito, you mean?" Muchi then asked before sipping his tea.

"Most likely," Hiromi said with a nod before she gazed on Tariko. "Onē-san, would you like me to contact our friends to make the necessary arrangements?"

"Sure thing."

"Bring three of them."

Eyes locked on Negako. "Why three?" Ataru wondered.

The barest hint of a smile then crossed Negako's face, which made Muchi wince and Kinshō instantly make a warding sign with her hands. "In some ways, Ataru, Ranma and you have shared quite similar emotional trauma," she stated as she finished her tea. Of all the Moroboshi siblings, she actually ate the least of them all. "In the meantime, there is something I have to attend to. Konban wa, everyone."

She walked out of the living room and headed outside. The others watched her go, and then Kinshō signed. "Ataru, WHY on Earth did you agreed to have her soul put into your mind?" she demanded as she gazed in exasperation at him.

He ignored that complaint as he sipped his tea…

* * *

Nerima, the Tendō home and dōjō, thirty minutes later…

"Konban wa."

A curt nod. "Konban wa, Kasumi," Negako stated as she gazed on the matriarch of the Tendō family of Nerima. "I apologize for intruding on your home this late in the evening, but I have come here to fetch Ranma's personal belongings."

Kasumi blinked as she took in those words, and then she shuddered as her eyes filled with shamed tears. "He's dead…?" she asked in a choked sob.

A shake of the head. "No. Ranma is currently paralysed, but not deceased."

Silence.

The elder Tendō daughter blinked as she took that in, and then the strength began to drain from her body. "Why weren't we told…?" she whispered.

"Despite what Sōun and Genma might have intended all along, you are not a part of his family, thus you do not have the right to know anything about his condition," Negako stated. "And since Genma now appears to have completely abandoned all his responsibilities towards his son, others will have to step in and assist Ranma."

"Are you a friend of his?"

A shake of the head. "No. My younger sister Tariko currently volunteers her weekends at Nerima General as a nursing assistant. She is part of the team helping Ranma recover from his wounds. She called me in to help examine him."

More silence.

"'Tariko'…?" Kasumi began, and then she gasped as she remembered where she had heard that name. "Oh, my! You must be Moroboshi Negako-sensei!"

A tendon over Negako's right eye began to twitch. "Kasumi…"

"Ah…h-hai?"

"Do not call me 'sensei,'" the other woman coldly stated.

Kasumi blinked…

* * *

"Otō-san and Oji-san are currently out drinking; they both have not taken well as to what happened to Ranma-kun," Kasumi explained as she and Negako walked into the guest room on the second floor of the Tendō home. As Negako quickly scanned the room, and then proceeded to one corner where a backpack was waiting, the elder Tendō daughter added, "Nabiki-chan and Akane-chan are still badly shaken up by what happened, even though they're doing their best to mask their feelings from others."

"Understandable," Negako stated as she slid the backpack onto the floor, and then began to glance around, using her ki senses to detect everything that had been touched by Ranma. "I can sense what has happened to this family. Your mother died of a malignant breast neoplasm that metastasized to other areas of her body, correct?"

Kasumi nodded, a touch of deep pain flashing inside her heart. She had been told a lot about the woman before her by Nabiki thanks to her connections with friends in Tomobiki, especially when it came to Negako's rather abrupt and cold nature. And while speaking of her late mother Kimiko still hurt, she could sense that there was no real malice behind Negako's words; it was just a question requiring an answer. "Hai. We were all badly affected when Okā-san left us," she then stated.

"Understandable," Negako stated as she reached into one pocket of Ranma's pack to draw out a dark magatama earring. "Ah, there you are…"

Kasumi looked, and then she gasped. "Oh, my! You mean…"

"No, Ranma is not a tōshi," Negako assured her as she slipped the earring into her pants pocket before she moved to pack everything up. "His situation vis-à-vis the soul contained within this magatama is the same as Ataru's was concerning Hiromi."

A nod. "Nabiki-chan told me about that." She then canted her head. "Why doesn't Hiromi-chan go to Rakuyō or one of the other tōshi schools?"

"Because in her first life, she was Liú Hóng, the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn," Negako replied as she slipped the backpack on so she could carry it with her back to Tomobiki. "'Reitei' as he is known here, though Hiromi prefers to use the battle name 'Ryūkō Kyōrei.' While her presence is not known amongst the majority of tōshi, she is known in certain circles. She fears that revealing her existence to tōshi in general could cause an upheaval that could end up hurting those she wishes not to hurt."

The elder Tendō daughter nodded in understanding as she guided Negako out of the room and back to the living room. "How soon do you think Ranma-kun will be back on his feet and able to come home?" she then asked as they proceeded to the genkan.

"I cannot and will not predict," Negako stated as she slipped on her outdoor shoes. She then sighed. "Kasumi, there is something you should consider."

"That is?"

Negako gazed at her. "Ranma is, by his nature, a forgiving person. However, there are parts of him that have not reacted well to your indifference to him, to say anything of Nabiki's violation of his personal space or Akane's physical abuse of him. You should keep this in mind in the future should he elect to return to this house. His deference to Akane partially led to his paralysis. That is something he will not forget. For your sake and especially for Akane's, LEARN from this incident." She turned away. "For the next time, Ranma may not be so forgiving. Oyasumi nasai."

And with that, she walked off, leaving behind a wet-eyed Kasumi. As soon as the front gate closed behind Negako, the eldest Tendō daughter began to sob as she sank to her knees, her hands flying to her face…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

This story, as stated in the writer's introduction before the beginning of the text, is a rewrite of a "sequel-to-a-sequel" to one of Gregg Sharp's _Bet_ fanfics making the rounds around the turn of the millennium, specifically _Crippled_, where Ranma is, while fighting Shampoo, stabbed through the spine with a sword and paralysed from waist down. I first became attracted to the story when I read Kevin Hammel's sequel story, the unfinished (as of 2011) _Crippled: Body and Souls_, which took the story in a natural progression that saw Ranma abandoned by his family in the wake of being hospitalized. My original branch-off to that story, _Like A Phoenix From the Grave_, which was released around 2000, took off from the second part of Kevin's story and incorporated characters I had been using in my own fan fiction writing up to that time. However, as I stated before, in re-reading _LaPFtG_, I found that there was a lot that could be improved on in that story, so after some deep thinking (and finding ways to incorporate new anime series into the plot line, specifically _Ikkitōsen_), I came up with the story you have read just now.

Timeline-wise, this story is set during Chapters 31-36 of the _Ranma_ manga series, published in Volume 4 of the original tankōbon release. For _Urusei Yatsura_, this would be around the time of Chapter 356 of the manga series, which is the start of the "Boy Meets Girl" saga (later brought out in anime as the fifth movie, _The Final Chapter_). Of course, the basic storyline took a massive left turn at the time of the end of the first movie, _Only You_, so everything from Chapter 147 of the manga series (Fujinami Ryūnosuke's first appearance) onward will not have happened or happened in a much different format. Of course, some anime elements have been brought into this storyline (the Stormtroopers, for example) and I've included some of the characters and the general galactic situation Mike Smith and I created for our fanfic series _The Senior Year_. In the world of _Ikkitōsen_, this is pretty much set after Chapter 6 of the manga, when Sonsaku Hakufu's dragon first put in an appearance after her fight with Ryomō Shimei. This story also incorporates elements from the anime (Enjutsu Kōro's death, for example).

Of course, in exploring the world of _Ikkitōsen_, I also decided to do some serious character expansion, plus take a detailed look at how the history of the tōshi leading up to the start of the manga storyline could have played out. With that, I took the opportunity to bring out characters that Shiozaki-sensei never has made use of in his manga (much less has allowed to appear in the various anime series). Of course, rated amongst these are the Kōshi Kasshi group (the reborn Yellow Turban rebels) and the Ten Attendants. But the big ones, of course, is none other than the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn (normally called "Reitei" in Japanese), not to mention his wife, the Língsī Empress of Hàn (known in Japan as "Kataikō") as well as other affiliated people from that particular time. These people, I believe, would have had a _**huge**_ impact on the lives of the tōshi to one extent or another (after all, in the real history of the latter Hàn Dynasty and the start of the Three Kingdoms period, a lot of things happened that propelled people such as Dǒng Zhuó, Cáo Cāo, Liú Bèi and the members of the Sūn Clan to eventually do what they did). Shiozaki-sensei has hinted at some small things in flashback scenes in the manga; I just elected to go forth and flesh them out as much as I could, also keeping in mind how modern events reflected the events of that time period.

The character of **Reitei/Ryūkō Kyōrei/Moroboshi Hiromi** was first trialled at the Anime Add-venture website under one of the branch-off storylines of the _Faking It_ scenario (my specific take-off on that was called _Faking It: Great Guardians_). I revised her again in the _Restart Deluge: The Emperor's Army_ storyline, but eventually lost steam in doing both of those series. If you wish to see earlier versions of people such as Hiromi, her reborn wives and mistresses, the Attendants and the rest, Google "Anime Add-venture" to get the website address, then scroll down to the **Episodes listed by Author** link; my pen-name there is "Gorgo," so you'll find the stories listed under that name.

As for the other two female Moroboshi siblings to Ataru, **Moroboshi Negako** has appeared in many of my works right from the days I was helping write _The Senior Year_; she is better known as the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ sentient ninjutsu databank of knowledge that was the main antagonist in the _TSY_ story "Spirit-War Tomobiki" and eventually became her own person in the side-story "Children of Eternity." As for **Moroboshi Tariko**, I based her off the time that Ataru was split in half thanks to a combination of Lum's space-candy and Cherry's homemade cake that was meant to take away the evils of the world (see the _Yatsura_ manga episode #18, "Just The Two of Us," to see what I mean). Of course, I do incorporate a lot of the history of _The Senior Year_, not to mention incorporate some of the back story for the third movie, _Remember My Love_, to explain what happened to Lum and her replica Hensō (not to mention Benten, Oyuki and Ran and their replicas); a trial explanation of this scenario appears in my _The Emperor's Army_ storyline at the Anime Add-venture. The Avalonians, of course, come from _The Senior Year_.

And now, the specific notes for this chapter…

1) For this story, I decided to ignore the usual naming conventions when it comes to locations and artefacts that appeared in _Ranma_ and _Ikkitōsen_. Everything from China would be properly referred to by Chinese names, written using the Hànyǔ Pīnyīn Romanization system. Hence, you will note my use of words such as _Zhòuquán-xiāng_ in lieu of "Jusenkyō" and _Nǚjiézú_ in lieu of "Joketsuzoku" (and later on, _Zhǐshuǐtǒng_ in lieu of "Chiisuiton"). Words and names in Japanese, of course, are Romanized using the Hepburn system; words and names in Korean are written with the McCune-Reischauer system.

2) Branching along with that would be the way I refer to the tōshi in this storyline. While I do realise people are used to the names that appeared in _Ikkitōsen_, anyone with even a basic understanding of how the naming conventions work in Japan would immediately realise names like "Sonsaku Hakufu" are _**not**_ proper Japanese names. Hence, borrowing a concept from another series deprived from _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ (I'm referring to _Koihime Musō_), I elected to give all the tōshi "real" names (both given names and family names) and use the manga/anime names as their "battle names."

3) While the story runs pretty much on a set series of days as noted in the chapter titles, I didn't initially elect to put them down to exact dates. However, when I came to write the commissioning scene for the _Haida_ in Part 32, I decided to incorporate Queen Elizabeth II's latest Canadian tour (and the International Fleet Review done in Halifax, which corresponds to the centennial of the founding of the Royal Canadian Navy) into the storyline, thus this story happens in the early summer of 2010. All political leaders and senior military commanders that were in office at that time as noted in various parts of the story are the actual people.

4) I realise that the depiction of Nabiki as being a "Yakuza-in-training" could be considered fanon by many, but given how things in the Tendō home must have fallen apart in the wake of the death of the sisters' mother when Akane was six years old, it **would** make sense that the person who had the smarts to deal with financial matters would be the one tasked to deal with issues such as managing property taxes and guaranteeing some sort of income into the home given the total dearth of students attending martial arts classes at the Tendō dōjō (as will be shown in a latter chapter). With that comes the need for information so that more money can be generated. Hence, the relationship Nabiki has with one of Tariko's classmates as will be shown in Part 2.

5) **Tōtō** (**Dō Kazua**) is based on **Dèng Dāng** (dates of birth and death unknown), brother-in-law to **Lǚ Méng** (178-220 C.E.). Dèng was a general who served under **Sūn Cè** (175-200) in campaigns against the **Shānyuè**, a tribe of southern "barbarians" who waged war against the Hàn Dynasty in the area around the Sūn Clan's main stronghold at Jiāngdōng. Lǚ would often secretly accompany Dèng's forces as they campaigned against the Shānyuè and would eventually replace Dèng as one of Sūn's generals in the wake of the latter's passing away. In his current incarnation, Kazua graduated from the Nan'yō Academy in 2003, going immediately to pursue his medical degree for the requisite six-year course, graduating and being given his MD from Keiō University in 2009. He is currently in his second year of residency at Nerima General Hospital.

6) The magatama shades used here are as follows: **Silver** (A-rank), **Gold** (B-rank), **Bronze** (C-rank), **Red** (D-rank) and **Green** (E-rank). It should be noted that the colours as shown in the _Ikkitōsen_ anime sometimes got confusing; for example, in the first series, **Kan'u Unchō** (**Seki Haneko**) is depicted with a silver magatama and is claimed to be a "Super A-Rank"…while **Ryofu Hōsen** (**Sebone Shikuko**), who is said by many to be one of the most powerful tōshi of all (thus could also be seen as A-rank), wears a gold magatama. To that end, I view the colour rankings this way: As a tōshi gains experience, emotional and psychological "impurities" in the fighter's soul are burned away, thus lightening the colour of the magatama to the point that when one reaches A-rank, one's fighting soul is as pure as possible (and without any tint). Hence, the magatama shade for an A-rank tōshi **has** to be silver, not gold as in the Olympics.

7) **Keiō University** (known in Japanese as _Keiō Gijuku Daigaku_ and nicknamed "_Keidai_") is the oldest institution of higher learning in modern Japan; the university was first formed in 1858 as a school for Western studies by **Fukuzawa Yukichi** (1835-1901), a samurai who helped Japan modernize during the Meiji Era and whose image appears on modern ¥10,000 bank notes. It is based in the Minato Ward of Tōkyō. The Keiō School of Medicine, where Kazua attended for his studies, shares long-standing research links with the Harvard Medical School.

8) **Ryūkō Kyōrei** (**Moroboshi [**_**née**_** Koro] Hiromi**) is, as indicated in the introduction to these notes, the reincarnation of the second-to-last monarch of the **Hàn Dynasty** (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.), **Liú Hóng, the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn** (156-189 C.E., ruled 168-189). Born originally as an hereditary marquess, Liú Hóng was elevated to the Dragon Throne of China after the wife of his childless predecessor, **Liú Zhì, the Xiàohuán Emperor of Hàn** (132-168, ruled 148-168), selected him out of all the possible legitimate heirs. Of course, being only twelve at the time of his ascension to the throne, the new emperor had a regent — his predecessor's wife, **Dòu Miào, the Huánsī Empress of Hàn** (unknown birth date, died 172) — for the first years of his reign. By this stage, corruption at the court thanks to the excesses of greedy officials had become totally endemic and Liú Hóng was never encouraged to take any active role in affairs of state. For his whole life, he lived in total decadence, indulging himself in his many concubines. By the time he died, a massive rebellion had already rocked China — the **Yellow Turban Rebellion**, starting in 184 — and with his failure to elect a proper successor before he passed away showed that the Hàn Dynasty was on its last legs; said dynasty would outlive him by only thirty-one years. It is quite befitting in the eyes of many that Liú Hóng's posthumous name, "Xiàolíng" — literally meaning "filial and inattentive" — was bestowed on him. The results of that in Liú's first ever reincarnation in 1,821 years — in the person of Hiromi — will be revealled here.

9) The given names I give to Ataru's, Tariko's and Hiromi's parents, **Moroboshi Muchi** and **Moroboshi Kinshō**, were first introduced in _The Senior Year_. The name for Ataru's father is derived from the verb _muchū_, meaning "to be ignorant." The name for Ataru's mother is a combination of the kanji meaning "golden prize;" her name is written 金賞.

10) The term "**malignant breast neoplasm**" is the official medical classification for breast cancer. The actual cause of the death of the Tendō sisters' mother was never given in the _Ranma_ manga, but since no one ever spoke of it, it clearly had to be a disease which is seen as quite verboten in Japanese culture to openly speak of. In that line, the name of the sisters' mother was never given in the manga; the given name **Kimiko** is one of the more accepted fan fiction names for her.


	2. New Sisters

Nerima General Hospital, Sunday 27 June, after breakfast…

"Ohayō gozaimasu, Ranma! Feeling better?"

Ranma perked on hearing that voice, and then she smiled as she watched Tariko walk into the room, a tray with a lot of food on it in her hands. "Hey, Tariko!" she called out as Tariko swung the bedside table over her lap, and then moved to elevate the upper part of the bed so she could sit up and eat. She then blinked. "Oh, Negako! I…who's this?" she then asked on seeing what looked like Tariko's own twin sister walk into the room, though this one was not in a hospital uniform but jeans and a tank-top T-shirt. She also had a white magatama earring hanging off her left lobe.

Introductions were quickly made. "Onē-san and Onē-sama have told me a lot about you," Hiromi then said as she pulled up chairs for her and Negako to sit on while Tariko continued her work and Ranma began to eat. "Including the matter with the Nǚjiézú girl." She closed her eyes. "Such a pity that the Noble Tribe has fallen so low over the years."

Ranma blinked. "You know about 'em?"

"Hai, I do. The laws you fell victim to have been in existence for close to three millennia." In discussing her situation with her sisters while they were travelling to the hospital, Hiromi had elected not to reveal her unique origins just yet to the cursed martial artist before her. "And in a way, it is understandable. That region of China is very foreboding and it has been heavily contested over the years. The Nǚjiézú are quite wary of outsiders, but not so wary that they would cut off all contact."

"The Kiss of Marriage, you mean?"

A nod. "Hai. Was this Shānpú aware of your being touched by Zhòuqúan-xiāng?"

A shake of the head. "Nah. I was afraid to show her the truth."

Hiromi nodded. "Understandable given how quick she was to pursue you out of their village when she bestowed the Kiss of Death on you." She then sighed. "Ranma-san, while I personally can understand why the Nǚjiézú do that and can understand their desire to protect themselves from outside threats, I also realise that you yourself were not responsible for what happened here." As Ranma stared at her, Hiromi smirked as she indicated Tariko. "Onē-san told us of what your father instigated there."

The martial artist blinked as she took that in, and then she shuddered as she felt tears in her eyes. "Why are you being so nice to me…?" she whispered.

A hand landed on her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. "Because you need support and you need friends," Tariko stated, and then she moved to pour Ranma a glass of water. "You're just not used to it, aren't you?" she then asked.

A shake of the head. "Nah…not really…"

"Ranma," Negako then stated as she got up and walked over to her bedside, reaching over to gently press ki into her head. "Do not fight back the tears."

Ranma shuddered as tears began spilling down her cheeks. "N-no…" she moaned, shaking her head. "Men don't cry…men don't cry…!"

Immediately, Tariko and Hiromi were at her sides, hugging her as the crippled and cursed martial artist's moans turned into a pained wail…

* * *

The Tendō home, that moment…

"_**WHAT?!**_"

It was not a good Sunday morning for one Tendō Sōun.

"It's true," Saotome Genma stated. He was seated across from his old friend at the go board laid out on the outside patio. "All of the boy's belongings are gone."

Sōun blinked as he took that in, and then he asked, "How?! Ranma's still in the hospital! Given how bad that sword thrust was, I doubt he could have…!"

"Actually, Otō-san, he didn't."

Both men blinked, and then turned to gaze on Kasumi, who was now kneeling beside them with a tray of tea. "Then who did, Kasumi-chan?" Genma demanded.

"Why, it was Moroboshi Negako-sama, Oji-san."

A gargled noise then made everyone gaze in the direction of the television, where Nabiki was now trying to get the tea she had accidentally swallowed into her lungs down the right tube. Kasumi immediately walked over to firmly thump her sister's back, which made Nabiki cough several times as her windpipe cleared. "Are you alright, Nabiki-chan?" the elder daughter asked with an innocent smile.

Nabiki moaned before she spun around to stare at Kasumi. "_**MOROBOSHI NEGAKO?! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT MONSTER DOING HERE, ONĒ-CHAN?!**_"

"Didn't you know?" Kasumi wondered as she returned to serving tea. "Negako-sama's sister Tariko-chan works as a nursing volunteer at the hospital. She met Ranma-kun and learned what happened, and then got Negako-sama to come down to examine him."

"No…the schools will never be joined…!"

Genma jolted. "Tendō!" he called out on noting that Sōun was about to launch into a fit of tears. "Get a hold of yourself! There's no threat…!"

"Saotome-kun, she's the **Black Death**!"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"The one even the _Master_ respected…?" a now white-faced Genma croaked.

Sōun nodded; he was now just as pale as his friend. Noting that the fathers were now frozen stiff, Kasumi then shrugged as she turned back to serving tea. Nearby, Nabiki was trying not to give in to the rather irrational urge to race to her bedroom and hide under her bed. While she had only ONCE been in the presence of the effective grandmaster of the Moroboshi-Hana Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū, that experience had been more than enough for her to make her realise that there WERE people on this planet that weren't impressed by things such as extortion, blackmail and the like.

And those people…

…were often MORE than willing to respond to such things with LETHAL force.

* * *

_Near Tomobiki High School, Sunday 25 April 2010, after lunch… _

_"Nabiki…" _

_"Momoe, what is the big problem?" _

_Taking a deep breath, Marubeya Momoe then stared at the woman seated across from her at a rāmen shop. "Nabiki, you're asking me to betray a friend." _

_The middle Tendō daughter blinked. A part of her was actually surprised that her chief bookie in Tomobiki was standing up to her like this. "A friend?" _

_"Hai, a friend," Momoe asserted. "Hard as it might be for you to believe, Nabiki, Hiromi-chan is a friend. As is Tariko-chan." _

_"But they both come from Ataru-kun…" _

_"And they're NOT Ataru-kun," Momoe cut her off. "Neither of them is." _

_"Still…" _

_"Still what? I gave you the truth about what happened four months ago on Uru," Momoe cut her off again, which made the tendons on Nabiki's forehead twitch; she didn't like being out of control when it came to a conversation. Especially when money was involved. "Ataru-kun discovered that thanks to a curse that was put on her when she was a baby, Lum found her soul switched into an Avalonian bioroid body that was cloned from her own. And the clone — Hensō — got her soul switched into Lum's body in return. When Ataru-kun's friends from Noukiios found out about his so-called 'engagement' to Queen Elle, then learned that Lum's parents were going to force him to marry Hensō anyway, they stepped in and stopped it. And Ataru-kun finally was made to realise what was going on in his own mind, thus he got three sisters out of the deal: Negako-san, Hiromi-chan and Tariko-chan." _

_"And there have to be ways to capitalize on that," Nabiki stated, her voice now firm. "Hiromi has a magatama. That makes her a tōshi. We all know the stories about them. So what exactly was she supposed to have been back then?" _

_A sigh. "Reitei-sama." _

_Silence. _

_Nabiki's eyes went a little wide. "Reitei, huh? Okay, we've got…" _

_"Momoe-san, is there something wrong?" _

_Momoe jolted on hearing that polite voice, and then she turned to see three people standing nearby, one in a black martial arts gi and two others in casual clothes. As Nabiki looked over to give the Moroboshi sisters a critical eye, Momoe tried to bite back a frustrated shout as she gazed on Hiromi. "Sorry about that, Hiromi-chan," she said. "Nabiki-san's a friend of mine from Nerima…" _

_"Momoe, there is no need to gloss over what is happening here." _

_Hearing that flat voice made Nabiki jolt, and then she shuddered as she felt a pair of very dark eyes focus on her. "What's going on, Onē-san?" Tariko then asked. _

_"Quite simple to explain," Negako replied. "Due to the recent death of her mother and the complete emotional abandonment she has endured because of her father, Nabiki is now of the opinion that the entire world is — to use a colloquialism — 'out to get her.' She therefore does everything in her power to place herself in a position of social and emotional authority over her peers, usually by learning of secrets that others do not wish revealed and employing acts of bribery to ensure her silence concerning those secrets is maintained." She glanced at Momoe, ignoring Nabiki's dropped jaw. "Momoe is one of her victims. During the time Ataru had to deal with Hensō, Nabiki earned quite a sufficient stipend due to information exchanges, wagers on certain events and the like. But with Hensō now out of Ataru's life…" _

_"She's going broke," Tariko said with a derisive smirk. _

_"No, but that event has caused a considerable reduction in her earnings," Negako replied, which made Nabiki jolt as she gazed wide-eyed at her. "She wishes now to do something to expand her enterprises here in Tomobiki, thus she is forcing Momoe to reveal what she now knows of both of you, no doubt to attempt to attract outside attention in a way of generating new and more unique incidents others may wager on." _

_As Momoe's cheeks reddened in shame on hearing that blunt assertion, Tariko smirked. "Ah, poor widdle Yakuza is losing her business. Too bad," she said in a mocking voice that made Nabiki glare intently at her. "Get rid of her, Onē-san." _

_"As you wish." _

_Before Nabiki could react, a finger then jabbed her in the left ribs below her breasts. "HEY!" she cried out before a tsunami of PAIN began to rip through her as her heart began to thunder loudly in her chest. "Wh-what IS th-this…?!" _

_"The Heart-Blast Touch," Negako calmly replied as she reached into Nabiki's jeans to pull out her personal dictation machine, clicking it off before she opened the cassette bay to pop out the tape within. She then returned the machine back to Nabiki's pocket as she generated some ki in her hand to melt the tape. "A shiatsu attack that forces the heart to pump so fast that within twenty to thirty seconds, the victim suffers a fatal myocardial rupture. A quite fatal heart attack in other words." _

_Hearing that, Nabiki went sheet-white as she realized that all the weird tales her father had once told her about martial arts masters and their ability to use things like ki and shiatsu to kill people were REAL. Momoe balked on hearing that, and then she moved to comfort the panting Nabiki as she stared pleadingly at Negako. "Negako-san, PLEASE! Don't do this to her! Even if she's a creep at times, she…!" _

_"She threatens the safety of my family, Momoe," Negako calmly cut her off, her voice now so cold, it made everyone shudder, even Hiromi and Tariko. "I am reacting promptly to such a threat." A glance to the rāmen shop matron earned the grandmaster an approving nod. "And I strongly doubt that when she perishes, the paramedics will think nothing other than a sudden heart attack was responsible for her demise." _

_"N-no…pl-please…" _

_Negako gazed on Nabiki. "Please what?" _

_A rapid nod. "I'll…you don't…" _

_A hum, and then Negako reached over to tap a place on Nabiki's back, which made her cry out in relief as that thunderous pain in her chest vanished. "You will no longer seek to extort information from Momoe, much less interfere in the lives of any living in Tomobiki. Quite sufficient, Nabiki. You can learn something. Now…" _

_Nabiki blinked as fingers touched her head, and then she passed out… _

* * *

_I almost died that day…_

Nabiki shuddered as a hand absently came up to massage the area where Negako had touched to nearly kill her. When she woke up two months ago in the wake of that disaster in Tomobiki, she found herself in a park near the Tendō home. She soon learned that her dictation machine was missing over a day's worth of recordings that cost a considerable amount of cash in the long run. But even though her pride was badly hurt at how easily she had been beaten back, she didn't allow any thoughts of revenge to overcome her.

She was a businesswoman at heart.

And after she had learned more about Moroboshi Negako from others in Tomobiki she had connections with — those she did NOT do anything further to draw the ninjutsu grandmaster's attention once more towards her — Nabiki came to realize that her usual business tactics wouldn't work on a being that simply didn't value things that Nabiki could use against other people. Friends? She truthfully had no friends since she didn't understand their value! Family? Going after the Moroboshi family as a whole was stupid thanks to the fallout of Ataru's "marriage" to Redet Hensō…and thanks to the Avalonians arriving on Earth back in February — bearing with them incredible magic-like technology that would vault humanity to levels that would even surpass the Oni! — there was just NO WAY that Nabiki was going to get on the bad side of ANY of the Moroboshi siblings given how much their actions concerning the liberation of the bioroid race had come to benefit Earth so much! And since Moroboshi Hiromi WAS the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn, chances were there that any attempt at provoking an attack by rogue tōshi against her could severely backfire!

"Hai, Nabiki-chan," Kasumi's voice quickly cut into Nabiki's introspection, that making the middle daughter watch as the elder daughter headed back to the kitchen. "Negako-sama was quite nice to respond to Tariko-chan's request to look in on Ranma-kun. Chances are very good that if he can't recover from what Shampoo did to him, Ranma-kun might find a new home with the Moroboshi family. After all, since Oji-san has totally REFUSED to look in on his own son since he was hurt, one could say that Ranma-kun has good cause to think that he's been totally ABANDONED by his family."

As she disappeared into the kitchen, Sōun blinked, and then exploded in a demon head. "_**SAOTOME-KUN! HOW COULD YOU ALLOW RANMA-KUN TO WALK AWAY FROM HIS HONOURABLE OBLIGATIONS TO UNITE THE SCHOOLS?!**_" he howled at the top of his lungs.

As Genma tried to wave his ranting friend off, Nabiki shook her head…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, two hours later…

"That is SO weird…"

Hiromi smirked. "You have missed out on a lot since you began your martial arts journey, Ranma-san. It is quite disorientating at first, but you will get used to it at the end." She then glanced at the magatama in her hand.

Ranma blinked as he noted that. After begin given the chance to finally vent the bottled-up feelings stemming from his long training journey, Negako had transformed him into a man and proceeded to give him a ki and shiatsu treatment to help heal the wounds in his body. At the same time, a detective from the Hikarigaoka Police Station had come in to take his statement over what happened late Thursday evening. With encouragement from the Moroboshi sisters, that explanation was expanded to include the highlights of Ranma's decade-long training journey, focusing directly upon things like the Neko-ken and Ranma's trip to Zhòuquán-xiāng and the Nǚjiézú village. As each detail came to light — especially what was necessary to "train" someone in the Cat Fist — Tariko and Hiromi became pale as it began to dawn on them that their new friend had endured something that few people could have survived without permanently being driven insane.

And while that was happening…

"So they're real, right?" Ranma asked as he looked over to the bed beside him.

"Oh, they're quite real, alright," Hiromi mused as she gazed on the sleeping woman in the bed next to Ranma's. Save for the hair — which was a dark chestnut shade — and the more adult body proportions in comparison to what Ranma himself possessed thanks to Zhòuquán-xiāng, this woman could easily be his own twin sister.

Which, genetically, she — as well as the two other women, one lying on the farthest bed in the room and the other currently in the glass tube-shaped gestation chamber where she had been created — truthfully was.

"So what's a 'bioroid,' anyway?" Ranma wondered.

"A portmanteau," Negako stated; she was now orbiting the bed closest to Ranma's. On noticing his confused look, she explained, "That's where two words are combined to make a single new word, Ranma. 'Bioroid' comes from the phrase 'biological android.' An android is an artificial construct that is shaped in the form of a human being. It can be a robot in human shape, a mixture of robotics and organic tissue or a wholly organic being. The adjective 'biological' indicates the android in question is as natural as one born of a mother's womb. In essence, as human as yourself."

"So she'd be like a twin sister to me, you mean?"

A nod. "Precisely."

Ranma considered that, and then he turned to Tariko, who was currently cleaning up his lunch. He then gazed on Hiromi for a moment, which made the reborn emperor blink as she returned his look. He blinked, and then he stared at Negako before he turned back to Hiromi. "You guys are all bioroids too, right?"

A laugh. "Very good, Ranma-san! And yes, we are," Hiromi stated as she clapped her hands in delight, while Tariko was now grinning. "In a way, the man we all are related to — our brother and genetic template, Moroboshi Ataru — endured something similar to what you yourself endured." She indicated her earring. "This contained my soul, which was allowed to mix with Onii-san's soul when he located my magatama when he was six and began wearing it around his neck as a 'good luck charm.'" She then indicated Negako. "Onē-sama here was once a mere database — a mental library, in other words…" she added on seeing the confused look on Ranma's face, "…of ninjutsu knowledge and training until the year 1808, when an accidental merger with a like database of knowledge allowed her to become sentient. Onii-san was her last host until six months ago, when our friends on Noukiios helped her and I gain our present bodies." She then turned to gaze on Tariko. "And Onē-san here…"

"I actually was part of Ataru's own soul until Onē-san and Hiromi-chan were allowed to enter our shared brain," Tariko finished for her sister.

Ranma blinked several times. "Oh, man! That sucks!"

"Yeah, it does, but we've long got over it," Tariko admitted as she moved to carry the tray out of the room. After depositing that on a meal cart outside, she returned back to the room. "We all have our lives in our own bodies, so we're pretty much in control of our futures." She then gazed on the body Negako was examining. "You — and all that's in your head, Ranma — don't have that. Not yet."

"But it will happen soon," Hiromi added.

Silence.

"So what happened to me?" Ranma then asked.

"Your experience pretty much began with your separation from your mother and your father's concentration on the martial arts over anything else," Negako stated. "Your soul began to fracture as time went on and you were made to suppress the normal emotions children are allowed to express in normal society. Your experience with the pit of cats caused that fracture to widen considerably, as did your later exposure to Zhòuquán-xiāng." She ignored Ranma's shiver on her mentioning the Neko-ken training as she continued, "Furthermore, your encounter with Zhòuquán-xiāng allowed a copy of the spirit of the girl who drowned in the Niángnìquán to merge into your mind. That I intend to extract and place in that body." She indicated the body on the far bed.

Ranma blinked. "And what about the one still in the tank?"

"That is a safety precaution," Hiromi stated. "If — after we extract the soul of the spirit of the Niángnìquán and the elements of Lord Jūnláng's soul that tied into your body — your own soul remains intact, then that is fine. But if it fractures just like Onii-san's soul fractured to allow Onē-san to exist…" She indicated Tariko.

He took that in, and then he nodded. "Gotcha. So what do I have to do?"

Negako smiled. It was genuine. "Simply sit back and allow it to happen."

Ranma blinked again, and then he felt tears appear in his eyes again. "Hey…" he whispered as he touched the wet spots. "I'm happy…how come…?"

"People cry when they're happy, too, Ranma," Tariko advised him.

He gazed at her, and then he sighed. "Oh…"

* * *

The Tendō home, that moment…

_CRASH!_

Everyone jolted on hearing the sound of shattering porcelain, and then they all turned to gaze on the broken rice bowl that had slipped out of Genma's hand. "Saotome-kun, are you alright?" Sōun demanded. "You seemed to twitch for a moment."

Genma blinked several times. "I…I'm not so sure, Tendō-kun…"

What the hell WAS that he had sensed?

* * *

Elsewhere in Nerima, that moment…

_CRASH!_

A gasp escaped the middle-aged woman at the table in the small home located near the border with Itabashi Ward. As she looked over, Saotome Nodoka blinked on seeing that the family portrait — one that depicted a time she could barely remember — she had hung on the wall close to the kamidana had fallen to the floor, the glass having shattered and ripped into the old print, severing her image from that of her baby boy.

Staring at that, Nodoka felt a chill flood her from head to toe as she stood and walked over to gently pick up the pieces and clean the mess.

Had something happened…?

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, a half-hour later…

"We just witnessed a pair of births," Dō Kazua stated.

Another of the interns that had worked on Ranma's case, Mikami Gōtarō, chuckled. "Now all we have to do is witness the christening, Kazua-kun," he stated as he patted his friend's shoulder, and then he headed off to get back to his rounds.

Kazua smirked, and then he turned back to watch as one of the clones made from Ranma's DNA — the one now gifted with the magatama that had contained the soul of Liú Yān — prostrated herself on the floor beside his bed. The other clone — the one now containing the soul of the unknown woman who had drowned fifteen centuries ago to help create the magical spring known locally as "Niángnìquán" — was also on her feet, though she had come over to gently embrace Ranma from his right side. "Onii-sama, I can only but thank you from the depths of my heart and soul for freeing me from the prison of the magatama," the woman on the floor then ritually intoned before she looked up, gazing into Ranma's eyes with eyes full of tears. "From now until death, I am your sister, your servant and your warrior. My life is yours to command."

He blinked as he took in that oath, and then he chuckled. "Hey! That's enough! Get up! You're spreadin' tears over the floor! Tariko's boss'll get upset if she sees that!" As the woman then stood up, he then offered his free arm to her.

She took it. "Negako-sama, what about Ranma-kun's soul?" Kazua asked.

Negako blinked, and then she stared intently at Ranma as her ki senses reached into him to ascertain what was happening deep within his mind. "There has been some mending, but the damage is still quite profound," she stated. "However, with his new sisters, I believe he has taken a considerable step on the road to recovery."

"Well, now comes the good part!" Tariko then stated.

"What's that?" Hiromi asked.

"We have to figure out names for them!"

Hiromi blinked, and then she chuckled. "That is true."

Both girls now hugging Ranma looked to her. "Well, my name would be quite easy to understand," the one with the soul of Liú Yān stated. "Ryūen Kunrō."

"That would be your 'battle name,' Kunrō-dono," Hiromi advised. "But all tōshi — those such as you or I — have normal birth-names, though they are derived from the native Japanese reading of the characters that were used in the names we had in our first life." She indicated herself. "Like you, I was also of the Liú family. That character is given the local reading 'Koro.' And your given name 'Yān'…"

Tariko hummed as she shook her head. "None of the _kun_ readings for that character don't really sound right for a girl, even if you add 'mi-'…" She then snapped her fingers. "Wait! That's it!" She pointed to the girl. "Miiko!"

She blinked. "'Miiko?'"

"'The beautiful child that follows' would be a poetic way of translating the meaning of your name, Miiko," Negako mused.

Miiko blinked as she took that in, and then she blushed. "I like it."

"We can call you 'Mii-chan' for short," Ranma said as he reached up to gently rub her hair, which made her blush even more. He then stared at the other girl currently in his arms. "What about this one here, Tariko?"

Tariko hummed as the girl with the spirit of the Niángnìquán gazed on her. "Well…" she trilled, and then she smiled. "Okay! Kikuko!"

A blink. "'Kikuko?'"

"'Chrysanthemum child,'" Negako translated again.

Kikuko blinked as she took that in, and then she blushed. "I like it." She then gazed playfully at Ranma. "Onii-chan, do you like it?"

He smiled. "Yeah, Kikuko-chan! I do!"

Kikuko then blushed as she leaned in to hold him close, keeping her hands away from his bandages so she didn't hurt him more than was necessary. Tariko then cleared her throat. "Ladies and gentlemen…" she then declared before waving dramatically at the newly named sisters. "May I humbly present Saotome Miiko and Saotome Kikuko!"

Kazua and Hiromi both applauded and laughed while Negako simply smiled…

* * *

Meanwhile, in the hills of western Saitama Prefecture…

"Something has changed."

The four women seated in the meditation room of the Tōgen Abbey blinked on hearing that quiet proclamation, and then they turned as one to gaze on the very young shrine maiden seated before the statue of the Buddha. "What has changed, Kōmei-san?" Koeru Kumomi — Chōun Shiryū — then asked as her hand tightly gripped her katana.

"Another one of us that should not have been reincarnated in this time and place has awoken," Morokuzu Ryōko — Shokatsuryō Kōmei — then stated as she gazed on the four senior students who served as the unofficial ruling council of Seito High School, located near the Shiroku JR railway station in Chichibu, to the west of Mount Iimori. "One who is also close kin to Gentoku-sama. One who may become a threat to her."

"How so?" Seki Haneko — Kan'u Unchō — demanded.

Ryōko closed her eyes. "She is Ryūen Kunrō."

The other women in the room tensed. "The leader of Yízhōu," Haru Asumi — Chōhi Ekitoku — then stated as she slammed her fist into the palm of her other hand. "That was the founding territory of Shǔ Hàn. If she's coming back to claim it…!"

"It will be a problem," Kumomi stated before she "gazed" — as was usual for her, she kept her eyes closed so that their true nature would not be casually revealed to those who wouldn't understand — at Ryōko. "Kōmei-san, have you been able to identify who the other tōshi is? The one you sensed that appeared in Tomobiki recently?"

A shake of the head. "As I've explained before, the whole of Tomobiki is a hazy place for someone such as I to scan unless I physically go there." A sigh. "The good side of that is that any others who might have capabilities such as I — the Three-Pillared Gods or the Angels of Chōan, for example — would also be likewise blind if they tried to ascertain who she is. She also makes use of an unfamiliar battle name."

Everyone else blinked as they took that in. "What name is that, Kōmei-chan?" Koro Sonami — Ryūbi Gentoku — the current president of the student council of Seito High School and the undisputed "leader" of the school, then asked.

"Ryūkō Kyōrei."

The older girls all blinked. "Don't recognise it," Asumi stated.

"How is it written?" Haneko asked.

A shake of the head. "I can't answer that," Ryōko stated. "She makes use of her real name in public when she interacts with her peers. Moroboshi Hiromi."

"Indeed?" Kumomi then stated, nodding. "I recognize the name; she's one of Moroboshi Ataru's bioroid sisters. I didn't realize she was that tōshi. And I strongly doubt he's one of us even if he was the last host of the Black Death." The room chilled ten degrees on her mentioning THAT phrase. "'Moroboshi' has no equivalent in China. It's actually considered quite an unusual name here in Japan."

"So her 'pre-adoption' family name might be 'Koro' as Gentoku's family name goes," Haneko mused. "The '-mi' is an understandable addition to the name since she's a girl. So the _kun'yomi_ reading is 'hiro' and the _on'yomi_ reading is 'kō'…"

Everyone then blinked on hearing Sonami reach into her book bag to pull out a handy kanji dictionary. "Just a moment. I'll find it," she said as she scanned the index by reading, and then she nodded. "Here it is. It one way of saying 'great.'"

"How's it read in Mandarin?" Haneko asked.

"'Hóng,'" Sonami read; given their very nature, being able to read anything in Guānhuà was just as easy for them as being able to read things in Nihon-go.

Silence.

"'Liú Hóng,'" Kumomi stated, and then she hummed before a look of surprise then crossed her face. "No…it's not possible…could it actually be…?"

"Who?" Asumi demanded.

The silver-haired sophomore "gazed" on her friends. "Reitei-sama."

More silence.

"That's not POSSIBLE, Shiryū!" Haneko stated. "Reitei-sama has NEVER…!"

"Onē-san, please remember this is TOMOBIKI we are speaking of," Ryōko warned.

Even more silence.

"Which means for THAT place, it's NORMAL!" Asumi said as she rubbed her head. "Fuck! Reitei-sama! How could he…? Damn! How could SHE have come back?"

"The explanation concerning Ataru-san's sisters is publicly known," Kumomi said.

"But is she in any danger living in that place?" Haneko added.

The tōshi all exchanged looks, and then they gazed on Sonami. Perking on sensing those looks, the bespectacled girl with the bright green eyes and the caramel hair tied in two long ponytails near the end by big ball barrettes then sighed. "Okay, we'll go to Tomobiki first thing tomorrow morning," she then stated.

The others nodded. "Be cautious," Ryōko then warned.

"Always," Haneko stated with a smile as she gripped her trusty guāndāo…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Happōsai's relationship with Moroboshi Negako was first established in _The Senior Year_ side-story "Revenge and Redemption" (co-written between myself and Ted Hsu).

2) The Hana Clan of Rishiri-tō are the family from which Ataru's paternal grandmother **Moroboshi Nagaiwakai** (first introduced in the _TSY_ story "Tag Race Mark Three") hails from. Like the Moroboshi Clan, the Hana Clan were given their own version of the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ mental database system by Master Hosan many centuries ago; in the incident in 1808 that saw the being who would later become "Moroboshi Negako" develop her own sentience, the bearer of the Hana _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ drowned in a typhoon…and in his last act in this life, forced his own database into the mind of the bearer of the Moroboshi _Saikō Jinseijutsu_. This combination of knowledge and memories were enough to allow knowledge thresholds to be surpassed and a unique sentience to develop…though in the wake of that (as first described in the _TSY_ story "Spirit-War Tomobiki"), attempts by people to suppress such a being nearly resulted in the total destruction of Hokkaidō!

As an aside, **Hosan Hirosuke** (commonly known as simply "Master Hosan" and often nicknamed the **Immortal Master**) is a character I make reference to in many of my works. An immortal (not a _Highlander_-type, of course), he was born 5000 years ago somewhere in China and would eventually make his way to Japan, where he would serve the Imperial House until his death in 1937 (he allowed himself to die because of his disapproval of the militarists who were sliding the country towards World War Two). His blood was filled with very dense compounds of **mesonium** (also known as "meson"), which is a trans-uranium element I first introduced in _TSY_ to describe the physical construction of objects such as Nicole McTavish's crystal palace, the Sceptre of Lecasur and the other _Haijo-ju_ (literally meaning "will of the people") models. Meson also plays a big factor in my _Harry Potter_ fanfic series; as Hirosaki Chikage will describe it in _The Icemaidens and the Philosopher's Stone_, meson is "the atom of the mind and the soul (and thus, of magic)." It comes in three formats, by order of increasing density: **diamond meson** (which is a glassy silver colour), **ruby meson** (a deep red-brown shade) and **ebony meson** (a non-reflective pitch-black colour). Constant exposure to ebony meson — unless one always shields one's soul or has the right genetic makeup to fight off the effects (as Master Hosan did) — can easily drive someone insane.

3) **Marubeya Momoe** first appeared in the _Yatsura_ manga episode "Even Though I Dream of You" (manga story #27).

4) **Mikami Gōtarō** is named in tribute to a famous doctor (who lived from 1896-1964) that served during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 and was one of the founders of the Japanese Red Cross.

5) Moroboshi Hiromi has the habit of addressing other tōshi with the suffix honorific **-dono** (derived from the word _tono_, meaning "Master") when she addresses them by battle name. When she addresses them by birth-name, she most often uses the basic honorific "-san."

6) **Ryūen Kunrō** (**Saotome [**_**née**_** Koro] Miiko**) is, as stated here, based on **Liú Yān** (unknown date of birth, died 194 C.E.), who was the governor of **Yízhōu** (present-day Sìchuān Province) from 188 to his death. A descendant of **Liú Yú** (unknown date of birth, died 128 B.C.E.), the fifth son of **Liú Qǐ, the Xiàojǐng Emperor of Hàn** (188-141 B.C.E., ruled 157 to his death), Liú Yān proved to be an able statesman and rose through the ranks of the court until being declared **Tàicháng** (Minister of Ceremonies) in the court of the Xiàolíng Emperor. Due to the increasing dangers of remaining in the court, Liú was persuaded by his adviser **Dǒng Fú** (unknown dates of birth and death) to become the governor of Yízhōu. Once there, Liú had to deal right away with various rebel forces claiming to be part of the Yellow Turban Rebellion launched in 184, which he succeeded in. After central control effectively began to collapse in 189, Liú elected to make Yízhōu as independent as possible, which he succeeded in doing. Ambition soon turned his attention back to the central Hàn government (then in Cháng'ān) after the death of **Dǒng Zhuó** (unknown date of birth, died 192) in 194, but Liú failed to seize control and lost two of his sons in that effort. A third son died from illness in 194, which broke Liú's heart and contributed to his death. As Hiromi noted in the previous part, after Liú died, his fourth son **Liú Zhāng** (unknown date of birth, died 219) took over Yízhōu.

7) Notes on the "Seito Quartet" and the "Hidden Dragon" introduced here:

**Ryūbi Gentoku** (**Koro Sonami**) was first introduced in manga episode #37 of _Ikkitōsen_. She is, as stated here, the student council present of Seito High School. Her past-self is one of the heroes of _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, **Liú Bèi, the Zhāoliè Emperor of Shǔ Hàn** (161-223), who — pretty much falling back on his ancestry as another descendant of the Xiàojǐng Emperor through his grandson **Liú Zhēn** (unknown dates of birth and death) — organized a volunteer army to fight the Yellow Turban Rebellion, then became one of the more active warlords after the collapse of the central Hàn government in 189. He would eventually declare himself emperor after the final Hàn emperor was deposed in 220 on the founding of the rival state of Cáo Wèi in the north, establishing **Shǔ Hàn** in the southwest. While quite ambitious, Liú never forgot his humble beginnings and has been always depicted as the champion of the common people. In this incarnation, Sonami is a bookworm who personally doesn't care at all about the "Fate of the Sacred Bead" that dominates the lives of other tōshi.

**Kan'u Unchō** (**Seki Haneko**) was first introduced in manga episode #14. Seeing herself as Sonami's adopted sister and self-proclaimed protector, Haneko's past-self is perhaps one of the most famous warriors of the whole Three Kingdoms period, **Guān Yǔ** (unknown date of birth, died 219). The master of the guāndāo (according to the _Romance_; historical evidence indicates such a weapon came into vogue years later), his loyalty to his sworn oath-brother Liú Bèi saw Guān live through thick and thin from the Yellow Turban Rebellion right up almost to the point where Shǔ Hàn was created, when he was defeated and killed by Lǚ Méng (mentioned in the previous part). In this incarnation, Haneko is often seen as a "super A-rank" tōshi by many of her peers. It should be noted that in the anime series, Haneko is shown to have a massive crush on Sonami; I downplay it here.

**Chōhi Ekitoku** (**Haru Asumi**) was first introduced in manga episode #41. She's the junior of the "three sisters of the Peach Garden" attending Seito. Her past-self was **Zhāng Fēi** (unknown date of birth, died 221), who was originally a butcher before he volunteered to help fight the Yellow Turbans alongside his friend Guān Yǔ under the command of Liú Bèi. He would later become one of the more effective fighting generals under Liú, surviving until the birth of Shǔ Hàn; he would eventually be betrayed by two subordinates during a campaign to avenge Guān's death against the rival state of Dōng Wú (located in the southeast of China). In this incarnation, Asumi is the junior sister to Haneko and Sonami. She's a loud, brash and pugnacious girl who always rides Sonami's case when it comes to martial arts and helps maintain their residence near Seito. It should be noted that Zhāng's style name in real life was "Yìdé" (written as 翼德 in Chinese and read "Yokutoku" in Japanese)…while in the _Romance_, the style name, while also read as "Yìdé," was written as 益德 in Chinese characters (thus would be read as "Ekitoku" in Japanese).

As an aside, the **Oath of the Peach Garden** — which was depicted in detail in Chapter 1 of _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ — was most likely a fictional event…but since it has become such a firm part of the legends surrounding Liú Bèi, Guān Yǔ and Zhāng Fēi, it has appeared in all sorts of depictions of the three men throughout history (including flashback scenes in the various _Ikkitōsen_ anime series).

**Chōun Shiryū** (**Koeru Kumomi**) was first introduced at the end of manga episode #71. A second-year at Seito and a master of the katana, her past-self is **Zhào Yún** (unknown date of birth, died 229), one of the more successful generals that came to support Liú Bèi in his efforts over the years. A rather mysterious character in comparison to his peers, Zhào would outlive both of Liú's closer friends and come to serve that man's son when he succeeded to the throne of Shǔ Hàn. He was quite a sensible leader of men, not prone to giving into his passions and keeping old friendships in perspective. That easily translated to Kumomi in this incarnation; she is a very dedicated person who respects loyalty and honour, even in enemies…as witness what happened in manga episode #74 when she showed mercy to **Kakōen Myōsai** (**Natsukimi Mien**) and forced Mien's schoolmates to get her to medical aid after she was stabbed in the back by one of her own people.

And **Shokatsuryō Kōmei** (**Morokuzu Ryōko**) was first introduced at the end of manga episode #46. A first year student attending Seito Middle School and part-time shrine maiden at the **Tōgen Abbey**, her past self is the legendary "hidden dragon" of Shǔ Hàn, **Zhūgě Liàng** (181-234). A virtual genius back in those days, he was said to be the inventor of the landmine and the wheelbarrow…and was said to have also come up with _mántóu_, a form of Chinese steamed bun. Zhūgě also is believed to have improved on the crossbow and introduced a type of observing balloon for use in the field. A tactical genius, he led campaigns against all of Liú Bèi's potential opponents right to his death. In this life, Ryōko is a quiet girl but quite wise in her own right, thus her council is always sought out in serious matters.

8) The **Three-Pillared Gods** (composed of **Gakushin Bunken** [**Tano Susumi**], **Jokō Kōmei** [**Omomuro Akira**] and **Chōkō Shungai** [**Haru Kazua**]) are three tōshi who also are practicing would-be Zen monastics that currently attend the Kyoshō Academy. They first appear in the _Ikkitōsen_ manga in episode #69. In essence, they serve as the special strike force serving **Sōsō Mōtoku** (**Tsukasa Torusuke**). In response to this group, I created the **Angels of Chōan** in _The Emperor's Army_ storyline at the Anime Add-venture to act as the special strike force answerable to **Tōtaku Chūei** (**Tadasu Suguta**). The four members of the Angels are **Joei** (**Omomuro Haeko**), **Kakuji** (**Kuruwa Mikawa**), **Hanchō** (**Magaki Shigeko**) and **Chōsai** (**Haru Sumuna**). Detailed descriptions of them appear in Part 41.

Following the theme of the Gods, I made the Angels all Shintō shrine priestesses like **Sakurambō Sakura** from _Yatsura_ (note that Sakura's family name is my creation; I base it on the monastic name of **Cherry** [whom I give the real name **Sakurambō Hayao**] as it is said in Japanese).

9) The locations of the three primary tōshi schools of Kantō — the **Nan'yō Academy**, the **Kyoshō Academy** and **Seito High School** — were established in manga chapter #76 of _Ikkitōsen_; see the map used by the tōshi as they were determining where the re-enactment of the Battle of the Red Cliffs was going to occur. Locating **Rakuyō Senior High School** in Tōkyō itself seemed logical considering that. The four other schools (the **Yoshū Private Academy**, **Gogun High School** and the **Yōshū Academy**) were placed in the northern prefectures of Kantō (especially concerning Gogun as it seemed to be very much out in the country as note the battle scene between **Sonsaku Hakufu** [**Mago Tsueko**] and **Ukitsu** [**Kokoni Kichimi**] in manga chapters #26-32). **Nanban High School**'s location in the Izu Islands south of Tōkyō Bay seemed logical given what was depicted in the anime series _Ikkitōsen - Xtreme Xecutor_.

10) Translations: **Saikō Jinseijutsu** — Literally "Path of the Supreme Life;" **Kun'yomi** — Literally "meaning reading," **On'yomi** — Literally "sound reading," **Guānhuà** — Mandarin language, **Guāndāo** — Literally "Blade of Guān" (the proper name of this weapon is **Yǎnyuèdāo** or "reclining moon blade").


	3. The Sebone Cousins Part 1

Tomobiki, Monday 28 June, morning…

"Ohayō, Miiko-chan! Kikuko-chan! Time to get up!"

Moans escaped the two sleepy girls on the futons in the middle of the dōjō that had been built on the property right behind the Moroboshi home, and then blankets were shifted back to reveal still-tired young women. "Ohayō gozaimasu, Moroboshi no Mae," Miiko stated as she reached up to rub her eyes clear. "What time is it?"

"Breakfast time," Kinshō stated, her cheeks now as red as cherries at having been addressed that way by the tōshi. "The people from the SCAA will be here right afterward so they can go in and get you two properly registered with the legal authorities and all that, so you'll have to get dressed and get ready!"

"Will they be offended if we show up in Onii-sama's clothes?" Miiko asked as she reached over to pick up one of the red sleeved tangs Ranma often wore; given the profound differences between her body and Ranma's Zhòuquán-xiāng-induced cursed form, she wouldn't have to worry about tying the trousers up due to lack of physical height.

"They'll understand," Kinshō stated. "Anyhow, we'll be having a Western-style breakfast today. Pancakes and syrup with butter, plus some pulgogi to give you some protein. The food will be nice and soft for your stomachs to take in; Hiromi-chan and Tariko-chan told you about what you shouldn't eat over the next couple of days?"

"Hai, Oba-chan, they did!" Kikuko stated as she moved to dress.

Within minutes, the two girls were walking out of the dōjō and taking the covered walkway through the back door into the Moroboshi home proper. Everyone else was now sitting down to eat in the living room. Ataru, Tariko and Hiromi were all in school uniforms while Negako was in her gi and Muchi was in his business suit for a day of work at Marubishi and Company, a communications services group with headquarters based in Shinjuku. "Better hurry up and dig in, girls!" Tariko stated as she pointed to the plates set aside for both of them. "If you don't, Ataru might suck it all up!"

"Speak for yourself, Tariko," Ataru stated as he nibbled on some pulgogi. "Ohayō, ladies. Our day is made all the more brighter by you being part of it."

Kikuko awked, her cheeks instantly flaming. "Ataru-kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun…!"

"Onii-san, give her a little time before you flirt with her," Hiromi admonished as she gazed up from her cup of tea. "She is but a just-bloomed flower. And while she does possess Kyech-san's shade of hair, I doubt she'll take her place."

He blinked, and then he sighed, nodding in understanding. "Yeah, that's true, Hiromi-chan," he said before smiling at Kikuko. "Sorry about that, Kikuko-chan."

"It's alright, Ataru-kun," Kikuko said before she sat down and clapped her hands in prayer for a moment before she called out, "Itadakimasu!"

Miiko also prayed before she ate. "So what will happen to us, My Emperor?" she then asked as she gazed on Hiromi. "What is this SCAA Oba-sama spoke of to us?"

"The Special Committee on Alien Activities," Hiromi stated as she found herself blushing at being addressed THAT way by the reborn governor of Yízhōu. "They are a sub-governmental organization of the United Nations, the planet-wide alliance of nation-states almost all countries on Earth belong to these days. Their specific task is to assist in the settlement and management of aliens — non-Earthlings — here on Earth. The body you possess — and the body Kikuko-san possesses — was initially created on a great factory ship that currently is in orbit between Earth and the Moon…" — she pointed up and to the southwest — "…where the majority of our kind currently are residing after many years of being treated as nothing save sex-slaves."

Miiko blinked, and then she moaned. "I absorbed all of Onii-sama's knowledge about what life is like these days and he knew NOTHING of this!" She then gazed on Negako as she watched her take apart her pancake with a knife and fork, and then picked up her own utensils to do the same. "He WAS separated for too long from society."

"Can we go be with Onii-chan afterwards, Hiromi-onēchan?" Kikuko asked.

"Maybe it'll be better if you all went to Tomobiki High School afterwards so you can be with Hiromi-chan and Tariko-chan," Kinshō stated. "Hiromi-chan had quite a bit of adjusting to do and their friends there helped her a lot in doing it."

"They should stay with their brother for the time being, Dear," Muchi advised.

Kikuko took that in, and then she nodded. Save for Hiromi, Tariko and Negako, no one took note of the slight twitch over Ataru's eye…

* * *

Minutes later…

"Onii-san, you can't expect Okā-san to reform her habits overnight."

Ataru sighed as he and his sisters walked down the street towards the front gate of Tomobiki High School. "Yeah, I suppose I can't, but it's still damned annoying," he admitted before gazing fondly at Hiromi and Tariko. "Still, those who REALLY do appreciate what I've been through continue to show their gratitude," he said as he gently grasped Hiromi's hand and courtly kissed it, which made her titter.

"I wonder if Ranma'll feel the same way towards Miiko and Kikuko," Tariko mused. "Much less his own twin if his own soul breaks apart."

"Do you think it'll happen?" Hiromi asked.

"Hiromi-chan, Onē-san doesn't waste the effort to arrange anything, especially something like THAT, for nothing!" Tariko warned as she gazed on her sister. "It's not a matter of 'if' it'll happen to Ranma. It's a matter of 'when' it'll happen."

"At least you warned him about it," Ataru noted before he blinked on sensing a familiar and welcome presence approach from his right. "Ohayō, Chigaiko-chan!"

"Ataru-kun! Tariko-chan! Hiromi-chan!" a cheery voice called back as a plain brown-haired girl with brown eyes ran up. She quickly slipped her arm around Ataru's, asserting her present place as his best friend among the people of Class 2-4 at Tomobiki High School. "So what happened? You seem pretty excited about something!"

As Hiromi began to explain events over the weekend to Inu Chigaiko, they soon joined a considerable crowd of people as they streamed onto the front lawn of Tomobiki High. Amongst them were the four central members of what had been called "Lum's Stormtroopers" up to six months ago, when certain revelations had nearly shattered the lives of many people who had interacted with the alien warlord's daughter then known to most others on Earth as "Redet Lum." All four of them, Ataru was quick to note, were currently accompanied by four girls in the business suit-like uniforms of Butsumetsu Girl's High School. Seeing them, Ataru waved to get their attention. "Hey! Tanoshii-chan! Aijōa-chan! Kenmei-chan! Yasashii-chan! Guys! Osu!" he called out.

The others looked over, and then they grinned as they moved to join the Moroboshi siblings and Chigaiko. "Ohayō, Ataru, girls," Aisuru Satoshi — "Megane" — called back as he warmly gripped Seiryōkuteki Tanoshii's hand. "Anything interesting happen this weekend?" he wondered as everyone moved through the front gate and stepped off the path to allow other students to make their way into the school building.

"Oh, just an interesting encounter Tariko-chan here had," Chigaiko stated.

"What happened?" Urayamu Akira — "Chibi" — then asked.

Tariko and Hiromi explained. As the others took that in, they all grinned on hearing what Negako was planning to do to Saotome Ranma and how that had led to the literal "rebirth" of Saotome Miiko and Saotome Kikuko. At the end of it, Tanoshii — as well as her friends Katsudōteki Aijōa (Chibi's girlfriend), Geijutsuteki Kenmei (girlfriend to Daremo Hiroyuki, also known as "Kakugari") and Sōzōteki Yasashii (girlfriend to Shitto Kōsuke, also known as "Perm") — parted from their boyfriends with kisses and headed off to get to Butsumetsu Girl's High before the first bell. "So what happens with Miiko-san?" Megane asked as everyone else headed to the front doors. "If, back in her first life, she was the boss of the territory that eventually formed the core of what Liú Bèi started up in Shǔ Hàn, what happens to the people in Seito?"

"Hopefully, nothing," Hiromi stated as they walked into the shoe locker room and moved to take off their outdoor shoes before slipping on their uwabaki and heading to the stairs to get to the second floor. "Miiko-san needs time to adjust to being alive and in her own body again — not to mention properly adjust to being part of a family with Ranma-san and Kikuko-san — before she starts allowing the dreams of the past to overwhelm her, Satoshi-san. Still, she would probably fit at Seito…"

"But let's not worry about it until she actually gets there," Tariko added.

The Stormtroopers nodded…

* * *

A cemetery near Tomobiki-chūō JR station, an hour later…

"Ohayō, Nozomi."

The beautiful girl with the green eyes and the lovely aqua blue-green hair tied in side ponytails knelt before the family grave before her. Gazing on the beautifully-sculptured kanji normally read as **UNEME**, Sebone Shikuko — "Ryofu Hōsen" to classmates and friends at Rakuyō Senior High School in the Bunkyō ward of Tōkyō — tried to smile. Her tearing eyes didn't do much to make the smile less genuine as she gazed on the picture of the girl at the gravestone. One who had been dead for six months…

…yet whose soul still lingered for over three months after the death of her physical body thanks to cystic fibrosis before she found the chance to finally slip the surly bonds of Earth, put out her hands and touch the face of God…

And soon…

Soon…

"They just finished the diagnosis on me, Nozomi-chan," Shikuko said as she stared at her cousin's picture. "It was just confirmed. I tested positive for ALS." She sniffed back her tears before reaching up to wipe her eyes. "I hated it when you got sick, Nozomi-chan. You were my last link — and Mimōko's, too! — to the normal world. And now this…" She sniffed again. "Guess I'll be with you soon, Nozomi-chan. You won't be alone in Heaven now…" Another sniff. "Hey!" Shikuko then said as she smiled. "Maybe I'll get a chance to date Ataru-kun, too…"

She fell silent as she began to pray. It had been a mortal body-blow to the woman whose soul had been reincarnated from that of the "Mightiest Warrior Alive," a man who had been feared and respected in the last days of the Eastern Hàn Dynasty even if he had been eventually caught up in betrayal after betrayal and he finally found himself the victim of his own bad choices and the back-stabbings he had unleashed on others at the Battle of Xiàpī in the winter of 198-199 C.E. But then again, was it surprising? If the "fate" that all tōshi believed themselves to be slaved to was a real thing, her early death was pretty much predestined. After the fall of Lǚ Bù's reborn foster-father Dǒng Zhuó, living today as Tadasu Suguta ("Tōtaku Chūei")…

And maybe…

Maybe it wouldn't have to happen.

Maybe…

Shikuko sighed. Much that she had hoped that THIS time she might escape the fate forced on the many previous incarnations of Lǚ Bù, there was really no sense in fighting what was soon to come. Already, she was starting to suffer from the cramps and twitching that were the initial symptoms of what was commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's disease" in North America, added onto a persistent bloody cough that had developed when she found it hard to swallow food and things ended up being improperly digested. She was still in fantastic shape and could possibly fight in the upcoming Great Fighters Tournament that was being organized by Rakuyō in a few weeks, but anything that happened afterwards was pretty much up in the air. And even if she still acted as if nothing was wrong, the fact that her very BODY was giving out on her…

It HURT.

Shikuko then tensed on sensing the ki of four particularly powerful tōshi approaching her general area from the direction of the train station which linked Tomobiki to Chichibu (where Seito High School was) to the west and to Ikebukuro in Tōkyō itself to the east. Glancing over her shoulder, she allowed her eyes to narrow as she quickly focused her senses on them. Regardless if they were from Seito or Rakuyō…

Wait.

Two of them had the power of dragons within them.

Shikuko then smirked. She knew who they were…

* * *

Nearby…

"Sense it?"

Kumomi perked on hearing Haneko's question, and then she nodded. "Hai. I do believe it's Ryofu-san," she said as the grip on Zanryū tightened.

"What's she doing here?" Asumi demanded.

"I don't know," Haneko stated as the grip on Reienkyo also tightened, and then she blinked as she noted where the powerful ki nexus affirming the presence of the greatest fighter of Rakuyō currently was. "A cemetery? What's she doing there?"

The other girls blinked. "She must be visiting relatives," Sonami then stated. "Just because Rakuyō is located in Bunkyō doesn't mean that everyone who goes there lives there." She stared sternly at Haneko. "We're **not** provoking a fight, Kan-san!"

The leggy brunette with the tanned skin and the stormy grey eyes sighed. "Hai! Hai! We won't start a fight!" she vowed, and then she gave Asumi a knowing look.

The brown-haired, brown-eyed tomboy nodded in understanding…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, that moment…

"So Avalonians like Kikuko-chan and Mii-chan are mind-readers like Mr. Spock?"

"That is correct," Negako stated as she continued to force ki into Ranma's back. He was once more in male form. Kikuko was currently seated near the end of her brother's bed, a hopeful look on her face. Miiko was standing close to the door, her eyes flicking every once in a while towards the window. Even if they were on the second floor of the hospital building, the reborn tōshi was aware of the Nǚjiézú and what they were capable of doing. "To give Miiko and Kikuko time to adjust to their new bodies, I have temporarily suppressed those abilities. When I feel they are ready, they will have control of them." She placed both her hands in an "X" over the top of the incision as her hands glowed and ki poured into the space to help the cells grow back in. "Hiromi and Tariko needed the same amount of time to properly adjust."

"What about you?" Ranma asked.

Negako smirked. "Given the amount of knowledge I possess, it did not take me much time to understand what my new body's capabilities and limits were. And even if they were exposed to my knowledge during the time we resided in Ataru's brain, Hiromi and Tariko have found it difficult to tap into that knowledge for their own use."

"Why?"

"Because they wish, in their own way, to be 'normal' people," Negako stated. "Which is understandable. Tariko was, at the beginning, the part of Ataru's soul that personally never cared for any of the more esoteric or unusual adventures his constant interaction with Hensō and all who came in her wake forced on him. And Hiromi is on a quest to help all those like her live normal lives; to escape the 'fate' that wearing a magatama influenced by the souls of those who lived at the time of the final collapse of the Hàn Dynasty is said to force on others. While she has yet to make any serious inroads with anyone given her desire also to maintain family links with us…"

"What does the Emperor intend to do, Negako-sama?" Miiko asked.

"She has yet to devise a detailed plan, Miiko," the grandmaster answered. "During the last four months since we all came to Earth for the first time in our own bodies, Hiromi — when she has not been distracted with schoolwork and other issues — has scouted out all the tōshi currently alive today to ascertain what is happening to them and where they stand in their lives. For many of those who have graduated from school, their lives are quite normal and they may expect — barring any serious calamity — to live for the rest of their lives in relative peace. For those still in school…"

"Different story," Ranma finished.

"Hai." She then nodded. "All right. Kikuko, summon one of the nurses to have Ranma's wounds redressed." As Kikuko stood and headed out of the room to do what she had been bid, Negako proceeded to a nearby sink to wash her hands down, and then she returned to the bedside to shift Ranma onto his side. "I believe another week of this treatment will firm up his personal immunity to the point where a transfusion of blood from Miiko or Kikuko will not cause undue harm to your soul."

"Would it freeze me as a girl?" Ranma asked.

A shake of the head. "No."

"Would doing this be good for Onii-sama?" Miiko asked.

A nod. "I believe it will be. Tariko shared blood with Ataru and he has found it to be quite easy to adjust to genetically being an Avalonian. It has its many advantages. A very extended lifespan compared to Terran norm, the touch-telepathy and a form of empathy that doesn't require physical contact, plus an inner eye that allows one to see an energy field addressed by the Avalonians' cousins, the Zephyrites, as the _Te'a_ — 'That Which Is Above mortal understanding' — which is similar to the many forms of divinity those who follow the tenets of Shintō believe exists in all things."

"Sugoi!" Miiko breathed out as Kikuko returned, a smiling nurse named Tanaka Tomoko — she was Tariko's supervisor whenever the younger girl did her weekend volunteer work at the hospital — coming in right afterward with a dressing tray. "Once you're back on your feet again, Onii-sama, you'll be doing as I'll be doing."

"What do you mean…? Oh, hi, Tomoko-chan!" he then called out on recognizing the nurse; she had been pretty much at his side since he came here.

"Well, even though I was able to absorb all the knowledge you possessed in the fighting arts, I still have to adjust to being alive in this day and age," Miiko replied as Tomoko got to work. "And you have to admit, Negako-sama is right when it comes to how much you DON'T know of society at large."

"We'll just have to learn it together with Onii-chan!" Kikuko then said.

Both women laughed, which made Tomoko and Ranma grin. "Well, at least you now have people around you who do care for you, Ran-chan," the nurse said as she began to sterilize the area around the chest wound with some iodine. "Oh, I've some news from Dō-sensei. We just found out that your father's mother is still alive."

Silence.

"Our grandmother is alive?" Miiko demanded as Kikuko gaped.

Tomoko nodded. "Hai. Hayashi Chiaki is her name. She's retired and currently lives in Taitō Ward; her husband passed away about five years ago."

Ranma blinked. "Oyaji never said a thing about her…"

"Understandable," the nurse mused as she finished with the iodine, and then moved to pack the wound with healing strips dipped in iotosorb ointment that would provoke the cells to regenerate and the wound to finally seal. "From what she told Dō-sensei, she and her husband felt they had no choice but to expel your father from their family when he married your mother. Didn't go into details, but from what he learned, Tariko-chan guessed right when it came to NOT informing your mother about you."

He blinked again, a chill filling him. Much that he actually wanted to meet his mother after finally learning she was still alive and living somewhere in Nerima, what Moroboshi Tariko had arranged for him endeared him much more to her and her family than his own. "Why's that?" he asked before grunting as Tomoko moved to pack his wound; even if she was wearing gloves and was being as gentle as she could, that still HURT.

"I don't know, but your grandmother has promised a full explanation as soon as she gets here," Tomoko stated. "She'll be here in two hours."

He nodded. "Miiko, I trust you and Kikuko can keep Ranma company for the time being," Negako then stated as she stared at Ranma's sisters.

"Of course, Negako-sama. But what of you?" Miiko asked as Kikuko nodded.

The grandmaster smiled. "I sense an opportunity to help Ataru finally recover from what his time with Hensō — and its aftermath — ultimately unleashed on him. In the meantime, Tomoko, I will leave Ranma in your more-than-capable hands."

Tomoko smiled. "Hai!"

* * *

Tomobiki High School, an hour later…

"You feel something, Hiromi-chan?"

Hiromi nodded. It was the break between the second and third morning period. The reborn emperor — even though she didn't see herself these days as being the emperor of _anything_ — was staring out the window of Class 2-4 at the beautiful early summer day beyond the confines of Tomobiki High School. "Hai, Shinobu-san, I do," she stated as Miyake Shinobu sat beside her. "I have a feeling that several of those like me have decided to make their way here. I wonder what attracted their attention. Ever since I came back home in my own body, no tōshi beyond the Kōshi Kasshi have openly come here to Tomobiki to meet me."

Ataru's former girlfriend — she was currently pretty much unattached as Mendō Shūtarō was now formally engaged to Mizunokōji Asuka, the daughter of the leaders of his clan's chief rivals — blinked. "Other tōshi? Do you recognise them?" she asked.

A shake of the head. "No. Four of them are now at the Kissaten Nekohanten, no doubt to have a late breakfast before they either remain in place, come here or head home. My own ki senses are not anywhere as keenly honed as Onē-sama's are. I would have to physically see them to recognise who they are." She then hummed. "There is another one here, too. She's now at the Yakitori Kotobuki. She's alone." A hum then escaped her. "Strange, though. When I first sensed her, she was at the cemetery."

"The cemetery?"

That was both Ataru and Tariko. "Hai," Hiromi said as she gazed at them. "I don't know which grave she was visiting, though. As far as I've been able to discover, no tōshi has any immediate relatives living here in Tomobiki."

Shinobu blinked. "Why would you wonder about that?"

Ataru sighed. "Remember Nozomi-chan?"

Shinobu stared at him, and then she gasped. "That's right. When you told her that Hiromi-chan was a tōshi, she said that she had two cousins that were tōshi as well!" She then hummed — she had chaperoned the date between Moroboshi Ataru and the ghostly Uneme Nozomi despite she having no real claim on her former boyfriend at the time thanks to what had happened when Hensō had lived in Tomobiki as Ataru's "wife," not to mention her dating Tariko at the time — before she gazed once more at her former boyfriend. "Did she tell you their names?"

A shake of the head. "Just the family name: Sebone," Ataru answered. "There were two of them. One's a senior at Rakuyō, the other's a senior at Nan'yō."

"I think I know who you might be speaking of, Onii-san."

Eyes locked on Hiromi. "Who?" Tariko asked.

A smile. "Do you not remember? 'Sebone' is the _kun'yomi_ reading of 'Ryo,'" Hiromi explained. "Or 'Lǚ' as it's said in Mandarin. That applies to two people."

Shinobu gasped. "Ryofu Hōsen…!"

"And Ryomō Shimei," Hiromi finished with a nod…

* * *

The Yakitori Kotobuki…

"_**AH-CHOO!**_"

The matron looked up. "Bless you, Ojō-sama! Are you alright?"

Shikuko moaned as she picked up a napkin to wipe her nose. "Someone's talking about me," she muttered under her breath before she turned back to the tasty treats she had ordered up, a smile crossing her face. "Maybe it's Ataru-kun…"

Hearing THAT delighted whisper from her current customer, the matron gasped as she stared wide-eyed at the visitor from Bunkyō Ward, and then she turned away as she muttered a quick prayer to the gods to protect the soul of that poor girl.

Even many months later, habits were hard to lose…

* * *

And over in Kimitsu on the Chiba Peninsula…

"_**AH-CHOO!**_"

"Ah! Mō-chan! Are you okay?"

A groan escaped Sebone Mimōko — Ryomō Shimei — as she groaned before using the back of one of her gloves to wipe away the jarred mucus from her nose. "Damn!" she muttered before she gazed nowhere in particular. "Who's talking about me?"

Staring at her, Mago Tsueko — Sonsaku Hakufu — then hummed. "Maybe it was that very nice Saji-san, Mō-chan. He likes you a lot."

Blinking as the sophomore turned to head back to her classroom, Mimōko could only gape as she wondered HOW the hell Tsueko had found out about THAT…!

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, just after lunch…

"Is this a joke?" Ranma asked.

The silver-haired woman now seated beside his bed shook her head. "No, Ranma. This is no joke." She then took a deep breath. "I personally have not seen the actual agreement, but I have friends who were willing to watch over Nodoka…as well as Genma and yourself while you were still living with her." Hayashi Chiaki closed her dark brown eyes as she shook her head again. "Right after you and your father headed off on your training trip, those friends overheard Nodoka brag about the fact that she was guaranteed a 'man above men.' She even showed them the agreement Genma had written up about that." Her eyes narrowed. "An agreement with your hand-print on it."

Silence fell as Ranma — as well as Miiko and Kikuko — took a moment to absorb that bombshell their grandmother just delivered. "So, if I may be so bold as to ask, Obā-sama, what exactly is Okā-sama's definition of a 'man above men?'" Miiko asked.

A shrug. "I don't know."

Ranma's sisters both face-faulted while Ranma himself blinked in shock. "You don't KNOW?!" he wondered. "I mean, didn't anybody bother to even ASK…?"

"Oh, people have asked from time to time, but Nodoka has rather been cagey in answering that question," Chiaki stated. "However, what they HAVE learned is this: Nodoka actually considers the grandmaster of your school — Genma's teacher, Happōsai — a 'manly' man. And that fellow is a letch and a pervert that would make Moroboshi Ataru before he got rid of that alien girl seem a virtual saint in comparison." Seeing confusion flash in her grandson's eyes, Chiaki took a deep breath. While she was more than happy that she could at last meet her own grandchild and form something of a family with him and his sisters, she was now beginning to understand said grandchild still had much to learn when it came to life in general. Allowing Ranma to fall back into Nodoka's grasp would hurt him almost beyond repair. And with what Dō Kazua had told her earlier that day about how much Ranma HAD suffered at Genma's hands…!

Learning of the Neko-ken ALONE would give her nightmares for WEEKS!

"Ranma, a letch is someone — usually a man — who gladly and without any care in the world, violates the personal space of a woman in a manner she doesn't like. Most often, those violations are sexual in nature." Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Chiaki tried not to moan. _Dear gods! He doesn't even know about THAT? Nodoka would DEFINITELY demand his death for not knowing about sex!_ she railed in her mind as she took a deep breath. "Ranma, sex is what men and women do to have children."

He blinked, and then he slowly nodded. "I think I understand."

"Obā-chan, Onē-chan and I could explain it to him," Kikuko offered, though her own cheeks were now quite red in embarrassment.

"Kikuko, allow me," Miiko then stated. After Kikuko nodded, she then turned to Ranma. "Onii-sama, you remember Kunō Tatewaki, don't you?"

He snorted. "Can't forget THAT moron!"

"What he did to you when he mistook you for his 'tree-born kettle girl' would be seen as perverted," Miiko finished. "He saw you as a potential wife."

Ranma nearly gagged on his tongue. "_**WHAT?! I'M A GUY! GUYS DON'T MARRY GUYS!**_"

Chiaki kept quiet about how certain countries these days — Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands, for example — were actually permitting that sort of thing. "True, but remember that Kunō is a dullard and a witless moron as well," Miiko added.

He blinked several times, and then he breathed out. "Good point."

"And because you don't understand a thing about sex and what it means, Ranma, Nodoka would clearly judge you as 'unmanly,'" Chiaki then stated.

Hearing that, Ranma then gazed on his hands for a moment as the image of him performing ritual suicide then flashed in his mind. "I got no choice, then…"

"Ranma, you DO have a choice."

He jerked. "Obaba! If Oyaji made an agreement like that, I HAVE to…!"

"He made that agreement — and your mother _**accepted**_ that agreement — in _**violation**_ of their pre-marital agreement to ME to raise you _**properly**_!"

Silence.

"And how do you define 'being raised properly?'" Miiko immediately asked.

Chiaki smiled. "Well, Miiko-chan, I certainly would state that matter with the pit of cats is certainly NOT the proper way to raise a child," she stated, and then she reached over to gently squeeze Ranma's hand as he began to shudder at being reminded yet again of the Neko-ken. "And certainly, taking your brother to a strange village without understanding the local laws is also not the proper way to expose that child to the outside world, to teach that child proper respect for other cultures." She then drew her hand back. "But you all have to agree, that seppuku agreement…"

"Is also not the proper way to raise a child," Kikuko finished, grinning.

"Exactly."

Ranma blinked as he then realized that a cold grip that had snared his heart was suddenly fading. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed himself. "So what happens to me?"

Chiaki took a deep breath. "Ranma, there are many other things I have learned about that you don't know about what your father did while you were on the road," she stated. "I don't want to burden you with that information now; you have more important things to worry about at this time. However, now that I am in contact with you and I am aware now of some of the things Genma has done to you over the years, I can immediately have my lawyer enact certain clauses in your late grandfather's will. Once they're activated, everything that Genma and Nodoka have done to you will no longer have the weight of either honour or law. Your own honour will be totally clean."

More silence.

"There's nothing dishonourable about this?" he asked, caution in his voice.

"Not at all," she assured him, inwardly proud of the fact that despite how he had been raised, her grandson had developed an excellent sense of what was honourable. It obviously needed some fine tweaking, but the road was open now to allow Ranma to learn those lessons without unnecessary interference. ESPECIALLY from the two people he had been born from. "Ranma, my family agreed to allow the marriage between Nodoka and Genma on the proviso that you — and any other children they may have had — would be raised properly. My husband and I were fully acknowledged by Nodoka's parents as having the SOLE right to judge what 'properly' means in this case; this was their concession to us in answer to our allowing Genma to change his family name from 'Hayashi' to 'Saotome' when he married Nodoka in respect to their being descent of a samurai clan and we ourselves being descent of merchants. You now understand some things of what that means. Since your parents have effectively violated that agreement, you therefore are free of all legal obligations to them and can now be directly adopted 'back' into the Hayashi Clan. From this point on, you are 'Hayashi Ranma,' not 'Saotome Ranma.'" She then gazed on Miiko and Kikuko. "Since both of you girls can now be seen as Ranma's sisters, that also applies to you."

Miiko and Kikuko both nodded. "So what will this mean?" Ranma asked.

"Well — and I'm sure this will sound as a relief to you — any marital obligations Genma has forced on you will no longer apply," Chiaki stated. Given what she had learned over the years about the AMOUNT of obligations, that would ultimately be quite a relief to her grandson…once he learned of one particular obligation. "You no longer have to worry about marrying any of Sōun's girls."

Still more silence.

"Which means that Akane won't have to worry about marrying me, right?"

Chiaki was quick to sense the deep concern in Ranma's voice when it came to that particular girl. _I wonder if she realizes what she's just lost_, she mused to herself as she nodded. "That's right. Furthermore, since you no longer have to be made to be held accountable for anything Genma has done on your behalf — such as the engagement to the Tendō Clan — _Genma_ will have to make restitution should he come up short."

A snort. "Good luck in making Oyaji do that, Obaba!"

Laughter filled the room…

* * *

And at a certain home in Nerima…

"AH-CHOO!"

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, a half-hour later…

"I'm kinda disappointed."

Miiko perked on hearing that, and then she smiled. "Onii-sama, you have a right to be disappointed in Okā-sama," she stated as she sat down beside Ranma's bed. Chiaki had left a few minutes before to go visit her lawyer to get all the necessary legal work done to transform Ranma, Miiko and Kikuko into full and proper members of the Hayashi Clan of Inarichō. Kikuko herself had gone down to the cafeteria to get some more food for all of them. "And perhaps we might be able to try to forge some sort of relationship with her in the future. But you're only NOW getting an understanding of how much you are truthfully ignorant of when it comes to society as a whole."

A nod. "Yeah, that's true," he whispered.

The tōshi blinked on sensing the sadness in his voice, and then she reached over to squeeze his hand. "Onii-sama, we can't win everything in life."

He jerked on hearing that, and then he sighed. "I'm not used to losing, Mii-chan," he stated as he stared at her, his own eyes tearing.

"And you've never been taught how to accept that there are certain things you can't win over, especially when it comes to things beyond the martial arts," she noted in return. A deep sigh later, she then smirked. "Look at me. I could have, if I had wanted to, stayed in Luòyáng, then wiped out all the rot in the Imperial Palace and saved the Hàn Dynasty from final collapse. I didn't and wound up a mere provincial governor in Yízhōu, which formed the basis of Shǔ Hàn years later. And THAT did not last at all when you look at it as part of the greater scope of Chinese history. And all my attempts in future incarnations at forming a power base _failed_ every time." She shook her head. "People learn more from defeat than victory. Look how much you have learned since this happened." she said as she indicated his bandages. "Look how much you will learn soon. Obā-sama did warn you that there was much more coming."

A tired nod. "Yeah…"

Sensing him about to fall asleep, Miiko smiled as she reached over to gently rub her hand on his cheek. By then, Kikuko had returned. "Onii-ch-…!" she began before she was shushed by her sister. Nodding in understanding, she then placed the small bowl of fruit on the bed table before she followed Miiko out of the room.

"He is tired and needs to sleep," Miiko stated after they got outside.

"He seems relieved," Kikuko noted.

"He is. I would be if I was the one in his situation."

"What do we do about Shānpú?"

The tōshi then smirked as a deadly look then crossed her face. "We hunt her down like the rabid dog she is and ensure she never harms Onii-sama again."

Kikuko blinked as she took those words in, and then she shuddered…

* * *

The slopes of Mount Takanosu, west of Tōkyō proper…

"AH-CHOO!"

Moaning as she reached up to rub her nose clean, Shampoo then took a deep breath before she turned back and began to make preparations for the midday meal. In the wake of her near-victory over the crimson-haired outsider that had defeated her weeks before, she had been forced to decamp totally from Nerima. Remembering the many men, all uniformed and armed with — _Ugh!_ Guns! — the warrior-maiden of the Nǚjiézú could only scowl in disgust as she remembered her flight from the hail of bullets that had come her way after those men had been called to the outsider's home.

What should have been a perfect victory had turned sour.

Now SHE was the one being hunted…

She wasn't sure if the outsider was dead or not…

And her Àirén…

As her meal boiled in the small clay pot that she had for the occasion, she took a deep breath and then Shampoo moved to pick up the parchment as she took the slender calligraphy brush and dipped it into the small ink well so she could write her latest report to her great-grandmother back in the village. Fortunately for her, she had been given half a dozen homing pigeons to use so she could relay the messages over the four thousand kilometres separating Japan from Qīnghǎi. All of them had been bred for strength and accuracy over many generations, so there was little chance that any of the messages she had sent back during her hunt would not have made it home.

And while she had not received any detailed messages from home yet…

Obviously, nothing of great import had happened in the village recently.

Taking a deep breath, she began writing…

* * *

_For someone who's been as well-trained as she has, she isn't paying much attention to her surroundings, much less guarding herself against threats._

Gazing at the warrior-maiden from the highlands of China, Ebisu Kyoko — to her friends at the Yoshū Academy, located in Utsunomiya in Tochigi prefecture, the ninja-trained tōshi was known more commonly as "Koshaji" — could only smirk at the other girl's foolishly lowered guard. If she wanted to — and given what she had observed over the last couple of days, she was now QUITE tempted — she could swoop down and kill the stupid woman before she could realize her death was approaching. Then again, was it really so surprising? Many tōshi had long known about the so-called "Chinese amazons;" the Nǚjiézú had allowed many women to become concubines for various holders of the Dragon Throne throughout the early history of the Middle Kingdom, thus ensuring that the "Noble Tribe" (as various Emperors had called them) would retain Imperial protection against outside trouble or interference from the central government. And while she had no idea what the current relations between the Nǚjiézú and the People's Republic were like these days, it was quite easy for Kyoko to guess how that "protected status" had wound up influencing attitudes among those of the "Noble Tribe."

This girl, Nǚ Shānpú, was _arrogant_.

She believed she was totally in the right.

She believed that only HER laws had any authority…

…even here in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Adjusting herself slightly to make herself more comfortable, Kyoko watched as Shampoo finished her letter and then moved to dry it before she would tie it to the leg of one of her pigeons so it could be sent off on a flight west to Qīnghǎi. And while she COULD use a longbow to shoot the poor bird down if she wanted to, Kyoko didn't feel it necessary to start raising the hackles of whoever was supporting this girl all the way from a village in the Bāyánkālā Mountains. Still, she knew conflict was coming.

She knew of Saotome Ranma.

She knew of Moroboshi Hiromi-sama's interest in that man.

She knew that since Hiromi-sama's sister wanted to help Ranma — who was indeed quite a handsome and well-skilled martial artist! — recover from what Shampoo had done, he now enjoyed the full protection of the spiritual heir of the Dragon Throne.

Thus, theoretically, he enjoyed the protection of all tōshi such as Kyoko.

And even if most tōshi didn't know of Hiromi-sama's return…

Passing on that news would be child's play.

And Kyoko knew where her ultimate loyalties lay.

If Moroboshi Hiromi-sama so commanded it…

…Nǚ Shānpú would DIE!

Thinking of that, the ninja-trained tōshi purred to herself.

She couldn't wait for that chance…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **(Name) no Mae** — Literally "Dame (Name)," a very formal way of addressing the female head of a family; **Pulgogi** — Literally "Fire Meat," this is the term applied to marinated barbecue meat cooked over a traditional gridiron in Korea; **Chūō** — Literally "central," this term is used to describe the exact centre of a town or city; **Zanryū** — Literally "cutting dragon;" **Ojō-sama** — The polite term used to address a young single woman when one's name is not known; **Àirén** — Literally "Beloved Person."

2) The name **Special Committee on Alien Activities** (short-form **SCAA**) is my "official" title for the **Men In Black** as depicted in the movies starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith.

3) The name of Moroboshi Muchi's employer, **Marubishi and Company**, comes from the adult slice-of-life salaryman manga series _Desire_, written by Kotani Kenichi in the late 1990s. The man's art, in my eyes, ranks with that of another favourite manga-ka of mine, Ikegami Ryōichi of _Crying Freeman_, _Sanctuary_ and _Mai the Psychic Girl_ fame.

4) Character notes about the Moroboshi siblings' classmates at Tomobiki High School and friends: **Inu Chigaiko** first appeared in _The Senior Year_ story "Darling's Secret Date;" the real given names for **Lum's Stormtroopers** (**Megane**, **Perm**, **Chibi** and **Kakugari**) have appeared on Japanese _Yatsura_ websites while their family names were derived from the names I created for them in _TSY_; the Stormtroopers' girlfriends **Seiryōkuteki Tanoshii**, **Katsudōteki Aijōa**, **Geijutsuteki Kenmei** and **Sōzōteki Yasashii** cameo in the _TSY_ story "Spirit-War Tomobiki" and make full appearances in "The Bodyguards' Denouement" (I based Tanoshii, Aijōa and Kenmei off the three girls Megane, Chibi and Kakugari chased down in the fourth movie _Lum The Forever_); and **Uneme Nozomi** appeared in the manga story "The Final Date" (manga story #246) (her family name, cause of death and her relationship to the Sebone cousins are my creation).

5) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Ryofu Hōsen** (**Sebone Shikuko**) was first introduced in manga episode #9. Perhaps one of the more tragic characters in the series — and certainly one of the sexiest as well as the most blatantly bisexual of all the female tōshi appearing in the series — Shikuko's past-self was a man who was seen by many as the Chinese answer to the Greek hero Achilles, **Lǚ Bù** (unknown birth date, died 199 C.E.). Known back then as the "Flying General" for his outstanding horsemanship and archery skills, he was seen by many as the most powerful warrior in all of China. He was also known for his fickle behaviour when it came to political patrons and his readiness to betray those who had taken Lǚ into their trust. Eventually, this led to his downfall at the **Battle of Xiàpī** against **Cáo Cāo** (155-220) and Liú Bèi; when Lǚ offered his services to Cáo, Liú reminded his ally of the Flying General's past betrayals, thus having Lǚ executed. In this incarnation, Shikuko is fully aware of her potential fate…and as noted here, just learned something that would darken her future days; her gaining **amyotrophic lateral sclerosis** (**ALS**, known as "**Lou Gehrig's disease**" in North America) would kill her in manga episode #35.

**Ryomō Shimei** (**Sebone Mimōko**) is pretty much the number two star in _Ikkitōsen_; she first appeared in manga episode #3. Her past-self was Dèng Dāng's cousin **Lǚ Méng** (178-220). A passionate supporter of the Sūn Clan in the years leading up to the creation of **Dōng Wú** in 229, Lǚ would never live to see it happen; in the wake of his defeating Guān Yǔ in the invasion of Jīngzhōu Province in south-central China, Lǚ would fall ill and die despite all efforts made to save his life. In _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Lǚ was actually said to have been possessed by Guān's spirit after the latter's beheading, then died after Guān vowed vengeance on his enemies. In this incarnation, Mimōko is a rather quiet girl who uses wresting take-down manoeuvres to defeat her opponents. She also has a particular love towards wearing French maid outfits when she fights. She is forced to wear a medicinal patch over her left eye; the reasons for that are explained in the flashback scenes in manga episodes #61-63 and will be noted on in future parts of this story.

Note that in any version of _Ikkitōsen_, there is no family relationship reported between Shikuko and Mimōko; both are actually rivals for the same man until the former's death. They being blood cousins in this story is my invention, as is their relationship with Uneme Nozomi.

**Sonsaku Hakufu** (**Mago Tsueko**) is the star of _Ikkitōsen_. Her past-self is **Sūn Cè** (175-200), the eldest son of the "Tiger of Jiāngdōng," **Sūn Jiān** (circa 155-191). Taking over as leader of his family after the death of his father, Sūn Cè would fight to restore order in the eastern part of China and would ultimately lay the foundations for what would become Dōng Wú almost three decades after his death. A delightful man full of warmth and laughter, the qualities of the "Little Conqueror of Chángshā" would very much transmit down to his current incarnation. Tsueko is a pretty laid back, quite well-formed and not so bright girl who is forced right into the battles between tōshi as soon as she transferred into the Nan'yō Academy due to something that was discovered within her soul right with her first battle against Sebone Mimōko as depicted in manga episodes #4-7. She is also quite genki, passionate about martial arts and has a great heart, which always governs her actions. Tsueko also has the habit of bestowing cute nicknames on people she respects.

And **Koshaji** (**Ebisu Kyoko**) is another of the more tragic characters from _Ikkitōsen_. She made a brief appearance in chapter #38 of the manga when she was part of a group from Yoshū who tried to kill Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke); in that attack, she was killed when his dragon awoke and he crushed her head against a brick wall in the wake of her piercing the left eye of **Kakōton Genjō** (**Natsukimi Makoto**) with one of her kunai. I felt her fate in that story to be both quite wasteful of a good character…and a typical example of the horrors facing tōshi in general as they are depicted in Shiozaki-sensei's series. Like other fanfic writers who've delved into _Ikkitōsen_, I decided she deserved a good amount of luck, so she'll play a major role here. In the universe of this story, Kyoko is one of the **Oniwabanshū** (literally "Ones of the Garden"). These were warriors in the service of the Tokugawa from the time of the government of the eighth shōgun of the period, **Tokugawa Yoshimune** (1684-1751; ruled from 1716-45) to the Meiji Restoration. They were primarily used as undercover detectives or civil spies against potential rebellious elements of society. In Japanese popular culture, the Guardians of the Garden were often endowed with ninja-like powers and I played up on that when I decided to give Ebisu Kyoko some history beyond her being the spiritual heiress of **Hú Chē'ér** (dates of birth and death unknown), who was a general of potentially Slavic, Magyar, Jewish, Hun or Persian origin. Hú was said to be the greatest general to fight under **Zhāng Xiù** (unknown birth date to 207) and even impressed Cáo Cāo enough that he gave Hú gold after Zhāng was finally made to submit to Cáo's forces in 200.

6) Fans of Koei's _Dynasty Warriors_ video game series will recognise the phrase "**Mightiest Warrior Alive**" when it is applied to Lǚ Bù. In trying to flesh out the tōshi beyond what was depicted in _Ikkitōsen_, I was inspired by the depictions of people like Lǚ in series like _DW_ and _Sōten Kōro_, the manga (and later anime series) created by the late **Yi Hagin** (1945-98) and drawn (and later finished) by the artist **King Gonta** (born 1962). For those who would want to see the story of the Three Kingdoms with a more positive slant towards Cáo Cāo (as _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ tends to lean more towards making him the villain of the story), I would definitely recommend _SK_.

7) **Tanaka Tomoko** is a character from Kevin Hammel's story.

8) The phrase **Kōshi Kasshi** is derived from the two Japanese readings of the kanji 甲子 (read "**jiǎzǐ**" in Mandarin, literally meaning "wood rat"), which denotes the first year of the traditional six decade-long **sexagenarian cycle** in Chinese astrology and fortune telling. When it came to the **Yellow Turbans** who launched a rebellion against the Latter Hàn Dynasty in 184 C.E., they believed that with the start of the new sexagenarian cycle, the corrupt "Blue Heaven" that was the Hàn would fall and the "Yellow Heaven" predicted by the great Taoist sage **Zhāng Jué** (also known as **Zhāng Jiǎo**) (unknown birth date to 184), who would later lead the Yellow Turbans in rebellion as the "General of the Heavens," would rise to bring peace and prosperity to the land. The modern version of Zhāng Jué will be introduced in Part 21 and also appeared in _Long Way Home_.

9) The **Kissaten Nekohanten** and the **Yakitori Kotobuki** were both introduced in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Food Fight" (manga episode #106).


	4. The Sebone Cousins Part 2

Near Tomobiki High School, mid-afternoon…

After a satisfying meal that didn't result in her coughing up more blood, plus taking the chance to visit Nozomi's family, Shikuko eventually made her way down the street to the front gate of Tomobiki High School. While she could sense the presence of the four Seito tōshi close by, she also could sense that none of them had actually gone onto the school grounds. Odd. What on Earth could be here at this place in all of Kantō that would interest the likes of…?

Wait!

Shikuko stopped as her ki senses picked up a remarkable nexus of energy from somewhere close to the school gymnasium. Slowing down, the best fighter of Rakuyō blinked as her mind rolled through what she had just detected before her jaw dropped.

A tōshi!

There was a tōshi attending Tomobiki High School!

But HOW?!

And WHO?!

"Shikuko."

Gasping, the aqua-haired warrior spun around to find herself staring at a woman appearing to be the age of any of the Ten Attendants in this life, and then she blinked as the woman's own intensive ki pattern became known to her. On sensing THAT, Shikuko felt a chill like NOTHING she had ever felt before in her life overcome her.

This woman…

She was…

Suppressing a gulp, Shikuko then braced herself.

No.

She would not show cowardice.

Especially not in the face of THIS being.

The Black Death.

The ultimate killing machine.

A being that had defeated and killed two of her previous incarnations…

…and now had come for her.

* * *

Noting the woman before her bracing herself, Negako tried not to smirk as she sensed the faint tendrils of fear escaping the younger woman's heart. Immediately recalling the last time she — before she had "woken up" in the fifth year of Bunka — had faced a reincarnation of Lǚ Bù in the fifth year of Hōei, the grandmaster could understand Shikuko's reaction. Despite the combat knowledge and the sheer levels of training tōshi as a whole submitted themselves to, even the best of them were still pale shadows in comparison to a being that could call on the knowledge of HUNDREDS of ninjutsu masters spanning nearly a THOUSAND years of history. All crammed into one soul.

And besides…

Even if she was now dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Sebone Shikuko clearly wanted now what Moroboshi Negako had spent TWO CENTURIES dreaming of.

To be the true master of her own destiny.

To no longer be a slave to an uncaring Fate.

To not be forced to behave as others wanted her to behave.

That, Negako could understand.

"You came here to see Ataru."

Shikuko tensed on hearing that sentence, and then she blinked, though she still kept her guard up. "What about it?" she demanded.

Negako turned away. "Ataru made a promise to Nozomi before her spirit fully united with the Dào," she stated. "That promise involves both yourself and your cousin Mimōko. He will wish to know of your current affliction; there is a way to deal with it so that you will not be rendered a quadriplegic." She indicated a rather large and ancient willow tree at the northwest corner of the school campus. "He is there currently meditating as Hiromi and the others of his class enjoy their physical education period before school clean-up is to begin." A light smile crossed her face as she gazed knowingly at the fighter from Rakuyō. "All I ask of you in return is that you might consider him to be someone you can befriend. And more if you desire it."

With that, she walked away, leaving behind a slack-jawed Shikuko…

* * *

Nearby…

"Um…Unchō-san?"

"H-hai?"

"Did we both just witness that?"

Haneko blinked; her jaw was now on the ground. "H-hai!"

Asumi and Sonami looked over to see the stunned looks on their companions' faces. "Um, what seems to be the problem?" the latter then asked.

Kumomi turned to "gaze" on them, a tendon over her eyebrow twitching. For those who knew the silver-haired tōshi, a reaction like THAT was scary! "Um, Gentoku-san, we just witnessed the **Black Death** of all things acting as a _nakōdo_ for Ryofu-san!" she stated as she "watched" Shikuko then leap over the wall to drop down close to an old willow tree while Negako headed off in the general direction of the Moroboshi home.

"Well…"

Eyes locked on their leader. "What is it?" Haneko asked.

Sonami was now gazing onto the school grounds. "Hiromi-san and her friends are doing tàijíquán," she said, pointing towards the gymnasium.

The others blinked, and then they turned to watch as a couple dozen students, all in white martial arts gi, perform the basic flowing movements of the Yángshì style of the widely known martial and meditative art form. At the head of the class was a brown-haired woman dressed in a black gi with a plain black belt wrapped around her waist, a familiar earring hanging off her head. Staring at their reborn emperor, all four Seito girls were taken aback as they noted the considerable similarity between her and this school's most famous current student…not to mention the fact that said girl had a TWIN SISTER (also in black gi but without magatama) helping her direct the class. And while they HAD heard the stories about Moroboshi Ataru's sisters…

"Is she training them to be fighters?" Haneko asked.

"None of them are tōshi," Kumomi noted.

"I guess she just wants to make them feel good," Asumi mused.

Eyes locked on her, and then Haneko hummed. "What is she like?"

The others also hummed…

* * *

"Are they friends of yours?"

Shikuko perked on hearing that calm question, and then she turned from gazing at the physical education class on the lawn to stare at the man who had made her cousin's last moments on Earth very happy ones. She then smirked. "They're girls from Seito out in Chichibu," she said as she knelt in front of Ataru, who was meditating at the foot of a very old willow tree that should have died and been cut down ages ago, yet still seemed alive and well. Like his sisters, he was now dressed in a black gi with black belt. "The leader of the school and her three chief advisers."

Ataru's eyes opened as those orbs quickly took in all that was now before him. And it was quite an eyeful. "Koro Sonami-san, Seki Haneko-sempai, Koeru Kumomi-san and Haru Asumi-chan," he said as he closed his eyes, sensing a familiar rush deep within him as his mind — and other parts of his body — absorbed the stunning beauty of one Sebone Shikuko. _Damn! Nozomi-chan said her cousins were pretty, but she understated it!_ he mused to himself as he fought down the urge to leap over to touch her. Even if there was no PHYSICAL need for him to do that these days — implanted in him by Negako after her spirit had been forced into his mind — the PSYCHOLOGICAL addiction of girl-chasing was something Ataru had to deal with, even now, months after his brain had been cleared of Hiromi's and Negako's souls and Tariko had been allowed to live her life.

"Hai," Shikuko said, fighting the urge to purr as her own ki senses picked up the strong arousal the man before her now felt because of her. And while she certainly wasn't the least bit ashamed of the fact that many men — and a few women — found her quite sexy, she had to admit that Ataru's reaction to her was worlds different that the reaction the man she knew of as "Saji Genpō" — his real name, she had learned, was Hidari Itsuji — had shown her before they had begun to seriously date two years ago.

And she LIKED that reaction.

Itsuji, after all, was a tōshi.

Planning to deal with or fighting one's fate was a thing all tōshi lived with.

And while the sex was awesome, Shikuko knew — and expected — that Itsuji was keeping his relationship with her in perspective concerning his own fate.

Ataru, however…

"So who are you?"

She perked, and then she slowly and sensuously stood up, grinning as she noted his eyes were open. "Rakuyō Senior High School, Year Three, Class A, A-rank tōshi Ryofu Hōsen…has arrived," she said as she made a pose and gave him a suggestive wink, which provoked another deep reaction within him, one he was barely able to fight back. Noting that, she purred as she allowed her eyelashes to drape over her eyes, giving her a very smoky, sexy look. "My real name is Sebone Shikuko, Ataru-kun. You had the pleasure of spending time with my late cousin, Uneme Nozomi, three months ago."

He was quick to notice her hand tracing up that lovely leg, pushing up that way-too-short skirt to reveal a good amount of hip and a flash of the white tanga panties she had on underneath. "I had that pleasure, Sempai. I assume that when you met Onē-san on the street past the fence, she told you of a certain promise I made to Nozomi-chan."

Shikuko blinked. _Damn! He IS good!_ she mused as she allowed herself to relax. "She did," she confessed as she returned to kneeling before him, gazing into his face. While Hidari Itsuji had a rugged, he-man look that was accentuated by his slightly tanned skin, sandy brown hair and deep brown eyes, Moroboshi Ataru had a more plain look on his face, though calling him "effeminate" or "ugly" would take it WAY too far. Still, there was a deep and old soul behind those eyes, one blessed with considerable intelligence and a big heart. One that clearly had been hurt recently, too. While she didn't know the details of his so-called "marriage" to that Oni girl, their parting clearly had damaged him in the long run and still affected him to this day.

"Your body is poisoned."

She perked on hearing that comment, and then she nodded. "Hai. It's Lou Gehrig's disease. The same thing Stephen Hawking-hakase has. I'm just in the initial stages of it." She then gazed at him, quick to sense the sympathy and concern in his eyes. "Your sister — the one we know as the 'Black Death' — told me there's a way that I could be cured. I would gladly welcome that chance. I…"

He chuckled as he held up a hand. "Don't worry about it, Shikuko-sempai. I won't make you do anything you don't want to do. I'm not the man I was six months ago, after all." He then lowered his hand. "You'll be helped. That I guarantee. It's not just my promise to Nozomi-chan to make sure you and your other cousin — the one who calls herself 'Ryomō Shimei,' I mean — are well. It's also Hiromi-chan's wish, too."

She perked. "'Hiromi?'"

"That would be me, Shikuko-san."

She then turned to see what looked like Ataru's very own twin sister standing behind her, an amused smile on her face. The magatama quickly told her something else. "You're A-rank, but I've never seen you fight before," Shikuko said as she stood up to gaze intently at Hiromi. "Who are you? And what are you doing coming to this school?"

An amused smile. "I am Ryūkō Kyōrei, Hōsen-dono. Tomobiki High School, Year Two, Class Four. My real name is Moroboshi Hiromi. And I was Liú Hóng."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Majesty…!"

As people gathering around Hiromi watched, Shikuko went to one knee as she allowed her right fist to be encompassed by her left hand in a traditional salute used in the China of old, bowing her head to the reborn emperor. Noting this, Tariko shook her head before she turned around…to see Haneko, Kumomi and Asumi doing the same thing; Sonami was politely bowing to her. "Damn, Hiromi! First the Kōshi Kasshi! Now them?!" As the visiting tōshi all gaped, she asked, "Is EVERYONE ELSE going to be doing this to you?!" she wondered as she stared in amusement at her sister.

Hiromi blushed as everyone else from their class laughed…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, before supper…

"Are you both going to insist on staying here with your brother?"

Miiko smiled as she gazed over her shoulder at Dō Kazua. "Sensei, as long as the Nǚjiézú girl is out there, Onii-sama is in danger," she stated before sipping her tea. "And while I do hope the local constabulary is up to protecting Onii-sama while Negako-sama helps him recover, we are BOTH aware of how dangerous the Nǚjiézú are."

The doctor sighed. He had just finished his last rounds for the day and had been heading back to his office space to work on some charts when he spotted Ranma's sisters in his room, with Kikuko staying at his side while Miiko stayed close to the window, gazing outside every once in a while. The doctor and the tōshi were now down in the cafeteria as the latter had tea. "Much that I do understand your caution, Miiko-san, I personally don't believe that Shānpú will do anything as long as your brother remains male," he advised her. "After all, in that form, he is her husband."

"True, but she will notice the wound and realize what is happening," Miiko noted. "I'm not sure how those people view a place of healing, but if she is hell-bent on avenging her defeat at that tourney in her village, I doubt the sanctity of a hospital will protect Onii-sama, even if he is in a male body at the time."

A sigh. "Good point…"

"Hey!"

He then perked before he looked over his shoulder, and then he grinned. "Hey!"

Miiko looked to see a girl walk up to the doctor, dressed in a tan-orange vest sweater over a short-sleeved white shirt, a red tie helping close the collar, all that over a red plaid skirt that fell just barely past her crotch. Knee-high socks and lace up combat boots completed the ensemble; she also had gloved hands, one of which held a bag full of take-out food. She had a silver magatama hanging off her left ear, barely visible under luscious black hair with a blue sheen to it, styled in a bob-cut around her head. She had blue-green eyes, though the left eye was covered by a medical patch. She had a lean and disciplined look, the mark of a very serious martial artist.

She then watched as the newcomer and the doctor shared a hug. "So what the heck are you doing here, Mimōko-chan?" Kazua asked. "Visiting Nozomi-chan?"

"After seeing my other favourite cousin, of course," Mimōko stated with a smile, and then she turned to gaze curiously at Miiko, quickly noting the magatama hanging off the girl's earlobe. "Who…?" she asked before gazing once more at her cousin.

Kazua immediately did introductions. Hearing Miiko's battle name, Mimōko blinked in surprise; while there had been some past reincarnations of Liú Yūn, one born of the current generation of tōshi had not been revealed. "So how…?"

"I was returned to life under most mysterious circumstances, Mimōko-san," Miiko stated as the other tōshi handed the food to the doctor. "Currently, I am staying here to protect my brother, who was badly wounded by a Nǚjiézú warrior four days ago."

Mimōko blinked. "Nǚjiézú? What the hell is one of THEM doing here?"

A sigh. "That, Mimōko-san, is a VERY long story…"

* * *

"Hey, Mii-chan! Hey, Doc! Friend of yours?"

Ranma gave the newcomer a friendly smile, which made Mimōko's cheeks instantly redden as her exposed eye took in what was before her. Despite his obvious wound — even if there was no blood leaking through the bandages, Mimōko was quick to notice the amount of dressings over the chest and abdomen, not to mention the lack of movement anywhere below that part of his body — Miiko's brother was clearly in excellent shape, with toned muscles that only could arise from YEARS of intensive training. And his face, quite well-formed even if there was a touch of childish softness in it…

And those eyes…

Oh, sweet gods! Those dreamy eyes…!

"Um, actually, I'm Kazua's cousin," she then said, surprising herself by how steady her voice was in the face of this prime specimen of male beefcake before her. _Saji? Saji WHO?!_ she thought to herself as she fought down the urge to laugh in embarrassment. "My name's Sebone Mimōko! Everyone knows me as 'Ryomō Shimei.' Yoroshiku, Ranma-san," she said with a deep bow of her head as she offered her hand.

He gave her a friendly squeeze. "Pleased to meet'cha, Mimōko-san," he said in return. "Sorry if I don't get up, but Shampoo ran my back through."

Mimōko jolted on hearing that, and then she shuddered as she remembered what had happened to Hodo Amanezuke — Teifu Tokubō — in the previous year's Great Fighters Tournament. "I…I'm sorry that happened to you, Ranma-san. I hope it wasn't too bad…"

A chuckle. "To be honest, I thought I'd never walk again. But Tariko-chan — she's a nursing assistant who volunteers here — found out about me, then got her sister Negako-san to look at me. I could be back on my feet in a little over a week."

Silence.

"Tariko…?" Mimōko gasped before she turned to Kazua. "You mean…?"

"Ataru-kun's sister. Hai, that's her."

The Nan'yō senior took that in, and then she sighed. "Well, that's good…" she breathed out before she turned to gaze on Miiko, and then she looked on Kikuko before she blinked again. "You're bioroids, too…!" she breathed out before she turned to Kazua. "But why…?" she demanded; she HAD been told of how Tariko had come into being — as were Ataru's other sisters Negako (whom she knew was the soul and spirit of the Black Death) and Hiromi (she didn't know much about her though she had seen the magatama Hiromi wore in a picture once, so she clearly was a tōshi though she didn't know who she exactly was) — but she had believed that such a process was grossly restricted since it wasn't from Earth.

A smirk. "I have to get back to my notes before I can go home for the night, Mō-chan. Why don't you relax and let Miiko-san and Kikuko-san explain it all to you."

Mimōko nodded absently as he headed off, and then she turned to stare wide-eyed at Miiko. The latter was smirking as she waved the just-arrived tōshi to a nearby chair. "You best sit down and relax yourself, Mimōko-san. This will take a bit."

Mimōko blinked, though she did as she was bade…

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Tomobiki…

"So you actually found Kyōrei-sama's magatama when you were just SIX, and then kept it with you as a 'good luck charm?!'" Haneko hoarsely demanded.

Ataru nodded. Everyone had come down to Okonomiyaki Nippon after they were let go from clean-up detail so they could enjoy some snacks before parting for the rest of the day. "Yeah. I never realized what it really was, but I always felt it was something pretty important, so I never let it out of my sight."

Hiromi chuckled. The visitors from Seito and Shikuko were now seated at one table along with Ataru and Hiromi as they waited for the vegetable-filled batter cakes on the portable stove there to cook. "Onii-san was quite overprotective of my soul when Hensō was here acting as his 'wife,'" she stated as she flipped one of the cakes over. "She didn't like the 'feel' of my magatama, but every time she tried to find some way to lose it, Onii-san would catch her and blow garlic powder in her face to make her leave it alone. Same thing with Hensō's cousin Jariten. And threats of 'electro-shock punishment' were met back with being publicly accused of acting as a monster towards him." She then giggled. "That was one of the FEW times Onii-san could make Hensō fully bow to his will, much to the frustration of both Otō-san and Okā-san; at the time, they were totally smitten by Hensō and Jariten. A pity he didn't have as much control over himself as he does now; some of the things that happened until we encountered Elle-san might have been lessened if not totally prevented."

"Well, we should be grateful for that," Sonami stated as she flipped her own okonomiyaki; she hadn't enjoyed the wonderful food for a while and she was quite happy that Hiromi and her brother had invited them out to have it.

"Is this Hensō fully gone?" Kumomi asked. "I do recall the 'world oil-theft' incident shortly after your tag race with her. Given how she was willing to allow THAT to happen to make you bend to her will, what's to stop her from…?"

A laugh. "Don't worry about that, Kumomi-san," Ataru said. "After Kyech — she's a close friend of the REAL Lum — found out about my 'engagement' to Elle, she decided enough was enough and it was time to let the whole galaxy…"

"At least Lum-san's parents," Hiromi cut in.

"…find out the truth about what happened to her," he finished. "When I was dragged off to Uru to get married to Hensō, Kyech crashed the wedding. Lum came with her. Onē-san sensed the truth right away and afterwards, Lum managed to do a mind-meld with my parents, not to mention people like Megane's gang and Mendō." He nodded to where his classmates were seated, enjoying their own food as they chatted with each other; the Moroboshi siblings had been quick to sense that their peers were very curious about the tōshi that had come to visit their school today. "Once I went through THAT, there was no way I was going to marry Hensō after finding out how she STOLE Lum's life from her!" A shrug. "So after Lum taught me how to divorce her, I did it, and then Kyech took me to her home planet, Okusei, to help get Onē-san, Tariko and Hiromi-chan out of my head. Two months later, we came back."

"What about Lum?" Shikuko asked.

"She was already married by then," Ataru said, a touch of regret in his voice. "Noukiites — they're Kyech's people — have allowed same-sex marriages for well over two thousand years. Lum's an Avalonian like Hiromi-chan here; she's fully bi." Seeing Shikuko's eyebrow arch and the other tōshi perk in interest, he smirked. "She met a girl named Kuhu; she was studying at a major school there. They fell in love and got engaged around the time of the Tag Race." He shrugged. "Who was I to interrupt that?"

"You wish it was otherwise," Haneko noted.

A nod. "Hai."

Immediately, Shikuko gave him a supportive hug. "We still keep in contact with Lum-san and her friends on Okusei," Hiromi stated. "As for Hensō and the others, they're forbidden from returning to Earth again. It turns out that there was a clause in the Tag Race agreement between the Urusians and the United Nations which gave Onii-san the right to declare any Urusian _persona non grata_ after he won the Tag Race. In other words, forbid them from ever even VISITING Earth. After he was able to think straight for the first time in ten years, he exercised that right to ensure none of that race will ever come back to Earth for the next two centuries. Hence, no Hensō, no Jariten, no Rei and no Damasu." She smirked. "That's the person we knew as 'Ran.'"

"So Lum wasn't alone in this, right?" Haneko asked.

"No. Ran-chan, Oyuki-sama and Benten-san were also affected," Ataru answered. "At the same time for the same reason as why Lum got hurt. All three of them now live on either Okusei or Kaisei — that's a world in a solar system pretty close to here — while their replicas are stuck back on Uru, Neptune or Fukunokami."

"And since Hensō and Damasu aren't allowed to visit Earth, we will never have to really worry about seeing Kamen or Mienai again," Hiromi added.

"Benten-san's and Oyuki-sama's replicas," Ataru explained.

The visitors all nodded. "So you're pretty much unattached," Shikuko noted as she allowed her hand to reach down and grasp one of Ataru's.

"Pretty much so, Sempai. Why?" he said as he gave her a rakish look.

She awked as Haneko and Asumi laughed, Sonami giggled and Kumomi politely hid her smirk. "Well, if you desire my blessings as Matriarch of the Clan, Onii-sama, you may have them. I would believe Shikuko-san would make a lovely wife," Hiromi stated.

Shikuko gasped as more laughter filled the room…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, after supper…

"Excuse me?"

Tanaka Tomoko perked on hearing that polite voice, and then she looked over to see a smiling woman of about twenty or so standing at the desk where she and her co-workers monitored all the rooms on their floor. "Hai? Can I help you?"

A blush. "I'm sorry to bother you, but which room is Saotome Ranma in?"

Tomoko blinked. "May I have your name, please?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm Tendō Kasumi."

The nurse was quick to suppress a sigh. Much that she would prefer NOT to do this — Kasumi did seem like a nice person — she had her orders. "I'm very sorry to inform you of this, Tendō-san, but no member of your family, much less Ranma-san's father, are permitted to visit him at this time," she then stated.

Kasumi's face instantly fell on hearing that. "Oh, I see. Is he still in critical condition?" she then asked as she gave Tomoko a hopeful look.

The nurse smiled. "Actually, he's out of critical condition. Despite the severity of the wound, his constitution is strong and he is making quite the recovery. I think he'll be out of the hospital within the next two weeks."

Silence.

"Oh, my! That's wonderful!" Kasumi gasped, her eyes tearing. She then paused before she turned her eyes down, the smile fading as she realized what was now going on. "I see, then." She then took a deep breath as she seemed to calm herself. "Would it be possible to pass on a note from me to him, then? Is that permitted?"

"It depends on the note."

"Tomoko-san, what's going on here?"

Stunned to hear what sounded exactly like Ranma when he was a she, Kasumi then turned…before her jaw dropped in shocked disbelief on seeing a woman the height of Ranma's male self walk up. And despite the considerable difference in her body proportions and the darker hair worn loose — not to mention the magatama earring — it would be too easy to mistake this woman as a close relative of Kasumi's would-have-been brother-in-law. And that wasn't because she was dressed in Ranma's preferred red tang shirt and black trousers. "Oh, my…!" she gasped as her hand flew to her lips.

"Miiko-san, Tendō-san is here to see your brother," Tomoko announced.

Miiko blinked, and then she gazed at Kasumi for a moment with eyes that seemed far older than she appeared to be. As Kasumi ducked that penetrating stare, the tōshi then sighed before she gazed at the nurse, a light smile on her face. "Tomoko-san, I'll take Kasumi-san down to the cafeteria so we can have some tea and talk. Mimōko-san is still visiting Onii-sama. I would prefer them not to be disturbed."

A nod and relieved smile. "I understand, Mii-chan."

With that, Miiko headed to the nearby bank of elevators. Kasumi blinked, and then she moved to follow as the tōshi pressed the down button. "'Miiko'…?"

"Hayashi Miiko," the younger woman firmly stated.

Kasumi blinked before her eyes went wide…

* * *

"So Ranma-kun is actually allowing his grandmother to do that to him?"

Miiko nodded. "She is. Obā-sama called us about an hour ago and told us that her lawyer had already spoken to the family court judge in Taitō-ku. He rendered judgement right then and there. Officially, Onii-sama is now 'Hayashi Ranma.' The necessary modifications to both the Saotome and Hayashi _koseki_ were done right then and there. The notifications will be sent out to all the applicable parties tomorrow morning."

Kasumi took that in, and then she sighed. Both were now in the staff cafeteria enjoying late evening tea; the staff had taken well to Miiko and Kikuko, so they were allowed free reign (within reason) here. "Was it hard for him to make that decision?"

"At first, it was," Miiko replied. "Onii-sama values keeping his promises — or upholding promises made in his name — quite highly despite the callous way Genma has treated his honour and personal safety in the past. He was very happy to learn that Nodoka was alive and well; he wanted her to be informed right away about what had happened to him." A sigh. "Thank the heavens for Tariko-san, of course. When she heard that Genma had been made to change his family name on marrying Nodoka, she immediately suspected something could go wrong. And thanks to Obā-sama…"

Kasumi closed her eyes. "To believe something like THAT!" she hissed out. "A SEPPUKU agreement of all things?! In THIS day and age?! Why?!"

A shrug. "I do not know. When she met with us today, Obā-sama did hint that Nodoka does take personal honour to rather odd extremes. And there were things she felt she had to hold back so that Onii-sama didn't feel deluged all at once." A sigh. "I fear that whatever Obā-sama is holding back will destroy whatever good feelings Onii-sama still has for his mother. When she gets the notification…"

"Will she come here?"

"I would suspect she would seek her husband out first to learn what happened that led to something like that," Miiko stated. "If she knows Genma is staying with your family, she will make her way there first. You best prepare yourselves."

Kasumi nodded, her mind already turning over. She had come to the hospital — at Nabiki's prodding — to see if there was some way to mend relations between the Tendō family as a whole and Ranma personally. Coming here, she had NOT been prepared to encounter such a wall of guarded hostility protecting Ranma from her and her whole family, to say ANYTHING of learning that the sweet yet naïve boy that had lived in her home for the last month or so was now about to legally — and HONOURABLY! — sever all ties with the Tendō family, to say anything of his own birth family…!

"If it is anything, Kasumi-san, I really hope that your family will endure what is happening now without serious injury," Miiko then added.

Kasumi perked, and then she smiled. "That is very kind of you, Miiko-san." She then sighed. "Still, I don't think this will go over, especially with Akane-chan."

An eyebrow arched. "Why? I would personally think that once she's free of the 'disgusting sex-changing pervert,' Akane-san would gladly jump for joy!" Miiko stated, her voice layered with a flood of sarcasm as she sat back in her chair.

The elder Tendō daughter winced on hearing that. "Akane isn't…!" she began before taking a deep breath. "Hai, I suppose you have a right to believe that."

"Why are you so quick to defend her…?" Miiko asked, and then she stopped before wryly smiling. "My apologies, Kasumi-san. Despite her considerable anger issues, she is your sister and your loyalty to her is quite apparent."

Kasumi then smiled. "And your loyalty to Ranma-kun is just as apparent, Miiko-san. And you have every right to defend your brother, especially from what Akane-chan has done to him since he came to the house." She then blinked. "He overhead us, didn't he?" As the woman across the table from her arched her eyebrow, Kasumi added, "When I talked to Akane-chan about curbing her temper that one time."

A nod. "Hai, he did. He was actually coming to see Akane to apologize to her for his own behaviour. But when he heard her words that day, he decided she didn't deserve an apology." A sigh. "It is a wonder to me that he still likes her…"

"As much as she likes him," Kasumi finished. "Certainly, none of us have done much to help it along," she then admitted. "My own unwillingness to step in and try to make the situation better, Nabiki-chan's blatant abuse of Ranma-kun's private space, to say anything of what Otō-san and Oji-san always pulled on them…"

"Hai. And Onii-sama is certainly not blameless in that matter, either."

"Well, given what you've just told me about what his father put him through…" Kasumi said as she felt her stomach roll. Miiko had tried to gloss over the whole matter with the Neko-ken, but what she had said had been more than enough to make even Kasumi's hardened constitution shatter and send her to a nearby bathroom to throw up her supper. To believe that Genma had done THAT to his son…!

"I suspect we will learn much more over the next few days," Miiko stated, and then she sighed. "Kasumi-san, let's be honest. What would you want to have happen?"

"Truthfully?" A smirk. "To have my own chance at him."

Miiko blinked, and then she laughed. "Well, I certainly can't hold THAT against you!" she then stated before she sobered. "You will have to apologize, of course."

A nod. "I'd be more than glad to do that." Kasumi then took a deep breath. "Still, given how far Ranma-kun is being forced to go to regain his honour, I doubt Otō-san will allow that to happen anytime soon, if at all. And there is Tōfū-kun as well," she then admitted, an amused glitter in her eye. "If he can simply overcome his own silliness whenever he's close to me, of course." She then sat back in her chair. "I doubt Chiaki-obāsan will allow Ranma-kun to come back together with Akane-chan anytime soon, if at all. She'll be broken-hearted over that," she then stated.

"There is Hibiki, of course," Miiko then stated. "She trusts him." She then rolled her eyes. "And I pray that trust will survive a certain revelation."

The older woman perked. "What revelation?"

A sigh. "Please forgive me, Kasumi-san. But since Onii-sama has made a promise on his honour — and one he feels is a very VALID promise — I can't say anything more. But what I CAN tell you is that your father — and most likely Genma — are aware of this secret Hibiki has forced Onii-sama to keep. And should something happen that would make that secret go public, I can GUARANTEE that Akane-san's reputation would be in tatters." Miiko finished her tea before standing. "My advice to you, Kasumi-san, is this: Use THAT to make your father see reason so that this secret will not come to hurt Akane-san more than she needs to be hurt. Despite her anger problems, Onii-sama does care for her, thus I find myself caring for her as well. His honour traps him, thus my honour traps me. You are not so restrained. For your sister's sake, act!"

Kasumi stared at her, and then she nodded…

* * *

"Reitei-sama…? She's ALIVE?!"

Mimōko was nearly at the point of fainting.

"Yeah, but she doesn't like that name," Ranma stated as Kimiko helped him sip down some ice water. "She uses 'Ryūkō Kyōrei' instead. Her given name and the name given after her death as they're read in Japanese." A shrug. "Then again, I think she'd just prefer 'Moroboshi Hiromi.' It's how she sees herself even if Mii-chan calls her 'Majesty' and 'My Emperor' all the time." A chuckle. "So how high are you?"

She perked. "What do you mean?"

"Your earring," he said as he pointed at his ear in emphasis. "Mii-chan's earring is green, but I remember it being almost black when I found it in China."

"That makes her E-rank," Mimōko stated. "She'd be seen at the bottom of the pack. It's normal for all of us starting out. If the earring turns red, that's D-rank. C-rank is bronze, B-rank is gold and A-rank is silver."

A nod. "Sort of like belts in normal martial arts. How's it determined?"

"By the amount of fights you get into and how varied are your fights," she answered. "I've been through some odd-ball things. That's why I have this patch over my eye." She pointed to her covered eye in emphasis. "These days, I'm seen as being one of the top twenty tōshi throughout Kantō. My cousin Shikuko — Ryofu Hōsen — is tied for first place with her schoolmate from Rakuyō, Tadasu Suguta (or Tōtaku Chūei). Second place is held by a woman named Seki Haneko — Kan'u Unchō — over at Seito."

He perked, and then he smirked. "Kan'u Unchō, huh? She got the guāndāo?"

A smirk. "Hai, she's got it. Even calls it the 'Reienkyo,' too!" The smile then faded as she sighed. "I'm sorry, Ranma-kun. Much that it might seem weird, the past history between Haneko-san and I does weigh down on both of us." She then perked. "So where did you read of Lord Yúncháng, anyway? The _Sānguó Yǎnyì_?"

A nod. "Yeah. It was one of the few books Oyaji ever let me read."

"Did it happen?" Kikuko then asked.

Mimōko perked. "What?"

"The Oath of the Peach Grove?"

The tōshi blinked, and then she laughed. "Actually, something like that might have happened," she admitted before shrugging. "That's part of what we go through with these things," she said as she pointed to her ear. "What's real for us? What's just a legend? What did happen back then? What was just a story?" A shrug. "Who knows."

"A lot of meditating might help," he admitted. "I've been meditating a bit ever since Negako started working on my back. Never did much of it when I was on the road with Oyaji. He never really held much value to it. Now…" A shrug.

"He was just your sensei, you mean?"

Ranma blinked, and then he sighed. "Yeah, he was."

Mimōko shook her head. "I don't even know what to say to you, Ranma-kun," she then admitted. "I mean…" A shrug. "Well, all of us, when we start interacting with the magatama, end up believing that it's our fate to live out our lives like our predecessors did. It's both an annoyance to us and it's a comfort, too. But you…" She shook her head. "You could have become anything you wanted, Ranma-kun. But to hear what you just said about what you've been through all these years…"

"My life was stolen from me, you mean. Sort of like what Negako said about Oyaji 'brainwashing' me into caring only for the martial arts."

A nod. "Yeah."

A shrug. "Maybe. And maybe if Tariko and Hiromi and Negako and all of you didn't come along, I would've felt that my life WAS stolen from me thanks to Shampoo." He then shook his head. "I dunno. I try not to dwell on the bad stuff; life's too damned short to worry about things like that. Still…"

She nodded. "That's a pretty mature attitude to have, Ranma-kun," she noted, and then she perked as footsteps echoed from outside. Turning to look, she then smiled on seeing Miiko step into the room. "Konban wa, Miiko-san."

"Konban wa, Mimōko-san," Miiko replied. "Onii-sama, Kasumi-san was here."

Ranma perked. "Is she okay?"

A sigh. "I believe I managed to calm things down between us and her family for the time being," Miiko stated. "Tomoko-chan was quite firm with her when she came to see you. It hurt her. She was willing to apologize for her behaviour towards you when you were at her house. She struck me as fundamentally honest about that."

"How's Akane?" he asked.

A shake of the head. "Kasumi-san did think she'll be heartbroken when she learns about what Obā-sama is about to do." A shrug. "Then again, I can't say. We know how much Kasumi-san cares for her, don't we?" As Ranma nodded, Miiko then smirked. "By the way, I managed to put a hint on Kasumi-san concerning P-chan."

He tensed. "You didn't…"

A firm shake of the head. "No, I did not. But I did point her at her father and Genma since both of them know that story and choose to do nothing about it. You have to agree that since they are the 'authority' figures in that house…"

A snort. "Some authority figures," Kikuko muttered.

"What's this all about?" Mimōko asked.

Miiko smirked. "Abused honour. The story of Onii-sama's life."

The Nan'yō senior perked, and then she nodded. "Right…"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Teifu Tokubō** (**Hodo Amanezuke**) first appeared in manga episode #12. He is the current incarnation of **Chéng Pǔ** (unknown birth date, believed to have died sometime after 210 C.E.), one of the more loyal generals who served under the Sūn Clan until after the famous **Battle of Chìbì** (otherwise known as the "Battle of the Red Cliffs") fought between the Imperial Hàn and the forces of the future Shǔ Hàn and Dōng Wú in the winter of 208-209. Chéng would later die of complications from smoke inhalation after ordering prisoners to be burned to death. In this incarnation, Amanezuke was one of the Nan'yō Academy's representatives in the 2009 Great Fighters Tournament before he was crippled and blinded by **Kōso** (**Ki Hajime**) in a replay of the **Battle of Xiāngyáng** in 191 between the forces of Sūn Jiān and Liú Biǎo (as noted in _Long Way Home_). This differs from the flashback scene in episode #12 of _Ikkitōsen_; there, it was **Bunshū** (**Kazaru Tagurō**) who crippled Amanezuke.

Now, about some of the characters I've invented for this story: The **Ten Attendants** (in Mandarin, _Shí Chángshì_, literally meaning "Ten Personal Secretaries [of the Emperor]") were ten eunuchs who held the true power during Liú Hóng's reign over the Middle Kingdom. Because of the total lack of any check on the Attendants' influence over the court in Luòyáng, the mechanisms of government effectively broke down and ensured that no one could respond properly to things such as the famine that struck China before the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The Attendants' influence over the court in Luòyáng eventually came to be seen as the root cause of all the evils that plagued the land. Thus, in the wake of Liú's death in 189, the Attendants tried to manipulate the succession to the throne by influencing the **Dowager Empress Hé** (birth date unknown, died 189) into supporting the ascension of **Liú Biàn** (176-190) to the Dragon Throne. In allowing the Dowager Empress such influence over the Middle Kingdom, the Attendants effectively welcomed her brother, Grand General **Hé Jìn** (birth date unknown, died 189), to influence the court. General Hé moved to exterminate the Attendants and the other eunuchs at the court, but he wound up killed by them instead. This gave military forces surrounding Luòyáng at the time (all summoned by Hé Jìn) the chance to exterminate the eunuchs…and pave the way to allow Dǒng Zhuó to seize power. The current incarnation of the Attendants and the Hé siblings first appear in Part 28.

2) Translations: **Bunka** — Literally meaning "Cultural Achievement," this was the era name (in Japanese, **nengō**) for the period from January 1804 to April 1818, the fifth year of which was 1808; **Hōei** — Literally meaning "Perpetual Treasure," this was the _nengō_ for the period from March 1704 to April 1711, the fifth year of which was 1708; **Dào** — Literally "pathway," this is the term used in Taoism to describe the essential principle underlying Existence as a whole, which would be that faith's interpretation of the Sagussan word _Te'a_; **Persona Non Grata** — Literally "an unwelcome person," this is the diplomatic phrase used to describe someone who has been denied the right to enter another nation; **Ku** — Name-suffix for a city ward; **Reienkyo** — Japanese pronunciation of the Mandarin _Lěngyènjù_ ("Frost Fair Blade"), the primary weapon once welded by Guān Yǔ, which can also be called the **Seiryūengetsu-dō** (in Mandarin _Qīnglóngyǎnyuè-dāo_, meaning "Green Dragon Crescent Moon Blade"); **Sānguó Yǎnyì** — Literally "Commentary on the Three Kingdoms," the proper way of addressing the book by **Luó Guànzhōng** (circa 1330-1400) we know as _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_.

3) The ancient willow tree at the northwest end of the Tomobiki High School grounds made its first appearance in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Terror of the Willow Ghost" (manga episode #127). **Okonomiyaki Nippon** first appeared in the manga story "Food Fight" (manga episode #106).

4) **Nakōdo** (literally "go-between person") is the term applied to people who act as the matchmakers in formal **omiai** (literally "looking at one another") meetings between prospective marriage partners. A very honourable tradition, it would be more than understandable that the tōshi would be rather shocked to see Moroboshi Negako (given how much tōshi as a whole look on Negako as the living personification of the Angel of Death; hence her nickname "Black Death of the Martial Arts") act in **this** manner.

5) **Tàijíquán** is the formal Pīnyīn way of writing what is often known in English as **T'ai Chi Ch'uan**, the martial art form that is often practiced worldwide for its many health benefits. The phrase literally means "Supreme Ultimate Fist." The **Yángshì** (literally "Yáng Family" but most often interpreted as "Yáng-style") school of tàijíquán was developed by **Yáng Lùchán** (1799-1872), a farmer and practitioner of **Chángquán** (literally "Long Fist") who was later impressed by a demonstration of tàijíquán by a student of the famous master **Chén Chángxīng** (1771-1853). After studying under Master Chén, Master Yáng would be granted the chance to form his own school in Běijīng, where he became known as "Yáng The Invincible" for having never lost a fight AND never seriously injuring an opponent. One of Master Yáng's students, a Manchu cavalry officer named **Wú Quányòu** (1834-1902), would eventually develop his own school of tàijíquán, which would eventually spread to Shànghǎi and Xiānggǎng (Hong Kong), thus allowing non-Chinese to learn of this martial art form.

6) Shikuko's way of introducing herself to Ataru was inspired by one of the Anime Addventure stories that ultimately provoked my interest in _Ikkitōsen_ and made this story possible: _The Fate of the Sacred Bead_, created by **Iridium Heart**. The specific episode where that phrase was said was in the episode "Undeniable" by **Nuclear Death Frog** (episode #217941).

7) Hiromi and her peers first met the Kōshi Kasshi in _Long Way Home_.

8) The **Koseki** (literally "family registry") is the official record of each family in Japan. The _koseki_ serves as a catch-all recording of the following events that affect a family: births, acknowledgements of a child's paternal ancestry, adoptions, disruptions of adoptions, death, marriages and divorces. All _koseki_ are kept at the local registrar's office. All events such as the change of Ranma's family name from "Saotome" to "Hayashi" becomes legally effective once said changes are recorded in the applicable _koseki_. Of course, births and deaths are seen as effective the day and time they happen, but such events must be recorded in the _koseki_ as soon as possible.


	5. The Downfall of the Saotome Clan Part 1

The Tendō home, Tuesday 29 June, after breakfast…

"Were you able to see him?"

Kasumi perked on hearing Nabiki's question, and then she sighed as she turned back to wipe down the kitchen counter. "No. We're all forbidden from seeing him at this time, Nabiki-chan," she stated. "For understandable reasons, of course."

The middle daughter nodded. It hadn't been pleasant when the police had come by after Ranma had been taken to the hospital, immediately wondering what was going on and why was their house guest now in the intensive care ward with a SWORD wound of all things in his back, having wrecked a good portion of his spine. Much that Nabiki knew and understood why those men would be concerned, the farther away the police stayed from her home, the better she liked it. After all, some of her money-making activities strayed dangerously close to the blatantly illegal and it wouldn't take much to blow it wide open. Much that she did have a reputation as the "ice queen" amongst her peers, she knew she was nowhere CLOSE to being as invulnerable as she would like.

"Is he recovering?" she asked.

"Hai, he is. Negako-sama is doing wonders on his spine. Or so Miiko-san said."

Nabiki perked. "Who's Miiko?"

A smile crossed the elder daughter's face. Seeing that, Nabiki winced; it was Kasumi's patented **I Know You've Done Something Bad** Smile. The one that was TOO similar to what their late mother Kimiko used on them whenever they misbehaved. "You once went through Ranma-kun's backpack when he was off at Tōfū-sensei's clinic," she stated. "Did you find the magatama earring in there?" On sensing Nabiki nod — and also sensing her surprise that the elder daughter had been able to detect her having found THAT! — Kasumi smiled. "In the same way Moroboshi Hiromi was created from Moroboshi Ataru several months ago, Hayashi Miiko was created from Hayashi Ranma."

Silence.

"Damn…!" Nabiki breathed out.

It then hit her.

"Ranma's renouncing his family name?"

Kasumi winced as she made a quick glance towards the living room. Akane had already gone off to school; Nabiki herself would have to hurry so that she wouldn't be late for classes. And Sōun and Genma were now on the patio playing go. Taking a deep breath, she then whispered, "Please don't shout that out so loudly."

Nabiki blinked several times, and then she sank into her chair. "Onē-chan…if Ranma-kun goes rōnin, his honour is totally shot to pieces! Even if he…!"

"His grandmother has intervened."

More silence.

Nabiki gaped. "His grandmother?"

"Oji-san's mother, Hayashi Chiaki-sama," Kasumi answered, keeping her voice down as she moved to begin washing dishes. "The hospital contacted her when they came to suspect contacting Ranma-kun's mother might be troublesome. And when she learned some rather awful things Oji-san did to Ranma-kun, she invoked a clause in the pre-marital agreement Oji-san's family agreed to with his wife's family to take full custody — including permitting a full name change — of Ranma-kun. And Miiko-san, too."

Still more silence.

"Damn!" Nabiki then breathed out, a delighted smile crossing her face. "So there's someone in the whole family that has some common sense!"

Kasumi perked. "What have you learned?"

The middle daughter moved to answer, and then she perked as she noted the time. "Damn! Can't stay here and explain everything; I got to go!" She then moved to leave before stopping to gaze on Kasumi, lowering her voice to ensure the two men on the patio couldn't hear them, even given the distance and the intervening walls. "If you get the chance, go look in Oji-chan's backpack. Left lower compartment, the small pocket that's on the inner wall there. Once you see what's on the paper there, you'll understand what I mean. And if I were you, whenever the notice of Ranma-kun's name change comes, DON'T let Oji-chan know about it. Hide it for the time being, okay?"

"Why?"

"By telling you all this ahead of time, Miiko's done us a favour. Let's reciprocate. I'll explain further when I get back from school, okay?"

Kasumi nodded as Nabiki headed off…

* * *

Chichibu, Seito High School, that moment…

"My friends and fellow tōshi: Our leader, Ryūbi Gentoku."

Cheers filled the ranks of students standing now on the soccer pitch as Haneko stepped aside to allow Sonami to take her place at the microphone. As they looked at her, many of the student body were quick to note that their leader wasn't acting the least bit nervous standing before them, which was a BIG change over what had happened in previous times their student council president had been asked to give a morning speech. As many braced themselves, Sonami then took a deep breath before bowing to them. "Ohayō gozaimasu, minna-san. I trust we all had a wonderful weekend?"

As that icebreaker settled in, people laughed and cheered as both Haneko and Asumi clapped in support. Sonami waited for the noise to die down before she carried on, "You all must now be wondering this: 'Who on Earth is that woman and what did she do to the real Koro Sonami?'" As people awked and then broke out in laughter, the leader of Seito then shrugged. "Well, let's just say that unlike the other times I've been dragged against my will by Haneko-san here…" — she thumbed the dark-haired beauty beside her — "…I actually HAVE something good to talk about today!"

More laughter and applause. "Now, you're all probably wondering why I'm using my real name, much less Haneko-san's, in lieu of our battle names," Sonami carried on after they quieted down. "There's a good reason for that. But before I explain, let me ask a question: How many of us have paid attention to events in Tomobiki over the last year? Put up your hands." Noting about half the people there doing that, she then nodded. "All right, then. This should make things a little easier to explain.

"Yesterday, I had the privilege to meet Moroboshi Ataru and the members of his family," Sonami continued, and then she held up her hand as shocked gasps came at her. "Please, people! Ataru-kun's not as bad as some might make him out to be! Please!" As people quieted down, she then breathed out, "Along the way, I also had the privilege to meet Ataru-kun's sisters. Negako-sama, whom many of us know much more as the 'Black Death'…" As cries of fear and horror escaped the crowd before her, Sonami raised her hand again to calm everyone. "Please, everyone! I'm still not done yet!" As the noise died away once more, she then added, "And I met his other sisters. Tariko-san, who was, until six months ago, a part of Ataru-kun's very own psyche. And Hiromi-san."

Sonami then smiled. "Hiromi-san's battle name is 'Ryūkō Kyōrei.'"

Confusion crossed many people's faces for a moment before a gasp echoed from off to Sonami's left. "Reitei-sama…!" Eyes then locked on one of the class leaders in the senior ranks, Kashira Tōko — "Mōtatsu Shikei" as she was better known here — as she blinked several times, a look of recognition on her face. "It's Reitei-sama…!" she repeated again before gazing at Sonami. "Hiromi-sama is Reitei-sama! Is that what you mean, Sonami?"

A nod. "Hai, Tōko-san. Hiromi-san was — in our first lives — the Emperor Líng of Hàn. She chose her battle name from her real name and her posthumous name." Sonami then shook her head. "She doesn't like being called 'Reitei,' by the way."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

A wild whoop of joy escaped from the crowed as people screamed out their delight on hearing that news. As people began to hug and kiss each other, Tōko could only shake her head as her mind raced through what she had just heard. _Reitei-sama has come back…!_ she thought as she watched several people break ranks and race to the podium so they could bombard Sonami with questions about their returned emperor. _Reitei-sama has come back! Mōtoku-sama has to be told of this right away…!_ As she remained in place while people around her celebrated, she felt a shudder run through her body.

_What will this mean for all of us…?_

* * *

Tomobiki, outside the Moroboshi home, that moment…

"Ah! Shikuko-sempai!"

Shikuko perked on hearing that voice, and then she turned to see Miyake Shinobu race up to her. "Ohayō, Shinobu-san," she said with a nod as she slipped on her helmet; she had brought her bike to park it beside the Moroboshi home before she had spent the night there. "Ready for another day of boring classes?"

Shinobu laughed. "Somewhat!" She then sobered up, glancing down the street. The Moroboshi siblings were walking down the street towards school in their typical line-of-review formation. "So…" she then breathed out, her cheeks reddening.

The older woman perked, and then she grinned. "We just slept together."

Ataru's former girlfriend awked, and then her cheeks reddened even more. "I'm sorry," she then apologized. "I really shouldn't think that I have any right to try to influence Ataru-kun's life like I did in the past, but…!"

"You still hold quite the torch for him, don't you?"

A nod. "Hai."

Shikuko then sighed. "Shinobu, I won't lie to you. I'm attracted to him and I'm very interested in a relationship with him. And no, this isn't just because of Nozomi-chan." She took a deep breath. "How much do you know about Negako?"

"Negako-san?" the younger woman asked, and then she sighed. "Just the basics of what she is and how she came to be. She scares me a lot." As the tōshi laughed, Shinobu then added, "She seems to scare all of you a lot, too. Haneko-sempai and Asumi-san were pretty unnerved by her."

"With good reason," Shikuko stated. "Back before she became a living being, she was used by the Imperial Court here in Japan to kill those of our past incarnations that were causing trouble as the magatama bearing the souls of our namesakes made their way here from Korea. Two of MY past incarnations fell at her hands, believe it or not." As Shinobu gasped, the tōshi waved her down. "Relax! That was three hundred years ago! Ancient history!" As Shinobu calmed down, Shikuko took a deep breath. "So yes, we all have reason to fear Negako. But look what happened yesterday."

She turned to stare at Shinobu with joyful tears in her eyes. "A woman who doesn't care about — and in many ways, simply doesn't COMPREHEND — the value of the basic things like love, family and friendship turned around and asked ME of all people to see if I could become the girlfriend to her last host. The one man throughout the last two hundred years to survive taking up the Sacred Promise of Bunka Go-nen, the promise made in 1808 to find some way to give the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ full control of her destiny." A sniff. "And once I got over the shock of it, I never felt so honoured in all my life. That a being like that — who probably deep down DOES understand things like duty and obligation — judged a crazy wildcat like ME worthy to be someone that could make someone SHE cares for happy for the rest of our lives. And rather long ones at that!"

Shinobu smiled. "I'm happy for you."

"Dōmo," Shikuko said with a nod, and then she turned the engine over. "Don't worry about it, okay?" she then said as she winked at Shinobu before lowering her safety visor. "I can keep him safe. You have a good day at school, okay?"

"Hai!" the younger woman said as the tōshi gunned her motor and drove off…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, that moment…

"You stayed overnight?"

Mimōko shrugged as she sipped her tea. "I like him."

Hearing that, Kazua blinked, and then he smiled. The doctor and his cousin were seated at a table in the cafeteria. "I rather suspected you would."

The younger tōshi blinked, and then she growled. "Kazua…!"

"You know I've never really trusted Hidari," he advised her.

A moan. "Why?" she demanded.

"Because I want you to be happy, Mō-chan," he answered as he gave her a smile. "And I want Ranma-kun to be happy. And I think you'll be happy together."

Silence.

"Kazua…"

"You know, Mii-chan likes you."

Mimōko's cheeks instantly reddened. "What…?"

Kazua smirked. "Mō-chan, she may have just been reborn in her new body, but it's pretty obvious to me that in her last life, Mii-chan was a woman. And she had a family that cared for and loved her dearly. And she's willing to love her new family now with the same strength she felt back then in China. I've long learned from Hana-sensei how to read people." Mimōko realized that her cousin was speaking of the "tōshi healer," Doctor Hana Hokaji (also known as "Kada Genka"); he was the one who helped Mimōko keep the dragon in her left eye under control by providing her with the enchanted eye patches she had been forced to wear since that awful incident years ago involving Koro Sonami. "Mii-chan wants Ranma-kun to be happy. To be with someone that can understand what he wants…and even more so, to be with someone HE can understand in return. That's what I think went wrong with his 'engagement' with the Tendō girl. I don't know Akane as well as Ono-sensei does, but from what I've heard of her so far from Ranma-kun, she's not ready for a long-term relationship. And Ranma-kun desperately needs the chance to learn how to be true _friends_ with someone before a relationship can ever begin with him. You're a martial artist, but you've also have a much more normal life than he's ever had." He shrugged. "You can make him happy, Mimōko. He can make you happy once he understands how to do that. And he's now free of all obligations forced on him by others. Don't let that chance slip by."

Mimōko blinked, and then she sighed. "Okay…"

Her breath then caught in her throat as she sensed a pair of powerful ki nexuses suddenly appear close by. "What the HELL…?" she growled as she bolted up.

Kazua was also on his feet; he had sensed it, too. "Who…?"

"One's Koshaji from Yoshū," she warned. "The other…!"

"Oh, damn!" he hissed. "That might be Shānpú!"

Instantly, Mimōko was running for the doors…

* * *

"_**GIRL-RANMA! DIE!**_"

Kikuko blinked on hearing that scream, and then she turned just as a lavender-haired hunter dived at her from the direction of the morning sun. "Eh…?" she began, and then she tilted herself to one side enough to allow the whistling butterfly sword coming down for her head to rip into the asphalt of the street near her feet. As she daintily danced aside, she then gave Shampoo an annoyed look; she had got some money from Kazua so she could get some snacks for herself and Miiko when the Nǚjiézú warrior-maiden had attacked. "«Oh! Shānpú! Good morning! I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood to play with you today, so would you kindly just go back to your village?»"

Shampoo gasped as she got back to her feet before she blinked in confusion. "Wait! You not…!" she began before she stopped, blinking in shock as her mind finally caught up to her ears. "«Wait! You spoke Mandarin!»" she exclaimed.

"«Why naturally,»" Kikuko replied. "«I AM the spirit of the girl that fell into the Niángnìquán at Zhòuquán-xiāng, after all. Since — even though I don't really remember my first life — I WAS born in China, I would be able to speak Mandarin!»"

The warrior-maiden blinked several times as her mind threatened to totally shut down from those words. "«What? You're the spirit of…? That's not possible!»"

A shrug. "«Oh, it's quite possible. You see, that girl you mistook me for is actually the cursed form of my brother, Hayashi Ranma. The man you recently stabbed in the back and crippled?»" she asked as the humour disappeared from her face as her voice went cold. "«The man you gave the Kiss of Marriage to and called 'Beloved.'»"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"«No…it's not true…!»"

As Shampoo took a step towards this strange though familiar and yet also clearly friendly woman, her confusion turning to panic as her mind began to churn through what she had just learned and the true scale of what she had done began to dawn on her…

"_**KIKUKO-SAN! GET DOWN!**_"

Kikuko blinked, and then she ducked…

…as a storm of kunai whizzed out of nowhere to slam into Shampoo's arms and legs, with a couple hitting hard in her gut to literally make her fold in half! As a cry of shock and pain escaped the warrior-maiden as she felt the strength in her damaged legs suddenly go, Kikuko looked up, and then she screamed, "_**SHĀNPÚ!**_"

In a flash, she was at the fallen Shampoo's side, yanking out the weapons that had buried themselves into her arms and body. As she moved to do something to stem the blood now haemorrhaging from shattered veins, Kikuko gritted her teeth. Much that she really didn't have much reason to like this woman, that she had now been cut down so ruthlessly by whoever it was that was now approaching her from behind…

"Kikuko-san! Leave her be! Get away from…!"

A gloved hand caught one of Ebisu Kyoko's hands to pull it away from Kikuko's shoulder. "Don't, Koshaji!" Mimōko snapped. "You've disabled her already! Killing her's just going to make this whole matter worse, not better!"

The silver-haired ninja from Yoshū spun on the Nan'yō senior. "The one she's trying to kill is under Ryūkō-sama's protection, Ryomō!" she snapped.

"And we don't know a thing about what she intends to do!" Mimōko told her as footsteps heralded the arrival of several nurses and Dō Kazua. "You've protected Kikuko and Ranma! That's all you need to do right now! Relax!"

Kyoko sighed as she pulled her hand away. "And what does Ryūen-sama think?"

"I will reserve judgement for the time being, Koshaji-dono."

Both turned as Miiko came up while Kazua and the nurses began to work on the bleeding warrior-maiden as the sounds of police sirens echoed in the air…

* * *

Tomobiki High School, moments later…

A sigh. "Moroboshi-kun…"

Tariko was blushing as she reached into her skirt to pull out her cell phone, which was now beeping insistently to herald an inbound call. "Sorry about that, Sensei," she said as she checked the caller ID on the phone, and then blinked on recognizing the name there. "What the hell?" she demanded as she flipped the device open. "Moshi-moshi. Tomoko-chan?" she asked. "I'm in class now…EH?"

Everyone — including Onsen Mark, the vice-principal and English teacher — jolted on hearing that gasp from Tariko, and then they turned to stare at her as she heard the message. "Is Ranma okay? She didn't get close to him, did she?" A pause, and then she blinked. "Ebisu Kyoko? Oh, that's Koshaji; she's a Yoshū girl! Gotcha!" Another pause, and then she sighed. "Hai! We'll be there after classes, okay?" Another pause, and then she nodded. "Hai. Ja ne!" She then hung up.

"What happened?" Onsen asked; while he would prefer that his students kept their cell phones turned off in class, he knew that emergencies could come up.

In Tomobiki, that was much more easily accepted than most other places.

A sigh, and then Tariko stood, bowing to him. "My apologies for disturbing the class, Sensei," she said. "Hayashi Kikuko, one of the bioroid sisters of the patient I told you about yesterday, was attacked by that Chinese girl that wanted to kill her brother. She was caught by one of the tōshi from the Yoshū Academy; stabbed multiple times by flung kunai!" As people winced — while they were used to people getting hurt due to something weird going on, the bloody way tōshi as a whole did business still didn't sit well with many of them — she added, "She's in intensive care and under guard."

"Was Ranma-san hurt?" Hiromi asked.

"He's okay. So's Kikuko-chan. Kyoko-chan got her just outside the hospital."

Onsen nodded. "Well, let's hope your new friend doesn't get any more surprises popped on him in the near future." He then gave her a stern look. "I'll let this go THIS time, Moroboshi-kun. Now sit down! We've got class to finish."

"Hai!"

Tariko took her seat as the teacher turned back to the blackboard…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, an hour later…

Shampoo felt pain all over.

She hadn't expected such a brutal and vicious attack.

Who had hurt her?

Who had…?

Where was she?

"Shānpú?"

Perking on hearing her name spoken properly — in lieu of the rather poor imitation the locals here used — she allowed her eyes to open as she found a familiar face staring down at her. "«Honoured Healer…»" she breathed out.

Ono Tōfū sighed, a smile on his face, though Shampoo — despite the pain she now felt — noted the expression didn't touch his eyes. "«Much that I do understand quests of honour, young lady, you are in a lot of trouble right now,»" he stated.

She blinked, and then a chill warped through her as she noticed the rather sterile ceiling behind the doctor's head. "«No…I must escape…!»" she gasped as she tried to move…and then she screamed out as the pain in her arms and legs turned into torrents of sheer agony. "AIYAH!" she wailed as she collapsed on the bed, her teeth grinding tight as she bit back the tears welling in her eyes.

Tōfū sighed as he reached over to gently press several shiatsu points to lessen the pain from the multiple stab wounds Ebisu Kyoko had left the poor warrior-maiden. "«Relax, Shānpú,»" he stated. "«You're in no shape to move at this time. The kunai that hit you almost destroyed the nerve clusters in your shoulders and hips. If you had not been moving when they struck, you would've been crippled for life.»"

She took that in. "«Who attacked me…?»"

"«A woman possessed by the soul of Hú Chē'ér. He who once served Dǒng Zhuó unto his death, then served Zhāng Xiù. And even won the admiration of Cáo Cāo.»"

Silence.

Shampoo was now as white as a sheet. _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ — in truth, the Nǚjiézú version of that story, which was in many ways more accurate and detailed than the work composed by Luó Guànzhōng — was required reading by all children of the tribe as soon as they became literate. And as the great-granddaughter of one of the tribal matriarchs, Shampoo had a very good understanding of some of the more interesting laws that governed her people. "«No…!»" she gasped, wondering what goddess she had angered so much to throw her into the path of one of THOSE undying demons. "«Not one of THEM! Not one of the mad ones of the Sānguó! They're HERE?!»"

"«Yes. Many of them are,»" he answered. "«While I don't know your laws concerning interacting with them, I can tell you this: The one you seek to kill — who is ALSO, thanks to the magic of Zhòuquán-xiāng, the one you also seek to marry — is now under the protection of the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn.»" As her jaw dropped in stunned disbelief — as far as the Nǚjiézú knew, Liú Hóng had NEVER reincarnated as many others of that bloody period of Chinese history had been throughout the eighteen hundred years since the final fall of the Hàn Dynasty! — he added, "«Because of that, the woman with the soul of Lord Hú took it upon herself to ensure Ranma and his sisters were protected. And she would have gladly killed you if she got the chance.»"

More silence.

"«Was Àirén a girl all along…?»" she sobbed.

A shake of the head. "«No. He was born a boy. When he came to your village, he came straight from Zhòuquán-xiāng. And an encounter with the Niángnìquán. Just as his father had an encounter with the Xióngmāonìquán. I think you remember him.»"

She blinked, and then she squeezed her eyes closed, her lips curling into a light smile even though her heart was now shattering as the true scale of what she had done finally sank in. "«The panda,»" she breathed out. "«He always seemed too human to me at times. How could I have not suspected something like that…?»"

"«Have you ever been to that place?»"

A shake of the head. "«No. But guaranteed, I will be facing it should I ever return to the village.»" A hoarse half-laugh, half-sob escaped her. "«Oh, Goddess! To believe that I gave the Kiss of Death AND the Kiss of Marriage to the SAME PERSON!»" She then sniffed. "«Àirén hates me now, doesn't he…?»"

He shrugged. "«I really can't judge that, Shānpú. While most people would be quite incensed at someone who gladly ran a sword through their back and rendered them paralysed from the waist down, Ranma…»" A sigh escaped him. "«In a way, Shānpú, you are very lucky. Ranma has ENORMOUS potential as a martial artist. He's also been exposed to several things that would make him VERY dangerous if he was attacked in the right way. The Cat Fist, for example.»" He paused as a stunned gasp escaped Shampoo; she clearly knew what THAT meant. "«And if he hadn't have met a nursing volunteer here a few days ago who happens to call among her family the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor AND the living spirit of the Zuìgāo Rénshēng, the chances are there that your sword-thrust would have ended his career in the martial arts.»" Again, he ignored the gasp from the wounded warrior-maiden on hearing the Mandarin way of saying _Saikō Jinseijutsu_; like in Japanese, those in China who knew of the spirit that now called herself "Moroboshi Negako" always addressed her by the simple transliteration of the name of the Art that ultimately had created her. "«Because of that, Ranma should be back on his feet in about a week. I can't say exactly when; I'm not the trauma doctor caring for him.»"

Shampoo blinked, a mixture of emotions flashing in her eyes as she took all that in, while her mind began to quickly churn at possible solutions for this rather ugly situation she now was in. "«You're saying that he might forgive me.»"

"«Maybe not to the point where he might accept your hand in marriage,»" Tōfū warned. "«And maybe not to the point where he might accept you as a friend or ally. I really can't say. But if you earn his respect, you may gain something just as precious.»" A sigh. "«In many ways, he is very naïve. Strange as this will sound to you, he was greatly sheltered by his father as they were on the road training. He has no understanding at ALL when it comes to relationships, even friendships. How to behave to a woman — ANY woman — is something he's never had to deal with until he came to live with the Tendō family. All he can understand of you now is that you're a martial artist and a warrior. That is it.»" A smirk. "«Do you really think he could make a good husband for you, either here in Japan or back home in your village?»"

"«I don't know…»"

He nodded. "«You should think about it. And STRONGLY think about it. As to what will happen once you're healed, I can't say. The authorities want to throw you in jail for attempted murder; in their eyes, your laws mean _nothing_ here. That depends on Ranma and his grandmother, of course, and if they choose to have charges pressed. So relax and allow your body to mend. Others will be here to ask you some questions.»" He gave her a look. "«I STRONGLY suggest you don't push your luck.»"

"«I'll remember that. Thank you, Honoured Healer.»"

Tōfū nodded as he stood up from the chair and left the room. Shampoo remained in place, though she was quick to hear several latches unlock and lock as the doctor walked out of the room she was now in. A casual glance quickly revealed two men who wore the same uniforms as those who had chased her out of Nerima a fortnight before. The leather holsters for their guns — again, she made a face on thinking of such grotesque weapons — were quite visible. A tired sigh then escaped her.

She was trapped.

And her quest had utterly come to a crashing end.

What was she to do…?

* * *

Meanwhile…

"So how is she?"

Dō Kazua smiled as Negako continued to work on Ranma's back; he was once again male and on his stomach as the grandmaster continued to press ki into his wound to make the cells there harden up. "She was stabbed ten times, all critical hits in the arms, legs and body. That's quite normal for Koshaji," he stated.

Ranma blinked, and then turned to gaze on the silver-haired woman standing now by the window, gazing outside on the lawn beyond. As Ranma looked at her, Kyoko then blinked before she turned to gaze at him, revealing that compass-point tattoo under her left eye. She blinked as her cheeks slightly reddened, and then they exchanged nods before she turned back to gaze outside. "So how soon will she be back on her feet?"

"Probably in a couple of days," the doctor stated. "Once that happens, a decision will have to be made. No formal charges have been laid yet, but from what I can sense, the police want to cage her somewhere remote, then throw away the key. What she did was quite beyond what could be seen as acceptable here in Nerima."

A sigh. "It all depends on me, you mean?"

"It actually depends on your grandmother," he advised. "You are underage and now the legal responsibility of your grandmother. She will probably want to show you that she's more willing to act on your behalf than your father ever did, so she might want to press for a trial and imprisonment. Or deport her to the Chinese authorities and let them deal with it. I'm not sure what will happen then."

"While I am not aware of current relations between the Nǚjiézú and the government of the People's Republic, the last encounter one of my hosts had with Shānpú's people — back in the 1930s, when Japan was at war with the Republic of China — revealed they still viewed themselves practically as an independent city-state," Negako stated. "You must ask yourself this, Ranma: Would forcing Shānpú into the hands of the current government of China do more harm than good? And what will it mean for her village in the long run? Learn those things before you decide what to do."

Ranma blinked, and then he nodded…

* * *

The Tendō home, mid-morning…

"Oh, MY!"

To say that Kasumi was shocked was putting it lightly.

Gazing at the paper now unfolded before her, she shook her head as a part of her wished that the words now leaping off that yellowed sheet would simply vanish into the dark realm of nightmare where they belonged. But try as she might, they weren't going away. They were there. As well as the dried blood that had to have come from Genma.

And a child's hand print.

A child's hand print…

_How old was Ranma-kun when this happened?_ she wondered as she moved to fold the paper and slip it into her skirt pocket before she turned back to monitor the lunch she was cooking. _Three? Four? Five, perhaps? Did he know about this?_ She then shook her head as she remembered the words she had exchanged with Hayashi Miiko the previous night. _No. It took him totally by surprise. And to believe that he would have gladly followed through with it until his grandmother gave him a way out…_

Regret then squeezed her heart before she banished it away from her thoughts. _No sense in lamenting on the 'might have beens,'_ she mused as she opened the rice cooker to see that the fluffy material inside was as soft as she wanted it. _What's happened has happened and there's no sense in wishing otherwise. Once Otō-san learns that Ranma-kun is no longer a Saotome, he'll no doubt forbid any of us from seeing him again. Not that it would really stop any of us from doing so, of course …_

A devilish smile then crossed her face as she considered that. While Sōun was legally the head of the family and traditionally would be seen as having final say on anything his daughters did, his emotional collapse after the death of his wife pretty much guaranteed that once he was confronted with his daughters' refusal to obey his commands, he would fold like a house of cards in a strong wind. And while he had revived himself somewhat thanks to Genma's presence in this home, once the matter of the engagement between the families and the union of the schools fell apart…

She sighed. While she was glad that Ranma had now been extracted from the whole situation, her sisters and she were still in the middle of it. And while some might see that as just given how all of them had treated him in the long run, Kasumi still wanted her family free of this whole situation once and for all.

Hopefully, such would come soon…

* * *

Fūrinkan High School, lunchtime…

"So you're all barred from seeing Ranma-kun?"

Nabiki nodded before she sipped her tea. She was seated with the members of her group of subordinates — officially, they were known as the "Fūrinkan High Economic Studies Club" — under a tree at the corner of the school grounds enjoying lunch. "Yeah," she said as she moved to finish the wonderful bentō Kasumi had made for her that day. While the elder Tendō daughter was clearly hurting over what had happened to Ranma thanks to Shampoo, she still did her duties as surrogate mother with élan. And that was something that everyone at the house needed, ESPECIALLY Akane.

"People are asking about him," Ryonami Itsuko, Nabiki's chief subordinate, then warned. "Even if he did come off as pretty weird because of that curse of his, he was liked by a lot of people, especially for his standing up to Kunō all the time, not to mention when he took Akane's place to beat Kodachi. What do we do…OHMIGAWD!"

Nabiki jolted. "WHAT?"

She then quickly noted that all her subordinates were gaping in the direction of the main gate. Turning to look herself, she blinked as she watched a lovely chestnut-haired woman in a red sleeved tang and black trousers walk up the main path towards the school. "Oh, ye gods…" she whispered as her eyes quickly took in the details. "Someone go check out her ear," she then ordered. "You're looking for a magatama."

The others gaped at her. "A tōshi?" Itsuko said before gulping.

"Ranma-kun found a magatama while he was in China; he brought it back with him when he came to live with us," Nabiki stated. "Onē-chan met a woman that looked like his virtual twin sister — not the busty redhead he turns into thanks to Jusenkyō — with a magatama earring. Her name's Miiko; don't know her battle name…"

"Looks like Kunō-sempai's going to find out for us," another girl warned.

Nabiki blinked, and then she smirked as she watched a familiar regal figure in kimono and hakama approach the newcomer. "Get it set up," she ordered.

The others quickly sprang into action. Watching them go, Nabiki could only smile with pride. She had truly trained her people very well…

* * *

Miiko was quick to see and sense the approaching kendō-ka come her way by the time she got halfway between the front gate and the main doors of Fūrinkan High. While Kikuko was currently staying close to their brother at Nerima General, the tōshi had been contacted by their grandmother concerning Ranma's school records and their removal from this place pending his recovery and transfer, most likely either to a school in Taitō Ward (Chiaki lived close to Shinobugaoka High School, north of Ueno JR station) or maybe either Tomobiki High School or Seito High School in Chichibu. Miiko was leaning towards the latter as it would bring her together with friends from the past…unless, of course, Hiromi would prefer to have her close by to act as her major domo once the reborn emperor finally decided to re-forge ties to her once-subjects.

"Hold, fair maiden!"

She stopped, turning to gaze distantly at the advancing Kunō Tatewaki as one of her eyebrows arched. "Are you addressing me, perchance?" she coolly asked.

Kunō suddenly felt his step falter as his eyes locked on that green magatama hanging off this beautiful woman's left earlobe, his face paling as the implications of what she clearly was sank in. He then shuddered as he tried to muster some face-saving way of quickly withdrawing from this person's presence. "Um…your pardon, Ojō-sama," he then said. "I mistook you for someone else. Please excuse me."

And with that, he bowed before heading off in another direction. As people around her all gaped on seeing the kendō-ka make such an obviously quick retreat, Miiko shrugged as she marched on to the front doors, taking the steps two at a time before she passed through the doors, and then she slipped off her outdoor shoes before walking barefoot towards the main office. People in the hallways all stared as she past, the more observant ones quick to spot her earring and — realizing that this person was of the same type of being as the crazy fighters who dominated schools like Rakuyō, Nan'yō, Seito and Kyoshō — get out of her way as quick as they could move. Noting that, she could only smirk — an expression that made the smart ones move even FASTER! — as she stepped into the main office. "Excuse me," she called out to the secretary there.

The older woman looked over. "Hayashi Miiko, correct?"

Miiko blinked. "Obā-sama called ahead?"

"Hai." With that, she pulled out three folders. "We got the notification about your brother's change of family name two hours ago. We already changed his records."

Miiko looked down as the folders were handed over: **HAYASHI RANMA**, **HAYASHI MIIKO** and **HAYASHI KIKUKO**. "But how…?" she whispered as she gazed on the secretary.

A smile. "Those polite fellows from the United Nations were more than happy to help make the ones for both yourself and Kikuko-kun, Miiko-kun. While I don't even begin to understand HOW you came into being, they explained it was quite commonplace, even in placed beyond Tomobiki." She then sobered. "Is Ranma-kun alright?"

Miiko nodded as she took the folders in hand. "Onii-sama will be on his feet and leaping over tall buildings with his normal élan within a week at the earliest," she said before bowing politely to the older woman. "Please have a good day."

The secretary nodded as the tōshi turned to leave. "Good luck."

With that, Miiko stepped out of the office, and then headed right away for the main doors. At that moment, Akane walked up from the direction of Class 1-4 alongside her best friends, Tokoro Yuka and Asano Sayuri. All three then perked on seeing the familiar red tang, and then turned to gape in shock as Miiko turned away without even acknowledging their presence. They remained frozen in place, stunned totally silent by all the similarities — and all the DIFFERENCES — between Miiko and the man (and sometimes woman) they knew, while the tōshi herself slipped back on her shoes, and then walked out the front doors, again without making note of whom she just passed.

As the object of their attention made her way to the front gate and the streets beyond, Yuka finally shook her head before she turned to gape at Akane. "Um, Akane-chan…I don't recall Ranma-kun having a twin sister."

Sayuri blinked. "And there's no way that could have been Ranma-kun himself as a girl!" she asserted. "Ranma-chan's not that tall! And he's still in the hospital."

Akane remained silent as her mind absorbed that information from her best friends, and then he feet launched her forward to the doors. "AKANE!" Yuka and Sayuri gasped together as she ran off, and then they charged after her…

…just as the youngest Tendō daughter instantly found herself facing the one thing she DIDN'T need to deal with at this time. "Tendō Akane! Come to my arms!" Kunō bellowed as he moved to smother her with his embrace. "You are free of the foul sorcerer Saotome once and for all! Now you shall know the lov-…!"

_CRUNCH!_

"…-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing…!" the now dazed kendō-ka moaned as he dropped to the ground thanks to a well-aimed punch down _there_.

"Idiot!" Akane hissed before she looked back towards the gate.

There was no person in a red tang in sight.

Noting that, Akane then breathed out. "Ranma…"

* * *

Kimitsu, close to the Nan'yō Academy, that moment…

"Irasshaimase!"

"Hey, U-chan!"

Hearing that voice from the doorway to her small restaurant in Kimitsu's central market district, a brown-haired, brown-eyed, tomboyish girl — currently dressed in a blue okonomiyaki chef's gi with black pants, a sarashi binding her breasts in place — perked before she grinned on seeing her friend and sometimes sparring partner. "Hey, Mō-chan! Usual lunch?" Kuonji Ukyō asked as she moved to grease her grill.

"Please," Mimōko stated as she moved to sit at the counter right in front of the transplanted Kyōto native. Ever since Okonomiyaki Ucchan had opened a block away from the front gate of Nan'yō a few months ago, it had become THE place for those attending that school to get food to eat at lunchtime and after school. Even tōshi from other schools who came by to challenge anyone from Nan'yō stopped at Ukyō's to get a bite to eat before or after the fight…though they KNEW not to drag those fights into the restaurant; Ukyō was VERY good with her huge baker's peel and throwing spatulas. "Had a little emergency this morning over in Nerima with a new friend of mine."

Ukyō perked, and then she grinned. While she found Sebone Mimōko a little moody at times, she had to admit the girl was one spectacular martial artist and a pretty good and smart person all around. Then again, if one believed all the wild stories about the tōshi of the Seven Battle Schools, it wasn't surprising. Ukyō had read _The Romance_ too; she knew who Lǚ Méng had been. "Oh? So you got a boyfriend now!"

Mimōko awked. "U-CHAN!"

The chef laughed. "Oh, cut it out, Mō-chan! I'm just pulling your leg!" she assured her as she moved to prepare ingredients. "But believe me, I've seen what that jackass Saji does to you all the time! Putting the moves on that bimbo cousin of yours like that, then trying to butter you up along the way! You'd be better off dating nice guys like Gaku-chan!" She shook her head while Mimōko gaped at her, stunned to hear that Kuonji Ukyō actually thought the tall and muscular Tano Tsukuhito — Gakushū — would be a better boyfriend to her than Hidari Itsuji. "Damn glad I decided to avoid all that crap altogether when I was in middle school!" she then muttered.

Mimōko then blinked. "What do you mean?"

A sigh. "It's a long story, Mō-chan," Ukyō breathed out. "I don't like thinking about it, to be honest with you." She then waved to her bound chest before turning back to the okonomiyaki with marinated beef and mixed vegetables that Mimōko always liked. "It's the reason I make myself look like a boy all the time."

"What happened?"

Ukyō blinked, and then she smirked. "Would you believe I've been engaged since I was six years old?" she asked, a touch of real pain in her voice. "And my 'fiancé' and his dad stole my dowry, then left me behind on the road after the agreement was made with my dad?" She then sniffed before wiping her eyes. "And Ran-chan…"

As she paused to get control of herself, Mimōko stared at her, her face paling as that nickname seemed to echo deep in her mind. _Masaka…it can't be…!_ she gasped before she reached over to gently grasp her friend's arm. "U-chan…?"

Ukyō blinked, and then she sniffed. "Ah, it's nothing, Mō-chan."

"Is this fiancé of yours Saotome Ranma?"

Silence.

Ukyō's eyes went VERY wide. "H-h-how…?"

A sigh, and then Mimōko stood before she reached over to pick up one of Ukyō's throwing spatulas so she could make sure her lunch didn't get burned. Once her friend found out about Ranma, she wouldn't be in much of a mood to do anything. If there was one thing many tōshi understood, it was quests of honour. And revenge.

"Believe it or not, I've heard some things recently about Ranma," Mimōko stated. "And in a way, you may get some justice from whatever happened between you back then. But right now, I don't think you'll have to worry about an engagement with him. Because legally, Saotome Ranma ceased to exist yesterday."

Ukyō blinked as she took that in, a weight suddenly squeezing on her heart as she took in those words. "What happened, Mō-chan?" she whispered.

Mimōko took a deep breath…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, after lunch…

"There. We are done for today."

Ranma breathed out as Negako and Kazua helped him onto his back. Tomoko was standing by with the dressing tray to get to work on the chest wound; the back was already dressed. Kikuko was currently in the cafeteria enjoying lunch. "Dōmo," Ranma breathed out as the nurse replaced the absorbent pad under his back with a fresh one before he was allowed to lie down. "How long have I got left to go through this?" he then asked before automatically stiffening as Tomoko spread iodine over the wound before she would proceed to pack the wound with iotosorb-lined strips.

"Most likely until Saturday," Negako replied, undisturbed by Ranma's repeated question about how soon he would be back on his feet. "I will then give you a day to rest and we will proceed with the blood transfusion on Monday."

A nod. "'Bout time. I'm going stir-crazy in this place."

Kazua chuckled. "Understandable. But think of all the things…"

"Excuse me."

Everyone stopped, and then they turned to see another nurse standing there. "What is it?" Kazua asked, quickly sensing the pensive look on her face.

"There's a woman at the ward desk, Sensei," the nurse reported as she gave Ranma a worried look. "She says she's Ranma's mother, Saotome Nodoka."

Ranma blinked as his jaw dropped. Negako's eyebrow arched. Kyoko had a surprised look on her face. Kazua took that in, and then he sighed. "Do you want to see her?" he then asked as he gazed with concern at the patient.

Silence fell as he considered that, and then he sighed. "Might as well." He shrugged. "She deserves a chance, I guess."

The doctor nodded. "I'll go see her first."

He stepped out of the room. Negako hummed as she turned to focus her ki senses on where Nodoka was standing. A moment later, she sighed. "Kyoko?"

The silver-haired tōshi tensed. "Hai, Negako-sama?"

"Hide yourself."

A nod. "Hai."

And she vanished. With that, Negako nodded to Tomoko. The nurse blinked, and then she sighed as she turned back to dressing the wound…

* * *

Minutes later, a demure woman in her late thirties stepped in. Dressed in a very beautiful kimono, she had dark chestnut hair — seeing that, Ranma immediately came to realize where Miiko and Kikuko got their hair colour from — and deep brown eyes. She had a pensive look on her face, which was understandable; it had been over a decade since he had last seen his mother and vice versa. Her hands were empty, though, which struck Ranma as strange. He then blinked as a distant memory then came back to him. Of this same woman, younger and more vibrant, carrying a long wrapped package.

The Saotome family honour blade, he then remembered.

As she stood at the doorway, Nodoka blinked as her eyes fell on her son — or was this really her son anymore? — on the bed. He seemed quite handsome despite the awful wound he now sported; while it was currently bandaged and there was no blood leaking through the dressings, the amount of bandages clearly hinted at something quite terrible. He still had his hair tied in that wound pigtail that he had when he was a child years ago. And his eyes were still the warm sapphire she fondly remembered, a touch of disquiet then striking her at that ever-present reminder of her family's hidden past. After a moment, she then took a deep breath before she walked over to stand beside his bed, placing a hand on the guard rail there as she steadied herself.

Finally, she took another deep breath before saying, "I was told."

He blinked. "About what?"

"What your father's mother did."

Silence.

"What about it?"

"Did you agree to it?"

Ranma blinked, and then he shrugged. "Not that I had much of a choice."

Nodoka stared at him, and then her jaw dropped. "You agreed to it?" she croaked out.

Another shrug. "Like I said, I had no choice." A snort. "Not that Oyaji seemed to care about anything save his own stomach all the time! Heck, you might say that Oyaji's stomach is part of the reason I'm stuck in this place right now!"

She gasped. "How dare you say that about your father?" she then demanded, her free hand twitching violently. "He is an honourable man! A good man! He…!"

"Coated me with fish oil, then dumped me in a pit for a whole pack of c-c-cats to rip apart so he could teach me an 'invincible' technique!" he then snapped, which made Nodoka suck in her breath, both at what he said and the anger now in his voice. "And did it TWENTY times until my mind snapped and I BECAME a c-c-cat!" He gritted his teeth as he tried to fight back the fear he felt on saying that word. "And then he turned around and took me to this place in China, when he couldn't even read Chinese, and did THIS to me!" he snarled before snaring a cup of water and dumping it on him.

Nodoka shrieked as she watched the transformation, her hands flying to her mouth as she watched her son instantly become her…daughter? On seeing the level of transformation, she then felt the strength in her legs go…just as a shocked cry of agony burst from Ranma's lips as she squeezed her hands over her abdomen. "Damn!" she moaned as her hands dropped to her sides. "Oh, man…! Tomoko-chan's gonna be PISSED when she finds out…!" She breathed out. "Hey, Kyoko! You there…?"

"I will summon Tomoko-san, Ranma-san."

Nodoka cried out in fright, and then she turned to watch, her eyes as wide as dinner plates now, as a silver-haired woman with hawk-like brown eyes walked past her and out the door to head to the ward station. As Kyoko left, the Saotome matriarch blinked several times before she felt a horrible chill seize her chest.

She had been there…

Hidden…

Waiting…

Guarding…

Her own child…

…against her.

They were concerned enough…

…to put a guard in this room…

…to protect her own child…

…against her.

Her…

"N-no…!"

Ranma blinked as she looked over. "Ofukuro…?"

Nodoka's face was now awash with tears as she collapsed, her arms hugging herself as she shook her head. "No…! No…! I'm not a monster…! I'm not…! No, please…! No…!" she moaned before she slumped to the floor.

Ranma gasped. "OFUKURO!"

* * *

"You SURE you want to go in there?"

Shampoo blinked on hearing that question, though her mind found it hard — thanks to both her pain and her rather considerable lack of knowledge in Japanese — to fully understand what was being said through the now-open doorway to her room. She then blinked again, her eyes widening, as a familiar voice replied, "Oh, don't worry about it. She was pretty badly hurt by Kyoko-san, so she won't hurt me."

"Yell for help if you need it."

"Hai!"

The warrior-maiden turned her head as the door closed behind whoever had now stepped into the room, and then she watched as Kikuko walked over to stand beside her bed, gazing at her with those wide, innocent sapphire eyes. "«Hello, Shānpú,»" she greeted her with that beautiful, literate Mandarin of hers, a kind smile crossing her face. "«How are you feeling? Rénxiōng was worried about you.»"

Shampoo blinked, surprised that this woman had used that title. "«You're really Àirén's sister?»"

"«Yes,»" the girl said as her smile widened. It was such a pretty smile. She then frowned before she gazed regretfully at the Nǚjiézú warrior. "«But I really don't think you can call Rénxiōng your beloved anymore, Shānpú. I'm sorry.»"

"«But he defeated me…»"

"«In an unsanctioned challenge,»" Kikuko reminded her. "«You were threatening the girl that was, at the time, Rénxiōng's official fiancée. He was honour-bound to defend her. And you were knocked out in a fluke accident.»" She then sighed. "«After you were brought in here, Kyoko — she's the one who hurt you — had a friend go to your campsite to get all your things.»" As Shampoo suddenly inhaled in response to that revelation, Kikuko waved her down. "«Don't worry. Kyoko will make sure your pet pigeons are alright; they won't be hurt.»" She then sighed. "«That also gave me the chance to read your book of tribal laws. Believe it or not, Shānpú, when put up before _that_, I really don't think your claim of marriage to Rénxiōng will stand up.»"

"«He defeated me…!»" Shampoo insisted. "«Back at the village! Even if he was cursed by Zhòuquán-xiāng, once the truth of THAT gets out back home, I still will be seen as married to him! There's no running away from this…!»"

"«Are you sure?»"

"«Of course I'm sure! Yes, I don't know him that much, but STILL…!»"

A hum. "«Well, if you insist on that, then I'll have to do something about it,»" Kikuko then said as her smile then turned saucy. "«And since you were, in effect, defeated when you tried to hurt me, I now can claim my prize.»"

Shampoo's eyes widened. "«What do you…?»"

And those eyes went VERY wide as Kikuko leaned down to place a very warm kiss on her lips. After a moment of contact, Shampoo blinked, and then felt her body soften as her mouth opened up to allow Kikuko's tongue to get into her mouth to play with her own. After a moment of very passionate kissing, they then pulled apart. Shampoo was now stunned speechless as her mind nearly crashed from the thought of this lovely outsider — who, if her words about her origins were true, was directly touched by one of the poor spirits of the Pools of Sorrow — giving HER the Kiss of Marriage.

And Kikuko…

"«I don't want to see you punished ultimately because of Bǐyúshàng's stomach,»" she then said before she leaned in to kiss the tip of Shampoo's nose. "Xiánqī."

Shampoo's cheeks were now as red as cherries as her mind absorbed Kikuko's addressing her as _**that**_. She then blinked before she smirked. "You actually call panda-father THAT?" she then demanded in her broken Japanese.

"Well, Miiko-onēchan would probably call him 'Xiǎobìbǐyúshàng,'" Kikuko said.

The warrior-maiden laughed…and then she gritted her teeth as her body's jerking caused the wounds in her arms and legs to flare with agony. Before she could actually cry out, her lips were once more covered by Kikuko's. As her pain was allowed to fade, Shampoo moaned with delight; she had to admit, Kikuko was one great kisser. Finally, reluctantly, they parted to gaze into the other woman's eyes. "«You really mean it, don't you? You want to be my wife,»" Shampoo said.

"«Yes.»"

"«Why?»"

"«I'm not sure.»" She then grinned as an impish shrug twitched her shoulder. "«And you want to know something, Shān? Right now, I just don't care.»"

Shampoo pouted. "«You know my name, but I don't know yours!»"

"Kikuko," the other provided. "Hayashi Kikuko." She then switched back to Mandarin as she added, "«My name would be written with the same characters that would be read as 'Jùn Júzǐ.' 'Chrysanthemum child of the noble steed.'»"

"«It's very pretty,»" Shampoo said before nodding in acceptance. "Àirén."

Kikuko sighed. "«Good. Now, you MUST promise me that you won't do anything while you're here, alright? I'll try to do what I can to make sure you won't wind up in jail after what you did to Rénxiōng, but I won't be able to do anything if you try to escape or end up hurting someone else along the way. Don't worry about the elders back home, either. We have friends who can help, but their help won't mean anything if you do something silly, okay? Promise me you'll behave yourself.»"

A nod. "Shampoo promise."

Kikuko grinned before leaning in to kiss her again, and then she straightened herself. "«I'm going to look in on Rénxiōng and Rénzǐ. I'll be back.»"

"«Alright…»"

It hit her.

"«YOU HAVE ANOTHER SISTER?! HOW…?!» AIYAH!"

As Shampoo once more yelped out in pain after screaming out like that, Kikuko winced as she moved back over to help comfort her new wife…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Rōnin** (literally meaning "wasteful person") is a term that has several meanings throughout Japanese history. First applied to vagabonds and unemployed people, the word eventually came to be used to mark a warrior without a lord to serve…or a person banished from one's family. These days (as fans of _Love Hina_ will know), this is the term used to mark people who failed the entrance examinations to enter university and is forced to wait a year to take the next entrance exam.

2) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Mōtatsu Shikei** (**Kashira Tōko**) first appeared in the first extra story included in Volume 14 of _Ikkitōsen_. She is spiritually descent from **Mèng Dá** (unknown birth date, died in 228 C.E.), a person who served Liú Yān's son Liú Zhāng (see the notes in Part 2), then came to serve Liú Bèi until Guān Yǔ died in 219. Due to Mèng's refusal to support Guān in the defence of Jīngzhōu against the forces of **Sūn Quán** (182-252) under Lǚ Méng, Liú came to despise Mèng, which made the latter fear for his life and eventually drove him to defect to Cáo Cāo's son **Cáo Pī** (187-226) (who was, by then, moving to topple the Hàn Dynasty to create the state of **Cáo Wèi**). Several years later, Mèng was persuaded to defect back to the service of Liú Bèi's family (who had, by then, formed Shǔ Hàn), but was caught and executed by **Sīmǎ Yì** (179-251). In her current incarnation, Tōko attends Seito as a senior…but also has strong bonds with Kyosh ; the reason for this will be explained in Part 47.

**Kada Genka** (**Hana Hokaji**) first appeared in flashback in manga episode #20. He is the current incarnation of **Huá Tuó** (circa 140-208), one of the most famous classical Chinese healers. He was said to be the first man to use anaesthesia when doing an operation and was also an expert in acupuncture, moxibustion and herbal medicine. A lot of the details of Huá's life are up to conjecture; his birth and death dates are even called into question by different scholars. In _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Huá was said to have actually operated on the arm of Guān Yǔ to remove a poison arrow…and actually did it WITHOUT any form of anaesthetic; Guān would later admit that he had been in horrible pain during the operation…but never showed it to ensure the morale of his troops remained high. Huá was also asked to treat Cáo Cāo for a chronic headache, which the healer diagnosed as a type of brain tumour requiring surgery for removal; Cáo — who didn't care to be so vulnerable and had faced a potential assassination aided by a former imperial surgeon — had the man executed instead. In this incarnation, Hokaji graduated from Rakuyō in 1994, acquiring his MD from Tōkyō University six years later; he would establish his offices in Kimitsu close to the Nan'yō Academy after his residency was complete. Like **Ono Tōfū**, Hokaji is also a registered chiropractor and possesses acute knowledge of traditional Oriental medicine.

3) Translations: **Bunka Go-nen** — Fifth Year of Bunka; **Bentō** — Traditional take-out or home-packed meal; **Hakama** — Pleated work dress worn with a kimono (the type worn by Kunō would be known as **umanori**, which have leggings similar to trousers to allow the wearer to ride a horse); **Kendō-ka** — A practitioner of **kendō** ("way of the sword"); **Sarashi** — A long strip of white cotton cloth normal wrapped around the waist up to the chest by samurai, but also used by girls to keep one's breasts bound, sometimes as an aide to disguise oneself as a man; **Rénxiōng** — Literally "My kind older brother;" **Bǐyúshàng** — Literally "My lowly and unintelligent father;" **Xiánqī** — Literally "My esteemed wife;" **Xiǎobìbǐyúshàng** — Literally "My insignificant, unrefined, lowly and unintelligent father;" **Rénzǐ** — Literally "My kind older sister."

4) A **kunai** (literally meaning "lack of hardship") is a tool that is the Japanese equivalent of a masonry trowel. Pointed like a shank, the kunai was like many weapons used by the ninja during the Tokugawa era: A basic farming and building tool that could, with ease, be converted to a deadly weapon that could be used to both stab like a knife and throw at a target like a shuriken. The kunai is Ebisu Kyoko's preferred weapon of choice.

5) The healthy fear the Nǚjiézú express towards the tōshi as a whole was inspired by events depicted in _The Fate of the Sacred Bead_ at the Anime Add-venture; there, the fact that Ranma was a tōshi was enough for Cologne to disqualify him for the Kiss of Marriage.

6) _Ranma 1/2_ minor character note: The given name to Nabiki's friend **Ryonami** and the family names given to Akane's friends **Sayuri** and **Yuka** as shown here are my invention.


	6. The Downfall of the Saotome Clan Part 2

"So what the hell's wrong with her, Doc?!"

Kazua sighed. "I really don't know, Ranma-kun," he confessed as several nurses, including Tomoko, helped the sobbing Nodoka onto the bed beside her own. "She seems quite healthy for someone her age, so I doubt it's a physical problem…"

"It is not."

They turned as Negako stepped into the room, a familiar wrapped bundle in her hand. Kyoko was right behind her. "What?" Ranma blinked before her eyes fell on the package, quickly remembering what it was from when she last saw it.

Negako reached over to the table so she could lay the package down, and then she unwrapped it to reveal a very ornate katana in the Masamune style. As she laid it out on the table, she then traced her fingers over the lacquered wood of the saya, her eyes narrow as she scanned the intricate ki matrices embedded in the material. "I see…" she breathed out. "That did seem familiar, but I was not sure…"

"What is it?" Ranma asked.

The grandmaster then looked up. "We will need to learn of your family ancestry, Ranma," she stated. "If I am not mistaken, somewhere in the third or fourth generation back from you, you may be directly related to Henry Walton Jones, Junior."

Silence.

"Masaka!" Kyoko breathed in as Kazua gaped. "You mean…?"

A nod. "Hai. Indiana Jones."

"No…"

Eyes locked on Nodoka. "Ofukuro…?" Ranma whispered.

There was a mask of angry denial now on the older woman's face as she shook her head. "No…! He's NOT…! He's NOT my grandfather…! HE'S NOT…!"

She then gasped as a finger touched a point on the back of her head to make Nodoka pass out. "She's on the point of hysteria!" Ono Tōfū — who had finally made his way here after hearing about Ranma's meeting with her mother — then said before he turned to stare in confusion at Kazua. "What on Earth's going on here?"

"Nodoka appears to be in denial concerning her relationship to her grandfather, Tōfū," Negako stated. "Henry Walton Jones, Junior."

Silence.

"Oh, my…!" the older doctor then breathed out before he turned to stare wide-eyed at Ranma. "You're actually Indiana Jones' GREAT-GRANDSON?!"

Tomoko, who had remained behind when the other nurses all moved to head back to their duties, instantly fought back laughter on noting that Tōfū had said THAT while the patient in question was currently female. "I guess so," Ranma then noted with a shrug. "But I never heard anything about him, Doc! Nothing at all."

"Then we must learn how this transpired," Negako stated before she gazed on Tōfū. "Tōfū, is Henry still alive and under the influence of the Sangréal? I have never concerned myself with him before now, so I am not aware of his fate."

He looked confused for a moment, and then he blinked as he recalled where he had heard THAT term before. "The Holy Grail? I thought that was a legend…!"

A shake of the head. "No, the Sangréal is quite real. As is the Ārōn Hāb'rīt."

"What is that?" Kazua asked.

"The Ark of the Covenant," Negako explained. "In 1936, Henry was able to prevent the Ark from being seized by agents of the government then in control of Germany, thus seeing it placed in a secure facility in America. Two years later, Henry helped ensure that the Sangréal — then guarded by the last surviving participant of the First Crusade, Geoffrey of Middlesex, in a cave near İskenderun — would also not fall into the hands of the Germans. Because he drank from water that was scooped from a spring by the Sangréal and because he desired to protect the power of the Ark from being abused by a government then actively persecuting the descendants of those who once used it against their enemies, Henry's ageing process was significantly slowed."

More silence.

"You're saying Hiijii-chan's ALIVE?" Ranma gasped.

"He is, Ranma."

She turned to gaze on Kazua. "Doc…"

"It's true, Ranma-kun," Tōfū stated. "He was born in 1899, which makes him 111 years old now. He's retired, currently living in Connecticut in the States close to Marshall University, where he once worked. His son — your granduncle, Henry Jones III — is also alive; he's professor emeritus of archaeology at Marshall."

Ranma looked confused. "So what's archaeology? Is that a type of martial art?"

Tōfū smirked, Kyoko giggled, Tomoko grinned and Kazua tried not to roll his eyes. "An archaeologist is someone who dedicates his life to studying how extinct human societies lived," Negako explained, not bothered by the patient's naïve question.

Ranma didn't look impressed. "You mean he's a history teacher."

A nod. "In a fashion. But as well as teaching history, people such as Henry and his son also LEARN of the history that is not known to others by going forth to actually excavate buried sites to recover what had once been believed lost." Negako then lightly smiled. "And given the nature of some of the objects Henry has discovered over the years — especially those such as the Sangréal and the Ark — he had to train himself to a level that would allow him to compete quite successfully in martial arts if he chose to do so." She then blinked as footsteps echoed from the direction of the doorway. "Miiko. Chiaki," she then called out as two women stepped inside.

Ranma perked. "Obaba! Mii-chan!"

Chiaki smiled, though she was quick to send the still-unconscious Nodoka an annoyed look, as she came up to gently grasp her transformed grandson's hand. "I had hoped that I could have got here before your mother did," she stated before her lips turned into a scowl as she glared at the katana on the desk close to Ranma's bed. "And I do not WANT that THING in the same room as my grandson, Sensei!" she icily stated.

"I'll make sure it's locked away," Kazua stated. "Negako-sama needed to examine it to discover what was going on with Ranma-kun's mother." He then sighed. "Is it true, then?" As Chiaki's eyebrow arched, the doctor nodded at Ranma. "Ranma-kun's relationship to Indiana Jones-hakase? Is he Jones-hakase's great-grandson?"

A nod. "He is."

Miiko blinked. "Well, that settles the problem with Shānpú."

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.

She drew out a familiar book from her pants pocket to show to her brother, and then she flipped it open to a certain page before she began to read: "'Any blood-descendant of the Dàshīfù named Henry Jones — so named in honour of his father, addressed by the courtesy name 'Indiana' in tribute to the nineteenth kingdom to become part of the United Kingdoms of America — is totally immune to both the Kiss of Death and the Kiss of Marriage unless initiated by said descendant.'" She placed the book on the table beside the Saotome sword. "'This is decreed due to services the Dàshīfù rendered to the Noble Tribe in the early stages of the Second Great War between the Middle Kingdom and the Northeast Island Barbarians of the Wa, while he served as a warrior in the Army of the United Kingdoms of America. And in recognition of powerful spirits to which the Dàshīfù interacted with in the past, spirits that could, if allowed to touch any descendants of such a marriage, bring grave harm to the Noble Tribe as a whole.'"

"The Ark and the Holy Grail," Tōfū emphasized.

Ranma blinked as she took that in, and then she sighed. "So Shampoo can go home with her honour whole. Is that what that means, Mii-chan?"

A nod. "Hai. If you choose not to demand her be punished for attacking you like she did last week. You could demand that of the elders of the Tribe."

She considered that, and then she shook her head. "Nah. It was partially my fault she felt so dishonoured in the first place. Oyaji and I DID eat the prize she should've won hadn't we gone there after Jusenkyō." She then sighed. "Damn…"

"Ranma, you need some sleep," Tōfū advised.

A tired nod. "Yeah…"

Negako reached over to gently touched several places on Ranma's head and upper body to make her fall asleep. "I want her out of here," Chiaki then said as she pointed to the sleeping Nodoka. "And I definitely want THAT out of her reach!" she then pointed to the sword on the table beside her grandchild's bed.

Kazua nodded. "I'll make arrangements," he stated. "Tomoko-san?"

Tomoko perked. "Hai, Sensei?"

"Have Ranma-kun's mother moved to a private room if one's available. Despite the current problems in their overall family, she does need care."

A nod. "Hai."

* * *

The Tendō home, after school…

"Who is she?"

Nabiki perked on hearing that question, and then she turned to see a shivering Akane standing at the doorway to her bedroom. In her arms was a curious P-chan, who had pretty much remained at the Tendō home since the night Ranma was cut down by Shampoo. "Do you believe in knocking?" the middle daughter asked, annoyed.

"Do you believe in asking me for permission to take pictures of myself in suggestive poses to sell to that idiot Kunō?" the younger daughter wondered in return as she slammed the door closed behind her. "Don't play high and mighty with me, Nabiki! Now, answer the question: Who the HELL was that girl at school today?"

Nabiki sighed. "Ranma-kun's sister, believe it or not."

Silence.

"_**WHAT?!**_" Akane shrieked as P-chan squealed in shock. "_**A SISTER?! RANMA DOESN'T HAVE A SISTER! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!**_"

A smirk responded; deep down, Nabiki was relieved that the walls and floor of her room were thick enough to ensure Akane's shout didn't echo downstairs to be overheard by either Genma or Sōun. "True. Until a couple days ago, Ranma-kun didn't have a sister. Now he's got two of them thanks to Moroboshi Tariko. Created the same way as she, Moroboshi Hiromi and Moroboshi Negako were created from Moroboshi Ataru."

P-chan grunted as Akane's eyes widened. "What? You mean they're…?" She then shook her head. "Right! Moroboshi Tariko volunteers her weekends at the hospital as a nursing assistant! That was on the news two weeks ago! She must have met Ranma just after he was taken there!" A sigh as she sank onto Nabiki's bed. "So why would Tariko turn around and help Ranma get sisters all of a sudden?" she then asked.

"Don't know exactly. But here's a picture of that girl. Look at the left ear."

Nabiki handed a photo one of her people had taken when Miiko had come to the school earlier in the day. Akane took the picture, and then she blinked as her eyes quickly locked on the earring. "She's a TŌSHI?!" she gasped.

"Yep. Ranma found the magatama while he was in China and hung onto it as he came back here. Her name's Miiko. Don't know her battle name, though."

Akane shrugged. "Well, that would be easy to figure out. The real names of all know tōshi are normally derived from the _kun'yomi_ reading of the part of their battle names taken from the birth names of their ancestors. Girls normally get kanji like 'mi' and 'ko' added to the name. Figure it out from there."

"True, but Miiko now has the family name 'Hayashi.' Far as I can tell, that has no equivalent to any of the names from the Three Kingdoms period." Due to Akane's admiration of people such as Seki Haneko, Nabiki had done a lot of research into the Seven Battle Schools of Kantō and the amazing people that currently attended them. "As to what her battle name might be, I haven't found out yet since I only just found out about her this morning from Onē-chan. She met her last night at the hospital."

P-chan oinked as Akane gaped. "Did Nē-chan see Ranma?"

A shake of the head. "Nope. We're all forbidden from seeing Ranma-kun." A sigh as she turned to gaze sympathetically at her sister. "Akane-chan, I've got some bad news for you. The whole engagement with Ranma-kun won't happen."

Silence.

A sniff. "I know…"

Surprised to hear THAT coming from Akane, Nabiki turned, and then she closed her eyes to see tears streaming down the younger girl's cheeks, her head bowed as she hugged a struggling P-chan tight. As her body began to quake as sobs began to escape her, Nabiki rose to help her over to her bed, and then she moved to hug her. As she felt those arms around her, Akane moaned as she let P-chan go, allowing the small pig to drop to the floor as she moved to return Nabiki's hug. As P-chan turned to watch, he then blinked as the door opened, revealing a concerned Kasumi. He moved aside as the elder sister closed the door, and then moved to envelope the weeping Akane from behind. The youngest sister moaned as she turned to hold her siblings close, her body still wracked with sobs as tears spilled down her face. Kasumi and Nabiki remained in place, both remaining still as Akane continued to weep at what had happened…

…and what she had ultimately lost.

After a few minutes, Akane sniffed as the sobs eventually dried up, and then she hiccoughed several times as she moved to wipe her face. Kasumi and Nabiki pulled back as their sister pulled herself together, and then the middle sister sighed. "Feel better now?" she asked as she reached up to give Akane's shoulder a squeeze.

A shake of the head. "No…" Akane whispered. "How could I? Martial arts was EVERYTHING to Ranma! And now…!" A sniff. "Now he's lost it all!" Another sniff. "And it's all my fault, Nē-chan! If I wasn't so PIG-HEADED…!"

"Hey, stop it!" Nabiki said sharply, which made Akane jerk as she stared wide-eyed at her. "Now listen, Akane! Even if you did butt your nose into something like that, NONE OF US — and Ranma-kun's guilty of this, too! — really expected Shampoo to take it THAT far!" She pulled her hand back. "We all thought it was just something one did as a hobby. Heck, Ranma-kun might have understood it, but we know he saw martial arts as something to use to PROTECT people, not to hurt them!" She took a deep breath. "Even if he might be upset at you for butting into his fight with Shampoo, I don't think he'll go all the way to blaming you for getting crippled like that!"

"I agree," Kasumi said, which made Akane look at her. "Granted, there are things we all did to Ranma-kun that hurt him in one way or another. And granted, there were things Ranma-kun did that weren't the least bit nice either. We're all to blame for what happened. But Ranma-kun does forgive mistakes. And I think, once he's had some time away from all this madness, he'll gladly take you back as a friend."

A sniff. "But what about the engagement?" Akane asked.

"It's not going to happen," Nabiki warned.

The younger sister blinked several times. "Why not? You said Negako-sama was helping heal Ranma! He'll be back on his feet soon enough! Once he's healed…!"

"He has rejected his family name. He is now Hayashi Ranma."

More silence.

"Wh-what…?" Akane gasped as she turned to stare wide-eyed at Kasumi.

A nod. "Hai, it's true. Ranma-kun's grandmother — his father's mother — intervened when she learned what happened. It turns out his parents' families made an agreement before Ranma-kun's parents married. It was meant to ensure Ranma-kun and any siblings were raised properly. Because of certain things she found out that Ranma-kun's parents did, Chiaki-obāsan enacted the clause in that agreement that would see Ranma-kun turned over to her custody. And because he is now a _Hayashi_ and the agreement Oji-san and Otō-san made was between the _Saotome_ Clan and the Tendō Clan…" Kasumi shrugged. "Ranma-kun is no longer honour-bound to marry any of us."

"And Miiko is now a Hayashi, too."

"And Kikuko-chan, too!"

Still more silence.

"Who's Kikuko?" Akane demanded.

A giggle. "Ranma-kun's other sister, of course!"

As Akane stared at her, P-chan squealed before he passed out…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, suppertime…

"Ooooh…what a horrible nightmare…"

"Konban wa, Nodoka."

Nodoka blinked as she heard that cold voice, and then she felt the colour drain from her face as memory clicked back in, and then she turned slowly to her right…

…to see a grey-haired, dark-eyed woman looking like a much older and more slender female Genma without the glasses sitting beside the bed she now was on. As Nodoka took that image in, she then blinked. "Hayashi-sama…"

A smirk. "It's been a while, Nodoka," Chiaki said. "So what brought you running here once you got the notice of what I did for MY grandson?"

The younger woman blinked as she took that in, and then she sighed as she moved herself in a sitting position, quickly realizing she was now in a room at the hospital she had been visiting. She hadn't seen Genma's mother since the day they married. And while she had tried to be properly respectful to Genma's parents, Nodoka had been quick to learn that there were things that both Chiaki or her husband Shinji — she knew he had passed away five years ago — didn't like about her or her family. As to what, she had no idea. _Truthfully, until today, I never cared about that_, she mused. After all, the agreement between the Saotome Clan and the Hayashi Clan had been honourably executed and Genma was no longer bound to anything his parents could demand of him.

Which made what Chiaki had done concerning Ranma all the more disconcerting.

And potentially dishonourable.

Which meant, for Ranma's sake, she had to get whatever was done reversed.

"I was going to find my husband," Nodoka then stated, hoping that the older woman didn't detect the hint of fear in her voice. While she really had no honourable obligation to defer to Hayashi Chiaki, the older woman was quite iron-willed and very formidable in her own right. "I remembered that he had planned to get my son…" — she made sure she put emphasis on that phrase — "…engaged to one of Tendō Sōun's daughters, so I made my way to their house to see if my husband and my son were staying with them. I had forgotten where the Tendō home was, so I went to the local police station to ask for directions. One of the officers there informed me of what happened to my son, so I came here to look in on him as quickly as I could."

"I see," Chiaki stated, her body rock-still. "So what would have happened had I not managed to pull my grandson out of yours and Genma's control?" she asked, and then she answered before Nodoka could say a thing, "You would have marched in here, all stuffed full of your sense of _honour_…" — Nodoka winced on hearing the torrent of scorn the older woman expressed on saying that word — "…most likely found out about Ranma's curse, then declared him unmanly and either demand he commit seppuku or probably throw him out of the family since he was now crippled. Am I right?"

Nodoka stiffened, and then she blinked as she remembered seeing Ranma transform. "Well…we have been separated for ten years. I had no idea how he acquired that curse, so I would have tried to give him a chance. I heard he was injured defending his fiancée from some mad gaijin, so he did behave manly…"

"Oh?" Chiaki said, a trill in her voice as a smile crossed her face. "Let's talk about your opinion of what is 'manly.' I remember Genma's master all too well. You actually considered that little monster a 'manly' man? You actually wanted my grandson to become like THAT, Nodoka? Having him go out, invade the personal space of every woman that crossed his path to suck up their life energy, become nothing more than a thief that preyed on people who couldn't defend themselves and pretend that anyone else's opinions didn't matter? You actually THINK that's HONOURABLE?"

Before Nodoka could say a thing, Chiaki rose, sharply waving her hand to silence her daughter-in-law. "Well, it's a damned good thing that my husband and I suspected you'd probably allow any grandchildren of ours to become like that," she stated, her voice now very icy. "And despite what we knew of the truth of your ancestry, we did understand that your parents didn't particularly care for that either!" She ignored Nodoka's shocked gasp on her saying that. "So we persuaded them to agree to a little clause in the pre-marital agreement we had you two sign before you married." She then glared at the younger woman. "A clause that specifically stated that you both were to raise any children you had PROPERLY. Notice, it didn't say 'HONOURABLY.' It said 'PROPERLY.' And believe me, THIS is NOT raising your son properly!" She pulled out a certain piece of paper from her skirt pocket to show it to Nodoka.

The younger woman jolted. "Hayashi-sama, Genma promised me…!"

"_**SILENCE!**_" Chiaki barked, making Nodoka jolt as her mouth closed. "You stupid girl! Genma would have done ANYTHING to get Ranma away from you! He wanted to do EVERYTHING he could to mould his son so he HIMSELF could live in cozy retirement where he didn't have to do a thing for the rest of his life! And most likely try to find some way to tap into the inheritance Shinji left Ranma after he died!" As Nodoka gaped at her, the older woman nodded. "Hai, Nodoka. It's true. My husband knew what sort of man his son had become. While we tried our best to care for him, Genma's actions — especially under Happōsai's charge — pretty much destroyed what love we might have had for him. How could we POSSIBLY support such a man anymore?"

Nodoka shook her head. "Hayashi-sama! Genma is an HONOURABLE man…!"

"_**QUIET!**_"

The younger woman ducked that shout. "Are you so blind to so many things that you'll gladly walk off a cliff into a ravine if Genma said it was the honourable thing to do?" Chiaki demanded. She then took a deep breath. "Genma uses honour for his own convenience! This stupid agreement is proof of it!" she snarled as she waved the seppuku agreement before Nodoka's face. "Have you been keeping track of what's been going on over the last ten years, while Genma was racing around Japan and elsewhere trying to train your 'man above men?' How many people have tried to warn you about what he's been doing? All the bar bills? All the stolen food? Not to mention all the ENGAGEMENTS he's made behind your back and even his friend's back?"

Silence.

Nodoka shrugged. "I know some things…"

"And what are you going to do about it?" Chiaki growled.

Another shrug. "What should I do? Clearly they're either lying or exaggerating what happened!" As Chiaki gaped in shock at her, Nodoka then snorted. "Take this so-called 'engagement' with the Daikoku family! Supposedly, my husband sold my son off for a fish with rice dinner and two pickles! Utterly ridiculous! First of all, Genma would NOT go back on his word to Sōun concerning marrying Ranma to anyone other than one of Sōun's daughters! And even more so, even if he WOULD do something like that, he would make sure the dowry was a proper one!" A shake of the head. "A total lie. As far as I'm concerned, it was a clear misunderstanding! There is NO way I will allow my son to marry a DELIVERY GIRL for some RESTAURANT!" Another snort. "Maybe take her as a mistress, as my son will have needs to be satisfied, of course…"

"What other engagements have you learned about, Obā-sama?"

Nodoka gasped as she spun left to stare at what appeared to be a perfect female twin of Ranma with HER hair colour, dressed in a sleeved Chinese uniform of some sort, her arms crossed and a displeased look on her face. And with a green magatama earring hanging off her left ear, which made Nodoka immediately blanch as she realized what this being actually was. Before she could say anything, though, Chiaki took a deep breath. "There are at least six engagements — save one, all verbal agreements with food bartered in exchange for your brother's hand in marriage — between your brother and parties OTHER than the Tendō family, Miiko," the elderly matriarch of the Hayashi Clan stated. "The last one included an exchange of dowry," she then added.

Miiko gasped, her eyes wide, as Nodoka spun on her mother-in-law. "The Kuonji family?! Impossible! There was no dowry exchanged there…!"

"_**SILENCE!**_"

Nodoka ducked that shout. "The Kuonji…?" Miiko then asked, her face turning white as she tapped into the memories she had touched in Ranma's mind, memories of a wonderful and more innocent time. "You mean Ukyō-san…?" she asked again before she shook her head. "But…Onii-sama thought he was…"

"She is a girl," Chiaki calmly stated. "And in the agreement Genma made with Kuonji Haruka, Ukyō-chan's father, they agreed that the okonomiyaki yatai the Kuonji family had at that time would be the dowry for the marriage. Even more so, when Genma decided it was time to get Ranma away from his first true friend, he stole the cart…and left the poor child behind." As Nodoka shook her head in denial over what the older woman was saying and Miiko felt the strength in her legs fade as she quickly imagined what might have happened to Ukyō in the wake of that, Chiaki took a breath. "Ever since that time, Miiko-chan, Ukyō-chan has felt so ashamed of being 'rejected' by Ranma, she has dressed as a boy and acts as one. And she desires revenge on Ranma and Genma for what had happened to her." She then glared at Nodoka. "And THAT is no lie!"

Nodoka took a deep breath. "Hayashi-sama, certainly there has to be…!"

"_**QUIET!**_" That was both Chiaki and Miiko.

Nodoka ducked that double sonic boom as she stared at her mother-in-law, and then this strange girl saying she was her son's sister. Miiko blinked for a moment, and then she stood. "Obā-sama, thank you for informing me of this. I will inform Onii-sama about this at once. He does miss Ukyō-san very much and will be greatly saddened when he learns of how much Genma hurt her like that. Excuse me, please."

She turned and walked out of the room. Nodoka gaped, and then she slid off the bed, moving to pursue the other girl. Before she could get far, a sharp point jabbed her throat and forced her back onto the bed. Now standing before her was Ebisu Kyoko, one of her kunai out. "Saotome-san, I would strongly suggest you stay where you are," the ninja-trained tōshi stated. "Unlike you, Chiaki-sama and Miiko-sama are doing their best to make sure Ranma-san can learn the TRUTH about what is going on here. You are already legally severed from your child. Don't make it worse. Because if you…"

"_**WHAT?!**_"

Everyone jolted on hearing that shriek, and then Chiaki icily smiled. "I doubt whatever respect Ranma has left for Genma will survive now," she said as she glared at Nodoka, and then she turned to leave. "Keep her under guard, Kyoko-san."

"Hai."

Nodoka gulped as her mother-in-law walked out of the room…

* * *

"U-chan…?"

Miiko nodded. "Hai."

Ranma blinked. "U-chan was a girl all along?"

Another nod. "Hai."

Ranma blinked again as she shook her head. "How could that be…?"

Miiko smiled. "Onii-sama, you were only _**six**_ at the time, remember?"

The transformed martial artist blinked as she took that in, and then she sighed. "Yeah. I guess so. What the hell did I know about girls back then?" she wondered, and then she turned back to gaze at her sister. "And Oyaji made an agreement with U-chan's dad for us to be MARRIED? And the yatai that was 'given' to us was the DOWRY?"

Another nod. "Hai."

Silence fell as Ranma considered that, and then she leaned her head back as she considered what had just been said. She then closed her eyes as fresh tears filled them. "No…! U-chan, I…!" she hissed as her clenched fists came up to cover her eyes. "No…! Why…? Damn you, Oyaji…! Damn you…!"

"Ran-chan, did you know?"

The siblings jolted, and then Miiko spun around before she gasped. "Ukyō-san?"

Ranma's head snapped over…

…to find herself gazing at a grown up — and clearly FEMALE! — Kuonji Ukyō standing at the doorway to his room, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief as she gaped at the transformed and crippled martial artist she had once thought of as her best friend and potential husband…and then spent a decade hating with every fibre of her being for his "rejection" of her. Standing beside her was a sympathetic Sebone Mimōko, who had a supportive hand on Ukyō's shoulder. As Ranma took in that sight, she felt her eyes tear once more before she hissed. "U-ch-…!" She caught herself before she sniffed back the tears. "Konban wa, Kuonji-san. It's been a long time."

Jolting on hearing her address her so formally, Ukyō blinked before she took a deep breath. "Hai, Hayashi-san. It has been a very long time." She then blinked as her own eyes teared. "Did you know?" she wondered. "About the engagement?"

Ranma shook her head. "No. All I remember of you was you running after us, waving at me. I thought you were saying good-bye; Oyaji told me…" She then stopped as her teeth squeezed together before she sighed. "He told me later that we had to go on and that you had been challenged to try and catch us. I didn't know a damned thing about the yatai being a dowry or you being a girl or us being engaged or…" She then squeezed her eyes closed. "I'm so sorry…I didn't know…"

Seeing her on the verge of breaking down and crying, Ukyō moved immediately to her side. Miiko's hand caught her before she could get close. As the chef gazed on her, Ranma's sister leaned over to whisper, "Onii-sama has always been taught never to cry or do anything to show his emotions. Please give him a chance."

Ukyō blinked, and then she nodded in understanding before she headed over to sit down beside Ranma's bed. "Hey, let's not worry about that now, okay?" she said as she grasped her transformed would-be fiancé's hand. "So what happened to you?"

As Ranma began to talk, Miiko smiled before she gazed on Mimōko. Both tōshi then stepped out of the room, though they kept the door open just in case something happened that might set Ukyō off. "Where's she been all this time?" Miiko asked.

"Currently, she runs a restaurant close to Nan'yō," Mimōko replied, keeping her voice down so as to not make matters worse. "I just found out about her 'engagement' to your brother. She was really pissed until I told her what Shānpú did."

A sigh. "I just found out from Obā-sama," Miiko stated. "Onii-sama's mother is here. She knows not only of the engagement to Ukyō-san, but FIVE other engagements Genma made with the daughters of people other than Tendō Sōun. Even worse, she doesn't CARE about any of them!" A snort. "As far as that woman's concerned…"

"All the people like Ukyō-chan could be my grandson's mistresses."

Both turned to stare at Chiaki as she walked up. "What?" Mimōko hissed.

A snort. "You need to be filled in on some other things, Mimōko-san…"

* * *

A half-hour later…

A knock echoed through Ranma's room. "Onii-chan?"

Ranma looked over, and then she smiled as Ukyō turned to gaze wide-eyed at her former fiancé's OTHER sister. "Hey, Kikuko-chan! Where've you been?"

"Oh, visiting Shānpú over at…eh?" Kikuko then blinked as she stared in confusion at Ukyō for a moment before she gasped. "Ukyō-chan?!"

The chef smirked as she looked back at Ranma. "She's the girl that came from the spirit of that spring that turned you into a girl, right?"

A nod. "The same," Ranma affirmed with a nod. "Kikuko-chan, U-chan here was always a girl, believe it or not." She then sighed. "And she was another of Oyaji's screw-ups during the training trip. I got engaged to her, too."

Kikuko blinked as she took that in, and then she put her fists to her hips. "Um, Onii-chan, if you were supposed to marry one of the Tendō sisters, how on Earth could you also be engaged to marry Ukyō-chan here? That doesn't make sense!"

"That is something I myself have asked since I found out about Ukyō-chan, Kikuko-chan. Not to mention your brother's five OTHER fiancées."

Kikuko, Ukyō and Ranma turned to watch as Chiaki came in, accompanied by Miiko and Mimōko. Right behind them was Nodoka, who was accompanied by a steely-eyed Kyoko. As soon as she was in the room, Ranma's mother took a breath. "My son, there is something you need to know right away." She then glared at Ukyō, which made the chef jerk as she was quick to sense the disapproval there. "Whatever story this woman just told you about this 'engagement' your father SUPPOSEDLY made with her father is…!"

"'_**SUPPOSEDLY?!**_'"

Nodoka found herself forced against the wall by the business end of a VERY big flipping spatula, one whose edge was as sharp as the edge of her own family honour sword. Holding that now was a shuddering Ukyō. "You must be Ran-chan's SO-CALLED 'mother,'" the chef then snarled. "And let me correct you about something real quick, lady! There was no 'supposed' engagement! THERE WAS AN ENGAGEMENT! And that JACKASS you call a 'husband' STOLE my dowry and ABANDONED me on the side of the road! Atop that, HE NEVER TOLD YOUR SON A DAMNED THING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!"

"U-chan, you made a mistake."

Ukyō perked, and then she looked over. "What's that, Ran-chan?"

Ranma was now looking away from Nodoka, her eyes closed and a neutral look on her face. "That woman doesn't have a son." She then turned to gaze on the older woman with eyes that possessed no kindness within them. "After all, I have no mother. And I've never HAD a mother all along." As Nodoka gasped, her eyes going wide on hearing that final declaration, the crippled martial artist then looked away. "Get out."

Nodoka blinked as the strength in her legs began to go. "Ranma…"

Ranma didn't look her way. "Tell Oya-…" She caught herself. "Tell your husband he no longer has an heir and his stupid deal with Tendō is dead. And if any of you darken my door again, I'm sure people like Kyoko-san there will be more than glad to leave you dead carcasses out somewhere where they can't be found."

"May I add something, my grandson?" Chiaki added.

A nod. "Hai, Obā-san."

The older lady smiled before she glared at Nodoka. "Inform Genma of this: If he so much as even TRIES to force my grandson back under his control, I will personally ask Negako-sama to locate Happōsai and free him from whatever imprisonment that fool husband of yours and his friend put him under." As Nodoka blinked, Chiaki produced the paper with the seppuku agreement written on it. "And I will take this and turn it over to the police to have you BOTH charged with conspiracy to commit MURDER!"

"Kyoko-san?" Miiko called out.

The ninja-trained tōshi perked. "Hai, Miiko-sama?"

Miiko thumbed the window of Ranma's room. "Make use of that when you dispose of this piece of dishonourable trash," she said as she nodded to Nodoka.

Kyoko then grinned. "My pleasure…"

Stunned by the fact that these people were threatening to either wound or kill her, Nodoka moaned as she dropped unconscious to the floor. As people gazed on her, all without any pity in their eyes, Kyoko then sighed. "Damn!"

"What's wrong?" Mimōko asked.

The silver-haired ninja pouted. "That took the fun right out of it!"

Everyone blinked, and then they roared with laughter. "Well, at least do this, Kyoko-san," Chiaki stated. "Take Nodoka and drop her off at the Tendō home. Let Genma take care of her from this point on." She then sighed. "As for that sword…?"

Kyoko nodded. "I know what to do, Hayashi-sama."

"Sorry to make you take out the trash, Kyoko," Ranma then stated.

The ninja then smiled. "You are under Hiromi-sama's protection, Ranma-san. It's my pleasure. Now, if you all will kindly excuse me…"

With that, she picked up the unconscious Nodoka, tapped several shiatsu points to keep her unconscious, and then she fireman-carried the woman out of the room. "I'll make you some okonomiyaki when you get back here, okay?" Ukyō called out.

"Dōmo!"

Everyone watched them go, and then they jolted on hearing a heavy sob escape the person now on the bed. "Ran-chan!" Ukyō cried out as she, Miiko and Kikuko lunged over to envelop the now-crying Ranma with hugs as Chiaki and Mimōko also moved up to him.

"What has happened?"

Everyone jolted, and then they looked over. "Negako-sama!" Miiko gasped.

Negako walked into the room, followed by Hiromi, Tariko and Ataru. As people got out of the grandmaster's way, she reached over to gently tap the weeping patient's forehead in several places before she blinked, and then she closed her eyes before she reached over to tap several points to allow Ranma to fall asleep. Seeing that, everyone else then tensed. "What's wrong with him, Onē-san?" Tariko asked.

Negako turned to Chiaki. "I am sorry, Chiaki. You are about to obtain a THIRD granddaughter," she flatly announced before she closed her eyes. "Hiromi?"

"Hai, Onē-sama?" Hiromi asked in a pained voice as Chiaki paled before she was immediately comforted by both Kikuko and Miiko.

"Summon James and Kevin. They need to be informed."

A nod. "Hai, Onē-sama."

"What's going on?"

Negako gazed on a wide-eyed Ukyō as Hiromi drew out her cell phone to make a call. "Your would-have-been fiancé's soul has now been completely split in half by what just happened concerning Nodoka, Ukyō." As the chef gasped and the others in the room — especially Ataru and Tariko — all shook their heads, the grandmaster then asked, "Have you been informed yet of Ranma's training in the Neko-ken?"

Ukyō blinked in confusion. "What's that?"

"You better prepare yourself, Ukyō-san," Miiko stated.

She was quick to notice the other woman's pale face, and then she gulped as Negako walked over to where the third bioroid clone body made from Ranma's DNA was currently being stored…

* * *

The Tendō home, some minutes later…

"Hai?"

Kasumi blinked as she looked out the open front gate of her home, quickly seeing that no one was standing there, and then she hummed before her eyes glanced down.

"Oh, MY!"

"What is it, Kasumi?"

Kasumi turned. "Otō-san, there's a woman passed out at the gate!"

Immediately, Sōun ran over to look, and then he gaped on recognizing who it was. "Nodoka! Oh, my heavens! Here, let me take her inside! I…eh?"

Kasumi blinked, and then she turned to see a sheathed katana lying on the ground beside the north post of the front gate. "Oh, dear…" she said as she reached over to pick up the weapon as Sōun boosted the unconscious Nodoka into his arms and carried her to the house. The elder daughter followed after she closed the door.

"What is it?" a voice demanded from the porch.

"It's your wife, Saotome-kun!" Sōun called back.

A sudden intake of breath then made the patriarch of the Tendō Clan of Nerima pause, and then he blinked in confusion as Genma dived right into the koi pond. As the transformed patriarch of the Saotome Clan then rose from the pool, he lifted a sign. [**DON'T TELL HER I'M HERE!**] The sign twirled around. [**I'LL EXPLAIN LATER!**]

"Sōun-kun…?"

Sōun blinked, and then he watched as Nodoka's eyes fluttered open. "Nodoka…?" he whispered before he flashed the transformed Genma a knowing look before he proceeded to carry his friend's wife into the house. "What happened to you? We just found you unconscious on the street outside the gate! Did someone attack you?"

"I…!" Nodoka breathed out before she looked around. "My sword?! Where's my sword?!" she immediately demanded as she looked around, and then she relaxed on seeing the sheathed weapon in Kasumi's hand. "Oh, thank goodness!" she said as Sōun allowed her to get back to her feet, and then she held out her hand.

Kasumi nodded as she handed the weapon over…

_KK-KRACK!_

Nodoka cried out as the saya — now feeling as brittle as dry mud — shattered. As did the honed steel blade contained within. As Sōun and Kasumi watched in morbid curiosity as the wrecked fragments of the blade cascaded onto the floor, the transformed Genma could only blink before he breathed out with a relieved "Growlf!" He then perked on hearing footfalls echo from the stairs leading to the upper floor. "What's going on…?" Akane, shinai in hand, demanded before she stopped to see the shattered katana on the floor. "…here?" she then eeped in stunned shock. While she had never really trained with swords before, she knew that the steel that went into such blades was cast strong enough to prevent any sort of casual breakage.

To see such a beautiful weapon WRECKED like that…!

A moan then caused her to look over as the eyes of the middle-aged woman in the kimono — who distantly resembled Ranma's cursed form — rolled into her head and she collapsed in a dead faint in Sōun's arms. As Akane and Kasumi shared a stunned look, their father took a breath. "Saotome-kun, what is going on here?" he demanded as he moved to carry the unconscious Nodoka into the living room to lay her on the floor.

"I believe, Otō-san, it involves this."

Sōun blinked, and then he turned to take the paper from Kasumi's hand, and then he jolted on hearing a surprised grunt from Genma. Looking up, he watched as his transformed friend raised a sign as he glared at Kasumi. [**HOW DARE YOU LOOK INTO MY PERSONAL THINGS, GIRL!**] The sign twirled around. [**THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!**]

"Oh, really?" Kasumi said with a touch of frost in her voice. "And you believed forcing your only child to commit SUICIDE if he wasn't judged to be a 'man above men' wouldn't come to affect this house sooner or later?" She then turned to head to the kitchen. "I think that's the reason why you legally no longer HAVE a son, Oji-san!"

Silence.

"_**WHAT?!**_"

That was a white-faced Sōun. "I'm afraid so, Otō-san," Kasumi stated. "Ranma-kun's paternal grandmother Hayashi Chiaki-sama found out about that agreement in your hands, then enacted a clause in the pre-marital agreement Oji-san signed with Oba-san which allowed Ranma-kun to officially be adopted 'back' into the Hayashi Clan when they learned that Ranma-kun was not raised properly to THEIR standards. Your 'friend' no longer has an heir and your agreement is now dead in the water." She then gazed at a wide-eyed Genma. "If you want hot water to change back, go to the bathroom from now on, Oji-san. You constantly mess up MY kitchen with your fur and don't bother cleaning up after yourself! At least Ranma-kun did THAT while he was here!"

She passed through the door into the kitchen. Silence then fell as Sōun and the transformed Genma blinked in shock at what Kasumi — who seemed the most harmless of people even at the worst of times — had just declared, and then the former slumped to his knees. "No…" he eeped before he stared at his friend. "Genma…I thought your mother and father renounced you when you married Nodoka…"

A sign went up. [**THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT!**] It twirled. [**GIVE ME A MOMENT HERE!**]

He then headed to the bathroom to transform. Sōun watched him go, and then blinked as Akane reached down and pulled the paper from her father's hand to scan it. After a minute, she shook her head. "I'm going to show this to Nabiki," she said.

She headed upstairs. Sōun watched her go, and then he blinked as a moan escaped the woman now lying on the floor nearby. "Nodoka!" he called out as he helped her into a sitting position. "What happened, Nodoka? What's going on with your son?"

She blinked on hearing those words, and then she seemed to deflate as that question echoed in her mind for a moment. She then turned to stare with hollow eyes at her husband's friend. "A son? I have no son anymore, Sōun…"

His jaw dropped…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, thirty minutes later…

"So you went through this, too?"

Ataru and Tariko both grimly nodded. They, along with Ukyō and Mimōko, were seated in the hospital cafeteria enjoying tea. Miiko, Kikuko and Chiaki were currently meeting with Shampoo and Hiromi was helping Negako with Ranma in the latter's room. "Yeah, we did," Ataru answered after he and Tariko shared a look. "Never realized that the times I was actually able to think with my brain more than my glands was actually Tariko being given the chance to take the driver's seat for a bit."

Ukyō shuddered. "Is Ran-chan going to be hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt," Tariko admitted. "But I think it will make him think a lot more clearly now. When I was pulled out of Ataru's head, anything we had once felt together when it came to all those girls we chased in the past didn't mean a thing to me anymore. I could actually look at everyone that caught our eye with a clearer and more objective point of view." She gazed on her twin. "It's been harder for him."

"I still get the 'urge' every time I meet someone pretty like you," Ataru added, an embarrassed smile crossing his face. "And what's worse, I don't feel any sort of guilt or hesitation — Tariko's influence — when that urge does overcome me. But since there's now no physical need to do that — that's because I'm not being used by Onē-san as a ki conduit to absorb enough anti-ki to allow her to finally forge a body of her own from pure energy (which was what she planned to do originally when she got shoved into my mind) — I find it almost impossible to act on those urges. This actually makes things a lot calmer in my life." He chuckled. "Still, it helped Lupica get her 'ultimate love potion' when she came by to ask my help in obtaining it."

Tariko smirked. "Fortunately, she realized that it really wasn't necessary once Rio finally woke up to her feelings for him and he agreed to marry her."

Ukyō hummed. "Lupica? Oh, that Arab-looking princess that came by Tomobiki about a month ago, right? She seemed a pretty nice lady!"

"Yeah, she is! She's our age, actually," Tariko stated, and then she blinked. "Oh…" she then breathed out as she looked at the doorway.

Everyone perked, and then they looked over…

…as Hiromi walked up to them, accompanying what appeared to be Kikuko — she was dressed also in the red sleeved tang and black trousers Ranma had pretty much adopted as his full-time uniform due to his curse — though her hair was now styled in a simple ponytail. There was a nervous look on her face as she gazed with pained eyes at Ukyō. Noting that, the chef blinked before she stood up, opening her arms.

A minute later, both girls were holding each other, sobbing. Seeing this, the others could only smile. After a minute, Ukyō then pulled herself away from Ranma's new sister, and then she stepped back to give her an appraising look. "Damn! How do you feel, Ran-chan?" she asked before she perked. "Oh, damn! Guess I can't…"

A shake of the head. "Don't worry about it, U-chan," she assured her before she gazed on Tariko. A deep sigh later, she walked over to stand beside Ataru's sister. "Um, Tariko, I hope you don't mind…well, since you did it for Mii-chan and Kikuko-chan, would you give me a name, too? A nice name, like you did them?"

Tariko smirked. "Kanami."

Ataru and Hiromi nodded their approval. "How written?" Mimōko asked.

"'Golden beauty,'" Tariko translated.

"Well, Hayashi-san, do you like it?"

The newly-named Kanami perked, and then she turned before she laughed on seeing two familiar people currently standing nearby, dressed as always in their black business suits and their ever-present dark Ray-Ban sunglasses, even though it was well late in the day. "I can certainly get used to it!" she said, shrugging.

The two newcomers exchanged a look. "Don't you just like these jobs, Kay?" the younger of the pair, a handsome African-American man in his mid-twenties, asked.

"It's always the biggest perk, Jay," the older of the pair, a white American with grey-shot, receding black hair, then stated as he pulled out a palmtop computer from his jacket pocket, and then they moved to sit with the others. "Well, Kanami, let's get this all started. We should have it all done in an hour."

"Um, excuse me…?"

Both members of the Special Committee on Alien Activities perked. "What's the problem?" Jay asked as they stared at Ukyō.

"Are you going to wipe out our memories after this?" the chef asked.

The two Men In Black laughed. "No, we don't really do that anymore unless it's necessary in case people get hostile towards aliens," Kay assured her.

Ukyō then breathed out as Kanami laughed…

* * *

The Tendō home, a half-hour later…

"That can't happen!"

Nabiki did not react to Nodoka's protest. "Oh, really? Why do you say that?"

The members of the Tendō family and the Saotome couple were meeting in the living room now. Genma was back in human form and seated beside his wife. The adults all seemed quite incensed, though Nabiki's sharp eye was quick to detect the pain in Nodoka's eyes from Ranma's total rejection of her, not to mention Genma's wariness. Even if the Saotome honour blade had been destroyed, he clearly was still intimidated by his wife. That was something she would have to keep in mind for the next while.

"It is simply not done!" Nodoka stated. "What happened between my husband and I and our son is our own business! It is a matter of family honour…"

"It could also be seen as child abuse."

Silence.

"CHILD ABUSE?! THAT'S RIDICULOUS!" Genma thundered. "One must SUFFER for the Art! One must give up EVERYTHING for the Art! I vowed to myself that I would make the boy the best martial artist of all time! That requires SACRIFICE!"

"Oh? And what about promise to your wife to make him a 'man above men?'" Nabiki instantly countered. "Ranma-kun is totally clueless when it comes to personal relationships. He has no knowledge whatsoever when it comes to properly behaving with a woman. Hell, I don't even think he understands a damned THING about the birds and the bees. How did you expect him to marry Akane-chan if he didn't know that?"

Nodoka gasped, her eyes widening as Genma snorted. "Feh! Mere distractions! The boy needed to focus on the Art! And ONLY on the Art! That is his destiny!" he declared before taking a tired sigh. "Or at least it WAS his destiny…"

Sōun sadly nodded. "True…"

"So you're giving up on him? Is that what you're saying?"

Nodoka then paled as Genma nodded. "As ugly as it sounds, it is necessary, Akane-chan. The boy was run through by that gaijin's sword. Four bones in his back were wrecked and his spinal column was shredded. Even if — and I can't see HOW this could be done — he could find some way to get back on his feet, he will never be as strong as he was before!" He took a deep breath. "I'm afraid, Sōun, that we'll need to take some drastic measures when it comes to seeing the pact fulfilled."

"There is the Hibiki boy," Sōun noted.

"Until such time as you and Oji-san tell Akane-chan about Ryōga-kun's secret, I personally will not cook for him or accept him as part of this household."

More silence.

"KASUMI!" Nodoka gasped. "You have no right to refuse anything your father demands of you! Why, your mother would be ASHAMED of you if she…!"

_CRUNCH!_

"DON'T ever say that about Kā-san, you over-honoured bitch!" Akane snarled.

Sōun and Genma both gaped on seeing Nodoka now buried under Akane's ki mallet. "Arigatō, Akane-chan," Kasumi said with a demure smile, and then she turned to glare at her father. "Otō-san, Ranma-kun's sister Miiko-san hinted very strongly that Ryōga-kun is doing something that will come to harm Akane-chan — your DAUGHTER and HEIR, by the way! — quite gravely! If you do NOT do something to correct that matter, then I will follow Ranma-kun's very HONOURABLE example and depart this home once and for all time."

Sōun gasped on hearing that threat, and then he shook his head. "I can't do that, Kasumi! To reveal what I know about Hibiki-san would hurt HIM more than it could ever hurt Akane-chan! Ranma acted PROPERLY when he vowed to keep that secret…"

"Ah, but there's one thing you don't understand, Otō-chan," Nabiki cut in. "That promise was made by SAOTOME Ranma. He is now HAYASHI Ranma. Which means that if Hibiki decides to pull his 'Die, Ranma!' routine on him, Ranma-kun might decide that holding up a secret he made while he was part of Oji-chan's family doesn't matter anymore. And by all sense of the term, he would be more than right to do something like that!" Her eyes then narrowed. "So what's more important to you, Otō-chan? Our family's good reputation or your warped sense of honour? That could have been HIBIKI that had crippled Ranma-kun that night instead of Shampoo! Don't you remember after we first met the idiot and Akane-chan's hair got cut? How he gladly broke into this house to attack Ranma-kun that night…?" Her voice then trailed off as a look of stunned realization crossed his face. "And it was raining…!"

"And that was the night P-chan first appeared," Kasumi added, her eyes also wide as it dawned on her. "And afterwards, Ranma-kun went into Akane-chan's room…"

"With a kettle of HOT WATER!"

The older sisters spun on Akane, who was now white-faced with horror and shame as it dawned on her what had been kept from her. "So that means…" Nabiki began.

"Ryōga-kun is P-chan!" Kasumi exclaimed.

Still more silence.

"Care to explain THAT, Tō-chan?" Nabiki then coolly asked as all the sisters glared at their father.

"Easily explained."

They turned to gaze on Genma. "Let's hear it," Nabiki bade.

Genma huffed. "Ryōga followed the boy and I to Jusenkyō. The boy deliberately knocked the poor fellow into the Spring of Drowned Piglet! I would personally say that Ryōga had every right to be angry at the boy for what he did…"

"What about you trying to EAT me, panda-man?"

Everyone gasped on hearing that voice, and then they turned. "Ah, Ryōga-kun!" Sōun then stated. "How good to see you, my boy! Sit down and…AWWWK!"

THAT came from two of the wanderer's bandannas, which slashed a good cut into Sōun's head and shattered Genma's glasses, nearly blinding the latter in return. As the two fathers passed out in shock as they realized how close Ryōga came to making them both a head shorter, the wanderer took a deep breath. "I suggest you two stop digging holes like you both are right now," he coldly stated before he turned to gaze apologetically at the sisters. He then dropped to his knees and prostrated himself before them. "Tendō no Mae, Nabiki-sama, Akane-sama, I deeply apologize for the gross dishonour my actions have brought unto this household. While I admit that my anger and my quest for vengeance against Hayashi Ranma — then Saotome Ranma — drove me to do what I did, I had utterly no right and no excuse to invade Akane-sama's privacy like I did, much less take such gross advantage of her trust and friendship as I did. I cannot beg your forgiveness for what I've done as 'P-chan,' nor will I even try."

The sisters all gazed at him, and then Akane stood. Walking over, she knelt before him, and then she reached down and gently moved him into a sitting position. She then gazed into his face, quick to see the look of sincerity there.

_SLAP!_

Ryōga didn't react as his head was snapped around by Akane's blow. After a minute, he turned to gaze into her now tear-streaked face, and then he nodded in understanding before standing and moving to leave. As he reached the patio, he paused. "Tell Ranma that when he recovers, I'll be around to spar with him," he said. "And tell the two idiots they better go elsewhere if they're going to find someone to take Ranma's place."

With that, he was gone. Akane blinked as she remained in place, and then she sighed. "I guess I wasn't the only one to think things over, eh?" she wondered.

Kasumi and Nabiki nodded…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Ranma's relationship to **Henry W. "Indiana" Jones, Jr.** is inspired by **MadHat886**'s fanfic _Suikoden One Half_, which can be found at this website (it is marked as a _Ranma_ and _Suikoden_ crossover). As for the curses put on the Saotome honour blade by the spirits of the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant, well that did make sense to me given how honour-bound Nodoka can be at times (and using the supposition that she and her family would look upon having American blood in their ancestry as shameful). As for Indiana's longevity, that is a nod to what was depicted in the third film, _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_, augmented by what happened in the fourth film, _Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull_ (Indiana would look these days pretty much as Harrison Ford depicted him in the 2008 film).

2) Minor _Indiana Jones_ character note: The name of the Knight who was protecting the Holy Grail in the third movie was not given, so I made one for him.

3) Translations: **Saya** — A sword scabbard; **Hakase** — Suffix honorific for a university professor; **Dàshīfù** — Literally "Great Teacher Father;" **Yatai** — Literally "platform house," this is the term for a mobile "restaurant on wheels" that chefs often use when they are on the road.

4) For those who don't know, the real names for **Agent Kay** and **Agent Jay** from the _Men In Black_ movies are **Kevin Brown** and **James Darrell Edwards III** respectively.

5) **Lupica** and **Rio** appeared in the sixth _Yatsura_ movie, _Always My Darling_.

6) As an aside, the inspiration for **Hayashi Kanami** comes from the characterization of Ranma's female side — there called "Ranko" — from the fan fiction series _Tales of Ranma and Ranko_ by the wonderful husband-and-wife team of **Jack Staik** and **Lady Tesser** from some years ago. You would have to Google the series title as such is not found here at this website.


	7. The Return of Happōsai

On the Yamanashi slope of Mount Kumotori (west of Tōkyō proper), Wednesday 30 June, before dawn…

"This will be quite simple."

Ripping away the string of ofuda and shide vanes that was wrapped around a particularly large bolder covering the entrance of a cave on one side of Mount Kumotori, Negako concentrated as she placed her free hand on the rock, sending a ki probe into it to ascertain its internal structure. Once she did that, she drew her hand back.

"_**SHINZŌ BAKUHATSU SHOKU!**_"

A finger touched the rock as a massive injection of anti-ki was fired into it, causing it to fatally fracture. A moment later, the rock crumbled apart, collapsing into a pile of shattered gravel at the grandmaster's feet. With the cave entrance now open to her, she peered into the darkness. "Happy?!" she called out.

A tired, aged moan responded. "Pretty ladies…"

Negako smirked, an expression that would seem quite alien were it witnessed by others who knew the normally-stoic grandmaster as someone who NEVER showed emotion. "I see you are still affected by what the priests did to you back in 1888."

Silence.

"Y-y-you…!" that rasping voice croaked out.

"Hai, it is I, Happy."

More silence.

A pained laugh then echoed as a very shrunken and diminutive form appeared, eventually collapsing against Negako's leg. "And you…became a pretty girl…!" he rasped as his body automatically began to tap into the huge ki stores Negako had within her own body. "Oh…oh, gods…what the HELL…?!" he gasped as the uniqueness of his friend's ki began to flood his mind's pleasure centre with such rapture, his dark eyes began to spiral. "Oh, gods…that feels so GOOD…!"

She knelt down to tap several places on his back. "Not too much all at once, Happy. You have endured quite a period of withdrawal during your incarceration."

He nodded as the euphoria now flooding his mind subsided into a very calm haze that made him feel — for the first time in so long — truly alive. After a minute, he pulled away from her, and then stretched himself. "Ah, that feels MUCH better!" he stated before he looked up at her. "So when did this happen to you anyway? And what do you call yourself now? You never had a name when last we met."

"Moroboshi Negako. And I gained my own body six months ago."

He blinked, and then his jaw dropped as a look of sullen outrage then flashed across his face. "You still want to be affiliated with THEM?"

A smirk. "There is something I do not believe you ever realized about me, Happy. While the majority of my family wanted me locked away like the nightmare they always saw me as, the fifty-seven people who actually were my hosts from 1808 to six months ago viewed me as someone who needed help and deserved to gain the freedom I desired. It was the fulfilment of what they called 'the Promise of Bunka Go-nen.'"

He nodded. "The era name and year of the time you woke up."

"The same." Negako then blinked as tears appeared in her eyes. Seeing that made Happōsai gape, and then he handed her a handkerchief. She nodded her thanks as she wiped her eyes clear, and then she handed the cloth back. "Through a very odd quirk of Fate, my last host was not only able to see me live my own life, he survived the ordeal." A sigh. "Albeit with a split soul that gave him a twin sister in the same process that created this body for me. You have missed much this last decade."

A laugh. "I guess I have. So where do you live now, Negako-chan?"

"With the core elements of my last host's family in Tomobiki. Come, we can return back home just in time for breakfast." Her eyes then narrowed. "Your two latest students have made quite the mess about things concerning the school you founded. And the son of one of them was recently crippled by one of Nǚ Kělún's relatives when he fell afoul of Zhòuquán-xiāng and later, the Nǚjiézú. I should have him restored to health in a week, but his soul was split because Genma's training methods included the Neko-ken."

Happōsai's eyes went wide, and then he moaned. "That DUNDERHEAD…!"

"Indeed," Negako replied. "Shall we be off to the morning meal?"

He nodded, and then hopped onto her shoulder. "Let's go!"

And with that, they were off, heading south towards the Tabayama village office on National Highway 411 to get a taxi back to Nishitōkyō…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, breakfast…

"So Oyaji was holding out on us, huh?"

"That he was," Kanami stated as she gazed on the sheets of paper that Kyoko had recovered from the Saotome honour blade before she used some delayed fracture point techniques — her school's version of the Heart-Blast Touch used in Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū — to ensure the weapon's destruction as soon as Nodoka once more touched it. Breakfast had been brought up by Ranma's newest — though in an odd way, she was actually the _oldest_ — sister from the cafeteria so they could eat together; Miiko and Kikuko had gone back to the Moroboshi home so they could sleep there. "These are some really awesome techniques," she said, nodding in admiration. A smirk then crossed her face. "Figures that Genma…" — since she had been the more "refined" side of Ranma's original soul, she found it easier to address their parents by name than her brother — "…would invent something that would better help with thievery."

Ranma sighed. "Were we ever thieves, Ka-chan?"

Kanami blinked, and then she sighed. "I think we could have gone in that direction one of these days. Especially when it came to how desperate we became to get rid of the curse finally." A shrug. "I can't be too sure. Even if my point of view is, in a lot of ways, the reverse of how you see things, my knowledge and experience is the same as yours." She smirked. "Ta-chan sure was right about that."

Her brother — though he had remained a "she" overnight — blinked. "You're calling Tariko 'Ta-chan?'" she asked. "Does she mind?"

A shake of the head. "No, not at all. She's the one that named me, remember?"

A smirk. "It's a nice name."

Kanami blushed. "Hai. And…" A sigh. "I don't know. I mean, when we were sitting together while Kevin-san and James-san got my identity made up and sent off to the relevant authorities, I actually found myself holding her hand." A shrug. "I guess it's because she and I have the same type of origins. And we are bisexual."

Ranma looked confused. "'Bisexual?'"

"A person who's attracted to both one's own sex and the other sex."

The confusion increased. "Is that normal?"

A smirk. "For Avalonians, yes," Kanami answered as she gave her brother a knowing look. "You know about Kikuko and Shā, don't you?"

The transformed and crippled martial artist shook his head. "They okay?"

"They both are. And we're going to have to lean on Obā-san to not force charges on Shān for what she did." A sigh. "According to what Negako, Hiromi and Ta-chan told me, Avalonians — because we're a psychic species — have this drive in their bodies that makes them seek out a mental 'bond-mate' to form their version of a married couple. Almost always, that bond is between two of the same sex. And since Avalonians only come as girls — the factory that created these bodies, Hiromi told me, was built that way — there's no telling what'll happen when you get the blood transfusion done."

Ranma made a face. "I do NOT want to feel ANYTHING for Kunō!"

A laugh. "I don't blame you!" Kanami stated. "You know, Ta-chan told me this just before she went home with the others last night. When she first got back to Earth in her own body, she was scared of the idea of being attracted to some of the guys in her class. Including this really rich and handsome guy named Mendō Shūtarō. But in the end…" She shrugged, and then she pointed to her head. "It's mind over matter, Ranma. And Ta-chan confessed that she hasn't yet met a guy she'd want to take to bed. So maybe she'll stay devoted to girls only." A smirk. "Maybe me."

The other woman shook her head. "I don't know much about relationships at ALL! Thinking about that's just too strange!" She then perked. "What about Kikuko-chan?"

"Kikuko gave Shān the Kiss of Marriage."

Silence.

"So Shampoo…"

"By Nǚjiézú law…is now our sister-in-law." Kanami then sighed. "Which is a good thing if you ask me. She knows even LESS about society beyond her village than we do about society here!" A shake of the head. "It would've been cruel to put her in jail if she got caught on Thursday after she dropped us. Not just for her…"

"But the people in the jail, too," Ranma finished.

"Yeah…"

Silence fell as they took a moment to think about things, and then they perked on hearing a knock at the door. Both looked up to see Tomoko leaning into the room. "Ohayō, Ran-chan! Ka-chan!" the nurse said as she came in to pick up the food trays to get them out of the room, and then she moved to check Ranma's intravenous feed. "Got a call from Negako-sama. She went out very early this morning to locate the grandmaster of your martial arts school. He was trapped in a cave in the mountains north of here; had been there for over a decade, in fact!" The Hayashi siblings were quick to see the look of disbelief on the older woman's face. "As soon as she gets him settled down so he can rest and get some food in him, she'll be here to do your treatment, Ran-chan."

"Could she bring Happōsai-sensei with her?" Kanami then asked. "There are some questions Ranma and I have about Genma and Nodoka. He might have some answers."

Tomoko perked, and then she nodded. "I'll go ask…"

"Tomoko-san!"

Another nurse leaned into the room. "What is it, Kaoko?" Tomoko asked.

"Tendō Kasumi is at the ward desk," the other nurse reported, and then she shrugged. "She brought both of her sisters with her as well."

Ranma and Kanami perked. "All three of them are here?" the former asked.

"What do they want?" the latter wondered.

"They were hoping for a chance to speak to your brother, Kanami-chan."

The siblings exchanged a look. "I'll go talk to them," Kanami then said.

"Don't let Nabiki scam you," Ranma warned.

A smirk. "Definitely not!"

Kanami walked out of the room and headed down the hallway. She was quick to see the three women standing by the ward desk several metres away. Her eyebrow arched on noting that both Nabiki and Akane were in their school uniforms. "Skipping school?" she called out as all three of the Tendō sisters perked on seeing her.

"We rather had no choice in the matter, Kikuko-chan," Nabiki stated, and then her eyebrow arched as she gazed intently at the approaching woman. "Or are you…?"

A smirk. "How to tell us apart: Lesson One," Kanami stated. "Miiko wears her hair loose. Kikuko braids her hair like Ranma does. I just prefer a ponytail."

A shocked gasp then made Nabiki and Akane spin around to see that Kasumi was now on the verge of tears. "Nē-chan! What's wrong?!" Akane demanded as she and Nabiki both lunged over to help keep their older sister on her feet.

Kasumi blinked before she stared wide-eyed at Kanami. "It's happened, hasn't it?!" she whispered. "Your soul split apart, didn't it?!" As Nabiki and Akane both paled on hearing that, the elder daughter reached over to grasp the other woman's shoulder. "What happened?! Miiko-san said that…AH!" she cried out.

That was thanks to Kanami deflecting the arms away. "Don't ever presume you have the right to touch me, Tendō-san," she neutrally stated. "You are not my mother. And as you are now well aware, I have no desire to form any sort of relationship to the woman that is only my mother in genetics. Unlike Ranma, I don't care whatsoever about your feelings are since you never really were a proper host when we were living at your house." As Kasumi visibly winced on hearing that barely-veiled accusation from Ranma's sister, Kanami then gazed on Nabiki and Akane. "I hope you two can guess how much I feel about both of you at this time. So what brings you three here anyway?"

Nabiki sighed. "Um…sorry! What is your name, anyway?"

"Hayashi Kanami."

The middle daughter nodded. "Nice name." A sigh. "And deep down, none of us blame you for feeling that way about us." She then closed her eyes. "We know now about Hibiki and 'P-chan.'" As Kanami's eyebrow arched, Nabiki smirked. "I'm still kicking myself in the ass for not cluing in to all the times Ranma-kun called the bastard 'P-chan' or other names like that when he came by the house." She then sobered. "Some things have happened that you and Ranma-kun need to know."

An eyebrow arched. "So what's your fee for that information?"

Nabiki jerked, and then she smirked. "Kanami-chan, after what happened to Ranma-kun — and you…" — she added that in on recalling what had happened to Moroboshi Ataru when Moroboshi Tariko had been finally split away from him — "…last week, we've ALL had to take time, sit back and do some serious thinking about how we've been living our lives for the last few years." A shrug. "Look, can we go some place where we can talk this over? These things are something you really need to know."

A sigh. "Cafeteria's this way."

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi dōjō, after breakfast…

"Damn! And he survived THAT?!"

Happōsai was enjoying a casual puff of an herbal solution Negako had prepared when she had brought him to her current home an hour before. The remains of a big breakfast were off to one side as he took a look at the diagrams she had drawn up of the wound Ranma had endured thanks to Shampoo. "He did, though his own psyche — which was already significantly damaged thanks to his past training experiences — took a very grave wound," she stated. "It completely negated what he had gained when he endured the Touched Soul training." A sigh. "He has potentially been set back _years_ by this incident. He will have to relearn many things." She then stared at him. "The good aspect to this incident is that whatever he has missed thanks to Genma…"

"Can now be taught to him," he finished, nodding in understanding. "What about the part that just got split off last night?" He had met Miiko (who, on seeing him, thought he was downright cute and she gave him a hug that — had it not been for Negako blocking his body's automatic response to touching a woman — would have gorged him with so much ki that he would've been drunk for a MONTH!) and Kikuko (who gave him a kiss and called him "Ojii-chan" without any sort of hesitation) when they had gone into the main house some minutes before to eat breakfast with Negako's family.

"Now that she is free of her brother's mind, Kanami — I believe — will become your most willing student," she stated. "She is the part of Ranma that absorbed all the life lessons Genma didn't want Ranma to dwell upon, so she is willing to be the 'brains' to his 'brawn,' so to speak. All she lacks is practical experience."

A nod. "I'll keep that in…"

He then tensed as Negako perked before she looked over. "Enter, Hatatsu."

Happōsai perked on hearing that name, and then he gaped as a rather giant man walked into the dōjō. Dressed in a simple white martial artist's gi with a black belt, he was even more massive than a sumotori, with a bald, fleshy head that held a pair of steely eyes and a thick-lipped mouth. As he went to his full height, the Dōjō Destroyer then bowed low to the two grandmasters before him. "Happōsai-sensei," he solemnly declared as he gazed on the older man. "It is good to see you again. When Negako-sama texted me to inform me of your rescue, I came here right away."

Happōsai cackled. "Michiba Hatatsu! How are you?!" he said as he offered his hand, which the giant took with tender care. "Still wrecking dōjōs, eh?!"

The visiting wanderer smirked. In the eyes of others, it would be seen as a thoroughly evil sight. "As it has always been in my family for years, Sensei," he stated with a solemn level of gravity that might befit a senior priest in Shintō rather than a man who — in the eyes of mainstream society — would often be mistaken as a wandering hoodlum preying on the owners of humble martial arts training halls as a way of publicly humiliating them. The Michiba family, descent of a farming clan from western Hokkaidō, had fallen under the loose guidance of the immortal that had crafted the original seeds that would eventually unite in 1808 and blossom into Moroboshi Negako. Over the years, members of the Michiba family became dedicated "testers" that would go forth and ensure that practitioners of the more esoteric martial disciplines remained within certain guidelines meant to ensure they wouldn't become source-points of potential rebellion against the government of the day. "In fact, it is good that you have come back now. Your most recent students have truly moved beyond the pale in their quest to totally seize what you struggled so long to create." He smirked in derision. "You know that Sōun managed to use the money gained from his marriage to Kimiko to build a dōjō on his family property."

Happōsai nodded. "Did he eventually do as I asked before he and Genma trapped me in that damned cave?" he wondered. "Did he go to get a license from whoever is currently running Master Hosan's dōjō in Watari-shima? Hell, did Genma do that?"

"No."

Silence.

"_**WHAT THE HELL'S BEEN GOING ON HERE SINCE I'VE BEEN GONE?!**_" the old master thundered as an aura of pure anger exploded around him.

"Fortunately for the honour of your Art, nothing much," the Destroyer stated, which made Happōsai blink as the aura of ki around him faded. "Try as Sōun might, he couldn't attract students to take classes under his guidance." A smirk. "It seems your teachings and how much you humiliated Sōun and Genma turned away everyone from ever seeking to train in your Art." A sigh. "That, I believe, led to the agreement between them to unite their families in marriage; Genma's son marrying one of Sōun's daughters." He sneered. "Of course, as their children grew older and began to train under their guidance, they elected to also 'unite the two schools of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū' so they could use honour to force their children to eventually comply when they brought them together. Which happened only when Ranma was brought to Nerima to meet his future fiancé — it was Akane — no more than a month ago."

More silence.

"WHAT schools are we talking about here?" Happōsai then demanded. "I worked over a damn CENTURY to get my license from Master Hosan! And he put the stipulation in my license that stated that only those trained in the Tensei-ryū or any of the accepted branch schools like Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū could grant licenses to any of my immediate students! Hell, I accepted that! I know what sort of reputation I have! So where the HELL did Genma and Sōun get their licenses so they could found their own schools?!"

"My point, Sensei. They have NO licenses! Not from Master Hosan's heirs or anyone else that I know of." The Destroyer crossed his arms. "It is all a lie."

Still more silence.

"Those IDIOTS…!" Happōsai hissed out, his eyes burning with outrage.

And it was more than understandable. While post-war Japanese society didn't really emphasize the martial disciplines as was the case before World War Two, there was still a modicum of respect bestowed to those who elected to follow — to one extent or another — the ancient ways of the warrior culture that had dominated the Home Islands for centuries. And because of that respect, it was automatically demanded that those who ran the schools that taught those ways be properly licensed by an accredited master school, such as the national associations (for mainstream arts such as judō, kendō and aikidō) or the independent koryū (for the more specified disciplines or those more traditional versions of the mainstream arts still controlled by the families that had created such schools many years before the Meiji era). The Tensei-ryū was rated as a koryū under traditional rules, thus whoever managed the home dōjō in Hokkaidō could grant licenses possessing the same level of respect as an aikidō sensei would receive from the Aikikai Foundation, the umbrella organization that managed all those who followed the teachings of Ueshiba Morihei. In that vein, Happōsai got his license from Hosan Hirosuke himself back in 1921, thus marking him as the founder of his own style, which he had named "Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū," the School of Indiscriminate Grappling.

It was the one accomplishment in his long life that Happōsai was truly proud of.

And he had been willing to take that pride and pass it on — along with what he had learned over the years of his life — to those willing to learn.

Michiba Hatatsu had briefly been one such student.

As had Tendō Sōun and Saotome (_né_ Hayashi) Genma.

And despite what those men had done to him, Happōsai once had hope for his two latest students, especially in the wake of Genma's developing the Umisen-ken and Yamasen-ken forms.

But to learn they now PRETENDED they were masters of their own schools…?

"Happy."

He turned to Negako. "May I propose that we wait until Ranma is healed from his wounds and under your proper tutelage before we deal with Genma and Sōun?" she stated.

He hummed, and then he nodded. "All right." He then grinned as he gazed up into the Destroyer's dark eyes. "But don't worry about it, Hatatsu. You'll be having your fun soon enough." He then took his pipe and puffed it. "As will I…"

Both men began to cackle as Negako gazed with an dispassionate look at them…

* * *

Nerima, the Tendō home, that moment…

"Saotome…?"

Genma gulped. "Tendō…"

They both then gazed wide-eyed at the fallen kamidana at the front of the dōjō. Fortunately for Sōun's often fragile emotional state, the kamidana hadn't knocked over the picture of Tendō Kimiko, much less the urn bearing her ashes. "It's an omen," Sōun then stated, his voice hollow. "Just like the day when the Mast-…!"

Genma clapped the other man's mouth shut. "DON'T SAY THE NAME!"

Sōun blinked, and then his eyes widened before he rapidly nodded…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, a half-hour later…

"So he pretty much abandoned us right from the beginning."

Nabiki nodded. "Yeah. Shocked the hell out of us last night when he turned around and proposed that pig Hibiki take your place." The Tendō sisters and Kanami were now in the hospital cafeteria enjoying tea. "Of course, thanks to Miiko…"

"How did it happen?"

Kanami stared at Akane. "You mean Ryōga?" As the youngest sister nodded, she took a deep breath. "It was an accident. We had just been cursed ourselves and we were chasing Genma all over the valley. That's when Ryōga blundered into our path and we knocked him clear into the Hēitúnnìquán." A sigh. "Since we did see him as our friend, we were more than happy to keep his secret when he asked us to." As Akane's eyes flared with outrage, Kanami held up a hand. "Akane, think about it for a moment. Look at the SIZE difference between Ryōga-as-human and Ryōga-as-piglet. How would YOU feel if something like that happened to you? How helpless would YOU feel?"

Akane blinked as she considered that, and then she sighed. "True. But what about Ryōga's invading my privacy like that?" she countered.

A nod. "Yeah, you have a point. But try to remember, we do value keeping our word." A sigh. "And as much as we could, we DID try to warn you. It amazed us that you never clued into it." Kanami glanced at the older sisters. "Much less neither of you." As Kasumi and Nabiki nodded in understanding, Kanami then crossed her arms. "So how did Genma and your father explain why they kept silent over it?"

"Pretty much the same explanation you gave us," Nabiki answered. "That's when Hibiki came in and decked them both with his bandannas, and then he apologised to us for what he did as 'P-chan.'" She then smirked. "Much that I am upset at what happened, I could tell that he had done a lot of thinking about what happened on Thursday." A sigh. "As have we." She took a deep breath before she grinned. "So what do you want people at school to find out about what happened to you guys? There are a lot of people asking questions, wanting to know what happened to you."

"For what reason? So that Kunō-baka could get the idiots there to go into their 'beat Akane to date her' routine again?" A sigh. "I don't care anymore, Nabiki. Tell them all the truth if you want. I'm sure you can milk it for all you can. As far as Obā-chan's concerned, none of us are going back to that school ever again."

Akane looked down. "I'm sorry…"

Kanami stared at her, and then she sighed. "So am I," she then admitted. "You're pretty okay when you're not angry, Akane. And as a martial artist, you do have a lot of potential. You just haven't been given the chance to explore it. No doubt because your father pretty much stopped training you when your mother died, right?"

A nod. "Hai…"

Another sigh. "So that means you're using the forms you learned when you were a child. Before THESE things started growing out." She pointed to her own breasts in emphasis. "First thing you need to do is work on your balance and your centre of gravity, Akane. Master that and you should be able to push ahead quite a bit."

Akane brightened. "You think so?"

"Hey, as soon as we hit puberty and things started to happen, we had to do some adjustments to our own stances," Kanami stated. "Look at me now. Granted I'm a girl full-time now, but I'm also a head taller than I was when Ranma and I shared a body and the curse got us. I have to do some serious work to get my sense of balance and my centre of gravity back." She then shrugged. "But right now, I'm worried about other things."

"Which is understandable," Kasumi noted. "Kanami-san, may I ask something?"

"What?"

"I know about the Neko-ken thanks to Miiko-san. Were there other incidents during your training trip with Oji-san that we may have to know about?"

Kanami blinked as Nabiki and Akane gazed in confusion at their older sister. "Why would you want to know?" Ranma's sister then asked. "Since we're now part of the Hayashi Clan, anything Genma or Nodoka say Ranma has to do doesn't have any weight in honour, much less wouldn't be seen as legal. And Miiko, Kikuko and I don't factor into it at all even if we are bisexual and we could pursue relationships with other women if we wanted. In fact, Kikuko is now considered married to Shānpú, so that strikes her off the list right away."

"WHAT?!" Akane shrieked. "Wha-…? How…? WHAT HAPPENED?!"

A sigh. "Okay, you want the story of the life of Saotome Ranma until the day he became Hayashi Ranma?" As the Tendō sisters nodded and Nabiki pulled out a notepad and her dictation machine from her book bag, Kanami sat back in her chair. "Well, here it is, right from the very beginning. Or at least as far as we can remember…"

Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane all gulped…

* * *

Kimitsu, the Nan'yō Academy, that moment…

"_**REITEI-SAMA IS ALIVE?!**_"

That was none other than Tano Tsukuhito — Gakushū — who loomed head and shoulders above the others in the student council room, where the leaders of the various classes at Nan'yō had gathered to quell some interesting rumours people who had friends at Seito were now passing around. "That's right," Sebone Mimōko answered. Given her place as one of the "four divas" of Nan'yō, she had the right to sit at the head of the room, alongside Tsukuhito and Hidari Itsuji. The fourth of their group, Amai Mushiro — Kannei Kōha — was not present. Nor was he really wanted given his known insanity and involvement in the disappearance of the school's leader, On Michiji — Enjutsu Kōro — some weeks before…at Itsuji's instigation, though others didn't know of that latter point.

"So why does Reitei-sama use this weird battle name you told us of?" Oka Yuzuko — Rikuson Hakugen — then asked. "'Ryūkō Kyōrei?' Why use her posthumous name? It's disrespectful! And why didn't she tell everyone she was alive?"

"She feels that given what she DIDN'T do in her first life, she has to repent for what she ultimately 'allowed' to happen to all of us," Mimōko replied. "Hence, her willingness to use the name 'Kyōrei' in her battle name." Everyone knew that was the Japanese _on'yomi_ reading of the Mandarin "Xiàolíng" (filial and inattentive). "And as for why she's kept herself separated from all of us, well…" A shrug. "Think about it. If she went to Rakuyō, Tōtaku could potentially view it as a direct challenge to his own power. If she went to Seito, Tōtaku would lose what respect he has and Rakuyō would go to war to put her down, especially if Ryūbi and Kan'u decided to go steal the Imperial Seal back to give it to her. If she went to Kyoshō and people believed she backed Sōsō…"

"To spare us all the scenarios, it means one thing: All-out war between the Seven Schools," Oroka Shikumi — Roshuku Shikei — then stated as she gazed out the window at the lawn around the school. As always, the senior strategist of Nan'yō had half her skin covered by bandages; no one had any idea why she did that as she was not a front-line fighter like Mimōko. "So by not going to any of the schools…"

"She's showing she's not favouring one over the others," Itsuji said, nodding.

A knock. "Hey, everyone!"

"Ah! Okonomiyaki!" Mago Tsueko, who had come to this meeting alongside her cousin, Meguru Ichiyu — Shūyu Kōkin — whooped as everyone gathered around Kuonji Ukyō as she moved to unload her carrying case so everyone could eat. "Oh, U-chan! It all looks SO good!" she grinned as she picked up her own plate. "Itadakimasu!"

Ukyō grinned; she had taken an instant liking to Ichiyu's cousin as soon as the latter began to attend Nan'yō. Mago Tsueko was, in the chef's eyes, as much of a friend as Sebone Mimōko. "So what's this big powwow all about, anyway?" she asked.

"The news is getting out about Hiromi-san," Mimōko stated.

Many of the tōshi gasped. "Ryomō! How DARE you be so personal with Reitei-sama?!" Tsukuhito demanded. "To speak of her like THAT…?!"

"Is the way she likes to be called, Tsukuhito-kun."

Silence.

"So Kōtchi doesn't like battle names, huh?" Tsueko asked.

Everyone gaped at the just-arrived reborn Little Conqueror. "'_**KŌTCHI?!**_'" many of them gasped as Itsuji fought back a grin and Mimōko shook her head.

"Did you actually meet her?" Yuzuko wondered.

"Nope."

Mass face-fault! "Hakufu!" Ichiyu moaned.

Ukyō laughed. "Oh, relax, Kōkin! I met her, too! She's pretty okay!"

"So tell us about her, U-chan!" Yuzuko urged.

The chef smirked, and then she quickly relayed what she knew about Moroboshi Hiromi. At the end of that, people were just shaking their heads in disbelief and awe. "The way Fate works," Shikumi mused as she crossed her arms. "This may be a good thing for us all…or it may lead to a total disaster. It's hard to predict."

"Hiromi-san does want to help us escape our fates," Mimōko noted as people relaxed and nibbled on the food Ukyō had brought them. "As to the 'how,' she hasn't really sat back and thought about it. She's got her own life to live, after all. And what time she could spare from school or helping out the Avalonians, she used it to find out what was happening to all of us." She took a deep breath. "I like her. She wants to help people. So do Tariko-san and Ataru-kun; that's how I found out about Hiromi-san, anyway."

"How so?" Itsuji asked.

"As you all know, my cousin Tōtō works at a hospital in Nerima, doing his internship. They got a bad trauma case late last week; stab wound with a dàdāo through the lower spine. Tariko-san volunteers her weekends as a nursing assistant and she found out about him, then she got Negako-sama to look him over." Mimōko ignored the chill that fell on the room on her mentioning _that_ name. "And Hiromi-san got involved, too. Especially when it was discovered that the victim — his name is Hayashi Ranma — found a magatama when he and his father were training in China." As people gasped, Mimōko grinned. "That was Ryūen Kunrō, believe it or not. Or 'Hayashi Miiko' as she calls herself now."

"A bioroid? Like Ataru-kun's sisters?" Shikumi asked.

A nod. "Hai. And like Ataru-kun, Ranma-kun's own soul got split in half as he was training with his father." Mimōko's eye then closed. "Thanks to the Neko-ken."

Silence.

"But that training is OUTLAWED…!" Tsukuhito rasped as looks of total horror crossed the faces of many of the people in the room.

"Didn't stop the stupid idiot from putting Ran-chan through it who knows HOW many times before his mind snapped and he became a cat!" Ukyō muttered.

More silence.

"Ukyō-san, you mean…!" Ichiyu gasped.

A nod. "Yeah, Kōkin. Ran-chan's my fiancé. Or rather, WAS my fiancé until his grandmother put his grandfather's will into effect and got him — and his sisters, too — adopted back into the Hayashi Clan." A sigh. "He never knew a damned thing."

"What will you do?" Itsuji asked. Much that Kuonji Ukyō's personal problems didn't matter in the grander scheme of things, that she was now one of two bridges between the tōshi of Nan'yō and the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn would come to factor into events sooner or later. That was simple Fate and to ignore that was a stupid thing to do. "You can't really go after Ranma anymore, but there is his father."

A smirk. "Oh, believe me, Saji, I fully intend to go after that jackass," the chef vowed. "But right now, I want to see Ran-chan back on his feet again."

The others in the room nodded. Tsukuhito stood and walked over to place a hand on Ukyō's shoulder. "When you feel it's time, tell us," he stated. "What happened to you was a crime against honour and justice. You deserve your vengeance. And you will get it. And since you're our friend, we'll be there at your side."

Ukyō blinked. "Gaku-chan…!"

"He's right about that, Ukyō," Shikumi stated. "You might not be tōshi, but you ARE a fighter. And you're our friend, too. We'll make sure things don't go wrong."

The chef from Kyōto blinked, and then she smiled, her eyes tearing. She then perked on feeling Tsueko's hand fall on her other shoulder. "Dōmo," she whispered.

"It's gonna be a fight!" Tsueko then declared.

Everyone gaped at her, and then laughter filled the room…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Shinzō Bakuhatsu Shoku** — Heart-Blast Touch (this is one of the two standard killing manoeuvres in Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū; its effects was described in Part 2); **Koryū** — Literally "Old School;" **Tensei-ryū** — Literally "School of Heaven's Star;" **Umisen-ken** — Literally "Thousand Fists of the Sea;" **Yamasen-ken** — Literally "Thousand Fists of the Mountain;" **Dàdāo** — Literally "Great Knife," this is the standard name for a large single-edged broadsword.

2) The **Touched Soul** concept was first devised by **Jack Staik** in his _Another Approach_ carry-on to Gregg Sharp's **Bet** series. I've always loved this concept.

3) Since I was creating names for all the tōshi, I decided to use the same technique when I gave the **Dōjō Destroyer** his given name. His real name, **Michiba Hatatsu**, is derived from the _kun'yomi_ reading of the kanji going into **dōjō-yaburi** (which literally means "training hall breaker"). The Dōjō Destroyer first appears in the _Ranma_ manga story "Instant Spring" (manga episode #70).

4) **Watari-shima** is believed to be an early name for Hokkaidō as described in the famous classical text _Nihon Shoki_ ("Chronicles of Japan"). In one of the chapters, then governor of Koshi Province (the modern day Hokuriku Region of the East Sea [Sea of Japan] coast around Nagano), **Abe no Hirafu** (birth and death dates unknown), led an expedition to the northern territories of Japan to encounter what are believed to be the Ainu people on Watari-shima. In the universe of this story, Watari-shima is a tiny islet off the southeast coast of Hokkaidō near the Nemuro Peninsula.

5) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Gakushū** (**Tano Tsukuhito**) was one of the first tōshi introduced in the series; he made his first appearance in manga episode #2. His past-self was **Yuè Jiù** (unknown date of birth, died 197 C.E.), a general under the command of **Yuán Shù** (unknown date of birth, died 199)…but that loyalty didn't do Yuè any good; when Cáo Cāo came after Yuán, the latter deserted his troops, leaving Yuè and his friends to be slaughtered with their forces. In this incarnation, Tsukuhito is one of Nan'yō's "four divas." While physically the largest student at that school, Tsukuhito suffers from many of the problems big people have: They're not so swift and can't handle smaller opponents. However, Tsukuhito — nicknamed "Gaku-chan" by Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko) — is, deep down, a really decent fellow…with a massive sweet tooth to boot!

**Rikuson Hakugen** (**Oka Yuzuko**) first appeared in manga episode #67. Her past-self is **Lù Xùn** (183-245), the successor to Lǚ Méng as chief strategist to Sūn Quán after Lǚ's death in 220. Lù was known for his virtue and his humility throughout his life. In this incarnation, Yuzuko is a third-year student in Nan'yō's middle school division. She is a lover of Noh theatre as witness when she was introduced in the manga; she disguised herself as a demon to see if Mago Tsueko was worthy to lead Nan'yō. Yuzuko looks very much up to Ryomō Shimei (Sebone Mimōko); she always addresses the older woman as "Onē-san."

**Roshuku Shikei** (**Oroka Shikumi**) first appeared in manga episode #76. Her position as chief strategist of Nan'yō is more than understandable at this stage of the game; her past-self was **Lǔ Sù** (172-217), who was the man who helped cement the alliance between Sūn Quán and Liú Bèi against Cáo Cāo that led to the Battle of Chìbì. In this incarnation, Shikumi is forced to wear bandages all over most of her body. While no explanation for this is given in the manga, I postulate an explanation for this in a future part of this story.

And **Shūyu Kōkin** (**Meguru Ichiyu**) made his first appearance in manga episode #2. His past-self was Sūn Cè's sworn oath-brother, **Zhōu Yú** (175-210). Zhōu — who was glad to throw in his lot with the Sūn Clan when Yuán Shù's ambitions proved too much for Sūn Cè to take — would be the commander of the forces of the future Dōng Wú at the Battle of Chìbì. In this incarnation, Ichiyu is Tsueko's maternal cousin (the actual direct relationship is not defined in the manga), who opened his family home for Tsueko — who fought in his defence when they were children — and later her mother **Goei** (**Mago [**_**née**_** Kureru] Haeko**) when they decided to move full-time close to Nan'yō. Ichiyu sees himself more of a cerebral fighter than a physical fighter, but his fighting skill is not lacking.

As for **Saji Genpō** (**Hidari Itsuji**), his true story will be revealed in the Epilogue.


	8. When Tomobiki Met The Dragonspeaker

Bunkyō Ward of Tōkyō, outside Rakuyō Senior High School, that moment…

"So you've known all along about Kyōrei-sama?"

Tadasu Suguta — Tōtaku Chūei — smiled as he moved to gently cut away the vines growing around his tomatoes. Watching him do that, Sebone Shikuko barely fought back a smirk. The leader of Rakuyō hated watermelons since they reminded him a little too much of the blood and gore exploding from a shattered body. But he liked tomatoes!

Go figure…

"Hai, I have," Suguta breathed out as he finished with one vine and then moved to another. As usual for the leader of Rakuyō, his face and the exposed parts of his arms were covered in bandages stemming from his frequent bouts of self-mutilation with an X-acto knife. "She spent time looking over all of us after her return from outer space in her own body. I sensed her when she came close to here…but since she chose not to interfere in our lives, I left her alone and kept quiet about her, especially from people like Chōjō. But now that Kyōrei-san's own 'cousin,' so to speak, has made open contact with her and the news is getting out throughout Seito and Kyoshō…"

"Kan'u has to work a little bit harder to keep spies in the ranks at Seito under control," Uru Hokona — Kaku Bunwa — stated from nearby, an amused smile on her face.

"That is her concern, Bunwa. Not ours," Suguta noted.

"So what do you intend to do about it?" Shikuko asked.

A knowing smile. "Nothing for the time being. She is still trying to figure out how we can escape our fates." Shikuko was quick to see Suguta's eyes narrow when he said that, and then she nodded in understanding. Given the history between Dǒng Zhuó and Lǚ Bù, commenting on the fate facing all tōshi had extra meaning when it came to them specifically. "I truly hope she does find something that will help us all. We'd welcome it, of course. As to what happens afterwards…" A chuckle. "Well, that is for Fate to decide." His eyes then narrowed. "So let's not push it."

Hokona and Shikuko both nodded in understanding, and then moved to leave.

"Shikuko?"

The aqua-haired warrior turned back. "What?"

"Be careful of your relationship with the Black Death's last host," the leader of Rakuyō stated. "There are many of us who still remember the times that monster came after our past incarnations. Many of us still bear grudges against that thing — irrational as that sounds — and will gladly try to express their past hatred against her and those she considers her family. If that means targeting Ataru-kun…"

Shikuko smirked. "They'll be in for a rather rude surprise."

Hokona gazed at her. "What do you mean?"

The other woman gazed at her. "I'm not that stupid, Hokona. Why spoil it?"

With that, she headed to the doorway of the greenhouse. Watching her go, Hokona blinked, and then she shrugged before she turned to depart herself so that her beloved leader could have his quiet time alone away from their potential fates…

* * *

"So what do we do now?"

Shikuko perked on hearing that question, and then she turned to gaze fondly on the brown-haired sophomore that had come up to kneel before her. "We do nothing unless Hiromi-sama demands we do something," Shikuko then stated as she sat down on her bike, and then she stared once more at Noberu Miyako — Chinkyū Kōdai — a fond smile crossing her face as she remembered their long friendship and more recent advancement to a loving relationship. "The other leaders are going to act as if they're walking on eggshells, Miyako. To do something in hopes of currying Hiromi-sama's favour will just backfire in their faces and set the other schools all over them."

"What about you?" Miyako asked, her green eyes tearing.

Shikuko smirked. "Could you share me with Ataru-kun, Miyako-chan?"

"If it kept me at your side for the rest of our lives — and long ones at that if what I've heard about Avalonians is true — then I accept it, Shikuko-sama."

Hearing that passionate statement, Shikuko smirked. While she had to personally admit that Mimōko was the really lucky one — getting a guy cursed by _Zhòuquán-xiāng_ of all places to become a gorgeous girl to become her new boyfriend…and girlfriend to boot! — Shikuko felt herself quite blessed to have both Miyako as her girlfriend and Ataru as her future boyfriend. Noting that, she then smiled as she reached down to help the younger woman to her feet. "Get on," she ordered as she slipped on her helmet.

Miyako did the same thing with the spare helmet Shikuko always had with her, and then she straddled the seat behind her lover as the latter gunned the motor…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital…

"_**SIX OTHER FIANCÉES?!**_"

Kanami nodded. "That's right."

The Tendō sisters were all white-faced with shock as they took the chance to fully absorb what Ranma's sister just told them. She had left nothing out. The Neko-ken…which had sent Akane running to the bathroom so she could throw up her breakfast and had nearly done the same thing to Nabiki. The other various dangerous training drills that had exposed Ranma to things — dodging bullets from angry American Marines to learn how to avoid being shot, outrunning a pack of wolves to learn how to avoid being caught by angry police, dodging a whole nest of angry bees to avoid being stung and to harden the skin from potential shiatsu attack — that no sane martial artist (at least in the eyes of the Tendō sisters) would ever have to deal with. The Touched Soul technique that gave someone instantaneous access to ki and allowed them to virtually become one with their bodies and minds (at the risk of death or permanent insanity). And the years of walking, swimming and hitching rides on the tops of trains and in the holds of cargo ships that seemed endless across a DOZEN nations around the Pacific Rim.

And now…

"How could Oji-san DO such things?!" Kasumi demanded.

A sigh. "I really wish I could answer that question for you, Kasumi-san," Kanami stated. "I haven't had much time to reflect on Genma and what he did. What Nodoka was willing to allow was upsetting enough for Ranma and I."

"What do you mean?" Akane asked.

A smirk. "Remember the whole 'man above men' thing, Akane? I learned from Obā-chan that Genma's and your father's old master was quite the pervert. And Nodoka considered him to be a 'manly man.' And since she can't believe or accept that Ranma's other would-be fiancées came from proper and honourable agreements given what was exchanged in payment — a fish and rice dinner with pickles from the Daikoku family, a full night's seafood buffet from the Mochizuki family, Korean-style pulgogi dinner with all the trimmings from the Shibayama family, all-you-can-eat rāmen buffet from the Sawai family, all you can eat Cantonese buffet from the Nishimura family, atop U-chan's family yatai (which was the whole centre of their restaurant business!) — she'll only accept U-chan, Kaori-san, Tomomi-san, Tomo-san, Minami-san and Yuriko-san as Ranma's _mistresses_!" As Akane gasped, Nabiki shook her head and Kasumi closed her eyes, Kanami crossed her arms. "And while we only remember U-chan — and we really don't have much knowledge when it comes to engagements and all that stuff — we know enough that there is NO WAY that we will dishonour ANYONE in THAT manner," she declared.

Silence fell as the Tendō sisters considered that, and then Akane sniffed. "You really would've just given yourself to me?" she timidly asked.

Kanami smiled. "Akane, you were our fiancée. While we didn't really know what it would ultimately lead us to, we did know that the whole idea of 'marriage' — which is what fiancés eventually get involved in — is between ONE man and ONE woman." As the Tendō sisters all grinned on hearing her say that, Ranma's sister shrugged. "And here I am saying that when I'm a girl now, in a body that's bisexual to boot and I now have a girl that's really interested in doing all sorts of weird things with me."

"Ukyō?" Nabiki asked.

"No, Tariko."

Nabiki's jaw dropped, and then she nodded. "That's ironic."

"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked.

"Well, even though I had a rather bad altercation with Negako-sama a couple months ago, I have learned some things about Ataru-kun's sisters. Of all three of them, Tariko is pretty much the normal one of that family." She then stared at Kanami. "And irony of ironies, we now have you, Miiko and Kikuko. Miiko's a tōshi and Kikuko's the soul of the girl that drowned in that spring in China. And then there's you."

"Like attracts like," Akane noted.

"Well, obviously, you'll need some advice to understand what a relationship normally entails," Kasumi noted. "If you'll accept our help, of course."

Kanami hummed. "Well…"

"Think of it as payback for the stuff we put you through," Nabiki then stated. "I kind of suspected that you allowed me to take those pictures I later sold to Kunō." As Kanami smirked and nodded in acknowledgement of that statement, the middle daughter shrugged. "Like I said before, Kanami: We've ALL had to do some serious re-thinking about how we've lived our lives up to when Shampoo hurt you like she did." A self-depreciating chuckle. "Putting it in layman's terms, we all owe you one."

Kanami gazed at her, and then she sighed. "Alright, I'll accept that. Now, what the hell are you going to do with Genma and Nodoka?"

"They will have to leave the house," Kasumi then stated. "Oji-san clearly has not told Otō-san about these other engagements Ranma-kun was supposed to honour and Oba-san — seeing that she is the spiritual head-of-family since Oji-san was muyōkōshi and changed his name on marriage — seems not to care about what Ukyō-san and the others have endured because of her husband's actions. By allowing them to remain with us, they bring shame to our family's honour and we cannot tolerate that."

"Then will you allow me to assist you in that matter, Kasumi-chan?"

Everyone perked on hearing that aged voice, and then they turned to see Negako walking up to them, carrying in her arms a very elderly, diminutive and balding man in a dark blue gi. Accompanying them were Miiko and Kikuko. "Oh, Negako-sama…who…?" Kasumi said as her eyes locked on Happōsai, and then they widened as a distant and dim memory clicked in. "Happōsai-ojiisan…?" she whispered.

A cackle. "Hai, Kasumi-chan! It's me!" Happōsai said as he hopped out of Negako's arms to land on the table beside Kasumi, moving with such dexterity for someone his age, it made both Akane and Kanami gape in awe. They then blinked as he took a moment to peer intently at each of them before he grinned, and then he took his seat. "I remember when I last saw you three, when you were all little children. Each of you do take a lot from your mother," he stated before closing his eyes. "Was it painful when she died?" he then asked, a touch of profound remorse in his voice.

The sisters exchanged haunted looks. "It wasn't painful," Nabiki stated. "Near the end, they had Okā-chan so drugged up on morphine, she couldn't feel a thing."

"I barely remember that," Akane whispered.

Happōsai sighed. "That's understandable, Akane-chan. Your mother was a most exceptional woman, indeed." He then took a deep breath before he gazed on Kanami, who was giving him a frank and intensive stare. Noting that, he chuckled. "If your brother is anything like you, Kanami-chan, I will definitely look forward to completing his training — and yours and your sisters' as well — when he recovers."

A nod. "I look forward to the chance to train under you, Sensei. But will Genma be a problem seeing that he's the one who has trained us until now?"

A shake of the head. "No, my dear. I am the ONLY accredited master of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū, just like Negako-chan here is the ONLY accredited master of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū. My word is the ONE law when it comes to who does your training, not Genma's or Sōun's…and especially not Nodoka's." He then took a deep breath. "And I'm afraid there's something you all need to know. But I would like for Ranma to know this as well. So let's move to his room so I only have to say this once."

The Tendō sisters and Kanami all blinked…

* * *

Near Tomobiki High School, lunchtime…

"Moroboshi?"

Ataru perked on hearing that voice, and then he sighed. "What is it, Mendō?"

Mendō Shūtarō moved to sit across from him. Both men were at the Kissaten Nekohanten, several blocks from the front gates of their school. "What are you doing here?" the richest student of Class 2-4 then demanded as he crossed his arms. "Even if it isn't enforced these days, the school rules still state that we're to have lunch in school, not in any of the restaurants anywhere close to school."

"Then what are **you** doing here?" Ataru noted. "I heard you order some iekei rāmen for yourself before you came over to talk to me." He then smirked. "You're not my father, so please stop trying to interfere in my life. I'm here on a lunch date."

Mendō jolted. "'Lunch date?'"

"Hai, with Sebone Shikuko-chan," Ataru replied; the senior from Rakuyō had told him in private that she didn't really care to be called "Sempai" all the time. "And she's bringing her girlfriend, Noberu Miyako-chan, with her so I could meet her." He then perked as the distant sound of a motorcycle echoed through the restaurant's open doorway. "And I think that's them right now. So if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone."

Mendō blinked, and then he turned on hearing the owner of the Nekohanten call out "Irasshaimase!" as the footfalls of two people echoed on the floor behind him. He then gaped on seeing a vision of green-haired beauty in a very racy business suit-like school uniform standing there, a more conservatively-dressed schoolmate beside her, both of them gazing in surprise at his sitting with his classmate. "Why, Ataru-kun!" Shikuko then stated, grinning in amusement. "You didn't tell me you were bi!" She then leaned over to gaze intently at Mendō, which made him awk as that huntsman's look raked over him mercilessly. "So what's your name, stud?" she purred.

With a choked gasp of embarrassment, he raced off to where he had been seating. As people around them laughed on seeing Mendō act like that, Ataru sighed. "Well, I did warn him," he noted as he stood up and walked over, pulling back the chairs on the other side of the table from where he had been sitting to allow Miyako and Shikuko to take their seats. "Oji-san!" he called out as he gazed on the owner of the Nekohanten while walking back to his seat. "Two shōyu rāmen! Put it on my bill!"

"Hai, Ataru-kun!" the middle-aged man called back, grinning.

"Dōmo, Ataru-kun," Shikuko stated as she reached across the table to squeeze his hand. "So what was that fellow's problem with you?"

He shrugged. "Mendō there was one of the guys who constantly rode my case when it came to Hensō." He then pulled away as one of the waiters came over with a tray full of the dark brown broth and golden noodles that was the common version of the famous snack in this part of Japan, along with a bowl of tonkotsu rāmen for Ataru himself; he preferred the style of rāmen served in Kyūshū over any other style. "Ever since we got rid of Hensō and her friends, he — along with the others like Megane and his crew — have pretty much left me alone, but they regress every once in a while."

All three then chanted "Itadakimasu!" before they dug in…

* * *

"Mendō-san?"

Mendō tensed on hearing that voice, and then he sighed. "Hai, Shinobu-san?"

Miyake Shinobu was taking a sip of her tea as she waited for her own order of miso rāmen to be served. "You don't have any right to do that to Ataru-kun."

"But still…"

A sigh. "I know. I fall into that routine as well, believe it or not. Even now. But remember this…" Shinobu stated as she gazed over her shoulder as Ataru chatted away with Shikuko and Miyako. "That is _Ryofu Hōsen_ over there. She's one of the top fighters in all of Kantō. And she's known for going out to get what she wants and not tolerating ANYONE getting into her way of getting what she wants." She then blinked as a waitress came up with her order. "Itadakimasu," she called out before she broke open her chopsticks and began to eat. "And she has Negako-san's blessings as well, not to mention Hiromi-chan's," she then added. "They're the nominal heads of Ataru-kun's family now. He's now as bound to her as you are to Asuka-san."

Mendō blinked, and then he sighed as he took his seat across from her, and then he nodded his thanks as a waitress came up with his order of Yokohama-style rāmen. "It is still hard for me to accept, Shinobu-san," he admitted as he took his own chopsticks and broke them in half before he dipped into the noodles. "Six months ago, he was the perverted idiot we all despised for bringing down all the weirdness upon our heads. And then the invitation to his 'wedding' with Elle-sama came and then…"

She smiled as he shuddered. "We found out that 'Lum' was not Lum and that the real Lum — not to mention the real Benten, Oyuki and Ran — had their lives STOLEN from them five years ago. And while their parents lived in total denial over what Hensō, Kamen, Mienai and Damasu were, there was ONE race in the whole galaxy that cared enough to welcome them in and give them the chance to make new lives for themselves. And friends and lovers who gladly risked intergalactic war to make the truth come out finally." She shuddered as she remembered the warped "church" that the vast majority of one particular race of humanoids — strong allies until recently of the Urusians and the other worlds of the Galactic Federation — had created in Lum's name. And how that race had enslaved the Avalonians, viewing them as mere machines, until the Noukiites — led by Ataru's first friend amongst them, the Lady Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech, more commonly known as "She Who Speaks to Dragons" — decided to liberate the bioroid race from Niphentaxian control. "Kyech-san took Ataru-kun away to help him understand what was really going on inside his head. And help him get his sisters."

"And then he — and we — lost her in turn."

Both perked, and then Mendō stood to help Tariko sit down. "Dōmo, Shūtarō," she said as she moved to dig into her own tonkotsu rāmen with relish.

"Why did it happen, Tariko-chan?" Shinobu asked. "I mean, Kyech-san really seemed to like Ataru-kun. And she did help you, Hiromi-chan and Negako-san."

Tariko smirked. "Remember back at the cathedral on Uru?"

Her classmates blinked. "What of that?" Mendō asked.

Ataru's sister sighed…

* * *

_Outside Onishuto on the planet Uru (Earth-date: Wednesday 30 December 2009, early afternoon [Japan time])… _

_"Darling!" _

_"NO WAY!" _

_Sakurambō Sakura bolted up from her place in the pews as others watched Ataru race for the main doors. "Catch him! Today, I'll say his requiem!" she bellowed. _

_Already on their feet were Mendō and the Stormtroopers. "Let Moroboshi go!" the richest student in Ataru's and Lum's class then yelled. _

_"I haven't given up hope yet!" the leader of Lum's fan club roared out. _

_By then, Ataru had burst through the doors and lunged into the courtyard… _

…_and ran headlong into something very BIG and very RED! _

_As the crowd reaching the doors pushed them aside to get after him, they then stopped on seeing that peculiar red wall that had knocked Ataru down. Eyes then turned up as the noses of many quickly detected the overwhelming stench of brimstone. _

_And as they looked up, they understood why. _

_"Oh, WOW!" Ten gushed. "It's a ch'uokyek!" _

_"That's not any ch'uokyek!" Kurama then declared as she gazed in wide-eyed awe at the giant dragon-like being that now stood on his tiny limbs on the courtyard, his more-than-two kilometre mass curled up comfortably to allow his head — the size of the whole of the central house at the Mendō estate, all the Terrans were quick to see — to loom like a dark god over THEIR heads! "That's Lord Nengmek'i himself!" _

_"That's right." _

_That calm voice caused everyone to blink, and then they watched as someone dressed in a full-body, loose-sleeved and legged, two-piece martial arts gi-like uniform descend from the sky to land between the crowd and Ataru, who was currently being helped back to his feet by another woman — one of four dressed uniformly in a white hooded cloak over the same type of jumpsuit underneath — standing close to one of Nengmek'i's forelimbs. Gazing on that woman, everyone was quick to notice the deep pink-red hair and the very beautiful chestnut eyes on a face that was almost totally human save for the Klingon-like bony ridges on the forehead, which were mostly hidden by bangs of that lovely hair. And the twin bloomed flower tattoos under her eyes. Her uniform was an even mixture of black and white trimmed in gold, a string of alien script similar to Korean han'gŭl flowing down the front left flap of her jersey. _

_Kurama was quick to recognise her. "Lady K'ekhech?" _

_A nod. "Yes, Kurama." She then turned to Ataru, who was gazing in curiosity at her. "You weren't hurt too much when you ran into Nengmek'i's leg, were you, Ataru?" _

_He blinked, surprised by the concern in her voice, and then he chuckled before he shrugged. "He kinda surprised me…!" he admitted before he looked up to note that the giant alien dragon was now staring at him. "Um, he IS a 'he,' isn't he?" _

_A booming laugh that shook the ground then echoed through the air. _**«IN SOME WAYS, YE OF FOUR SOULS, THE MATTER OF GENDER DOESN'T CONCERN THOSE SUCH AS I!»** _a male voice that thundered with heavenly power then echoed in everyone's mind. _**«I DO, HOWEVER, APPRECIATE THE COURTESY YOU ARE SHOWING ME, LAD.»**

_Silence. _

_"'Ye of Four Souls?'" _

_That was Shinobu. _**«AYE, YOUNG LADY!»** _Nengmek'i replied as he gazed on her, and then he stared once more at Ataru. _**«I CALL UPON THE TRAPPED ONE WITHIN YOU, MOROBOSHI ATARU! THE ONE YOU SWORE WHAT YOU CALL THE 'PROMISE OF BUNKA GO-NEN' TO!»** _As shocked, horrified gasps escaped Cherry, Sakura and Ataru's father, the alien dragon then added as his lips curled into a mirthless smile, _**«IT IS TIME FOR ALL OF THESE ONES TO LEARN WHAT YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO THEM HADN'T YOUR HOST'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE **_**FALSE**_** REDET LUM BROUGHT YOU FINALLY TO THE ATTENTION OF MY BLOOD-SISTER!»**

_Ataru blinked, and then a smile that had no humour in it crossed his face as ki suddenly appeared around him, morphing the tank top and boxers he had on into a black martial artist's gi, complete with black belt emblazoned with the kanji __**地**__. Seeing THAT, everyone gasped…and then they all paled as Ataru's now-glowing eyes raked over them from a face that was now as white as a ghost's and tiger-striped to boot. As some people instinctively stepped back from WHATEVER Lum's would-be husband had become, he then turned to gaze up at Nengmek'i. "_THE ONLY THING THAT CONCERNS ME NOW IS SEEING THAT PROMISE FULFILLED WITH BOTH MY HOST, MYSELF — AND THE FRAGMENTED ELEMENT OF MY HOST'S SOUL, NOT TO MENTION THE SOUL OF LIÚ HÓNG — FREE TO LIVE OUR LIVES, NENGMEK'I!_" he declared in a moaning voice that made some people soil their pants. _

_The dragon's eyes narrowed. _**«THAT PROMISED WILL BE FULFILLED, LADY NEGAKO. AND YOUR HOST, WHO HAS SACRIFICED MUCH — EVEN IF HE DID NOT CONSCIENTIOUSLY KNOW IT — WILL SURVIVE TO SEE IT HAPPEN! GO WITH MY BLOOD-SISTER, OH ANGEL OF TERRA, AND YOUR FINAL FREEDOM FROM OVER TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT FOR THE 'CRIME' OF BECOMING SENTIENT IS ASSURED!»**

_Ataru gazed on the crimson-haired warrior standing nearby, and then he nodded before his eyebrow arched. "_LUM, BENTEN, OYUKI, RAN…REVEAL YOURSELVES_," he then bade. "_LET ALL THOSE HERE TODAY SEE WHAT I CAN NOW SENSE OF YOU!_" _

_The four figures in white perked on hearing that, and then they exchanged looks before they reached up to draw off their hoods, revealing… _

_"_**LUM-SAN?!**_" Mendō and Megane screamed in shock. _

_"_**OYUKI-SAMA?!**_" Shinobu gasped. _

_"_**RAN-CHAN?!**_" Sakura exclaimed. _

_"_**BENTEN-SAN?!**_" the other Stormtroopers cried out. _

_Silence. _

_"It is them." _

_That calm voice caused everyone to gaze on the woman addressed throughout the known galaxy as "the Dragonspeaker." "But…HOW?" Kurama demanded as she looked on the Lum standing behind Ataru, and then she looked up at the Lum in a wedding dress, now totally still as she gaped in wide-eyed disbelief at her double on the ground close to her errant husband. "My ship's sensors would have detected clone gun usage…!" _

_"They are not clones made in that way, Kurama," Kyech — that was the Dragonspeaker's childhood name — stated. "Go first to Home Base to speak to Nassur and Cinba. Then to the Oak Forest asteroid to speak to Lady Zōju. You will get the explanation you seek there." _

_"WHAT?!" _

_That was Lum's father. "What's going on here?" Ataru's mother then demanded. "If this is your daughter, who on Earth is THAT?" she asked as she waved to the Lum in the sky, and then the Lum standing behind Ataru. "There's no way that I'm going to see my idiot son married to TWO women at the same time! Now who is…?" _

_"Kinshō." _

_That icy, sharp voice caused Kinshō to gasp as she turned around to see that Kyech's eyes were now in dark shadow, those orbs glowing with power. As people gazing on this gulped and all the non-Terrans began to back away — they had HEARD of the godlike power the free warrior of the planet Noukiios welded — that woman then stated, "Be silent or I will put you to death right here and now. For_ child abuse_." _

_A gargled croak then made everyone turn to stare at a now-petrified Moroboshi Kinshō. By then, Ataru's eyes had returned to normal, though his skin was still white and tiger-striped. He then cleared his throat as he stared at the Oni woman standing behind him. "Um, Lum-san…?" he then asked. "What do you want done with her?" _

_He thumbed the Lum floating in the air, who was still stunned speechless at the appearance of her doppelgänger. Staring up at her, the other Lum hummed before she gazed once more on the Terran man she — had Fate not been so cruel over four years before — could have called her husband. "Well, Moroboshi-san, I would recommend you divorce her first," she then stated, which made many of the aliens in the crowd before Kyech all gasp. "After all, if she's fooled herself into thinking you saying 'Now I can be married' meant you wanted to marry her…when you tagged her horns in a TAG RACE…!" — she said those last words with a raised voice to make all the Urusians jolt — "…which, by the way, does NOT constitute a MARRIAGE TAG!" She raised her voice more on saying those words before gazing at Ataru. "She'll deny everything that you say otherwise right to her dying breath," she stated, a smirk crossing her face. _

_"Then you recommend I should kill her." _

_That cause the WHOLE crowd before them to gasp in shock, both at what Ataru just said and the casual way he spoke it. "No," Lum then breathed out. _

_"Why not? Onē-san just told me what she sensed of you, Lum-san. That THING…!" — he pointed to the Lum still floating in the air, who was still stunned speechless, though her body was starting to shudder as her brain began to reboot — "…stole your whole LIFE almost five years ago! Just like those other THINGS…!" — he now pointed to the Benten, Oyuki and Ran in the crowd, who had also been frozen still on seeing their look-alikes now standing close to their friend's would-be husband — "…stole the LIVES of your three best friends at the same time!" _

_"Moroboshi-san, while we do appreciate your concern even though you just got told the truth about us, we would prefer if they lived," Oyuki then stated before she stared in disgust at her replica in the crowd. "After all, our parents refused to believe what Nassur-sama and Cinba-sama told them about what happened. They actually took the word of a crazed, mass murdering STALKER over two such noble warriors!" She then turned back to Ataru. "Let them live with their mistakes. Let them live knowing their TRUE children no longer acknowledge themselves AS their children. We are orphans now! And Earth is now protected by Kyech-san's people from the Urusians and all their allies! And you'll soon learn your rights as Earth's tag champion when it comes to Hensō and Damasu, much less Rei and all the others that followed them." _

_A hum. "So how do I…oh!" Ataru then trilled before he turned to gaze on the replica of Lum in the wedding dress. "Excuse me for a moment, please… _

_"_**SEISHIN KUSARIGAMA!**_" _

_A glowing chain of pure ki ending in a vicious sickle-like hook lashed out from his palm to wrap several times around Lum's replica before she was dragged down… _

…_right at Ataru's outstretched fist!_

* * *

"That was quite vicious for Moroboshi," Mendō remembered.

"Don't you remember what I said when Hiromi and I started classes? That was actually me," Tariko noted.

"So what happened between Ataru-kun and Kyech-san?" Shinobu asked.

Ataru's sister shrugged. "Remember when she teleported us away from Uru?"

Her classmates nodded. "I would assume it was to her ship," Mendō stated.

"Nope. We teleported all the way to Okusei itself."

Shinobu and Mendō felt their jaws drop. "But that's…!" the former gasped.

"Over twenty-five light years," Tariko finished for hers and Ataru's former girlfriend. "All that in one jump, right to Nuup't'uch so we could take in the hot springs there, and then we walked to Huohkyep' where we got the chance to meet Ganzo-ojiisan and get our new bodies." A sigh. "Kyech has the power of a ch'uokyek in her very blood, Shinobu-chan. And it was Nengmek'i-jichan that gave her that power."

Mendō nodded. "Yes. Nengmek'i-sama did call Kyech-san 'blood-sister.'"

"And because of that, Kyech is virtually the equivalent of Superman among her people," Tariko stated. "Oh, sure, she's pretty much a normal girl in her heart and soul. But when you have the power to shatter mountains with your bare hands, you're virtually bullet-proof, can out-fight an entire ARMY and can teleport from planet to planet with little difficulty, you tend to worry about what sort of person you'd want as a child-mate and the father of your children. And despite Ataru's resilience, he's pretty much normal." She then smirked. "Still, my brother does not do 'normal,' guys. An alien warlord's daughter. A woman with the power of a GOD." She then turned to gaze on Ataru as he continued to chat with Shikuko and Miyako. "And now the reincarnation of the Mightiest Warrior Alive." A smirk. "Yep. He doesn't do 'normal.'"

The others blinked, and then they exchanged looks…

* * *

Nerima, the Tendō home, after lunch…

"Kasumi…?"

"No, Otō-san. You will do as I say."

Sōun was now white-faced as he gazed on his daughters, whom he now faced in the living room in their home. Genma and Nodoka were also there, the former stunned that ALL of his friend's daughters were now doing this and the latter shaking her head in disapproval at their defiance of their father's wishes. "But, Kasumi…!"

"_**NO!**_"

THAT blew all three adults down and made Nabiki and Akane stare in awed shock at their sister; they had NEVER seen Kasumi unleash such a shout. As Sōun shuddered as he stared in wide-eyed fright at his child, the elder daughter then crossed her arms. "You ceased to have any real right to say ANYTHING about what happens in this house when Okā-san died, Otō-san," she sternly declared. "And right now, I am within a HAIR'S BREADTH of going to Okā-san's father and asking him to do unto my sisters and I as Chiaki-sama just did for Ranma-kun and his sisters! Do NOT speak back!" She then glared at Genma, which made him cringe. "And if you do not wish to be forever frozen as a panda and rendered as weak as a kitten, Oji-san, you will stay silent as well! And keep your wife quiet! I refuse to put up to her hypocrisy! She is a guest here! A DISHONOURABLE one! She forgets herself and needs to be reminded of her place!"

Hearing THAT, Nodoka gasped as her face flushed with rage, and then she found her mouth clamped closed by her husband's hands. As she tried to struggle free of that grip as Genma chuckled in mock-embarrassment, Kasumi turned back to her father. "Now, Otō-san. We all just came back from visiting Ranma-kun and his sisters. Kanami-san — who was, by the way, a part of Ranma's soul before the _Neko-ken_ and _Jusenkyō_ tore them apart! — told us of all the monstrous things Oji-san did to his then-son over the last ten years. INCLUDING the six OTHER marriage arrangements Ranma-kun was HONOURABLY bound to atop the arrangement with our family!" As Sōun flushed with outrage as he turned on a now white-faced Genma, Kasumi barked, "_**LOOK AT ME!**_"

The Tendō patriarch collapsed into a heap of tears. "_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! KASUMI-CHAN YELLED AT ME! THE SCHOOLS WILL NEVER…!**_"

_WHOMP!_

"Nice mallet, Nē-chan," Akane said, nodding in approval.

"Arigatō, Akane-chan," Kasumi stated as she allowed her own ki mallet to disperse before she stared at her now-dazed father. "Now, let's talk about this so-called 'union of the schools,' shall we?" Her eyes then narrowed. "We also had the pleasure of meeting Happōsai-ojiisan this morning!" As Sōun and Genma turned sheet-white on hearing THAT, the elder daughter smiled. It had no humour in it. "Imagine our shock when we learned that in all the time you trained together, NEITHER of you were granted the right to declare yourselves masters in Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū! Which means that NEITHER of you had the right to declare yourselves masters of separated schools in the Art! And since you are NOT masters, there ARE no separate schools!"

"And thus, there can be no 'union' of the schools since they were never declared separated by Ojii-chan in the first place," Nabiki added before she tsked, shaking her head as she wagged her finger in a "no-no" gesture. "That's false representation, Otō-chan. It's no WONDER that any serious student of the martial arts has NEVER thought of coming HERE to learn the Art! They all probably KNOW that you DON'T have the right to run your own dōjō, Otō-chan! What the HELL are you trying to pull?" She then shook her head again. "Damn! The instant THAT goes public…!" She tsked again.

Sōun gargled. "N-n-Nabiki-chan, you…you MUST…!"

A shake of the head. "No, Otō-chan. I can do much, but not THAT!"

"B-b-but…!"

Kasumi turned to Genma. "So since you have obviously come here under false pretences to try to force my sister to marry your son — pardon me, your FORMER son! — while there were SIX other marriage arrangements outstanding between your…!"

"There were never any other engagements!" Genma snapped.

"What of Kuonji Ukyō's family yatai?" Akane snarled.

A braying laugh. "It wasn't even hers!"

Sōun spun around. "What do you mean?"

The other man was still laughing. "The stupid girl was tricked by the Gambling King into giving up her family yatai in a game of Old Maid!" Genma stated. "So when I took the yatai, it actually WASN'T the property of the Kuonji family!" He shrugged before crossing his arms, thus freeing Nodoka to smile. "No yatai means no dowry! No dowry means no engagement! The girl's father was responsible for what…!"

"What about how Ranma-kun was tricked by the same man to give up OUR home, Oji-chan?" Nabiki then asked as she crossed her arms.

"Kanami-san confirmed it once her memory was refreshed," Kasumi added.

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"_**SA- — O- — TO- — ME- — KUN!**_"

Genma and Nodoka both wailed as a giant Demon Head loomed in their vision. "_**HOW DARE YOU ALLOW YOUR STUPID, DISHONOURABLE SON TO LET MY HOME AND MY DŌJŌ BE STOLEN BY SOME CROOKED GAMBLER?!**_" Sōun bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"Your home, it is, Sōun. Your dōjō, it is NOT!"

Sōun and Genma froze on hearing that aged, icy voice.

"Oh, Ojii-san, there you are," Kasumi stated as she looked over to see a diminutive form standing by the genkan, his body burning with ki as his eyes locked on his former pupils, both of whom were now white-faced with horror on realising that the nightmare that had haunted their youths had returned to darken their lives anew.

And was clearly in full battle-trim.

"Would you be so kind as to throw out Genma and Nodoka, please?" Kasumi then asked before she glared at Ranma's parents. "Since they refuse to acknowledge their dishonourable actions, we will not tolerate their presence on our land!"

"And throw Otō-chan out while you're at it, Ojii-chan," Nabiki added. As Sōun gargled on hearing THAT statement, the eyes of all the Tendō daughters narrowed.

"We know about the Chardins."

Eyes locked on Akane, who was now looking away from her father. "B-b-but A-a-Akane-ch-ch-chan…!" Sōun stammered as his eyes welled with fresh tears.

Happōsai then cackled. "Time for a training trip, boys!"

Hearing THAT, Sōun and Genma froze before they passed out…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Tōtaku Chūei** (**Tadasu Suguta**) first appeared in manga episode #8. The most despised tōshi of all in the current incarnation, this guy got it honestly from his past-self, **Dǒng Zhuó** (first mentioned in Part 2). Before he rose to prominence, it should be noted that Dǒng was said to be a very honourable man…but that honour eventually transformed into unrestrained greed when the effective collapse of central government in 189 C.E. gave him an incredible opportunity to become the power behind the throne. Ruthlessly dealing with all rivals — including the late Xiàolíng Emperor's elder son! — he had the whole country up in arms against him, which triggered off the first round of infighting between regional warlords. He would eventually be taken down by his own adopted son, Lǚ Bù, in 194. In this current incarnation, Suguta won the 2009 Great Fighters Tournament, but the darkness within bubbled up to the surface and eventually unleashed a horrid sadist-masochist tendency; he's always cutting himself up with an X-acto knife. An explanation as to why this happens appears in flashback in Part 45.

**Kaku Bunwa** (**Uru Hokona**) first appeared in manga episode #19. She is a thinker, not a fighter; her past-self was the strategist **Jiǎ Xǔ** (147-223). A man who was claimed to have the genius of two great philosophers, Jiǎ became one of Dǒng Zhuó's advisers, staying with him until he became the central power in government after the downfall of the Ten Attendants. Sickened by Dǒng's behaviour, Jiǎ eventually became the adviser to Zhāng Xiù (first mentioned in Part 3), staying with him until Zhāng surrendered to Cáo Cāo in 200. Jiǎ would remain with the Cáo Clan until the end of his life. In this incarnation, Hokona is torn between her love for Tadasu Suguta — the two have known each other since childhood — and her concerns over his excessive behaviour; he gladly forces her into degrading sexual positions to prove his superiority and dominance over her and tōshi in general. However, her loyalty to him is strong…though she also knows her potential fate and is prepared for it.

And **Chinkyū Kōdai** (**Noberu Miyako**) first appeared at the end of manga episode #19. The childhood friend, right-hand girl and later lover to Ryofu Hōsen (Sebone Shikuko), Miyako's loyalty to the older woman is more than understandable; her past-self was the strategist **Chén Gōng** (unknown date of birth, died 198). Originally one of Cáo Cāo's people, Chén eventually grew sick of Cáo's ruthless behaviour and defected to the camp of Lǚ Bù in 194. Chén stayed passionately loyal to the Flying General right to the end; after Lǚ was dealt with, Cáo offered amnesty to Chén…which the latter refused, reminding Cáo that laws concerning treason had to be upheld; Cáo was moved to tears when Chén went to his death. In this incarnation, Miyako is stubbornly loyal to Shikuko…which in the manga series, would cost her dearly; she would be raped in the wake of Tadasu Suguta's suicide and eventually chose to die at her beloved's side in manga episode #35 after Shikuko was beaten down by Kakōen Myōsai (Natsukimi Mien).

2) **Chōjō** (**Haru Yuzumi**) is the leader of the Ten Attendants (first mentioned in part 4); she attended Rakuyō and graduated from the school in 2008, going on to attend Meiji University in Tōkyō. She is spiritually descent from **Zhāng Ràng** (unknown birth date, died 189), the leader of the Ten Attendants and the most powerful man politically in all of China until the death of the Xiàolíng Emperor effectively sealed his fate as well as the fate of his brother eunuchs. I first introduced Yuzumi and the other current incarnations of the Attendants in the _Faking It - Great Guardians_ storyline at the Anime Addventure. I physically modelled Yuzumi after **Kitami Reika** of _Bible Black_; while I personally don't care for that particular type of hentai story, the artwork of the series was excellent. As stated before, Yuzumi and her friends will appear in Part 28.

3) While **Kuonji Ukyō** (and in the _Ranma_ anime continuity, **Daikoku Kaori** [who appeared in the first episode of _Ranma 1/2 Nettōhen_, "Clash of the Delivery Girls! The Martial Arts Take-out Race"] and one other person [whose name was never revealed at the end of that episode]) were the other "official" fiancées beyond Akane for Ranma, the idea of Ranma actually having MORE than that has always been a staple of fan fiction stories. While I didn't exaggerate this concept like some people did, I still wanted to make a point, so I did.

4) The term **Muyōkōshi** was a word that I first took note of when I read **Don Granberry**'s wonderful fanfic _Comes The Cold Dragon_. While I didn't know what it exactly meant (and I didn't know how the proper writing of the word would be) as Don didn't explain it in the notes for his story, a fellow writer from the Anime Add-venture, **Tarquin**, came up with a possible translation: "useless filial child." No doubt, this is the term applied to men who are forced to undergo a name change on marrying a wife of a higher social class (or "marrying up" as President Ronald Reagan once commented to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney at the end of a summit in Ottawa in 1987, as the Prime Minister noted at the President's funeral in 2004).

5) Quick rāmen dictionary: **Iekei Rāmen** (literally "house-type rāmen") is a dish that uses a mixed pork and soy sauce broth with thick noodles, then is topped with slices of pork, seaweed and spinach, with an egg to top it off (this is often known as "Yokohama-style" as it first originated from a restaurant there); **Shōyu Rāmen** (literally "soy sauce rāmen") has a brown yet clear broth which is based on either chicken or vegetable stock, served with curly noodles and with lots of soy sauce to make it salty, plus topped with bamboo shoots, green onions, fish cakes, seaweed, broiled egg, bean sprouts and black pepper; **Tonkotsu Rāmen** (literally "pork bone rāmen," also known as **Hakata Rāmen**) has a cloudy white broth coming from pork bones that are boiled for hours, mixed with thin noodles and pickled ginger with sesame seeds to top it off; and **Miso Rāmen** (literally "fermented soy bean paste rāmen"), developed in the 1960s in Hokkaidō, is a broth that mixes miso with chicken or fish broth, has thick and curly noodles added to it and can be topped off with all sorts of toppings such as what was indicated above.

6) The members of the Noukiite **Flower Youth** appearing in this story are based on the _Koihime Musō_ versions of the main characters from _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_. I created a special naming convention for them; for those who don't know, Noukiites (who first appeared in _The Senior Year_ story "Arrive Reiko-chan") are a very progressively conservative caste-bound society. Members of the Flower Youth are given the right to have their own special family caste title prefix **Seu** (for _Seup'uk_, literally "the blooming youth"). The prefix before the given name is the combination gender and birth order marker; for example, **Yesu** translates as "first daughter." The word **Hechnich'** is short for the phrase _Hechnich'kye_, which translates as "Sacred True Bone Lady" (or "Sacred True Bone Lord" if applied to a man; it should be noted that almost all the Flower Youth are women). The family names, given names and courtesy names (as well as the personal childhood names used in _Koihime Musō_) are all taken from the Korean readings of the characters, then converted over using the character-encoding system I created to help compose Noukiite words and names as follows:

**CONSONANTS:** K/G=NG, N=CH/J, T/D=CH', R=P', M=T', P/B=K', S=H. When NG falls before a vowel, it is silent (as in Korean). Mid-syllable sounds G, J, D and B are not used in common Noukiite.  
**DOUBLE CONSONANTS:** KK=NG, TT=CH', PP=K', SS=H, JJ=N  
**MULTI-CONSONANT SYLLABIC END SOUNDS:** KS=H, NJ=CH', NH=S, LG=K', LM=T', LB=P', LS=K, LT=CH, LP'=P, LH=N, PS=M.  
**VOWELS:** A=U, E=O. I and Y stay the same. The different types of O (O and Ŏ) and U (U and Ŭ) do not matter in this case.  
**DIPTHONGS:** AE=UO (WO), OI=EI, OA (WA)=EU, OAE (WAE)=EUO, UI=AI, UE=AO

Thus, taking the name of the character "Ryofu Hōsen" (呂布奉先), the kanji is read "려포봉선" (Ryŏp'o Pongsŏn) in Korean, thus becomes "P'yere K'ekhech" in Noukiite. Thus, with the additions noted above, the Dragonspeaker's proper name is **Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech**. The childhood name "Ren" is written 恋 in kanji, read "연" (Yŏn) in Korean, which becomes **Kyech** in Noukiite.

Also, please note that the names of Noukiios' Tri-Kingdoms (whose development is structured as a sort of analogy to the Three Kingdoms era of China with the Three Kingdoms of Korea tossed in for extra seasoning) are as follows: **K'uongno** (the equivalent of Shǔ Hàn in China or Paekche in Korea), which was located in the southwest of the southern continent; **Eap'ye** (the equivalent of Cáo Wèi in China or Koguryŏ in Korea), which took up the whole of the northern continent; and **Hichp'u** (the equivalent of Dōng Wú in China or Shilla in Korea), located in the east of the southern continent. The dynasty that existed before the Tri-Kingdoms age is known these days as **Ait'uch Nehech** and the dynasty that followed the reunification of the Tri-Kingdoms two thousand years ago is called **Ep'ye** (the modern dynasty formed a millennia ago is the **Nehech Dynasty**). The whole Tri-Kingdoms age is said to have lasted a thousand years.

7) The flashback scene in this part occurs at the end of the first _Yatsura_ movie, _Only You_. **Zōju** is the name I gave to the Old Witch of the Oak Forest that appears in the third movie, _Remember My Love_. And **Nassur** and **Cinba** are characters from _TSY_ created by Mike Smith; both of them appeared in the story "Return of Memory."

8) Translations: **Ch'uokyek** — Literally "Great Dragon" (the spirit dragons on Noukiios are also known as **Techkyek** or "Dragon of Heaven"); **Seishin Kusarigama** — Psychic Grappling Chain (a neutral ki manoeuvre which allows a practitioner of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū to seize a target from a distance like a cowboy can snare a steer with a rope); **Nuup't'uch** — Gravel Bay; **Huohkyep'** — Morningstar.

9) The **Gambling King** first appeared in the _Ranma_ manga story "The King is Wild" (manga episode #150). The **Chardin** family first appeared in the manga story "Kung Fu Stew" (manga episode #165).


	9. Ranma and Mimōko Fall In Love

Minutes later, the front gate of the Tendō home slammed shut behind a now white-faced Genma, a totally devastated Sōun and a shuddering Nodoka. Happōsai walked over to slip off the sign stating **MUSABETSU KAKUTŌ-RYŪ — TENDŌ DŌJŌ** from the wall beside the gate. Shaking his head, he then snapped the sign in half. As that noise echoed over the street, Sōun collapsed to his knees as he stared in helpless shock at the symbolic destruction of all that he had tried to create ever since he separated himself from the man before him. "There we go!" Happōsai then said as he tossed the pieces of the dōjō sign into the air before concentrating his ki into the palm of his right hand.

"_**HAPPŌ-DAIKARIN!**_"

As Nodoka ducked the exploding ki bomb that was just tossed into the air to obliterate the destroyed sign, Sōun wailed as he showered Genma and Nodoka with his tears, causing the former to transform into a panda and the latter to drop to her knees as she stared in wide-eyed shock at what the cursed springs of Zhòuquán-xiāng had done to her own husband. Noting that, Happōsai then smirked. "Hai, Nodoka. The magic of Jusenkyō is real. Just like the magic that was burned into your family's honour blade when your great-grandparents betrayed your grandmother's memory when your GRANDFATHER came back here from America to claim his son!" As Nodoka gasped, the aged grandmaster then smirked. "A pity that nice Kyoko-chan destroyed your sword. The curse forced on it by the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail that Indy found back in the 1930s was coming close to KILLING you. Just like it did your parents and great-grandparents, not to mention that useless uncle of yours!" He then turned to glare at Genma and Sōun, who had tried to shuffle close to ambush him. "_**ALRIGHT, IDIOTS! MOVE!**_"

As the grandmaster's battle aura exploded from his body to loom over his former students, Sōun and Genma wailed as they raced off down the street as fast as they could run. Watching them go, Happōsai then cackled before he bounded off after them at a leisurely pace. And that left Nodoka on her knees, her eyes spiralling in disbelief and tearing with denial as a whispered, desperate lament escaped her lips…

"He's NOT my grandfather…he's NOT…he's NOT…he's not…!"

* * *

"Are we just going to leave her out there?"

Kasumi shook her head. All three of the sisters were watching Ranma's mother on the street from the window of the now-empty guest room, which gave them a good view of the main courtyard and the street beyond. "Ojii-san got Negako-sama to contact Oba-san's sister Hisayo-obasan in Musashino; she works as an executive at a communications company. She'll be by soon to pick up her sister and take her to her home."

"Do you think she might try jigai?"

The older sisters gazed on Akane, who had an apprehensive look on their faces. "Doubtful," Nabiki stated. "According to Ojii-chan, Hisayo-obachan's as modern as one can get in this world. She really doesn't have much use for the traditionalist crap her sister believes in. And since she's not legally a Saotome, she can ignore anything Oba-chan's other relatives demand she do concerning her, much less Ranma-kun."

"Well, I best get started on dinner," Kasumi stated as she turned to leave.

"How long are we keeping Tō-chan out of the house?"

Kasumi and Nabiki turned to gaze on Akane, who had a sad look on her face. "Hopefully not forever," the middle daughter stated. "But that depends on Otō-chan."

"Agreed. It's time for Otō-san to finally learn how to act his age," the elder daughter stated before she walked out of the guest room.

Nabiki followed, leaving Akane alone. As the youngest daughter heard the door close behind her, she took a deep breath. "If he ever will," she whispered…

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi dōjō, sometime after lunch…

"Is everyone alright?!"

All three of them were panting heavily.

"I believe so, Onē-sama…!" Miiko moaned before she shook her head. "Oh, sweet GODS! Was that what you and Onii-sama…?!"

Kanami nodded. "Yeah…!"

"Pity that stupid panda…wasn't here…!" Kikuko stated before she took a deep breath, and then she reached up to unbutton the top part of her shirt. "When all that ki went off…we would've roasted him…for sure…!"

The sisters all laughed as they allowed themselves to lie down on the floor of the dōjō. After Negako got to work on Ranma's daily treatment and just before he headed off with the Tendō sisters to deal with their father and his friend, Happōsai had instructed Ranma's sisters to do some meditation in preparing themselves to endure the necessary exercises to embrace the Touched Soul. Of course, since Kanami had all the memories of Ranma's enduring that training — or rather, Genma's quite botched version of it — she had found it quite easy to actually summon her own ki and allow her mind to touch every cell in her body, to become literally ONE with every fibre of her being. When she did that, she had screamed, which made Miiko and Kikuko move to embrace her…and that caused Kanami's ki to flood their bodies and force them to experience the same thing Kanami — in a way — had experienced only when she was eight years old!

"I doubt Negako-sama…would like her dōjō…to smell of burnt animal flesh…especially THAT animal, Kikuko!" Miiko said before she moaned.

Kanami took a deep breath. "Right now, we need to get some food into us and then get some sleep," she stated as she moved to stand, her body aching badly as she moved. "I'll get Ta-chan's mom to call the hospital just in case Ranma gets worried."

The others nodded…just as a knock was heard at the doorway. The Hayashi sisters turned to see two women in the burgundy-and-black of Rakuyō Senior High School standing there, worried looks on their faces. "Sorry to bother you, but are you girls alright?" Shikuko then asked. She and Miyako had come over to visit Ataru's mother right after their lunch date with him. "We felt the ki explode from here…"

"And we thought three dragons had just emerged," Miyako finished for her lover.

Kanami blinked. "'Dragons?'" She then shook her head. "No, that was just us undergoing the Touched Soul 'again,' so to speak." A chuckle then escaped her as she got back to her feet, and then she moved to help her sisters up. "My apologies for being so blunt, but are you two friends of our hosts' family?"

"You might say that," Shikuko stated before she moved to introduce herself and Miyako, her well-trained tactical sense going to work. Three superb martial artists — TRIPLETS (and quite gorgeous ones at that)! — with considerable control over their own ki. One was a tōshi, currently E-rank, but that didn't really matter in the greater scheme of things. The other two weren't tōshi…or perhaps had yet to discover that part of themselves. The one who had spoken to them possessed a serious demeanour while the other seemed quite innocent. And if they were all trained in the same way, the recognizable tōshi would certainly have a lot of backup if a fight happened.

Kanami did the introductions in return, with Miiko giving the two arrived tōshi her own battle name, which made both Shikuko and Miyako gape in surprise. "In a way, I am like Hiromi-sama, whom I believe you will know," Miiko then added as everyone sat in a circle at the centre of the dōjō. "I was allowed to return to life in much the same way Hiromi-sama was six months ago. Kanami-onēsama's brother Ranma-oniisama was the DNA template." She then waved to Kikuko and Kanami as she explained their origins.

Hearing what had factored into their creation, both Rakuyō warriors gaped. "The Neko-ken AND Zhòuquán-xiāng?!" Shikuko demanded as Miyako shook her head in disgust. "What type of insane moron would subject their only child to THAT?!"

* * *

Somewhere in Nerima, that moment…

"AH-CHOO!"

"Bless you, Saotome-kun!"

As the still-transformed Genma moaned, Happōsai sneered. The three men were currently on the lawn of the Saotome home. Nearby, a crater that was ONCE the planned dōjō for the Saotome School of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū still belched smoke after the grandmaster had levelled it with his Fire Burst attack. "Hah!" he spat out. "No doubt, someone's talking about what sort of idiot he is, Tendō!"

Sōun and Genma jerked, though they were still too dazed at the sudden return of their master — not to mention that Sōun's daughters had actually turned to HAPPŌSAI to have them thrown out of their own home! — to try any sort of retort…

* * *

Back in Tomobiki, minutes later…

"I can see why you won't have anything to do with your parents, anymore."

Kanami sighed. The Hayashi sisters and their visitors had moved into the main house so they could relax and enjoy some tea made by Kinshō while explanations were made. "We have no choice in the matter," she stated. "While I — being originally a part of Ranma — would have at least the moral right to claim myself as Genma's and Nodoka's daughter, there could have come the chance where Genma might have tried to sell me off to someone just to get a fast buck for him. Kunō Tatewaki, for example."

Shikuko laughed. "Oh, yes! I've heard of the 'Blue Blunder,'" she stated. As Ranma's sisters all laughed, she added, "He was just coming out of a kendō match in Bunkyō a year ago when he stumbled onto a rumble between our schoolmates and the Kōshi Kasshi; they're a bike gang reincarnated from the Yellow Turban rebels. Miyako here was involved in that." She waved to her lover, who looked sheepish on being reminded of that particular incident. "The dumb fool tried to put down the 'dishonourable ruffians' trying to bring harm to such 'fair maidens' like Miyako here…and he literally got his head handed to him."

The Hayashi sisters were all trying desperately NOT to laugh. "Miyako-san, you have my deepest condolences," Miiko stated as she shook her head.

"Did he bother you afterwards, Miyako-san?" Kikuko asked.

"He tried a couple of times," Miyako stated before she made a face. "To him, I was his 'strategist of the past with the lovely hair of chocolate.'" As Kanami made a face, Kikuko frowned and Miiko rolled her eyes, she smirked. "What were you to him?"

"His 'pig-tailed goddess,'" Kanami said as she indicated Kikuko's braided hair. "This is the way Ranma normally styles his hair."

"So what happened to him?" Miiko asked.

"In one of the GOOD things he's ever done as our school leader, Tōtaku went by himself to Nerima after Kunō got out of intensive care and totally trashed him and his whole school kendō team," Shikuko stated before she pouted. "When he was in hospital, Tōtaku visited him there with a sword and threatened to slit his throat in the middle of the night. Right at that moment, a whole swarm of ninja burst in. No doubt, they were his family retainers." She smirked. "He decked them all and didn't break a sweat doing it, either." She pouted again. "I still hated that!"

"Why?" Miiko demanded.

Miyako blushed as Shikuko reached over to draw her into her arms. "Because that dumb ass never invited ME to come along to help out. You see, this little sweetie belongs to ME!" the latter stated. "Anyone touches her, they answer to ME!"

"So you're a lesbian, right?" Kanami asked.

A shake of the head. "No, I'm fully bi. So is Miyako."

"Like us, you mean?" Kanami asked.

A nod. "Hai. And while learning of people like Tariko-chan and Hiromi-sama — even though I didn't know at the time who Hiromi-sama actually was — did make me feel interested, well…" Shikuko then smiled as she gazed fondly on her lover. "I wasn't going to leave this beautiful flower for something even as sexy as that."

"There is her brother, of course," Miyako added.

The Hayashi sisters blinked as Kanami's jaw hit the table. "You two and Ataru-oniichan?" Kikuko gasped as her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, my!"

"_**WHAT?!**_"

Everyone turned to see a white-faced Kinshō standing in the hallway beyond the doorway to the living room, her hair now splayed in weird directions as a look of total denial crossed her face. "Are you okay, Oba-chan?" Kanami asked.

Ataru's mother then moaned. "I wish I never had him…"

"Kinshō."

She gargled on hearing that flat voice, and then turned as a familiar woman in a black gi came into view. "N-n-Negako…" she sputtered out.

The grandmaster did not look the least bit impressed. "Kinshō, do you wish either Hiromi or myself to contact Okusei to have _Kyech_ come here for a visit?"

Kinshō gulped before she scrambled back into the kitchen. "What the hell was THAT all about?" Shikuko stated as Negako walked in to sit by the table.

"An annoying habit that does cause Ataru a measure of emotional injury that we would desire she dispose of once and for all," Negako stated before she peered at the Hayashi sisters for a moment, and then she sighed. "I see that the meditations Happy ordered eventually allowed all three of you to endure the Awakening all at once."

Kanami, Kikuko and Miiko blinked. "'Awakening?'"

"Allow me to explain…"

* * *

After school…

"Tadaima!"

"Okaeri nasai!"

The Moroboshi siblings perked on hearing that voice, and then Ataru looked into the kitchen. "Miyako-chan! What are you doing here?"

Miyako grinned. She had got out of her school uniform and put on her normal street clothes: A pair of tight-fitting jeans and a tank-top. She was busy making some tea. "Our date, as far as Shikuko-sama is concerned, isn't over yet, Ataru-kun," she said as he walked up to gently embrace her from behind. "As soon as we have supper — I volunteered to help out — we'll head off to a movie tonight. _Red Cliff_ is playing at the local theatre and we all want to see all the things they got wrong."

He laughed, and then he kissed her earlobe, which made her shudder in delight. Watching their brother flirt with one of his new girlfriends, Tariko and Hiromi exchanged a look and a smile before they headed to their bedrooms — Tariko had the former guest bedroom on the upper floor while Hiromi used the other guest room on the main floor; Negako had a small bedroom in the dōjō building for her own use — to get out of their uniforms and relax for the evening. "So where is our shared girlfriend?" he asked.

"With the Hayashi sisters and Negako-sama in the dōjō. They're showing her some of the moves they — when they were all part of their brother's soul — learned while they were on the road." She giggled. "Shikuko-sama had to give Kanami-san the Talk."

He perked. "What? That doesn't make sense!"

"I agree! Especially after Kanami-san told us about her brother's engagement to this Tendō girl in Nerima! How on Earth was Ranma-san supposed to be a proper husband to that poor girl if he didn't know a damned thing about what being a boyfriend — to say ANYTHING of being a fiancé or a husband! — was all about?"

"Well, let's hope that Kanami-chan understands what Shikuko-chan is teaching her," he noted. "Given how much Tariko undressed the poor girl last night in her mind after she had been allowed to get out of her brother's brain…"

She gaped. "You're KIDDING me!"

A shake of the head. "No, I'm not. With Avalonians, that's normal."

Silence.

"And Hiromi-sama wants us all to become like her?"

He smiled as he gave her a warm hug. "Shikuko-chan needs it. You know what's wrong with her." As she nodded, he kissed her neck under the ear, which made her shudder. "And because you love her so much, you deserve it, Miyako-chan."

A sniff. "We'll escape our fates…"

"If she died, you would've followed her. Wouldn't you?"

A nod. "Hai…"

"Well, in a way, you both will 'die,'" he noted as he shifted her around so they could gaze into each other's eyes. "And you'll be reborn right afterwards, which has NEVER happened before as far as Onē-san and Hiromi-chan know. If that doesn't break your fates, I don't know WHAT will." As they shared a kiss, he then let her go. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I best get out of this uniform so I don't keep you two waiting after dinner and risk missing the movie. I wanted to see that one, too!"

She grinned as he headed upstairs…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, after supper…

"Wow…!"

Hearing that awed voice, Ranma — back as a man — turned to look down from where he was now hanging with both hands from two metal loops driven into the ceiling, and then he smiled. "Hey, Mimōko-san!" he said as he slowly lowered himself down to the bed, and then he boosted himself up again. "Hi, U-chan! Who're your friends?"

Ukyō was totally slack-jawed on seeing her crippled would-have-been fiancé doing chin-ups while keeping his body — which was BARELY clothed in a pair of pyjama bottoms — in a perfect "L" shape. Beside her, Mimōko — who had come to visit the crippled martial artist alongside a delegation from Nan'yō composed of Mago Tsueko, Meguru Ichiyu, Oroka Shikumi, Oka Yuzuko and Tano Tsukuhito; they planned to go to Tomobiki to formally present themselves to Moroboshi Hiromi and had elected to accompany their friend to meet her cousin's current patient — was gazing in awe at how much ki control Ranma was currently showing. Tsueko was also in total awe at how much strength Ranma was demonstrating while Tsukuhito was nodding in appreciation — he could also sense the amount of ki the crippled martial artist was using — and the other tōshi were gazing in admiration at his clear determination to remain strong despite his wounds.

"Ran-chan, how the HELL are you doing that?!" the okonomiyaki chef then demanded as she walked over to stare intently at the bandages on his back, hoping she wouldn't see any blood leaking through the cloth and gauze which would indicate that his wounds were re-opening. "You can't move a damned thing below your stomach! How…?"

"Ranma-san is using his ki through the meridians in his body — which are not affected by a severed spinal column — to keep his legs and hips locked in place, Ukyō-san," Tsukuhito stated as the others gathered around his bed as the patient lowered himself down to the mattress and let go of the hoops overhead. "How many repetitions?"

"Fifty," Ranma reported.

"Way to go, Ran-chan!" Tsueko whooped. "How soon will you be back up?"

"Hopefully by Tuesday," he said as he moved to adjust himself. Mimōko and Ukyō leaned over to help him settle in. "Way Negako plans it now, she'll keep focusing ki into my back until Saturday, and then give me a day of rest before I do the blood transfusion with one of my sisters on Monday. Depending on how fast those regenerative enzymes in their blood work on the cut, the spine should be back in one piece next morning." He then sighed. "And then it's back to remedial training."

The others nodded. "Understandable. It's always hard recovering from a wound that lays you up in bed for a while," Mimōko said as she reached over to gently take his hand in her own. "Don't worry about it, Ranma. It comes with time."

The others from Nan'yō and Ukyō were quick to note her not using any sort of honorific with his name. He gazed on her, and then he smiled. "Dōmo."

"Yeah, don't give up hope!" Tsueko urged. "When you're ready, I'll come over and spar with you! It'll be a great fight, too!"

He smirked as his eyes picked out her magatama, quickly noting it was bronze. "Had some fights already?" he asked as he smirked at her enthusiasm.

"We normally run a 'reception committee' for new tōshi who come to school," Shikumi stated. "On her first day, Haku-…" She then flustered as she realised this was a non-tōshi she was speaking with. "Sorry! Tsueko-chan, I mean!" A smile. "She took out thirty good fighters and made a big impression with Tsukuhito-kun here."

"She has much potential, indeed," Tsukuhito stated, nodding in approval.

Tsueko blushed. "Gaku-chan!"

"So who were you guys, anyway?" he asked.

Introductions were immediately made. Hearing the names — as well as the names of their past-selves from eighteen centuries ago — made Ranma grin. "So I guess that means you're the boss of your school, right?" he then mused as he gazed on Tsueko.

Tsueko gasped as the others gaped save Mimōko, who only smirked. "Well, I'm just a newbie…!" the green-eyed, strawberry blonde sophomore admitted, her cheeks now quite red. "And this whole 'fate' thing really doesn't make sense to me at all!"

"There are some that strongly believe in it, Sonsaku," Tsukuhito warned.

"Does Kōtchi?"

He cried out in horror as Ichiyu groaned, Shikumi and Yuzuko both gasped and Ukyō and Mimōko grinned. "Who do you mean by that?" Ranma then wondered.

"She means Hiromi-san, Ranma," Mimōko stated.

A shrug. "So it's a nice nickname! Just like 'U-chan' and 'Mō-chan.'"

Tsueko nodded. "Damn straight!"

"Sonsaku…!" Mimōko grumbled before she blinked.

Odd.

She didn't seem to mind it when _Ranma_ mentioned that nickname.

A knock. "Excuse me."

Everyone turned, and then the tōshi all gaped. "Kan'u! What are you and Chōun doing here?" Mimōko stated as she felt herself instantly tense.

"We have business with your friend, Ryomō," Seki Haneko stated as she and Koeru Kumomi both walked inside. They had their weapons with them, but the business end of the former's pole-arm was covered in a silk dust bag and the latter's katana was sheathed and held to her side. "After all, it was his DNA that went into the body that saw Gentoku's spirit-cousin, Ryūen Kunrō, restored to life. Kyōrei-sama texted Gentoku about that some time ago and she wanted us to extend her personal thanks for giving her another 'cousin' in this lifetime." She placed the guāndāo against the wall beside the doorway to the washroom beside the room, and then she tensed. "Who's there?"

"It's just me, Kan'u-san."

Everyone turned as Ebisu Kyoko stepped out of the shadows near the corner of the room. "Wow…!" Tsueko gasped in awe before she whispered to Ichiyu, "Who's she?"

Ranma chuckled. "Kyoko-san here's volunteering to be my bodyguard, Tsueko-chan. She was the one who caught the woman who put me here in the first place."

"Ebisu Kyoko," the ninja-trained tōshi introduced herself. "Koshaji of Yoshū."

Tsueko grinned. "Yoroshiku, Ko-chan!"

Kyoko jerked. "'Ko-chan'…?"

"Sorry about that, Koshaji-san," Ichiyu said. "Hakufu does that ALL the time!"

"And what's wrong with that, Kōkin?" Tsueko demanded.

Everyone blinked, and then laughter filled the room, even from people like Tsukuhito. "Did Enshō give you leave to do this, Koshaji-san?" Haneko asked.

Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "Kan'u-san, onto WHOM do our loyalties PROPERLY lay?"

The top-ranked tōshi of Seito blinked before she chuckled. "Good point."

She then proceeded to introduce herself, and then Kumomi. By then, Tanaka Tomoko had come in. Quickly surprised by the number of visitors in Ranma's room, she then blinked on noting the guāndāo lying against the wall and the sword in Kumomi's hand. One quick glance to everyone's ears then made her grin. "Some of your classmates, Mimōko-chan?" she asked as she moved to check Ranma's vitals.

"And friends from other schools, Tomoko-chan," Ranma said.

THAT made both Mimōko and Haneko jolt, while Kumomi was quick to cover her mouth in amusement, while Ranma did the introductions. Once that was done, the nurse moved to check his intravenous feed. "Well, at least your chin-ups didn't tangle anything, Ran-chan," she said as she nodded in approval. "How many times?"

"Fifty," Ranma said proudly. "I'll go for a hundred tomorrow."

THAT made Haneko and Kumomi gape before they nodded in admiration. Hearing that, Tomoko sighed. "You're an adrenaline junkie, Ran-chan!" she scolded playfully as she gazed fondly on Ranma. "Try not to push yourself too far! Okay?" As he nodded and grinned, she gazed on the others. "Visiting hours will be over in ninety minutes."

Everyone else nodded. "We understand, Tomoko-san," Tsukuhito stated.

As the nurse left, everyone relaxed. "So are you getting good food here, Ran-chan?" Ukyō asked. "I've got my portable grill with me; Mō-chan and her pals asked me to bring it so I could make something special when they have their big powwow with Hiromi-san over at her place. I can whip you up something quick."

Ranma grinned. "Actually, U-chan, I could use a bite. But can you make 'yaki for everyone here? No sense having good food and not sharing it with anyone!"

Ukyō gaped. "Damn, Ran-chan! You HAVE changed!"

"How so?" Mimōko asked.

"He NEVER shared food with ANYONE!"

The others all laughed. "Neither Haneko-san or I have had the privilege of enjoying Ukyō-san's cooking," Kumomi then stated. "I think sharing a good meal with new friends — as well as the brother of a returned ally — is a good thing."

"Let's eat!" Tsueko then whooped.

Everyone else laughed as Mimōko found herself gazing at Haneko. Both rivals tensed on realising that, and then they quickly turned away.

Ranma was quick to notice…

* * *

Later…

"You think I'm foolish, don't you?"

Ranma perked as she — she had been accidentally transformed by Yuzuko, who had gone to get the patient a glass of water and tripped on an electrical cord — heard that, and then she sighed. "I don't want to say anything that makes you mad."

Mimōko blinked. She was the only one currently in Ranma's room; Kyoko had stepped out to give them privacy and everyone else had gone off to go to the Moroboshi home in Tomobiki. "It's alright," she admitted. "I don't mind it. Sometimes, I think it is pretty stupid. But as soon as I look at Haneko or she does me…"

"The memories of Lǚ Méng and Guān Yǔ — especially after what happened at Línjū after Lǚ took over Jīngzhōu — all come rushing up, right?"

A sad nod. "Yeah…" Mimōko then shrugged. "And that's sad, I guess. It's sort of like my relationship with my cousin, Shikuko. Especially when it comes to this guy we're both interested in: Hidari Itsuji; he's Saji Genpō."

A nod. Ranma had been given a copy of _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ by Dō Kazua earlier that day and he had read it to refresh himself to all of things he had learned about years ago. "Saji, eh? Does he treat you nice?"

The tōshi took a moment to consider that, and then she shrugged. "I don't know, to be honest with you," she admitted. "On the one hand, he's polite. A real gentleman at times. But…" She shook her head. "Often, he treats me as if I was something special, yet he does the same thing to Shikuko! And I HATE it! I find myself HATING my own COUSIN because of it!" She sighed. "I guess Kazua was right!"

Ranma blinked. "The Doc? What about?"

"He's never trusted Itsuji at all." A smirk. "Heck, he'd actually like it if you and I became a couple!" Mimōko then blinked as a shocked gasp then escaped the transformed martial artist before her. "What?" she demanded on seeing the pale look appearing on Ranma's face. "What? Ranma, what's wrong?" she gasped.

"I…" Ranma began, and then she moaned. "Oh, no! No! No! No! No! NO! Don't tell me this is something Obaba missed out on that Oyaji did!"

As the tōshi gaped in shock and confusion, the transformed and crippled martial artist began to curse and mutter about making panda-skin rugs and stupid fathers that didn't know any better than to mess up her life. After a minute, Mimōko then sighed as she remembered what she had learned about the multiple engagements that Ranma had been subjected to before her grandmother had rescued her from that. _Damn! How much did that honourless bastard hurt him?_ she wondered before she blinked as her own long hesitation when it came to pushing forward something — ANYTHING! — with Hidari Itsuji started to rear itself, this time with _**Ranma**_ being the object of her desire.

Her desire…

Her…

Mimōko then blinked as she gazed anew at the transformed martial artist before her as Ranma continued to cuss away at her absent father. From what she had learned over the last couple of days, Ranma had next to NO experience when it came to dealing with women, especially in a romantic sense. Having been isolated for so long and forced to train 24/7 by her father, it was well within the realm of possibility that Ranma may not have fully gone through puberty even now that she was a freshman high school student. And given what she had heard of Ranma and her relationship with Tendō Akane from her cousin and Ono Tōfū, not to mention Ranma's own grandmother…

_He doesn't want to hurt my feelings…_

Eh?

Where the HELL did THAT come from?

Mimōko then blinked before she gazed once more at Ranma, who had fallen silent and was now staring at her in confusion. Noting that, she felt her cheeks redden before she flustered, her hand reaching up to scratch the back of her head.

"You okay?"

Hearing the concern in Ranma's voice, Mimōko took a deep breath. "Sorry."

"What about? Hell, I should be the…!"

"Stop!"

The crippled martial artist jerked, a wary look then flashing in her eyes. Seeing THAT, Mimōko took a deep breath. "Look. There's NO agreement between your father and my family concerning us, okay?" she stated. "And no, I will NOT hit you, Ranma! That's certainly NOT the thing to do to someone who's recovering from wounds and I'm NOT this girl you were forced to live with before you came here! Okay?"

Ranma blinked, a gulp escaping her. "B-but…"

Mimōko took a deep breath. "Stop it, alright!" she snapped.

The younger woman jolted as a flash of genuine fear flashed in her eyes. Seeing that, Mimōko gritted her teeth before she blinked before she took a deep breath, and then she turned to gaze on Ranma before she then leaned over, her hands reaching out.

Ranma's eyes then went wide as she felt a pair of lips touch hers…and then she blinked as the softness of that touch made her relax as she sensed that there was no build-up of ki in the older woman's body that indicated that she was about to lash out at her. Once that finally settled in deep inside her, she then blinked before her eyes closed, her mouth opening as if by reflex. On sensing THAT, Mimōko then smiled to herself as she allowed her tongue to slip through Ranma's lips to gently tap her teeth, which reflexively opened, thus allowing the younger girl's tongue to come out.

After a minute of that, they then pulled apart to gaze into the other person's eyes. Mimōko was quick to sense how overwhelmed Ranma seemed to be, and then she smiled, her cheeks reddening. "That was my first real kiss with anyone," she admitted.

Silence.

"You mean this Saji guy…?" Ranma asked.

A nod. "Yeah." Mimōko then smiled. "It was really nice."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

More silence.

"Um…?"

Mimōko perked. "What?"

Ranma then blinked before she shrugged. "Do you want to do it again?"

The older woman gazed at her — this naïve girl-boy who was two years younger than her chronologically and MANY years behind her socially in a lot of aspects — and then she smiled as she leaned in to gently caress Ranma's lips with her own…

* * *

Later…

"Are you alright, Mimōko-san?"

Mimōko perked, and then she turned to see Ebisu Kyoko standing near the front gate of the hospital grounds. She blinked on sensing the concern in the ninja-trained tōshi's voice, and then she sighed. "I like him, Kyoko-san. A lot."

Kyoko smiled. "I don't blame you. If your cousin wasn't so determined to see you and Ranma-san brought together, I might have sought him out myself."

The older woman considered that, and then she sighed as she gazed on the growing evening over Nerima. "He knows so little…"

"In other ways, he knows a lot," Kyoko stated.

A smirk then crossed Mimōko's face. "It's gonna be fun."

"Life should always be fun."

Both tōshi blinked, and then they laughed. Mimōko then sobered. "Where's Ranma's former father, Kyoko-san? I have some words to say to him."

Kyoko smirked. It was a truly evil sight. "Follow me, Mimōko-san."

With that, both women headed off…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Happō-daikarin** — Literally "Happy's Great Flower Ring" though normally translated as "Happy's Fire Burst" (in effect, it's a concentrated ki bomb); **Jigai** — Literally "suicide," it is the name often applied to the act when a woman takes a tantō to slit open her throat (in effect, this is the female version of seppuku).

2) My first version of Nodoka's twin sister, **Asagaya Hisayo**, appeared in _Lonely Souls_. In this story, I switched the actual birth order around to make Nodoka the elder sister.

3) As a victim of child abuse myself (though in my case, the beatings I got from my mother were induced thanks to cortisone-based steroid-rage), I have no use whatsoever for those parents who feel it their right to put down their children by any means possible, either physical or emotional. This was the primary reason I went and bashed Ataru's parents like I did in the stories I wrote for _The Senior Year_. This also is the reason that on planets like Noukiios and Sagussa (and thus, among the Avalonians), child abuse and child abandonment are seen as capital crimes.

4) For those who don't know, the movie _Red Cliff_ (in Chinese, _Chìbì_) is the 2008-9 two-part epic directed by **John Woo** (born 1946, birth-name **Wú Yǔsēn**) and starring **Tony Leung** (born 1962, birth-name **Liáng Cháowěi**) as Zhōu Yú, **Kaneshiro Takeshi** (born 1973, Chinese name **Jīnchéng Wǔ**) as Zhūgě Liàng, and **Zhāng Fēngyì** (born 1956) as Cáo Cāo. This movie, of course, is a dramatization of the Battle of Chìbì in 208-209 C.E. fought between the forces of the Imperial Hàn under Cáo Cāo against the combined forces of Liú Bèi and Sūn Quán.

5) I am unsure if using ki and the life energy meridians (known in Chinese as **jīngluò**) in a person's body to overcome a crippling spinal wound has ever been discussed even in all the many legends about ki usage throughout history, but given the injections of fresh ki from Negako every day on Ranma's wound — tied to the growing sense of hope his being treated by the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū gives him along with the new family in Kanami, Miiko and Kikuko he has received thanks to Negako's sisters (plus his uniting at last with his grandmother) and the new friends he is making as well — it is theoretically possible. The Earth Phase meridians, which flow down the FRONT of the body away from the spine, are the ones that link directly into the hips and legs. As Ranma is shown to be quite the ki adept throughout the manga, Negako's healing techniques are just allowing him to tap into more ki than before.

6) Mimōko's dropping of an honorific with Ranma's name is known in Japanese as **Yobisute**. To do this can mean one of two things: It indicates a level of considerable intimacy…or, when used in situations where such feelings of intimacy have not been properly earned, it infers a gross insult. You can guess which way Mimōko is swinging here, of course.


	10. Happōsai Gets A New Student

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi dōjō, Thursday 1 July, early morning…

"Ohayō, Negako-sama."

Negako perked. "Ohayō gozaimasu, Kumomi. How was your evening with Miiko?"

Kumomi was barely able to restrain the jolt her body made on hearing that rather blunt question, and then she sighed as she knelt behind and to the grandmaster's right, placing Zanryū on the floor beside her. "It was quite…passionate," the silver-haired sophomore stated, her cheeks now quite red. After she and Haneko had the chance to meet and get to know Hayashi Miiko, the latter had returned to Chichibu. Kumomi had been surprised at the speed by which the older student left…then soon realized what Haneko had come to sense when a grinning Miiko had ambushed her and dragged her into the empty house to the south of the Moroboshi home, which Negako had opened to give the Hayashi sisters a comfortable place to stay now that Kanami had joined them.

What happened for a few hours afterward…

"Understandable," Negako stated. "Miiko — as well as Kanami and Kikuko — endured the Awakening yesterday afternoon when Happy made them review the steps to an exercise he created that would allow his students to instantly access ki and allow them to use it throughout their bodies. If you are not aware, the Awakening…"

"Is the process by which all Avalonians twelve years of age physically or older gain the ability to sense within their minds a form of Immanence — a divine presence, in other words — within all things, living and non, around them," the other woman finished. "There are those of us who — even if we did not realize who Hiromi-sama was — took interest in you when you came to Earth four months ago within your own body. You are known and feared by many of us. Given that the Promise of Bunka Go-nen had been so easily fulfilled with the use of alien technology, there were those amongst us who became profoundly concerned, especially those who still would gladly seek you out in battle in vengeance over what you were made to do to their previous incarnations."

"There was one time a previous version of yourself faced me."

A nod. "Hai. But that was then and this is now. You were not even sentient at that time and the daimyō of the Ōmizo-han saw us as demons that were threatening his annual rice production." A smirk. "He always was a foolish man."

"True, but he refused to listen to my creator when he tried to explain what was truthfully befalling those like your predecessor at the time," Negako stated with a smile as she sipped the tea she had made as she began her morning meditation. "I believe it was Hidari Mijiko's predecessor alive at the time that dealt with him finally. And in a most admirable stealth attack; they all believed he over-exerted himself in carnal congress with one of his concubines and died of cardiac arrest."

Kumomi coughed as her cheeks slightly flamed on remembering the very intensive "carnal congress" she had been engaged in with Miiko the previous night. The six orgasms she had shared with her new lover had almost drained her…and she had a DRAGON inside her, fully bonded to her body and soul! "As I said before, that was then and this is now, Negako-sama. You have what you desire. And in gaining that, you gave us our emperor 'back,' so to speak. Many of us are truly grateful to your family."

"It was necessary. And only proper given the situation. Would you wish to continue to pursue a relationship with Miiko or seek someone else?"

The tōshi considered the grandmaster's question, and then she sighed. "I would welcome such a relationship. But I am afraid there are those who would see the return of Ryūen Kunrō as a direct threat to Sonami-sama. And thus…"

Negako smirked. "And what does Shùnpíng think?"

A shocked gasp.

The grandmaster turned to gaze knowingly at Kumomi, who now had opened her eyes to reveal golden dragon-slit orbs. Feeling that seemingly all-seeing gaze fall on her, the dragon-possessed tōshi blinked before she lowered her eyes. "**She is my treasure**," she stated in a throaty, growling voice that could only come from one of the heavenly beings that had interacted with and influenced the history of the Far East for millennia. "**She gave herself to me. How could I not see her any other way?**"

"Then do not allow doubt to cloud your heart."

The possessed Kumomi blinked before she smiled. "**What of you, Earth Angel?**" she asked. "**Is there not one out there that can be your treasure?**"

A sigh. "Because I was created in the way I was, Kumomi…" — Negako had been quick to sense that in many ways, the human christened as "Koeru Kumomi" and the dragon called "Shùnpíng" in tribute to Zhào Yún's posthumous name were one being, so it was acceptable to address such by the human name — "…I am as inexperienced as Miiko's brother when it comes to understanding and accepting human cultural and social conventions, to say anything of allowing them to influence my life."

She gazed to the ceiling of the dōjō. "What is love? What is family? What is friendship? What is happiness? What is joy? What is the need to possess things? What are all these curious and sometimes overwhelming desires others allow themselves to be influenced by? Look at yourself and your fellow tōshi, Kumomi. The situation today is nowhere CLOSE to what your predecessors confronted in China eighteen centuries ago. And yet many of you allow yourselves to be driven by those memories to re-enact events in an environment where such events have no need to occur. Why?"

Kumomi blinked, her eyes then turning from the golden dragon-slit eyes she normally had to their original human pale blue. "You went forth early yesterday morning to retrieve the grandmaster of Miiko's martial arts school from his long imprisonment. You then brought him here and helped restore him to health before allowing him to go forth to reclaim what had been taken from him by his last set of students." Negako was quick to sense that the dragon within the Seito sophomore was filling her in on these details. "Why did you do that for him, Negako-san?"

"He suffered because of me."

"So you now desire to help him be well because of what happened in 1888?"

A nod. "Of course," Negako stated. "He desired to free me, to help fulfil the Promise. And when he was caught, those who wanted me in chains forced his hedonistic behaviours — all of which stemmed from years of frustrations his long suffering from spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita subjected his soul to — to become a life-threatening condition unless he constantly went forth to absorb ki from women." She closed her eyes. "He was a threat to their desire to keep me in chains. To keep me forever hidden from public view. To make all view me as the nightmare best forgotten that had haunted the Moroboshi-Hana Clan since 1808 when I became truly sentient and sapient. Why? Because he could see what so many others save my hosts could not?"

The younger woman was quick to sense the growing edge in her host's voice as she stated that. She then sighed. "Negako-san, you are blessed with the ability to use ki to scan into the hearts and souls of anyone that crosses your path. That is a profound gift, much more so than when even Miiko was able to tap into yesterday." A light smile then crossed her face. "And that protects you in a way no other being on this planet can be protected. But I believe you are experiencing a fear just as profound as your hydrophobia stemming from what happened when you first truly became alive."

Negako perked. "And that is?"

"Not allowing others to truly understand what you are." Kumomi then reached for her katana as she stood. "There are those who do see you and understand what you are. One of which is your own brother, your last host. But there are others. I would suggest you seek them out. Perhaps you will find your treasure in one of them." She turned to leave. "If you'll excuse me, Negako-san, I will rejoin Miiko."

She stepped out of the dōjō, leaving a humming Negako behind…

* * *

Musashino (west of Tōkyō), near Kichijōji JR Station, after breakfast…

"Have a good day at school, girls!"

"Ja ne, Mama!"

Watching her twin daughters run out of the house as they headed off for another day at school, Asagaya Hisayo could only smile before she turned to head back into the kitchen, where her twin sister was currently seated at the table, barely sipping her tea. Despite the fact that she was now in a fresh kimono — that had been obtained from the Saotome home the previous evening when Hisayo had gone to Nerima to pick Nodoka up — and washed up, the haunted look on the older woman's face made her look years older than her actual thirty-eight. Taking a deep breath, Hisayo sat down across from her, giving Nodoka a knowing look. "You had a nightmare last night."

Nodoka blinked, and then she nodded. "Hai. It's been happening more and more recently," she admitted. While she had been taught long ago to mask her true feelings from outside scrutiny, she could hide nothing from the woman currently hosting her at the quite modern home she currently was in. And while it was a very nice place all around, it wasn't anything like the traditional family home they had grown up in near Minakami in Gunma prefecture. "I've always dreaded being asked to serve as the kaishaku-nin for my husband and my s-son…" Her voice broke, but she quickly recovered herself. "But I always believed that if I was asked to do that…"

"You would be doing them a mercy," Hisayo finished.

A weak nod. "Hai."

A shrug. "Well, that was the way things were looked at back then," Hisayo lamented. She didn't hide the strong derision she felt when it came to her sister's passionate — there were times Hisayo gladly used the word "insane," usually when she was forcefully reminded of the life she had gladly turned away from when she married her husband, Asagaya Takeshi, about the same time Nodoka married Hayashi Genma — adherence to the traditional ways of the samurai. "So what's changed? A premonition concerning what your mother-in-law did? And how Ranma reacted to it?"

Nodoka jolted, and then she sighed. She couldn't keep ANYTHING secret from Hisayo. "Hai. That's haunted me for some time now."

A smirk. "I think, Onē-chan, you're finally waking up."

"To what?"

"To what sort of man your _husband_…" — here, Hisayo didn't hide the disgust in her voice on mentioning Genma — "…really is." Seeing her sister shudder, the communications executive shook her head. "Don't start with that, Nodoka. I've been long convinced of what type of lying slime Genma is. It was obvious to me the day the Hayashi Clan readily agreed to allow him to be adopted by Otō-chan. Something about their reaction to it made me wonder why. After all, they didn't care too much for the traditional ways. So why allow their son to become muyōkōshi?"

Nodoka blinked. "Have you spoken to Hayashi-sama about him?"

A nod. "Several times. The Hayashi Clan invests in Marubishi, so I've met Chiaki-obasan and Shinji-ojisan at company levées from time to time." A smirk. "It was one of the ways I was able to keep abreast of what happened to you."

Nodoka nodded. When Hisayo had gladly taken the Asagaya name on her marriage to Takeshi, their parents had been shocked beyond belief; like the Hayashi, the Asagaya Clan were descent from merchants and it was automatically expected that when they "married up," Hisayo's husband would take the more prominent name. When they later learned how much Hisayo had rejected their teachings, their parents had forbidden Nodoka or the other members of the Saotome Clan from speaking to her ever again. And while Nodoka had been totally devastated by that declaration — she and Hisayo had been quite close when they were growing up — she had obeyed. It was honour after all.

And Hisayo herself ultimately seemed not to care…until the day their father had been in his deathbed from an unknown ailment…

* * *

_Maebashi Sekijūji Hospital (Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture), Monday 13 April 1998, before supper… _

_"Otō-sama…why…?" _

_It was late in the day. While her mother Sayako was off speaking to a doctor about possible cures, Nodoka had placed herself beside her now-sleeping father Ichirō. As she tried to wonder what had happened which had so brutally struck down such an energetic and determined man, she then blinked on hearing the door open. _

_Turning, she then gaped on seeing two very young girls walk into the room, both in pretty dresses. And following them was Asagaya Hisayo, in her normal dark business suit with sunglasses over her eyes, every bit the modern jet-set executive. _

_"Hisayo…?" _

_A cut nod. "Onē-chan." _

_As Nodoka watched, completely surprised to see her there, Hisayo beckoned her daughters — she knew their names were Rikako and Seiko; she had never seen them before — to Ichirō's bedside. And as the dying patriarch of the Saotome Clan woke up to gaze in disbelief at his errant daughter, Hisayo turned to look at her children. _

_"See where LYING leads you?" _

_Nodoka gaped. _

_Ichirō felt his breath catch in his throat. _

_Rikako and Seiko nodded solemnly. "Hai, Mama," both girls chanted. _

_A nod. "Good. Let's go." _

_With that, the girls turned and headed out of the room. _

_"Hisayo…" _

_Hisayo stopped as she stared briefly at Nodoka, and then she turned to gaze on Ichirō. "Otō-chan, I bear a message from Indiana Jones-hakase." _

_Ichirō paled as Nodoka's hand flew up to her mouth. _

_"Iie," Hisayo then amended as she smiled. "From_ Ojii-chan_." _

_The dying man began to rapidly shake his head. "He…!" _

_"Shut up, you blind fool!" Hisayo hissed out. "He told me the truth of what your grandparents did when he tried to take you back to America…**in accordance with Obā-sama's wishes!**" As Nodoka gasped, Hisayo turned away. "He's disappointed in you, Otō-chan. VERY disappointed. And he hopes that like I've done, Onē-chan will wake up finally and see the truth behind all the LIES you and Okā-chan force-fed us over the years. Let's hope that poor Ranma-chan doesn't have to put up to that when he grows up. I'll make VERY sure that Rikako-chan and Seiko-chan never have to adhere to it." She opened the door. "Pray that when you finally face the kami, you don't face the spirits that cursed your whole family when you grandparents betrayed your mother's wishes and forced your father away from you…at the point of the sword HE had forged for your family as the BRIDE PRICE for marrying your mother!" She then smirked. "They've shown — and WILL continue to show! — how merciless they are." _

_With that, she walked out of the room, leaving Ichirō gasping as Nodoka fell to her knees in stunned disbelief, her mind reeling from her sister's words…_

* * *

"So what school do Rikako-chan and Seiko-chan go to?" Nodoka then asked.

"Lillian."

Silence.

"The _Catholic_ school?" Nodoka demanded.

"Of course," Hisayo stated. "It gives a very well-rounded education and it helps the girls better learn about the world in general." A smile. "They're sophomores now. They'll be going to Italy pretty soon on their class trip."

The older sister blinked. While she personally didn't have anything against schools traditionally run by religious orders, she would have hoped that Hisayo would have sent her daughters to a Buddhist academy, not a Christian one. She then sighed. "Have you moved to seek out potential husbands for them? They are…"

"No."

Nodoka gaped. "Why not? They're…!"

"They're going to be given the chance to seek out their own husbands — or wives, if they're inclined THAT way — on their own."

More silence.

"Hisayo! I'm fully aware of Lillian's reputation! What would…?"

Hisayo shook her head. "No, Onē-chan. Just as I chose freely, so will they." Her eyes then narrowed. "I remember how much our parents tried to persuade my husband to change his family name. How much they tried to make him conform to the traditional ways. And how much he was bothered by it; he was proud of his degree from Tōdai and the work he was doing at Marubishi." She shook her head. "Lucky thing his parents did some investigating and learned the truth of our ancestry." As Nodoka's breath caught in her throat, the younger woman smirked. "His parents even contacted Ojii-chan to get his side of the story. And given what he did for Japan after the war ended, they were more inclined to believe him over our parents and great-grandparents."

She shook her head again. "You can't run away from the truth anymore. That's what killed our parents and Isao-ojichan." Saotome Isao was Saotome Ichirō's half-brother, born when their mother had been forced to marry an Imperial Navy pilot who would later die at Midway not knowing he had left behind a pregnant wife who would die three years later in the great Tōkyō fire raid of 1945. Isao had also died shortly after his fortieth birthday. "And that is what will kill you in a couple of years. And Ryūzuke and Ichihara." They were Isao's sons, both of whom also lived traditional lives; the former was a retired sumotori who ran his own stable, the latter a Shintō cleric. "Heaven forbid, their sons, too." Ryūzuke and Ichihara had two sons each.

"But how…?"

A sigh. "Ojii-chan told me about a couple of things he had run into before he met Obā-chan," Hisayo stated. "One of them is the Holy Grail…"

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, that moment…

"Ohayō, Onii-chan!"

Ranma blinked as he heard that cheery greeting, and then he looked down from his position over his bed before he smiled. "Hey, Kikuko! Hi, Shampoo!" he greeted them before he got back to doing his chin-ups. "Be done in a moment…"

As Kikuko grinned, Shampoo — who was in a wheelchair now — could only gape in disbelief as they watched the crippled man continue his chin-ups, his body locked in a perfect "L" position. After a brief scan with her own ki senses — that had been one of the first things her great-grandmother had taught her back in the village after she had graduated from basic warrior training — she then shook her head. _Did Àirén's brother inherit that power from his great-grandfather?_ Kikuko had told Shampoo about her ancestry when she, her sisters and her grandmother had met the warrior-maiden shortly after they had undergone their name-change. Of course, when Shampoo began to fret that her marriage to Kikuko would not be recognized due to the latter's relation to Indiana Jones, Kikuko had been more than willing — despite her lack of real-time experience — to show how much she loved her new wife. _Great-grandmother and the other elders were wise to make sure no descendant of the Dàshīfù would be subject to the Kisses!_ She felt her cheeks heat as she remembered the beautiful yet brief lovemaking — Shampoo's wounds were healing quickly thanks to her upbringing in the mountains, atop some herbal cures Ono Tōfū knew — they had enjoyed before they had come to visit Kikuko's brother. _Unless they started it, of course…!_ she then added as she felt her wife's hands squeeze her shoulders. They exchanged a look, and then shared a kiss…

"Oh!"

Both turned to see a raven-haired tomboy with a silver magatama earring hanging off her ear standing at the doorway. She was currently dressed in a maid uniform, her left eye covered by a medical patch. "Aiyah! Who are you?" Shampoo demanded in much more clearer Japanese, stemming thanks to the new psi-bond she had with her wife.

"Hey, Mimōko!"

Mimōko grinned as she walked past Shampoo to place herself beside Ranma. As he lowered himself down, he then allowed his right hand to drop and move to embrace her as he twisted himself so they could kiss. As Kikuko and Shampoo both watched this, Ranma and Mimōko remained still as their tongues played with each other for a moment, and then she pulled back. "Get back to your exercises, you!" she ordered.

"Hai! Hai!" he said as he returned to his chin-ups. "Where did you go?"

"To where your former father is right now to give him a thrashing for all the things he did to you over the last decade," she replied as she poured a glass of water for herself, and then she drank it down before taking a seat.

"He wasn't too rough with you, was he?"

A shake of the head. "No. Your grandmaster had brow-beaten him and his friend down pretty good when I came by; it was practically a cake-walk for me." A sigh. "If I had caught him when he was fresh and ready, it would have been pretty hard."

"Did he understand why you were doing that?"

Mimōko smirked. "He understood. Of course, as far as he was concerned, I have no right to date you. Far as he was concerned — even AFTER I broke one of his arms! — you were still his son and honour-bound to marry Akane." She crossed her arms as he finished, then lowered himself onto the bed as Kikuko came around to help him settle in while Shampoo wheeled herself over to place herself beside the tōshi. "Even mentioned the other fiancées he arranged while I was busy trying to skin him alive and Kyoko was keeping his friend down. He denied everything, even after I warned him U-chan was in town looking to tan his hide." A shake of the head. "He's an idiot!"

A smirk. "Learned that even before the N-n-Neko-ken," Ranma stated, sputtering on mentioning THAT training. He then sighed. "Well, it don't matter now."

"What did the stupid panda do?" Shampoo asked.

Mimōko gazed on her. "You better relax, Shānpú. This'll take a while."

The warrior-maiden blinked…

* * *

The Saotome residence…

"Oh, Saotome-kun…"

"Stop coddling the idiot, Sōun. He had that coming to him!"

Sōun jerked on hearing that sneering voice, and then he moaned. Watching that THING tear his friend apart with her fists, ki attacks and a very large broadsword — while Sōun himself had been held back by another of those THINGS from helping his friend — had nearly shattered what hold the Tendō patriarch had on his self-control. Right now, he was in the midst of trying to make breakfast for his master on an open pit outside the house; Happōsai had forbidden both his students from going inside on threat of using a few Fire Bursts to level the house like he did the dōjō.

"The schools…!" he moaned.

A cinder block slammed into his head, making him collapse to the ground. As Sōun moaned, he then felt a wave front of angry ki wash over him. "You dunderhead!" Happōsai snarled. "How many times do I have to keep telling you this: THERE WERE NEVER ANY SEPARATE SCHOOLS SINCE YOU NEVER GOT MASTERIES IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"But…Master…we DID…!"

The aged grandmaster looked over. "Did WHAT, Genma?"

Genma was now bandaged, though the dressings were all oozing blood as Sōun had forgotten a lot about field first aid and Happōsai had refused to allow the man to run off to get a doctor. "We…we DID get our masteries, Master…"

Happōsai hummed. "Was it from the dōjō on Watari-shima?"

Both younger men blinked. "No…they came from a nihon-kenpō group…" Genma then protested before he gasped as a ki grenade flew at his face.

"_**YOU MORON!**_" Happōsai screamed out as the Fire Burst sent the wounded man flying into one of the side walls of the property, and then he spun around to glare intently at Sōun, who collapsed to his knees and began to wail at the older man's ki aura seemed to fill the sky before him, looming very high over the younger man's head. "_**NIHON-KENPŌ?! THAT'S NOT WHAT I TAUGHT BOTH OF YOU! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH**_ **PRETENDING **_**THAT NIHON-KENPŌ IS MUSABETSU KAKUTŌ-RYŪ?! ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE YOURSELVES LOOK LIKE IDIOTS IN FRONT OF THE REST OF THE WORLD?!**_"

"They don't need help, Sensei. They're ALREADY idiots!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Sōun spun over, his voice overflowing with joy as tears showered from his eyes. "RANMA-KUN! YOU…!"

A fist crashed into Sōun's nose, sending him flying into the wall of the Saotome property. "Wrong person," Kanami said as she lowered her fist, and then she turned to deeply bow to Happōsai. "Sensei, I'm here to begin."

"It is good that you're here, my student," Happōsai replied, bowing in turn.

"_**WHAT?!**_"

That was Genma, who had finally picked himself up from the ground to gaze in wide-eyed confusion at this taller, more normal-looking variation of his son's cursed form. "Of course, you idiot," Happōsai stated as he glared at Kanami's genetic father. "Since you weren't licensed to teach a damned thing — ESPECIALLY Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū! — I have the DUTY and the RESPONSIBILITY to clean up after you and make sure that your former son and your would-have-been daughters are taught properly!"

"Hah!" Genma spat back. "And YOU consider yourself a PROPER…?!"

_SPLASH!_

"_**GRAAAAAAAAAAAR…!**_"

Kanami giggled as she lowered the empty thermos she had scooped up from near the fire. "Gee, _Oyaji_!" she said, sneering, as the now-transformed Genma collapsed to the ground as he struggled against the now VERY-tight bandages over his wounds. "What were you saying? Were you actually TRYING to critique a REAL Master of the Art?"

"But Ranma-kun…"

She looked over to gaze in mock-confusion at Sōun, who had managed to stagger back to his feet. "No, Sōun," she calmly stated. "Ranma's not here. I'm Kanami. He's still in the hospital thanks to Genma's big stomach."

Silence.

Sōun collapsed to his knees. "What…?"

"Of course, Sōun," an aged voice then declared from the direction of the main gate, which made both Sōun and Genma freeze in automatic terror at the voice of the woman who had proven herself too strong even for their master. "Thanks to my idiot son's training, my grandson's soul was split in half. If it wasn't for the Moroboshi Clan, he would have probably been condemned to an insane asylum. Ohayō, Happōsai."

Happōsai grinned. "Ohayō, Chiaki-chan. You're looking as pretty as ever."

Hayashi Chiaki blinked on hearing that polite complement — when last she had confronted the grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū years ago, she had pummelled him to within an inch of his life thanks to a metal baseball bat — and then she walked up to stand beside her granddaughter. "What's happened to you?" she demanded.

A tired sigh. "Negako-chan ultimately happened to me," he admitted before he smiled at Kanami. "Don't you worry a thing about your grandkids, Chiaki-chan. I'm a hell of a lot more in control over myself than I was when I was teaching _these_ two dunderheads!" He thumbed the trembling Sōun and the moaning Genma in emphasis.

Chiaki blinked. "You're friends with the Saikō Jinseijutsu herself?"

A nod. "Hai. Actually tried to help fulfil the Promise of Bunka Go-nen back in 1888, but got caught by several priests that were working to keep her caged in the head of her then-host." A grunt as he looked at his hands. "Wound up being made to go out and act like a lunatic if I didn't want to die of ki depletion." He then smirked. "But Negako-chan fixed me up perfectly." A cackle as he thumbed Kanami. "'Sides, with the way Avalonian ki is, even a slight intake would make me totally drunk!"

More silence.

"Wh-what…?"

That was Sōun. "That's right," Chiaki stated. "Kanami — along with Miiko and Kikuko — are Avalonians. And Ranma will have to get a blood-transfusion from one of them to get his spine put back together again, so he'll be an adopted Avalonian."

Genma lunged over to glare intently into her mother's eyes, a sign being held up by his good arm. [**I FORBID THIS!**] The sign twirled. [**THERE'S NO WAY THAT I'LL ALLOW MY SON TO HAVE ALIEN BLOOD PUT INTO HIM!**] Another sign came up. [**I'VE HEARD ABOUT THESE AVALONIANS!**] That sign twirled. [**I WON'T HAVE MY SON BECOME A FREAK!**]

"'A freak?'" Kanami asked. "What kind of talk is THAT, Genma?"

"The psychic powers, Kanami-chan," Chiaki stated. "Genma's no doubt afraid that if your brother gained the power to read minds, one probe into Genma's head…"

"Would reveal all the stupid deals he made, just like what he did to U-chan," Kanami finished before she gazed intently at Genma. "Not to mention you holding back on us. The Sen-ken forms, for example?" As Genma's fur suddenly turned pale, she then smirked. "But don't worry about it. Thanks to Obā-chan here, we got in contact with the son of the man you taught the Yamasen-ken to. We got the Umisen-ken notes you hid in Nodoka's katana. Once we meet up with Ryū-san, we'll trade secrets."

A sign came up. [**STUPID ALIEN! I SEALED THOSE FORMS FOR A REASON!**] Genma tried to swipe Kanami with that before he had the wooden board kicked out of his paw.

"Yeah! Like you wanting to _use_ US to fund YOUR retirement!" Kanami snarled.

Still more silence.

"B-but, R-r-Ranma-kun…!"

Another fist smashed into Sōun's face, dropping him into an unmoving mound of flesh on the ground. "Get it straight, you coward! MY NAME IS KANAMI!" she shrilled.

"That's enough, Kanami-chan."

She turned on hearing Chiaki's voice, and then she nodded. The older woman then gazed on Happōsai. "Happōsai, given what you've just told me and given what I do know of Moroboshi Negako, I'll accept your explanation of your behaviour back when you were training these idiots full-time," she said as she waved at Genma, who had fallen back in shock as his mind tried to interpret Kanami's accusation. "However, given Genma's own actions when he was taking my grandson on his so-called 'training trip,' I'll have to warn you that I'll be putting out notices in all the newspapers calling on all the people Genma swindled from to come look for him DIRECTLY instead of trying to seek out my grandchildren and forcing them to pay for something they never were responsible for." She then glared at her son, which made Genma cringe. "You will no longer be allowed to run away from your mistakes, Genma. Consider this my FINAL lesson to you."

With that, she walked to the gate, ignoring the now-shivering Genma and the still-unconscious Sōun. At the opening, she then stopped to gaze on Kanami. "When Sōun wakes up, Kanami-chan, tell him that I'll also be speaking to his father-in-law about that FALSE dōjō he had built with money from his wife's family. I think that having that property REPOSSESSED might teach him a few things in return."

Kanami blinked. "What about Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane?"

A smile. "Don't worry. Their grandfather is quite well-off and I'm sure he'll be more than happy to put them up so they can get on with their lives," Chiaki stated. "From what I heard, Kasumi had been planning to become a doctor before her mother's death forced her to become a virtual SLAVE in her own home. And while I don't know what Akane might want, Nabiki's plans for the future are quite easy to understand."

A smirk. "I'll make sure the idiots don't interfere," Kanami promised.

"Fair enough. Good day to you, Happōsai."

"Have fun, Chiaki-chan," Happōsai said as she headed off. He then took a deep breath. "Alright, my student, before we begin your first PROPER lesson in Musabetsu Kakutō, I need to know what you DO know," he said as Kanami knelt before him. He then smirked as he gazed on Genma, who began to shake as Kanami glared in turn at him. "And lookee here! We got us the perfect PRACTICE DUMMY for you to exercise on!"

In a flash, Genma was rocking on his back and playing with a tire, a sign waving over his head. [**NO ONE HERE BUT A CUTE PANDA!**]

"Why, _Oyaji_…!"

Genma froze on hearing that icy voice.

"…you're whining like a little GIRL!"

His eyes then widened as Kanami raced at him…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Daimyō** — Literally "Great Position," this is the term used to address the lord of a particular domain below the rank of shōgun; **Shùnpíng** — Literally "level order," this is the name of a county in Héběi Province in China…which was declared as Zhào Yún's posthumous marquessate (and became the name for the dragon inside Koeru Kumomi); **Kaishaku-nin** — Literally "the person who concerns himself with a mistake," this is the person who would act to help one committing seppuku end his pain by beheading said person with a sword; **Tōdai** — Short for _Tōkyō Daigaku_ ("Tōkyō University"), Japan's premier post-secondary institution.

2) The **Ōmizo-han** (Ōmizo Domain) was a feudal district located in what today is called the city of **Takashima** in **Shiga Prefecture** about forty kilometres north-by-east of Kyōto on the western shores of Lake Biwa.

3) The truth about **Hidari Mijiko** will be revealed in the Epilogue.

4) **Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia Congenita** (often short-formed to **SED** or **SDC**) is a condition that inhibits bone growth, thus resulting in dwarfism, skeletal abnormalities and occasional problems with vision and hearing. As Happōsai has been shown to be a dwarf from his early years, his possessing a condition like this would be understandable…and it would also explain a lot of his attitudes towards life as a whole. As Negako tends to speak with great formality and with pinpoint accuracy, she would use the proper medical term in describing her friend's condition rather than use the term "dwarfism."

5) What Negako ultimately suffers from, if anything, is a fear of a lack of control over her particular situation. While such has never been classified as a true phobia per se, people — especially those who understand Negako's history — tend to classify it as a form of hydrophobia.

6) As fans of _Maria-sama ga Miteru_ know, the **Lillian Girl's Private High School** (in Japanese, _Shiritsu Ririan Jogakuen_) is the private school in Musashino where the lead characters attend as students. Asagaya Rikako and Asagaya Seiko are peers of the star of _Marimite_, **Fukuzawa Yumi**. In _Marimite_ anime continuity, this story would fall in sometime prior to the last episode of the 2006-7 television season, "Ciao Sorella!"

As an aside, Rikako and Seiko are a year older than Ranma.

7) **Nihon-kenpō** (sometimes written as "Nippon-kenpō" in English and short-formed in Japanese as _Nikken_) is a Japanese martial art form that emphasizes striking techniques using hands and feet, immobilization techniques, control techniques, projections and take-downs. This art formed, created in 1932 by former jūdō-ka **Sawayama Muneomi** (1906-77), was derived from the founding master's own art as well as similar forms like jūjutsu, karate, boxing and wrestling. In early _Ranma_ anime translations, Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū was often described as a form of kenpō (which is derived from the kanji meaning "law of fists").

8) The man who ultimately exposed Ranma to the Yamasen-ken forms, **Kumon Ryū**, was first introduced in the manga story "Mother, I Am Ranma" (manga episode #290).


	11. The Children of the Yamasen-ken

Near Tomobiki High School, after breakfast…

"So how was the movie last night?"

Ataru blinked on hearing Tariko's teasing question, and then he smirked while squeezing both Shikuko's and Miyako's hands. They, along with Hiromi, were heading down the street towards school; the two Rakuyō students would head off to their own school after parting from their new boyfriend at the front gate of his school. "Actually, it was pretty nice," he admitted as the girls to either side of him both laughed. "Didn't get to see much of it, though. Busy doing other things."

Tariko smirked on seeing her brother's cheeks redden slightly. "I can figure that out," she admitted as Hiromi politely hid her own smile. She then hummed. "I wonder what my first date with Ka-chan's going to be like," she lamented.

"I wouldn't worry, Onē-san," Hiromi assured her. "But I would recommend that you and Kanami-san seek out a hotel room for the evening when you do go on a date," she then added with a wink, which now made Tariko's cheeks redden. "I strongly doubt that even if they do understand what we are, Otō-san and Okā-san would be able to take you two doing what Kumomi-san and Miiko-san did in the other house last night."

Everyone laughed on hearing that, and then they tensed on sensing someone come into close range from somewhere off to their right and behind them. "Incoming," Ataru warned as his hands automatically shifted around to better protect his companions.

"_**FREEZE! KIJIN RAISHŪ DAN!**_"

All five sprang clear just as a storm of pure vacuum blades ripped down to tear into the ground where they had been standing, causing the asphalt and concrete to shatter in waves of dust and flying debris. As the Moroboshi siblings and their friends landed on safe ground nearby, three lithe female forms came down to place themselves on the other side of the crater they had created with the Demon God Assault Bomb attack they had just used in hopes of killing their ultimate target.

Shikuko was quick to recognise them. "Ōkyō! Hōetsu! Bokujun!"

The leader of the three women — they appeared to be Shikuko's age — smirked. "Long time, Ryofu," Wan Sukumi stated as she took a ready stance, her lips curling into a lethal smile. "Tell me something: Are you ready to die finally?"

Shikuko gritted her teeth. Back at the Battle of Hǔláo Pass, when the anti-Dǒng Zhuó coalition under the leadership of Yuán Shào had moved to march on Luòyáng, Lǚ Bù had led his adopted father's armies and personally duelled against dozens of generals and warlords before he faced the ultimate three-on-one battle against Liú Bèi, Guān Yǔ and Zhāng Fēi that was the climax of that particular confrontation before Dǒng himself arrived with reinforcements to drive Yuán's forces off. Two generals Lǚ slew before he faced the sworn brothers of the Peach Garden were Fāng Yuè (then subordinate to Wáng Kuāng) and Mù Shùn. All three had been reborn in this life as women who had attended Rakuyō at the same time as Sebone Shikuko before they were expelled at the end of their freshman year thanks to the machinations of Uru Hokona with the blessings of Tadasu Suguta: Wan Sukumi (Ōkyō Kōsetsu), Naraberu Yoroko (Hōetsu) and Yawaragu Motoko (Bokujun).

In the sometimes-warped logic that possessed tōshi when events today were viewed through the lens of the fates of their original selves, Yoroko and Motoko had convinced themselves that it had been _Shikuko_ that had engineered their expulsion and disgrace.

And while Sukumi knew the truth, she also knew that seeking to topple Suguta once and for all would require Shikuko's elimination as well.

And fortunately for them, during their wanderings over the last year, they had met someone else who understood their need for justice and taught them what he knew.

And he knew quite a bit.

"So where did you pick up the cute attack?" Shikuko then asked as she braced herself, hoping that her sickness wouldn't hit her when she needed all her strength against three people who could create VACUUM blades out of KI.

Sukumi smirked. "We met a man who was more than willing to help us master some rather interesting skills," she stated as Yoroko and Motoko moved to better position themselves. "To believe that there are non-tōshi out there — outside the Black Death and her family — who are quite skilled warriors. We learned quite a bit."

"And now it's time for a regime change!" Yoroko added, licking her lips in anticipation. "Once you're out of the way, it'll be Tōtaku's and Kaku's turn, and then Rakuyō — and after that, all of Kantō! — is ours for the…!"

"_**ENOUGH!**_"

The three rogue tōshi were flattened by the sonic boom that accompanied Hiromi's incensed shout. As Sukumi and her friends found themselves staring at the reborn emperor in shocked disbelief — which turned into confusion on seeing her magatama — Hiromi took a deep breath. "Is THIS what has befallen all of those like me?" she rhetorically asked as she moved around the crater Shikuko's attackers had made to stand closer to them. "Acting like marauding, honourless bandits instead of properly-trained warriors? Attacking people from BEHIND without even bothering to make a declaration of formal challenge? Trying to avenge defeats that happened in a DIFFERENT lifetime to DIFFERENT people?" She shook her head. "There are times I want to give up…"

"Who the FUCK are you, lady?!" Motoko snarled as she got to her feet, her hands glowing with ki as she moved to attack. "You got some guts butting in…!"

"_**REITEI-SAMA, LOOK OUT!**_"

Hiromi gasped as a brown-haired blur crossed her vision. "MIYAKO-SAN!"

"_**GEIMON TESSEN SHI!**_"

Miyako gasped as something harder than steel slammed into the area of her solar plexus, causing huge shock damage to her digestive system and nearly rupturing her aorta. As she staggered to her knees, her eyes widening with disbelief as the whole area below her ribs seemed to fade into non-existence, she then icily smiled at Motoko before summoning some bloody spit to fire into the other girl's face. "You lose, bitch…!" she hissed out before she collapsed to her side.

"_**MIYAKO!**_"

Before Sukumi, Yoroko and Motoko could react, an aqua-haired spitfire of destruction was atop them just as Ataru and Hiromi lunged over to help the fallen Miyako…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, that moment…

Shampoo perked. "Did you feel that?"

Mimōko blinked, and then she gazed off to the west. "Damn…"

"Who is that, Mimōko-san?" Kikuko asked.

The tōshi gritted her teeth. "It's Shikuko! Wait here!"

With that, she raced out of the room. "Ah! Mimōko-san!" Kikuko cried out.

* * *

Back in Tomobiki, fifteen minutes later…

Wan Sukumi had thought she had come up with the perfect plan.

After meeting Kumon Ryū and seeing the full devastating power of the Yamasen-ken for herself, the expelled Rakuyō fighter KNEW she had the perfect vehicle for regaining her honour and that of her friends, then seizing the ultimate prize — the Chuánguóxǐ, the Imperial Seal of old China — from the shattered body of Tadasu Suguta to mark her as the spiritual leader of all tōshi and the supreme fighter of Kantō.

Eliminating Sebone Shikuko — which would have calmed the blood lust bubbling deep within the hearts of her companions — had been the perfect first move.

After all, in this life, the man who had once been Dǒng Zhuó had not mistreated his reborn foster son as he had done eighteen centuries in the past, thus making it possible for the reborn Lǚ Bù to finally rise up and strike him down.

And since Shikuko was still loyal to Suguta, she was a threat to Sukumi's plan.

It was plain, simple logic.

But now…

"_**DIE!**_"

Sukumi gasped as Shikuko's haymaker crescent punch slammed into the side of her head, sending the former flying across the street to crash hard into a parked car, totalling it instantly as it was crushed against a retaining wall. As the reborn prefect of Hénèi groaned on feeling the massive storm of pain her body now felt from the double-blows of Shikuko's punch and being slammed so hard into a car, she then blinked as the aqua-haired senior approached her, her eyes aflame with outrage. "I personally don't give a damn what you want to do to Tōtaku, Ōkyō!" she snarled as she reached over to grab the other woman's head of short black hair and pulled her single-handed out from the wrecked car. "But when you hurt Chinkyū, THEN I get involved!"

"_**DOKUJA TANKETSU SHŌ!**_"

Shikuko jolted as Yoroko's ki charged fingers slammed into her back right near her heart, sending a cutting pulse right through her, causing considerable internal damage along the way and nearly shattering her spinal column. As blood exploded from her lips as she felt the strength in her body go, Shikuko gargled as she looked down to see the small exit wound under her cleavage. "Damn…!" she gasped as her hand reflexively let go of Sukumi's head, her legs losing their strength as she dropped.

Yoroko's hand snared her by one of her ponytails as she raised her other hand for a decapitating blow with the Demon God Assault Bomb. "Now my fate is…!"

"_**KONTŌ!**_"

The crimson-haired tomboy cried out as a glowing KATANA of pure anti-ki instantly appeared under her chin, a wave of killing cold energy tingling her skin as her mind quickly interpreted what Ataru had just summoned forth to save his girlfriend.

The soulsword.

The signature killing manoeuvre of the Black Death.

"Moroboshi!"

"Ataru-kun! What hap-…?! OH, MY GOD!"

Ataru didn't flinch on hearing Shinobu's gasped cry as he glared intently at a now badly-shaking Yoroko. "Now that's enough," he told the wide-eyed tōshi in a voice that was as cold as the Antarctic in mid-winter. "What happened back at Hǔláo Pass eighteen centuries ago is in the PAST!" he stated as Tariko came up to gently pull Shikuko in her arms, she then being aided by Shinobu and Mendō. "You don't have to drag it all up just to get vengeance for someone who's been DEAD all that time!"

She shuddered, her brown eyes tearing. "You don't understand…"

"Actually, I understand quite a bit," he stated, not flinching on seeing her tears. "Tōtaku's a jerk and a moron. He's also pretty abusive to his lovers. And I won't even get into how he loves to mutilate himself all the time! But just because he's that way doesn't mean that YOU have to be that way, either!"

"The magatama…!"

A series of bloody coughs. "She's just like…most tōshi, Ataru-kun," Shikuko sputtered as Tariko forced some of her own ki into the wound. "Lets the magatama…wear her…" Another hacking cough. "Stupid, really…"

"Ataru-kun, she has to get to the hospital!" Shinobu warned.

"No, she needs a different type of help."

Mendō gaped. "Hiromi-san!"

"Never you mind!" the reborn emperor spat as she drew out what looked like an Apple iPad from her book case. "Tsukihana-kun!" she called out on activating it. "Lock in on my signal. All life signs within three metres' range of me! Energize!"

"_**SHIKUKO!**_"

As Mimōko landed on the street close to her cousin, a young man's voice then called back, "Got all the life locks, Onē-san! Energizing!"

Before the Nan'yō tōshi could ask who that was, vertical showers of energy whisked everyone there all away from the scene…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, that moment…

"What the HELL?!"

Negako, who had arrived just after Mimōko had left, perked. "What is it, Ranma?"

"Mimōko just disappeared!" he exclaimed.

Shampoo and Kikuko — the former had been allowed to stay while the grandmaster carried out the day's treatment on Ranma's back — both perked, and then they gazed westward. "Hey! She DID disappear!" the latter gasped. "Negako-onēchan, what happened?!"

Negako hummed as she gazed in the direction of Tomobiki. "It appears Shikuko and Miyako got into a quite vicious altercation with three former schoolmates of theirs." Her eyes then turned up to gaze at the ceiling. Or to her, well beyond the bounds of Earth's atmosphere. "No doubt, they — and Mimōko if she takes advantage of it — will become like yourself and your sisters before long, Kikuko."

The others all blinked as she got back to work…

* * *

Midway between the Earth and the Moon…

"Um…?"

Hiromi sighed. "What is the matter, Bokujun-dono?"

Motoko gulped. "Where the HELL are we?"

"You are aboard Her Majesty's Canadian Starship _Haida_," the reborn emperor then stated as several women in the dark blue button shirts and nearly-black slacks of Canadian Forces naval combat dress moved to load the bleeding Shikuko and Miyako onto hover-gurneys for the trip to the medical station, located deep in the heart of the cigar-shaped, kilometre-long spaceship bristling with dozens of projectile weapons and missile launchers, looking distantly like something straight out of _Uchū Senkan Yamato_. "One of fifty Type One space dreadnoughts built for the United Nations Earth Defence Force, currently manned by volunteers from Avalon until members of the Canadian military can take her over and place her under the operational control of the First Canadian Division and the administrative control of the Canadian Navy."

Hearing that, the three former Rakuyō tōshi and Mimōko — who had chosen to remain behind, having sensed that the women now tending to her cousin and her lover were quite determined to see them healed — all blinked before they took a look around. They were currently standing in the centre of a large, transparent durasteel dome located next to a towering bridge structure that clearly had been designed with recent Terran naval influences in mind, the heraldic crest of Canada's most famous warship affixed below what appeared to be the main bridge. On either flank of that structure, single spheroid triple-gun turrets were mounted, their long barrels pointing off to either side of the ship. To the opposite side of them, two triple-gun turrets — one superfiring over the other — were deployed. Smaller gun weapons and box-shaped missile launchers were deployed on the sides of the hull, which was painted the very light blue-grey that was normal for fighting warships of the Canadian Navy these days.

While Sukumi, Yoroko and Motoko were stunned speechless by what they had just learned, Mimōko stared wide-eyed at the reborn emperor. "So how exactly did you get this ship built? And all of THEM, too?" she asked as she pointed out into space around _Haida_, where a good number of other warships — all of the same model despite their being painted in different colours and possessing different national flags on their flanks aft of amidships — currently hovered, all of whom were lit up so they could be seen in the twilight since the Moon currently was eclipsing the distant Sun.

"That was thanks to two of us who were kidnapped by a neighbouring alien race some years ago, Mimōko-san," Hiromi calmly answered before she gazed on the others. "Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami. Otherwise known as Kōgetsuei and Jun'iku Bunjaku."

Silence.

"Shokatsuryō's wife and Sōsō's first adviser?" Sukumi gasped.

"That's correct," Hiromi answered. "There is a race to the out-spin side of us — that's heading in the direction away from the core of the galaxy along the angle of the Orion Spiral Arm, which is what we are a part of — called the Ipraedies. They were interested in conquering us so they could outflank the Urusians, Lum's people. In preparation for such a conquest, they selectively kidnapped people from all over Earth so they could better learn of our culture and society. Tsukihana-kun and Ayami-san were two of them." A smile. "Fortunately for us, they were able to escape with help, and then they stumbled onto an abandoned starship construction spacedock floating around a dead system in the direction of the spinward edge of the Arm. Since they had heard by then of what the Urusians were planning to do to us, they built this fleet…"

"But only got them completed sometime after the Noukiites put the system under their temporary watch and the Urusians were chased out of it," Tariko added before she perked as the doorway leading into the lounge then opened, revealing a pretty girl with green hair and sparkling blue eyes. "Hey, Naoko-chan! How are Shikuko and Miyako?"

Takanashi Naoko smiled. Like the other Avalonians aboard _Haida_, she was seen as a civilian adviser by the members of the Canadian Navy, thus her epaulette slip-ons had no rank insignia on them now. When a full-time crew was finally posted on this ship, the 213 bioroids currently aboard _Haida_ would be allowed to become full-time Canadian citizens, then travel to the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (south of Montréal) to go through basic training. After that, they would head to the Canadian Forces Fleet Schools in either Halifax or Esquimalt (outside Victoria, British Columbia) for Naval Environmental Training, and then on to specific trade schools to learn how to be active members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces of Canada. Naoko herself planned to become a medical technician, which would see her travel to the Canadian Forces Medical Services School in Borden (north of Toronto) after seamanship training. And given that _Haida_ demanded a crew of 2,500 all ranks (with an accompanying air wing of 2,500 and an reinforced infantry battalion battle group of 1,500), the chances were good that she would be coming back aboard once she gained her Level 3 qualification to become part of _Haida_'s Medical Division.

"We're preparing the new bodies for them now, Tariko-sama," she replied in a beautiful Kyūshū accent. "We should be ready for the soul transfers to occur within a couple hours." She then gazed curiously at Mimōko and the other tōshi. "Would you like to have them placed through the soul transference as well?" As Mimōko blinked and the three former Rakuyō tōshi all gaped, Naoko then smiled helpfully at Hiromi.

"Well…" Hiromi began.

"Could you at least do it for Mimōko-sempai?" Ataru then said, thumbing Mimōko.

The Nan'yō senior jolted. "Ataru-kun!"

He shrugged. "Well, since you're here already…"

"Hey!"

"Are you saying our promise to Nozomi-chan means nothing?" Tariko asked.

Mimōko flustered. "Well…"

Naoko then smiled. "You must be Sebone Mimōko-sama. Ataru-sama, Hiromi-sama and Tariko-sama have told us about the vow they made to your late cousin." She then waved her to the lounge entrance. "If you wish, we can proceed ahead right away."

The senior student awked. "Hey! What's going on here, anyway?!" Sukumi then cut in before she stared at Hiromi. "And how on Earth can YOU be Reitei-sama?! Reitei-sama's NEVER been resurrected at all since the Three Kingdoms!"

Hiromi sighed. "Kōsetsu-dono, it is a rather long story."

The visiting tōshi all blinked…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, a half-hour later…

"A fleet of starships?" Kikuko asked.

"And the reborn Lady Huáng and Lord Wénruò had them built?" Shampoo demanded.

Ranma, Kikuko and Shampoo were all gaping at Negako. The treatment was still ongoing; on seeing how much the wound she had inflicted on her now-brother-in-law had sealed up over the last week, Shampoo was more than convinced that the great spirits that now touched the life of Indiana Jones had also extended their favour to his great-grandson. "Yes. Fifty ships in all, easily the equal of anything any of the local galactic powers — even the Noukiites — make use of," Negako stated. "Tsukihana and Ayami — after they escaped Ipraedies custody — located an abandoned starship construction dockyard in the Den'sha system, which is a remote system close to one of Uru's allied worlds, Spotak. Since they had, by then, learned of the plans the Urusian government had prepared concerning Earth, they made use of the dockyard to create fifty star battleships to serve as a defence force for the whole planet. Unfortunately, given how complex they had to be and the size of the ships, they were not space-worthy until after the Noukiites intervened and made the Urusians and their allies withdraw from the system six months ago." She forced more ki into Ranma's back. "Right now, they are being manned by Avalonian volunteers — an average of two hundred per ship — until such time as the armed forces of the nations of Earth could prepare crews to take over."

Ranma blinked as he took that in, nodding in understanding. Despite the "dumb jock" image he normally projected to other people, he did take many opportunities to read books. Ever since he had come to the hospital, all the doctors and nurses had pitched in to give him a small library so that he could catch up on all the things he had missed over the years. Among them was a good collection of manga and anime art books. "So they're like the _Yamato_ in _Uchū Senkan Yamato_, you mean."

"Very much so, though none of them possess a planet-wrecking weapon such as the Wave Motion Gun," Negako answered. "Tsukihana was tempted to put in an anti-proton gun and link it to the main star drive systems, but Ayami overrode him."

Ranma hummed. "Like what the doomsday machine in _Star Trek_ had, right?"

Shampoo perked. "You know of _Star Trek_?"

He stared at her. "How do YOU know about that? I didn't see any television antennas or satellite dishes when I was in the village."

The warrior-maiden giggled. "We get tapes smuggled in from Táiwān; there's a small group of the tribe that currently lives in Táiběi. How much have you seen?"

A shake of the head. "Not much. Oyaji doesn't care for that stuff at all and he hated it when I watched episodes on television at the Tendō place."

"Be assured, if you wish to become a true Trekker, Ranma, you will get the opportunity once you are restored to full mobility," Negako vowed in her normally calm and toneless voice, which made Shampoo fight back a grin at the thought of the _**Black Death**_ of all things actually helping her would-have-been husband and now brother-in-law to become a proper fan of the great creation of Gene Roddenberry. "As I have told you already, you are emotionally grossly unbalanced due to Genma's emphasis on martial arts over anything else. If you are to be successful in life, you need to correct that."

He took that in, and then he nodded. Gazing at him, Shampoo felt her own heart ache as she recalled what she had heard from Ranma, Kikuko and Mimōko concerning his long training trip with his father. Separated from his mother without ANY attempts at contacting her to appraise her of what was happening. Enduring the CAT FIST training of all things, which had nearly made Shampoo lose her breakfast after she had heard how many TIMES Ranma had faced that awful pit of cats before his mind had snapped. Also enduring martial art exercises that should have killed a lesser person — even one of her own tribe! — but had made Ranma tougher and more durable…at the cost of ANY semblance of a normal life, even when viewed through the worldview of the Nǚjiézú!

She then perked as Kikuko's hand squeezed her shoulder, a wave of warmth and love flooding her body from head to toe as the latter's blue eyes — the same colour eyes that her great-grandfather had, Shampoo knew from the colour pictures and paintings the village historians had of Indiana Jones — sparkled with reassurance. _I may not have married his great-grandson, but at least I got you_, she then lamented, knowing that thanks to Kikuko's powerful psychic powers, she would be heard.

«And you will always have me, Xiánqī,» Kikuko thought back.

They shared a kiss. Watching them, Ranma felt a touch of envy as he recalled the short time he had lived together with Tendō Akane. His father and her father had wanted this sort of thing from them. As he tried to imagine himself kissing Akane, he then shuddered as the many times her temper had gotten the better of her and she lashed out at him replayed in his mind. Of course, he hadn't done anything to stop that; not only was he used to that sort of verbal and physical attack from his father, he knew Akane wasn't as tough as he was. One punch from him would have put her in the hospital for a week and really made a mess of things with the rest of her family…

«Akane should no longer concern you, Ranma.»

He blinked, surprised to hear Negako's voice in his mind, and then he looked at her. Before he could say anything, the grandmaster then smiled. «Think your thoughts; do not verbalize them. Kikuko and Shānpú do not desire interruptions.»

He stared at her, and then glanced over before his cheeks reddened on seeing Kikuko hold her wife close, their tongues barely visible as they continued to kiss each other while Shampoo's hands were starting to rove over the former's body. Quickly turning away, he then paused as images of Sebone Mimōko then flashed in his mind. After considering that, he then sighed. _Mimōko wants to do that with me._

«She does,» Negako replied. «She was quite attracted to your eyes at first, then as she learned more about you, her attraction grew and she began to see you as a potential future husband.» Sensing a jerk deep within him on hearing _that_, the grandmaster then added, «Of course, in pursuing Mimōko, you will not have to worry about false honour claims and other such things trying to force you together, as what happened between yourself and Akane. There are other advantages as well.»

_How so?_

«You will receive full support from your grandmother for such a relationship since it is in direct contravention to what both Genma and Sōun desire of you.»

He perked, and then he grinned. _That's true._

«And since she is a tōshi, Mimōko certainly would NOT meet Nodoka's approval as well,» Negako added. «I believe she may have had an altercation with someone like Mimōko in Nodoka's youth which soured her opinion of tōshi as a whole. And since she no longer has any sort of legal right to demand anything of you, it should make her more conductive to accepting what YOU eventually decide your life will progress.»

A nod. _Yeah, that's true, too…_

And while he certainly could understand why Kanami, Miiko and Kikuko wouldn't want anything to do anymore with their genetic mother, there was a deep part of him that actually hoped that what had happened on Tuesday could be reversed. That even though he was legally "Hayashi Ranma" right now, he could still have Nodoka in his life. But would she allow her own sense of honour to keep them separated…?

«Give your aunt Hisayo time, Ranma,» Negako then advised. «From Happy's description of her, she is a very sensible person. And she is Nodoka's TWIN sister. Twins possess a greater empathic bond between each other than normal siblings. She may actually succeed in making Nodoka see the truth more than anyone else.»

A sigh. "I hope so…"

Negako nodded as she turned back to finish her work…

* * *

H.M.C.S. _Haida_, the observation lounge, a half-hour later…

"So the Japanese ship is J.S. _Yamato_, right?" Mimōko asked.

Ataru nodded. "Yep."

"And the Korean ship?"

"R.O.K.S. _Paekbŏm_, after Kim Ku. He was a Korean independence activist."

"And the Chinese one?"

"P.R.C.S. _Zhèng Hé_. You obviously know who he is."

Mimōko laughed. "And the American ship?"

"U.S.S. _Arizona_. One of the battleships sunk at Pearl Harbour."

The tōshi then nodded. While Sukumi and her friends were being given a full tour of _Haida_ thanks to Hiromi and Tariko, Mimōko had elected to remain behind in the lounge as she learned more about the life her cousin and her lover — and she herself if she took the offer Naoko had given her earlier — were soon to embrace and what it would ultimately mean for them all. Mendō and Shinobu had been allowed to beam back to Tomobiki so they could go to classes and inform their teachers as to what just happened to Ataru's girlfriends. "So that big light in the distance there…?" she then asked, pointing towards the Moon.

"Is the bioroid factory itself," he finished. "Twenty kilometres long, ten wide, three high. Two and a half BILLION Avalonians have been made by it over the last eighty years since the thing was found by the Niphentaxians on Phentax Twelve."

She nodded. "And that's where Hiromi-sama, Negako-sama and Tariko-san…"

"Ultimately got their new bodies," he finished. "Ganzo dai-Louc was a Niphentaxian who was part of the original team that uncovered the factory after he graduated from university a century ago our time. Once he understood how human Avalonians could be, he argued to allow them to have Phentax Twelve for themselves and let them develop their own culture." A smirk. "Too many people on Phentax Two thought otherwise…"

"The perfect slave race," she mused.

"Yeah. So he eventually became their version of John Brown, the guy that scared the living shit out of a lot of the people in the southern states in America before their Civil War. The Niphentaxian government even put a bounty on his head and called him the 'Arch-Heretic,' even though they did everything to keep news of the Avalonians hush-hush from their friends like the Urusians." A sigh. "When he escaped to Okusei about twenty-five years ago, he brought a whole production line of Avalonians — TEN THOUSAND bodies — with him. And then somehow (I don't know how!), all of the Flower Youth of Noukiios — all of those whose souls were saved from their Tri-Kingdoms period — got a new chance at life, just like all of you did thanks to your magatama."

She gaped at him. "Damn! Alien tōshi! Go figure…"

"Yeah. So when Kyech revealed the truth behind Lum and Hensō, she persuaded her old boss from the Tri-Kingdoms days, Kaep', to launch an all-out attack on Phentax Twelve to liberate the factory and free the Avalonians. Onē-san went along for the ride; she was the one who helped finally free the factory from the control of the same curse that nailed Lum and her friends five years ago." A sigh. "We rescued them all and brought them here, which is when we met up with Tsukihana-kun and Ayami-chan and what they brought with them from Den'sha Two." A shrug. "And ever since…"

"The governments of Earth are preparing to accept a real SPACE FLEET to protect the planet from alien invasion," she finished. "But where do you fit over TWO BILLION Avalonians on a planet that already has nearly SEVEN BILLION people living on it?"

A smirk. "Well, that's where terraforming Mars comes into play."

She gaped. "Mars?"

A nod. "Yep. Turns out that a long time ago, a big asteroid — way bigger than the one that hit in Mexico that killed off the dinosaurs — hit the planet and nearly destroyed the place. That's why no life has ever developed there; the water almost all got evaporated when it happened." He sighed. "So after we brought the fleet and the factory here, we got the Noukiites to convince the Neptunians to beam all their spare snow to Mars to seed enough water to start terraforming the planet." He shrugged. "There are other possibilities, too. A race to the in-spin of us — the Seifukusu Dominion — have thirty Earth-like planets all in close range of us that they wouldn't mind getting rid of since they don't have the population to make use of them. And since they don't care for Galactic Federation states like Uru, if we took them…"

"We'd be a buffer state to them," Mimōko finished.

"Yeah."

"Hey!"

Both perked, and then they looked over before Mimōko gaped, getting to her feet so she could walk over and place her hands in assurance on Shikuko's arms. Miyako was standing beside her lover; both were back in their school uniforms, the jackets and undershirts clean of any spilt blood. "Hey! Are you okay, Shikuko?"

A laugh. "Oh, relax, Mō-chan! We're fine! Now…"

Ataru perked as Shikuko pulled away from her cousin to sit down beside him, immediately draping herself over his shoulders. "Ne, Ataru-kun," she crooned as she felt her mind reach out into his to touch his own considerable mind-shields. "Is it true what Tariko-chan just told us? That ever since you got the blood transfusion from her, you haven't had ANY sex with ANYONE? You've gone cold turkey all this time?"

He smirked. "Pretty much so."

A purr. "Well, since Miyako-chan and I both are virgins now…"

A wink. "Care to check out the captain's cabin on this ship?"

She gasped. "Oh, you NAUGHTY boy…!"

Miyako whooped with laughter as Ataru scooped Shikuko up into his arms and moved to carry her out of the lounge, the younger tōshi from Rakuyō quickly falling in with her lovers as they left the room. Watching them go, Mimōko could only shake her head. "She'll never change at all," she whispered, though she was grinning.

And it was understandable after all.

Shikuko had escaped her fate.

Miyako had escaped her fate.

Now…

"Mimōko-sama?"

The Nan'yō senior looked over. "Naoko?"

Takanashi Naoko was smiling. "We're ready for you now."

Mimōko blinked…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Kijin Raishū Dan** — Literally "Demon God Assault Blast," a super-fast swing of the arms (like shutters being flung shut) that creates a vacuum blade-like force which can cut through next to anything; **Geimon Tessen Shi** — Literally "Gate Iron-Fan Fingers," an attack where the fingers of the hand (pressed together and hardened with ki) slash up to rip through someone's defences; **Dokuja Tanketsu Shō** — Literally "Poisonous Snake Searching for a Hole Palm," this is a powerful strike with thumb, middle and index finger aimed at the target's heart to literally _rip out_ the heart!; **Kontō** — Literally "Soulsword," this is when someone literally focuses the whole of his/her fighting spirit into a blade of pure anti-ki that can kill someone with but a touch, leaving no mark on the body; **Uchū Senkan** — Literally "Space Battleship" (the proper Japanese title of the anime known to many Westerners by the title _Star Blazers_ has often been erroneously translated as "Space Cruiser," which the _Yamato_ certainly was NOT!); **Táiběi** — The proper Mandarin way of pronouncing the characters that go into "Taipei;" **J.S.** — Japanese Ship/Starship (note that for all new warship commissions post 2008, when the Japanese Defence Agency was upgraded to ministry status, the old ship prefix "**J.D.S.**" [Japanese Defence Ship] was dropped for "J.S."); **R.O.K.S.** — Republic of Korea Ship/Starship; **P.R.C.S.** — People's Republic of China Ship/Starship (note the People's Liberation Army-Navy normally did not use ship prefixes until 2008, when **C.N.S.** ["Chinese Navy Ship"] was introduced for use in English-language publications); **U.S.S.** — United States Ship/Starship.

2) Notes on the new _Ikkitōsen_-based characters introduced here:

**Ōkyō Kōsetsu** (**Wan Sukumi**), as stated above, is based on **Wáng Kuāng** (unknown dates of birth and death). A man who worked for **Hé Jìn** (unknown date of birth, died 189 C.E.), Wáng returned to civilian life after Hé was killed by the Ten Attendants. He would later return to government service and became the prefect of what today is Hénán Province. It was from here that Wáng mustered a force to fight against Dǒng Zhuó, but was defeated. In hopes of winning Wáng over, Dǒng sent peace representatives to negotiate a truce; Wáng had then executed. Wáng himself would be killed years later by the relatives of one of his earlier victims. In _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Wáng was said to be involved in the fictional **Battle of Hǔláo Pass**; he sent one of his generals to duel with Lǚ Bù. Lǚ won, of course.

**Hōetsu** (**Naraberu Yoroko**), as stated here, is based on **Fāng Yuè**, who was one of the many fictional characters to appear in _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_. As stated in that work, Fāng faced off against Lǚ Bù at Hǔláo Pass at the order of Wáng Kuāng…and died as a result after four rounds of battle against the Flying General.

**Bokujun** (**Yawaragu Motoko**), as stated here, is based on **Mù Shùn**. Yet another fictional character from the _Romance_, Mù was said to be a general then serving under **Zhāng Yáng** (unknown date of birth, died 198). He also was said to have engaged Lǚ Bù in a duel at Hǔláo Pass; his luck was just as bad as his fellow general Fāng Yuè.

As an aside, I base the physical looks of all three of the above-mentioned girls on characters from the fifth instalment of _Dead or Alive_, released in 2012 by Tecmo Koei and created by Team Ninja for the PlayStation 3 and XBbox 360 consoles. Sukumi is a near-lookalike to **Kokoro** (without glasses). Yoroko would look a lot like **La Mariposa** (**Lisa Hamilton**) save for a more bright shade of red hair. And Motoko would take after **Mila**.

**Kōgetsuei** (**Ki Tsukihana**) is, of course, based on the wife of Zhūgě Liàng. While said wife's true name is unknown, she is popularly known these days as **Huáng Yuèyīng**. Said to be an ugly person in the _Sānguózhì_ (Literally "The Records of the Three Kingdoms," this was the official history of the time period), she was introduced by her father, the learned scholar **Huáng Chéngyàn** (unknown dates of birth and death), to Zhūgě on merit of her intelligence, which was claimed to be her future fiancé's equal. Zhūgě, however, when he went in to meet his new wife, unveiled her and commented that her "ugliness" was a misunderstanding on her father's part…which, naturally, won her over. Since clearly Huáng was not ugly, I decided to base Tsukihana physically on a young teenage male version of the character as she appeared in _Dynasty Warriors_.

**Jun'iku Bunjaku** (**Hakaru Ayami**) is based on **Xún Yù** (163-212), who served as one of Cáo Cāo's earlier strategists. A version of Xún is a secondary character in _Sōten Kōro_…and as a girl (given the name **Keifa**), this person appears in _Koihime Musō_. Xún was the man who brought many of Cáo's early advisers to his side after he came to the famous warlord's side in 191. However, the two had a serious parting of opinions in 211 when Cáo was proposed to be made a duke…which Xún disapproved of as he believed such a promotion went against Cáo's stated goal of restoring the Hàn Dynasty to its former glory. Shortly afterward, Xún died of a mysterious illness…though many thought it was actually something more sinister. In this incarnation, I based Ayami physically on the _KM_ version of her, though Ayami has longer hair and ties it into a simple ponytail.

3) The **Chuánguóxǐ** (literally "Heirloom Seal of the Realm," known in Japanese as _Gyokuji_) was the physical mark of the ruler of the Middle Kingdom. To possess it was to have physical proof of being bestowed the Mandate of Heaven and given the right to form a new dynasty. To lose the Chuánguóxǐ meant that one's kingdom and dynasty was doomed to perish. In the time of the Three Kingdoms, the Chuánguóxǐ was passed through various hands before being obtained by Cáo Cāo, who then passed it onto his eldest son Cáo Pī. The Seal would disappear from official Chinese control during the **Wǔdài Shíguó** ("Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms") period between 907-979 C.E.; in the universe of _Ikkitōsen_, this is probably when the tōshi's predecessors converted the Seal into the prize to mark whoever was their spiritual leader (which these days would be normally decided in a Great Fighters Tournament).

4) The **First Canadian Division** (short-form **1 CDN DIV** and nicknamed "The Old Red Patch") was, in its modern incarnation, formed originally in November 1989 and perpetuates the "First Canadian Division" of 1914-19 which fought in the First World War and the "First Canadian Infantry Division" of 1939-45 which fought in the Second World War. The modern 1 CDN DIV was originally assigned to control Canadian Army formations assigned to fight under NATO control in Europe against the Warsaw Pact. With the end of the Cold War, Headquarters 1 CDN DIV was tasked to provide an Army division-level Joint Task Force or tri-service Joint Force Headquarters command element for large deployments in the field. Because of this, 1 CDN DIV HQ was transformed in 2000 into **Canadian Forces Joint Headquarters** (**CFJHQ**), based at the old division headquarters complex in Kingston in Ontario. It was announced that CFJHQ would be transformed back to HQ 1 CDN DIV on 19 May 2010 (the actual ceremony marking the Old Red Patch's return to service was on 7 October 2010), thus allowing the hard-won lessons from the War in Afghanistan to not be lost to future generations.

In the universe of this story, H.M.C.S. _Haida_ was operationally assigned to HQ 1 CDN DIV even if administratively, the starship reports to the headquarters of **Maritime Command** (MARCOM) in Ottawa. All units assigned to support _Haida_ would, of course, be operationally controlled from Kingston even if they are administratively parts of other formations or commands. Thus, even though at the time of this story, the operational command element of _Haida_ is still seen as CFJHQ, Hiromi would address the formation by its historic and future designation.

5) The colour of Canadian warships is a very light cloudy grey that — depending on how light falls on it — often can take a sky blue sheen to it. Hence, my habit of referring to such a shade as "light blue-grey."

6) The space dock where _Haida_ and her sisterships were built was first introduced in _The Senior Year_ story "Great Father Ataru Stage Six: Auction!"

7) **Takanashi Naoko** is a character from _Zenkoku Seifuku Bishōjo Grand Prix_ (literally "National Sailor Suit Beauty Grand Prix"), an adult visual novel created by the now-defunct Lyceen company in 1996. Naoko herself is depicted as being a native of Beppu on the east coast of Kyūshū (hence her accent). She is a lover of birds and nature. She would later appear in the sequel dating game Lyceen created from many of the _Grand Prix_ characters, _Find Love - Rhapsody_, in 1997.

8) The namesakes of two of _Haida_'s sisterships and their origins:

**Kim Ku** (1876-1949) was one of Korea's most famous independence activists during the time of Japanese occupation of the country from 1910-45. He was perhaps one of the few people that might have been able to pull the country back together again after it fell victim to Cold War politics; his assassination in 1949, just on the eve of the Korean War, pretty much ensured the peninsula would be split apart and remain so to this day. The name _Paekbŏm_ was his nom de plume (writer's name); the word literally means "pure everything." When Hiromi, Tsukihana and Ayami named this ship, they chose a name that would have resonance both in North and South Korea.

**Zhèng Hé** (1371-1435) was the famous Huízú Chinese eunuch explorer of the oceans employed by the **Xuāndé Emperor of Míng** (1399-1435) during a brief time when China was virtually on the verge of throwing away its isolation and embracing the whole world (his explorations would not bear fruit, though, thus allowing the explorers of Europe to formally launch the Age of Discovery some years later). Those who've read Gavin Menzies' wonderful books _1421: The Year China Discovered America_ and _1434: The Year A Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance_ will no doubt recognise this person's name.

9) When I first came up with the concept of the Avalonians for _The Senior Year_, I never really sat back and thought about how much of an impact a ready-made race of beautiful female women with very long life spans and psionic powers would have on the race that had stumbled onto the factory they emerged from. Of course, I realized there would be abolitionists (to use the old American term for anti-slavery activists) among the Niphentaxians who would press for greater freedoms for Avalonians; I used characters like this in both _TSY_ and in _Lonely Souls_. However, I never created a one single unifying character that could have polarized Niphentaxian society over this very question. Hence, I pretty much base **Ganzo dai-Louc** on **John Brown** (1800-59), the radical abolitionist who led the anti-slavery raid on the government armouries in Harper's Ferry in 1859 and pretty much guaranteed that the Civil War in America would start up over a year later.


	12. A Promise Fulfilled

Nerima General Hospital, lunchtime…

"I'm rather glad they decided to take that to a more private place, Onii-sama."

Ranma chuckled. He was back to being a she again; after Negako had finished today's treatment, Tomoko had come in to get his wounds redressed…and wound up spilling water all over him after he had asked for a drink. "Yeah, that was starting to get embarrassing to watch," she admitted as Miiko sat down beside her. "So what happened to you?" she then asked. "Something's off about your ki…"

Miiko sighed. "It was Kumomi-san."

"Koeru Kumomi? What happened?"

"Well, while Kumomi-san and Haneko-san had a chance to meet with Hiromi-sama, I was watching them," Miiko admitted. "And as I did that, I could feel myself mentally undressing her and thinking of doing all sorts of naughty things with her." As her cheeks — and Ranma's — reddened as the former reflected on what happened the previous night (and the latter began to imagine what happened after what she had witnessed earlier with Kikuko and Shampoo), she then sighed. "Haneko-san sensed it, too. She left the house after the meeting was done, and then when I got Kumomi-san alone…"

"Kissing?"

"And other things."

Ranma's cheeks reddened even more. "You mean…"

"Six orgasms."

The crippled martial artist jerked, and then she flustered. "Oh, man…"

"What's wrong?" Miiko asked.

"I'm just wondering what's gonna happen when Mimōko and I start doing that!"

The tōshi considered that, and then she chuckled. "Well, I saw those handcuffs of hers. I hope she isn't THAT sort of person deep down."

A knock. "What sort of person?"

Both turned. "Hey, Akane! Yuka! Sayuri!" Ranma called out on seeing her former fiancée and her best friends. "What're you doing here?"

"Came to see you, of course," Akane stated. "Hey, Miiko-san!"

A nod. "Akane-san."

Instantly, Yuka and Sayuri were staring intently at Ranma's tōshi sister. "So who are you — or rather, who WERE you — anyway?" the former asked.

"Ryūen Kunrō," Miiko instantly answered. "Or as my name was back then, Liú Yān. My courtesy name was 'Jūnláng.' I was governor of Yízhōu, which eventually became the core territory of Shǔ Hàn after my kinsman, Liú Bèi, felt he had no choice but to use his blood-kinship to the Hàn Dynasty to declare himself the Zhāoliè Emperor."

"You mean Ryūbi Gentoku, right?" Sayuri asked.

"Hai."

"So what will that mean for you? Are you going to Seito?" Yuka asked.

A sigh. "I can't answer that, Yuka-san. If Hiromi-sama would prefer me to stay at her side as her major domo, I might attend Tomobiki instead." She then smirked as she gazed on her transformed brother. "And given Onii-sama's new relationship with Ryomō Shimei-dono, the chances are there I might attend Nan'yō instead."

Silence.

"_**RYOMŌ SHIMEI?!**_" Yuka and Sayuri squealed as they gazed on Ranma.

Instantly, the transformed martial artist found herself besieged by questions from Akane's friends as they tried to learn more about how she had come together with the most powerful of Nan'yō's "four divas" and certainly one of the most unique and well-know tōshi of the Seven Schools. That left Akane standing there, shaking her head. Staring at her, Miiko was quick to sense the twinge of envy and jealousy deep within her would-have-been sister-in-law, and then she rose, walking over to gently tug Akane's arm. She tensed on feeling that contact, and then she nodded as she followed Miiko out of the room. Ranma watched this, and then felt a deep sigh escape her as she tried to listen to all the questions being fired at her by Akane's friends.

In the hallway, Akane turned…and then she blinked as Miiko reached over to gently embrace her. Feeling that touch, she shuddered as her eyes filled with tears, and then she relaxed herself in her would-have-been sister-in-law's arms. "I really screwed up, didn't I?" she wondered as she gazed into Miiko's sapphire eyes.

"It was not the best situation for either yourself or Onii-sama," the tōshi replied. "You were constantly being belittled by Kunō and all those fools that rallied to his flag when he declared that the only way to win your heart was to best you in battle. You had next to no emotional support from your family and you had a crush on Ono-sensei atop that." She then shrugged. "And there comes Onii-sama and you find yourselves forced together when he had no idea whatsoever what was expected of him. That dullard Genma told Onii-sama about his engagement to you just before they arrived at the house." She smirked as Akane gaped. "Your father did the same?"

A nod. "Hai. Just about an hour before Ranma and Oji-chan came." She sighed. "I care for him." She then sniffed back her tears. "Amazing that THIS had to happen before I realize how much I really DID like him!" She wiped her eyes. "Well…"

"I doubt Obā-sama will support any relationship between you and Onii-sama," Miiko warned. "Setting aside how rough you two were to each other, there is also the matter of your father and his false dreams of 'uniting the schools.' Given how much Genma loves to shirk his own responsibilities onto Onii-sama's shoulders, the instant you two were formally engaged, they'd both be there in a flash…"

"And then we have to factor in Kuonji-san and all the other fiancées," Akane finished before she took a deep breath. "Not to mention what might happen if the Chardins come by looking for payment for the time that Otō-chan and Oji-chan skipped out on that one restaurant bill. Not to mention this 'gambling king'…"

"If it is anything to you, Akane-san, Onii-sama is sorry about that."

A shake of the head. "Don't worry about it." She then perked as she gave Miiko a curious look. "When exactly did that happen, anyway?"

"When Onii-sama and Genma were with Ukyō-san and her father in Kyōto," Miiko answered. "He was six at the time." A shrug. "What was he to know…?"

A nod. "Hai, that's true." A sigh as Akane turned to walk over to the window at the end of the hallway to gaze outside. Miiko placed herself behind her. "I used to think I would inherit the dōjō and carry on the school. Do the family proud." She then smirked. "Then I met your brother and I found out how much I DIDN'T know when it came to martial arts. And then Otō-chan turned around and began to force Ranma to do everything to protect me, forgetting that I was a martial artist, too!" She squeezed her eyes closed. "And I HATED it, Miiko! I HATED IT!" She sniffed back her tears. "And now…!" A shrug. "Everything I believed in was all a pack of LIES…"

Miiko nodded. "I can't blame you for feeling that way, Akane-san," she admitted as she moved to stand beside her. "Look at it from Onii-sama's direction. For over ten years, all he was taught was martial arts. Everything else was inconsequential. He had no idea what to do when it came to friendships or relationships. And he learned thanks to things like the Neko-ken and the Touched Soul, not to mention Zhòuquán-xiāng, that Genma was hardly a responsible teacher." A shrug. "And now…"

"He found out his best friend was abandoned by his father out in the middle of nowhere when she was SIX," Akane stated. "He found out he got SOLD OFF to six other families — including his best friend's family! — all just for MEALS!" She shook her head. "He found out that his own MOTHER was prepared to kill him if he didn't turn out to be the pervert I always accused him of being. And his own SOUL got split in half thanks to what happened, not to mention getting you and Kikuko in his head, too…"

A nod. "Aye. So maybe this is for the best. Once he's restored to health, we'll go off to live with Obā-sama and you can get back to your own lives."

A sigh. "And Kunō, too."

Miiko perked, and then she hummed. "Well, maybe…"

Akane stared at her. "What?"

The tōshi then smirked. "How would you like to meet the woman who stopped Shānpú right in her tracks?" she asked as she gazed on the other woman.

Akane blinked…

* * *

Musashino, the Asagaya residence, after school…

"So how's Oba-chan, Okā-chan?"

Hisayo perked on hearing Rikako's concerned question, and then she sighed. Her daughters had just walked into her private office, which was next door to hers and her husband's bedroom. "Your aunt is a very badly hurt woman, Rikako," she stated as she beckoned the twins to sit down nearby. "She was made to believe for so long in a certain code of ethics that ruled her every waking moment. How she was to behave when it came to strangers, friends…and yes, her family, too. And because she never had the chance to question anything about what she was asked to do, she has no real idea how to react when something happens that her ethics can't help her understand."

"Like what Ranma-chan's grandma did for him and his sisters," Seiko stated. The twins had recently got out of the stage where they dressed and acted totally alike. While they both possessed the same dark chestnut hair they inherited from their mother, Rikako wore hers loose while Seiko tied her hair up in a high ponytail. They also had the bright blue eyes they shared with not just their cousins but their great-grandfather. Rikako was also the most outgoing of the pair, while Seiko was more reserved and calm. "Since she thought she had the right to decide what would happen to Ranma-chan, Oba-chan couldn't take it when Obā-chan literally took that decision away from her."

A nod. "Hai. And because of that, she feels lost." Hisayo took a deep breath. "While I understand and applaud what your cousin finally decided to do when his grandmother gave him the chance, I still want your aunt to be happy."

Rikako shrugged. "But how? If she's so traditional, I don't think there's anything any of us can do to make her change her ways! And after being raised by his idiot dad all those years on the road, I don't think Ranma-chan's going to let Oba-chan march in and start dictating his life to him! Especially not after his grandma told him it was okay to forget everything his dad forced on him with all these other engagements and all that!" She then shook her head. "I still don't get that!"

"Neither do I," Seiko added. "Not just what that fool did to those poor girls' families, but their going along with it! Especially this Kuonji girl!"

Hisayo smirked. "Many people in this country are still fixed on following the old ways, girls," she warned. "Some more passionately than others." She then took a deep breath. "Much that I don't feel I have any right to ask you two this, but I do want my sister to feel at home here while she's staying with us. She does know you both go to Lillian and she's got a rather peculiar viewpoint of that school and what goes on there. So please, could you try to tone down some things if she asks you about what goes on there? Especially since you both have _petite soeurs_ and _onē-sama_s."

Seiko shrugged. "But that's normal, Okā-chan! And it's no different than a sempai at a normal school picking a particular person to be her kōhai! What about it?"

The older woman sighed. "Still…"

The twins sighed. "Okā-chan, we know that you want your sister to be okay! Hey, we're twins, too! If something like that happened to us, we'd be reacting the very same way!" Rikako stated as she pointed to herself, and then Seiko. "But if Oba-chan can't get with the program finally — and it's not really that hard to do, after all! — don't expect us to totally bow to her. We've got our self-respect, too!"

Hisayo slowly nodded. She understood the need to preserve self-respect; that contributed a lot to her own breaking away from the traditionalist lifestyle forced on her by her parents years before. "Just be friendlier with her, please."

"Sure, Okā-chan," Seiko said.

They both then stepped out so they could make their way to their own bedrooms to get out of their green-and-beige seifuku so they could relax and do their homework. Hisayo watched them go, and then she turned back to her computer. _I better head over to Nerima to talk to Ranma-chan about what happened, she mused to herself. If he doesn't bend a bit towards Onē-chan, she'll be lost forever…_

A knock. She looked over, and then she stood as Nodoka shuffled into the room, her face now damp with shed tears. "Hey! What happened?" the executive asked as she walked over to help her sister sit down on the sofa her daughters had just used.

Nodoka sniffed as she stared helplessly at her twin. "She refused to talk to me…" she whispered. "She was there…training with Master Happōsai…and she didn't even acknowledge that I was there…not at all…"

Hisayo blinked. "Who?"

A shake of the head. "I…I'm not really sure…" Nodoka admitted. "She wasn't Miiko. Not the other one, either. She…" A sniff. "She felt as if she was my child born as a girl, Hisayo! I felt she was really…" Another sniff as her body began to quake. "And wh-when I asked her name…she…she…!"

A moan escaped her as she collapsed into her sister's arms. Hisayo blinked as her arms automatically came around to pull her sister close. _Damn! What the hell happened?_ she wondered as she allowed Nodoka to cry…

* * *

_Somewhere… _

_"Hey." _

_Mimōko blinked. "Shikuko." _

_A nude Shikuko grinned as she offered her hand to help her cousin — who was quick to realize that she was also in nothing but her birthday suit — up to her feet. As she got up, Mimōko took a moment to gaze around. A sea of orange-and-gold cloud-like formations surrounded the Sebone cousins, a sky of the same general shades overhead and fog-like energy covering their bodies up to mid-thigh. As she took that in, Mimōko hummed as she concentrated on her feet. Something solid was there, but it didn't feel like ground or anything like that. "Where the hell are we?"_

**THIS IS THE PLACE BETWEEN THE MORTAL AND THE DIVINE, SKY-SISTER.**

_Mimōko gasped, and then she turned… _

…_to find herself nose-to-snout with a golden dragon! _

_"YEEEK!" she yelped as she vaulted herself into her cousin's arms. _

_"Hey!" Shikuko gasped, though she wasn't knocked over by Mimōko's actions. "Cool off, Mō-chan! He won't hurt you! Relax!" she urged. _

_Mimōko blinked, and then she gasped as she realized that BOTH her eyes were now open. As she automatically reached up to slam a palm over her left eye, she then blinked before she pulled her hand away as her brain finally clicked into the fact that the constant low-throbbing pain that she normally felt because of what happened to her in her freshman year was now gone. "What the hell…?" she whispered as she looked at her hand, and then gazed on Shikuko. "What just happened to us?"_

**YOU HAVE TRANSITIONED INTO THE NEW BODY BEARING THE BLOOD OF THE WORLD WHOSE METAL MAGIC ALLOWED THE EMPEROR THAT RULED THE MIDDLE KINGDOM ALL THOSE AGES AGO TO LIVE AGAIN**_, the dragon replied, though its mouth wasn't moving. It then twirled around to surround Mimōko and her cousin with its body as it gazed intently at them. _**AND BECAUSE OF THE GIFTS ALL THOSE OF THE THIRD WORLD OF SEN'A WERE BLESSED WITH AGES AGO, YOU HAVE THE POWER NOW TO SENSE THIS BORDERLAND BETWEEN THE MORTAL AND THE DIVINE, SEBONE MIMŌKO. AS DOES YOUR BELOVED COUSIN, HER HEARTH-MATE AND THE OTHERS WHO HAVE MADE THAT TRANSITION THIS DAY. FEAR NAUGHT, SKY-SISTER. YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO RESIST THE TRUE ALLURE OF THIS PLACE. AND I WILL PROTECT YOU.**

_Silence. _

_"You're the dragon that was put into my eye!" Mimōko gasped as she allowed herself to stand up once more. "But…HOW? I thought…!"_

**THAT I WAS JUST A FRAGMENT OF ZHĀOLIÈ, WHO NOW RESIDES IN KORO SONAMI?** _The dragon then seemed to snicker. _**AN UNDERSTANDABLE MISTAKE, SKY-SISTER. BUT IF I INDEED WAS ONLY PART OF THE GREAT GOLDEN ONE, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN FOREVER ENSLAVED TO SONAMI'S COMMAND AND YOUR FATE WOULD HAVE BEEN CHANGED FOREVER…AT THE COST OF YOUR VERY FREEDOM!** _The dragon's eyes — they were the same shade she possessed, Mimōko quickly realized — narrowed. _**THAT, ZHĀOLIÈ WOULD NOT ALLOW. HE DESIRES THAT HIS SKY-SISTER LEARNS HOW TO USE THE GIFT FATE FORCED HIM TO GIVE HER PAST-SELF AGES AGO, BUT HE WOULD NEVER DESIRE HIS POWER TO BE FORCED UPON A TOTAL STRANGER!**

_"Then why did you inhabit Mimōko?" Shikuko demanded._

**BECAUSE IF I DID NOT, YOUR COUSIN WOULD HAVE DIED, SEBONE SHIKUKO. AND WHILE ALL THOSE LIKE YOU DO SOMETIMES ALLOW THE 'FATE' TO INFLUENCE YOUR LIVES TOO MUCH, THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOR HER AND THE LOVE SHE HAS FOR YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN YOU BOTH SUFFER AND MOST LIKELY SLIP INTO THE NEXT LIFE WITHIN DAYS OF EACH OTHER. YOUR DEPARTED COUSIN — AND THE OVERLORD OF THE NEW RACE ABORNING ON THE THIRD WORLD OF SEN'A — WOULD NEVER HAVE ALLOWED THAT TO HAPPEN. THUS, I FELT IT ONLY RIGHT TO INTERVENE.**

_More silence. _

_"You saved my life," Mimōko whispered, and then she reached out to touch the dragon's snout. "Arigatō," she breathed out. "Um…what do I call you?" _

_The dragon then smiled. _**YOU KNOW THE ANSWER IN YOUR HEART, SKY-SISTER.**

_Mimōko blinked, and then she smiled. "Zǐmíng. You are Zǐmíng." _

_A nod. _**AYE. NOW, AWAIT THE COMING OF YOUR COUSIN'S SKY-BROTHER, SKY-SISTER. SHE MUST LEARN THE TRUTH OF HERSELF AS YOU HAVE LEARNED THE TRUTH OF YOURSELF.** _Zǐmíng then uncoiled himself before he seemed to fade. _**AND WORRY NOT. IF YOU NEED ME, I WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU, SEBONE MIMŌKO. FAREWELL FOR NOW.**

_And with that, it was gone. "Damn…" Mimōko breathed out. _

_"Sekitoma…" _

_Hearing her cousin's voice, Mimōko then tensed. "No…!"_

**YOU NEED NOT FEAR ME, YOU WHO WERE ONCE SIMPLY "Ā-MÉNG."**

_A beautiful bird-song then echoed around them as a lovely avian with golden-highlighted crimson feathers soared out of the fog to fly around the cousins a couple of times before it landed daintily on Shikuko's shoulder. "Sekitoma…iie," the aqua-haired warrior of Rakuyō breathed out. "You are Chìtùmǎ…" _

_A chirping laugh echoed over them. _**CALL ME WHATEVER YOU DESIRE, OLD FRIEND**_, the immortal spirit of the legendary Red Hare, the sturdy warhorse that had carried Lǚ Bù into battle from the time he had been given it by Dǒng Zhuó's subordinate Lǐ Sù to make him betray his first foster-father Dīng Yuán to the day he had been executed at the order of Cáo Cāo — and then became the mount of Guān Yǔ until his downfall at the hands of Lǚ Méng years later — declared. The beautiful phoenix trilled. _**YOU DON'T REALISE HOW HAPPY I AM THIS DAY HAS COME! NOT ONLY HAVE YOU FOUND A WAY TO BREAK THE DARK CIRCLE THAT HAS TRAPPED YOUR SOUL FOR FIFTEEN REINCARNATIONS, YOU HAVE FINALLY FOUND A WAY TO TRULY TOUCH THE POWER YOUR PAST-SELF WAS EXPOSED TO BY THE HOUND OF CHULAINN! AND WITH THAT, YOU WILL FINALLY BE WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE!**

_"'The Hound of Chulainn?'" Mimōko asked, confused by what Chìtùmǎ had just said. _

_A wistful smile crossed Shikuko's face. "Ever hear of the_ Táin Bó Cúailnge_?" _

_Still more silence. _

_"Cú Chulainn…?" Mimōko gasped, her eyes wide. "You mean to say…?" _

_A nod. "That Fèngxiān went all the way to **Ireland** to learn the secrets of the Warp Spasm from the man who bested the armies of Connacht all by HIMSELF," Shikuko finished, and then she gazed at the transformed warhorse. "But why…?" _

_Chìtùmǎ's eyes narrowed. _**DO YOU BELIEVE THAT ONLY THE WARRIORS OF THE SĀNGUÓ WERE THE ONLY ONES TO HAVE THEIR SOULS SHIELDED FROM THE FINAL DARKNESS, SHIKUKO?**

_The cousins both blinked. "Masaka…"_

* * *

H.M.C.S. _Haida_, before supper (Japan time)…

Mimōko's eyes opened.

At first feeling the sudden terror at the idea of the dragon — of _Zǐmíng!_ — getting loose and taking control of her, she then relaxed as her mind recalled what she had just dreamt about. _Was it a dream? Or some sort of premonition?_ she wondered as she stood up before looking down to see that she was still nude. A glance at a nearby chair — she had been brought to one of the officer cabins aboard the starship after she had undergone her "body swap" — revealed her preferred dark blue-and-white maid uniform, dark blue fighting gloves, white thigh-highs and black combat boots, all clearly cleaned, polished and pressed. On the small nightstand beside her bed was her magatama earring. Seeing that, she reached over to clasp it onto her earlobe…and then she grinned on noting that her new body had come with the lobes already pierced. "Guess Avalonians like earrings, too," she whispered as she walked over to dress.

Moments later, she stepped out of the cabin, and then jolted on seeing someone waiting for her outside the door. A quick check to the lovely woman's cloth name tag stitched on her work shirt made her nod. "Azato-san."

"Konban wa, Mimōko-sama," Azato Miwa said with a beautiful Okinawa lilt to her voice. She was a girl with eyes the same shade as _Haida_'s hull and short, tapered blonde hair. "Hiromi-sama asked that as soon as you awoke from your time within the _Te'a_ that you be brought to the bridge so she could speak to you." On seeing her nod, Miwa turned. "This way, please."

They headed down the corridor. "What about the others?" Mimōko asked.

"Sukumi-sama, Yoroko-sama and Motoko-sama have returned to Earth to see out their current martial arts thoughtmaster, Kumon Ryū, so that he could travel to Nerima General Hospital so he could meet your would-be child-mate and his siblings and trade the secrets of the Umisen-ken style for the secrets of the Yamasen-ken style," Miwa explained as they reached the end of the corridor and turned right to step into an awaiting turbolift. "Main bridge," she called out as the doors closed behind them and the car began to ascend. "Tariko-sama has also returned to Earth to meet with Ranma-sama and inform him what has happened so he does not become too concerned about you. Shikuko-sama and Miyako-sama are still in deep carnal congress with Ataru-sama in the captain's cabin." She ignored Mimōko's flaming red cheeks at her blatant statement.

The car then arrived, opening onto a structure about the same size as the average high school classroom. As they walked onto the bridge, Mimōko was quick to note the similarities between _Haida_'s bridge and the bridge of the reborn _Yamato_ from the famed anime series: control stations forward and to both port and starboard sides, with other stations in the middle and a raised station aft for the commanding officer, giving that person a clear view of everyone else. That station was now occupied by Moroboshi Hiromi, with two younger people at her sides. Both were in plain white jumpsuits with armbands declaring **VOLUNTEER EARTH DEFENCE FORCE** in kanji over their left biceps. Both of them had magatama hanging off their ears.

"Hiromi-sama, Mimōko-sama is here," Miwa declared as she bowed to the reborn emperor, that making Hiromi and her current companions look over.

"Dōmo arigatō, Miwa-chan. You can go now," Hiromi stated.

"Hai. Excuse me, please."

And with that, she headed to one of the forward stations, currently being manned by another girl with dusky skin, though she had long wavy evergreen hair tied in a simple ponytail and chestnut eyes. The two shared a deep kiss, and then Miwa sat down beside the other woman. Noting that, Mimōko blinked, and then she indicated them as she looked back on a now-smiling Hiromi. "Is that normal for us?"

"Quite normal, Mimōko-san," the reborn emperor stated. "Miwa-chan, Urara-chan, Naoko-chan — plus over four hundred others — were all cloned by a very rich Niphentaxian trader who wanted to have his own harem of willing lovers and servants. They're all modelled from various video games that have appeared in Japan over the years." She grinned at the two younger people with them. "We would have missed them hadn't Tsukihana-kun and Ayami-san here stumbled onto his personal yacht with _Yamato_ and _Arizona_. After some persuasion, he was made to let them go."

Mimōko blinked. Hiromi's current companions both had green magatama. "You let him live?" she asked as the two younger tōshi both blushed.

"We didn't know at the time that Hiromi-onēsan's friends from Noukiios had already dealt with the Niphentaxian Navy," Ki Tsukihana replied. He was the same age as Morokuzu Ryōko, with dark red hair cut in military-style taper and deep green eyes. Like his past-self, he had tanned skin, though he was certainly more attractive that Huáng Yuèyīng had been reported to have been when she had been introduced to Zhūgě Liàng. He had the leanness of a track-and-field runner; puberty had clearly just started with him as his voice still had the high lilt of a child. "So we didn't want to risk revealing ALL of what we created. It would've been stupid to do that."

Mimōko nodded. While she had not possessed any official post in the government of Shǔ Hàn when her husband had been chancellor, it was known that Huáng was Zhūgě's intellectual equal in every way possible, not to mention quite the inventor in her own right. "I think when you and Ryōko-san get back together, Tsukihana-kun, she'll be very impressed on seeing what you made." She then gazed on Hakaru Ayami. "And from what I heard, Torusuke-san would be quite relieved to know you're okay, Ayami-san."

A nod from the third-year middle school student with the caramel hair in a ponytail and the deep blue eyes. "I hope so," Ayami said. "It will be as if when I faced him all those ages ago at his family home." She clasped her hands together in the right fist-to-left palm salute used in the China of old. "'I, Jun'iku, have seen many things…and have returned,'" she quoted what Xún Yù had said after ending his long journey of self-discovery at the doorsteps of Cáo Cāo's home in modern-day Bózhōu.

"He's supposedly dating Tsukasame Yoiko these days," Mimōko warned, quickly sensing the touch of passion in the younger woman's voice.

A nod. "Hai, I know, Sempai. It doesn't matter…unless she does something to hurt him," Ayami then said, a touch of steel in her voice which made Mimōko nod in understanding. "If that happens, believe me, we will have _words_."

"And other things, too," the older woman noted.

"Enough, both of you."

Both jerked on hearing Hiromi's voice. "Gomen nasai, Onē-san," Ayami said.

A sigh. "Remember our personal goal, Ayami-san. ALL of us will survive whole and complete, forever free of the fears and the hatreds of the past," Hiromi reminded her. "Even if we had to do what we did to Michiji-san every time."

Silence.

"Michiji…?" Mimōko asked, and then she gasped. "Wait! You mean ENJUTSU?!"

A nod. "Hai. I took note of what happened to him thanks very much to Mushiro-san and Itsuji-san," Hiromi stated, and then she blinked on hearing Mimōko gasp on hearing the real name of her would-have-been boyfriend. "Hai, Mimōko-san. I don't understand why, but Itsuji-san seems to be doing a lot behind the scenes to pull the strings of many at your school. He was behind your battle with Tsueko-san shortly after she began attending that school which saw her own dragon, Shàobà, unleash itself for the first time." As Mimōko gaped at her, Hiromi sighed. "I don't know what his ultimate goal is. That one time Onē-sama scanned him, she stated that he did have an honourable reason for doing what he was doing, but she didn't elaborate further."

Mimōko shuddered, and then she sighed. "To quote you, Ayami-chan, we will have words sometime soon," she then stated as her fists clenched, and then she took a deep breath. "I'd like to go back to Nerima and be with Ranma," she then said.

Ayami nodded. "Yuri-chan!"

A cute girl with wavy strawberry blonde hair to her shoulders and turquoise eyes looked up from what appeared to be a sensory station. "Hai, Ayami-sama?" she called out, her voice flecked with the tones of eastern Shikoku.

"Please escort Mimōko-sempai to the materialiser room so she could return to Nerima General Hospital," the young tōshi ordered as she waved to the older woman.

Yamanoue Yuri nodded as she stood. "Hai, Ayami-sama."

"Dōmo," Mimōko said as she moved to follow the bioroid off the bridge, and then she stopped. "Oh, when's she's done with your brother, you might want to have a talk with Shikuko, Hiromi-sama," the Nan'yō senior then advised. "We had a really weird encounter in this _Te'a_ with Sekitoma." As Hiromi gaped at her, Mimōko's eyes narrowed. "He warned us there were other tōshi outside those from the Three Kingdoms. One of them was an old friend of Lǚ Bù's from Ireland, Cú Chulainn of Ulster."

Hiromi blinked. "The hero of the _Táin Bó Cúailnge_. Interesting."

Mimōko gaped. "You KNOW?!"

"I _suspected_ something like that might have happened to other groups of warriors from other lost dynasties over the ages," the reborn emperor stated. "I never made it a secret as to who I was when my name began to appear on internet websites that covered events in Tomobiki." She then smirked. "Two months ago, I received an unusual communication from a woman from New York City who claimed that in HER first life, she was Eochaid Feidlech, the High King of Ireland during the time that the events of the _Táin_ happened and his daughter Medb was running amok in Ulster trying to seize Donn Cúailnge as a way of showing up her husband, Ailill mac Máta." She sat back in her chair. "Of course, I was more than willing to believe Tara-san's — that's her modern name, Tara McFergus — tale, though I never pressed her for details of any others who might have been reborn as she has been." A nod. "I will communicate with her again as soon as possible and ask if any version of Cú Chulainn lives in this lifetime."

"Potential allies?"

A sigh. "Hai, we will need them," Hiromi said as she gazed out the portals of _Haida_'s bridge into the deep darkness beyond. "We did much to beat back the potential barbarians who wanted to subject us all six months ago, but the threats are still out there." She closed her eyes. "I've no right to ask this of any one of you, but even though the military forces of Earth are awakening to the potential threats out there, it will take time for a proper 'Earth Defence Force' to muster."

Mimōko smiled. "If they come, Majesty, we'll be at your side."

Hiromi blinked, and then she nodded. "Arigatō, Shimei-dono," she said before gazing at Yuri, who had been patiently waiting at the turbolift landing. "See to it Mimōko-san is beamed back down to her child-mate's side, Yuri-chan."

A nod. "Hai, Hiromi-sama."

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Petite soeurs** — Little sisters; **Kōhai** — Underclassmen; **Zhāoliè** — Literally meaning "Fiery Brightness" though normally translated as "Shining Accomplishment," this is the posthumous name given to Liú Bèi…and, by extension, was the name given to the spirit-dragon now within Koro Sonami's soul; **Zǐmíng** — Literally "Bright Child," this was Lǚ Méng's courtesy name; **Shàobà** — Literally "Little Conqueror," this was once the nickname bestowed to Sūn Cè…and thus, by extension, was the name given to the spirit-dragon now within Mago Tsueko's soul.

2) The phrase "**third world of Sen'a**" that Zǐmíng uses when speaking to Mimōko and Shikuko hints to the planet **Sagussa** (as first introduced in _The Senior Year_).

3) In China, their version of the honorific "-chan" is to put the prefix honorific **Ā-** before a given name. Thus, the diminutive form **Ā-Méng** from "Lǚ Méng" is the equivalent of the nickname **Mō-chan** for "Ryomō."

4) **Chìtùmǎ** (literally "red hare") — known in Japan as **Sekitoma** — was the famous war horse that served as the trusty mount for Lǚ Bù when he was running rampant across the northern plains of China. Thought historical records on this beast are scarce, _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ reports that Dǒng Zhuó owned Chìtùmǎ until it was used to seduce Lǚ to Dǒng's side. After Lǚ fell, Chìtùmǎ was turned over to Guān Yǔ, who rode it until he himself fell. After Guān's death, Chìtùmǎ refused to accept another rider and died of starvation. He was mentioned briefly in _Ikkitōsen_; the idea of his being a phoenix is my creation.

5) The _**Táin Bó Cúailnge**_ (literally "The Driving-off of the Cattle of Cooley" though normally translated as "The Cattle Raid of Cooley") is one of ancient Ireland's most popular and well-known tales. Unlike _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, the _Táin_ doesn't exist in complete form as it was first formulated in verbal legend (its known current format is descent from two 12th Century manuscripts, one in Old Irish, the other in Middle Irish). The _Táin_ is traditionally set in the 1st Century C.E., but there are no exact dates concerning the various scenes in the story, thus I moved it a little ahead to the 2nd Century C.E. to make it occur sometime prior to the events in the _Romance_. The link between the Irish hero **Cú Chulainn** (who is seen by many as the Celtic Achilles) and Lǚ Bù (who is seen by others as the Chinese Achilles) came really clear to me in episode #11 of _Sōten Kōro_, "Sìshuǐ Pass," when Lǚ was depicted in a one-on-one duel with Guān Yǔ. This is especially true when Lǚ demonstrates his passion for battle, which pretty much reflects Cú Chulainn's **Ríastrad** ("Warp-Spasm") power.

As an aside, **Eochaid Feidlech** was the High King (or emperor) of Ireland at the time of the events in the _Táin_. His daughter **Medb** was the main protagonist in that story. Medb's husband, **Ailill mac Máta**, was the King of Connacht at the time. It was Medb's desire for the fertile bull **Donn Cúailnge** that provoked the cattle raid into Ulster that Cú Chulainn ultimately had to guard against.

6) **Azato Miwa**, **Yamanoue Yuri** and **Hagiwara Urara** (she is the girl with dusky skin and green-hair in a ponytail that Miwa kisses on _Haida_'s bridge) are all characters from _Grand Prix_. In the video game, Miwa is an Okinawa girl from the capital city of Naha; she is a surfer who also loves to paint. Yuri hails from Takamatsu on Shikoku; she plays golf and the piano. And Urara hails from Fukuoka on Kyūshū; she is a swimmer and loves to drive around on a motorcycle.

7) The word **Thoughtmaster** is the Sagussan term applied to a teacher of any sort; it is, in effect, the Sagussan equivalent to the Japanese concept of _sensei_.


	13. Akane's New Sensei

Fūrinkan High School, Friday 2 July, after breakfast…

"Tendō Nabiki!"

Nabiki perked on hearing that imperious voice, and then she turned before giving her most lucrative customer a smile. One that didn't reflect in her eyes. "Ohayō, Kunō-chan. What brings you forward to see me so early in the day?"

Kunō Tatewaki bowed his head apologetically, and then he produced a copy of the day's copy of the _Yomiuri Shimbun_, folded to allow one page to be shown. "It is THIS that interests the Blue Thunder this day, Nabiki-san. I would desire an explanation."

Nabiki blinked, and then she took the newspaper to gaze on the page that had attracted the kendō-ka's attention. She then blinked as her mind quickly took in the words written there, and then she chuckled. "Damn, Obā-san, you're good…"

"What does this mean?" Kunō demanded.

She gazed at him. "What do you think it means?"

A sigh. "I cannot say," he admitted. "To be honest, I was quite overjoyed to hear of Saotome Ranma's downfall at the hands of the gaijin warrior-maiden Shampoo. His defeat and permanent paralysis would, I hoped, have freed both your fiery sister and the passionate pig-tailed girl from his evil hooks. Hooks that still, even to now, keep the lovely Akane-san in thrall as witness the times she has rejected my several sincere demonstrations of my devotion for her. And no doubt keep the pig-tailed girl away from seeing the truth of my interest in her." He didn't notice Nabiki making a face on his saying that. "And yet when I saw that this morning at breakfast…"

"You suddenly realized Ranma-kun may not be as evil as you thought."

A nod. "Hai. So what would prompt Sao-…?" He caught himself. "Forgive me. What would have prompted Hayashi to agree to what his grandmother just did?"

"A simple reason," she replied. "Ranma-kun's father, as you'll note from that advertisement, is not the most honourable of people. In fact, he seems to like living up to the uglier side of what our martial art could be interpreted as emphasizing: Winning at all costs, including cheating your way to a victory." A sigh. "It turns out Oji-chan thinks it's alright to live his whole LIFE that way. And because of that, he found it easy to make promises he couldn't keep. Or contradicted other promises he made earlier. Such as to my father when it came to uniting our families in marriage. When she understood what her grandson would have eventually been asked to do, Ranma-kun's grandmother acted." She smirked. "She's a smart lady. Before Ranma-kun's parents got married, she had them sign a premarital agreement which demanded they raise any children they had 'properly.' You have to admit, forcing one's son into SIX separate engagements — SEVEN, including the one to our family — is not…!"

"Raising that son 'properly,'" Kunō finished for his classmate, nodding in understanding. "So when he realized the depths of his father's depravity…"

"Ranma-kun — along with his sisters — decided enough was enough and took up their grandmother's offer to become part of the Hayashi Clan," Nabiki finished before she pointed to the newspaper. _Let's see if he'll take the explanation THIS time_, she mused before adding, "Including the girl you mistakenly call 'the pig-tailed girl.'" As he gaped at her, she smiled. "His twin sister, Hayashi Kanami."

Silence.

"She of the crimson locks…?"

"Is Ranma-kun's twin sister," she finished. "They trained together under Oji-chan for years until they had an ugly run-in with a place in China that — in our language — is called 'Jusenkyō,' the Pools of Sorrow. There, they wound up cursed and forced — as I tried to explain to you once before — to share one single body."

More silence.

"Magic…?" he hissed out.

Nabiki nodded, inwardly smiling at the fact that the kendō-ka seemed to be paying full attention this time and not allowing his own wild fantasies to take over and make him interpret things in his own way. And while she was not telling the real truth concerning what happened to Ranma and Kanami, she knew that Kunō might not take well to the idea that he had been attracted to a MAN! "Hai. You almost understood it, Kunō-chan. But it wasn't Ranma-kun that forced his own sister to become his literal slave. They were literally bound into one single body, interchangeable with just the touch of hot or cold water. That's why you never saw them together at the same time."

He blinked as his mind nearly shorted out from that information dump, and then he shook his head. "What a horrible curse!" he breathed out, his eyes tearing, and then he perked. "So that's why the fiery Kanami-san was forced to reject my…"

"Not exactly, Sempai."

Nabiki gasped as the air nearby fizzled, revealing a smiling girl in a red tang and black trousers, now currently leaning against the stone fence, arms crossed. As Nabiki found herself cursing deep down at Kanami's sudden interruption — not to mention asking herself HOW was it the other girl was able to make herself INVISIBLE like that — Kunō's head snapped around, and then he gaped. "Pig-tail-…" he began before shaking his head as he peered closely at her. "Are you…?"

A nod. "Hai, Sempai. I am your 'pig-tailed girl.'" She then straightened herself before bowing to him. "Hayashi Kanami. Sorry about this."

Kunō shook his head. "Do not apologize, Kanami-san. Now that Nabiki-san has made it quite clear how you and your brother came to be the way you were…" He then stopped before gaping at her. "But wait! How is it that you…?"

"I'm walking now?" she asked, and then she smirked. "Thank Moroboshi Tariko-chan for this, Sempai. She's a nursing volunteer at Nerima General and she was assigned to Ranma's ward when she met him — us, that is — last Saturday. When she found out how Ranma and I wound up in one body, she got her sisters Hiromi and Negako to get an Avalonian body for my soul to be shifted into. That was done late Tuesday evening." She then looked at her hand. "Turns out the reason I look so different now is partially from Jusenkyō and partially from the fact that when we were training together, Oyaji starved us so much that mine and Ranma's growth were stunted."

"How HIDEOUS…!" Kunō breathed out.

Kanami nodded. "Hai, but we endured it." She then gave the older man a faint smile. "Hopefully, if all goes well, when I allow some of my blood to be transfused into Ranma on Monday, he'll be back on his feet soon enough."

He gaped, and then he smiled. "And I truly feel happy that your brother will be restored to full health as I can see how much you truly love him, Kanami-san," he stated, and then he hummed. "But what of his relationship with Akane-san?"

"He is no longer honour-bound to marry Akane — or either of her sisters for that matter — thanks to Obā-chan's actions, which would free her to be pursued by anyone who would desire her hand in matrimony," Kanami stated. "But Sempai, please…a favour if I may ask it: Do not do as you did before we came to this school. By forcing all those boys to fight her at once, you degrade her honour as a martial artist. You do the same thing by not fighting full-out against her…"

The kendō-ka gasped. "But…if I did that…"

A knowing look. "You don't want to hurt her, right?"

He nodded. Kanami then chuckled. "Why are you laughing?" Kunō demanded.

"Because Ranma felt the same way when it came to sparring with her," she noted. "And his fears were just as profound as yours, Sempai. He — and I — have trained in the martial arts since we were old enough to walk. Akane has had something of a normal life in comparison to what we endured. Ranma was afraid that one good blow would have put her in intensive care for a week. And since he was engaged to her…"

A sage nod. "Ah! I understand now," Kunō then said. "To unleash such abuse on one that you are sworn to honourably to take as your wife is a most dishonourable thing to do." He then sighed. "Still, to bring such grievous injury to Akane-san…"

She nodded. "Hai, I can understand your hesitation. But understand this, Sempai: By NOT doing that, you're insulting Akane's integrity as a martial artist. Just as her father insulted her when he stopped training her after the death of her mother. And because of that, she willingly agreed to Miiko's suggestion that she seek out the tutelage of Ebisu Kyoko-san, who is master-rank in the Ebisu-ryū of the Edo Oniwabanshū-ryū." Her eyes narrowed. "She is otherwise known as Koshaji of Yoshū."

He gargled. "But…sh-she…she is a _tōshi_!"

"As is Ranma's and my adopted sister Miiko; you met her on Tuesday morning when she came to get Ranma's school records after Obā-chan ordered his withdrawal from here. She would be known as Ryūen Kunrō," Kanami stated. "Atop that, Tariko-chan's sister Hiromi is none other than _Reitei_ reborn. So Kyoko is ultimately loyal to Hiromi, which means that _Hiromi_ will be interested in what's happening to Akane."

"Not to mention myself."

Everyone perked, and then looked over to see a handsome man with dark brown hair in a much more attractive wild halo than Ataru possessed walk up to them. Nabiki felt her cheeks instantly redden as his dark grey eyes focused on her for a moment before he gave her a polite smile. Dressed in a white short-sleeved button shirt and black gakuran slacks, he also bore a silver magatama on his left ear. As Kunō gargled on recognizing what he was, Nabiki perked before she smiled. "Enshō Honsho, I presume."

He nodded. "That is my battle name, Nabiki-san. My real name is On Tsuguta." A polite bow, which Nabiki returned. "Yoroshiku. When those of my scouts took notice of you when I sent them off to find Kyoko-san after she went off to perform her service to protect your would-have-been brother-in-law at the behest of Hiromi-sama, they were quite loquacious about how beautiful you are. I must admit, their descriptions of you were horrendously understated." As Nabiki felt her cheeks redden even more at his blatant compliment at her beauty, he then stared at Kanami before he bowed to her, which she returned. "Kanami-san, on behalf of all of us at Yoshū — and I hope, the other tōshi schools — I extend my thanks to your family for allowing Ryūen Kunrō to live once again as your sister Miiko. In our first lives, Miiko-san was an ally of mine when we fought the Yellow Turban rebels. I was most happy to hear that she is once more among the living. I hope she'll make an appearance at the Great Fighters Tournament in a few weeks. If she needs to be sponsored, our doors are open to her."

Kanami perked. "Is this Tournament open to anyone?"

"It's just tōshi, Kanami," Nabiki stated.

A hum. "Pity. It sounds pretty good."

Tsuguta hummed. "Still, even if you can't participate directly, there are always call for those who don't attend the Seven Schools or the affiliated schools to act as referees for the individual bouts. We're allowed to make recommendations."

A nod. "I'd be interested. Of course, that's dependant on how fast my brother will be back on his feet and the decision of the grandmaster of the Art we were trained under — without license! — by our former father. Are you going to allow Kyoko to stick around so Akane can get properly trained? She's got a lot to catch up on."

The leader of Yoshū hummed as he — and Kanami — were quick to sense someone else having just joined them. "What is your opinion of your new student, Koshaji?"

"She has passion and power," Ebisu Kyoko stated as she stepped through the front gate to stand close to her school leader. "If I was to rank her, I'd say she would be easily a D-rank, but she has the potential to go all the way, Enshō-sama."

He gazed at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he was quick to see Kunō immediately beat a retreat for the school building. As the two tōshi, the sister to another tōshi and the Ice Queen of Fūrinkan all shared a secret smile, he then asked, "How soon will Ryūkō-sama release you from your current guardian duties?"

Kyoko smirked. "The Emperor did not _demand_ I guard Ryūen-sama's brother, Enshō-sama. I _volunteered_ my services as our loyalties, in the end, fall on her." As her schoolmate nodded in understanding, she added, "She clearly wished Ranma-san to be safe and be given the chance to fully recover when he fell under Negako-sama's care thanks to Tariko-san and (at the time) the Nǚjiézú warrior was still a threat to him due to the touch of the Niángnìquán at Zhòuquán-xiāng." She then sighed as her hawk-like eyes fixed on Nabiki. "I must also confess a more personal reason for seeking Akane-chan out as a student, Nabiki-san. The news of what that witless idiot that was just with us unleashed on her made the rounds of the Seven Schools. Any person that has the ability to tolerate such idiocy for as long as she did earns the admiration of us all."

"I don't think Akane-chan swings your way, Kyoko-san," Nabiki warned.

The ninja-trained tōshi's smile then turned genuine. "She requires a chance to feel what truthful and disciplined intimate interest in her means, Nabiki-san. And she requires the chance to fully understand what becoming a woman — be she straight, bi or lesbian — means in the long term since she's been sheltered for so long." She turned to leave. "If she chooses me, I will be there for her. If that is not for her, so be it. None the less, I hope to be a real friend for her, both in love and in the martial arts. For she needs one in a way that Kanami-san's brother couldn't be for her."

Kanami smirked. "Give Mimōko-chan a bit and she'll turn him around."

Tsuguta and Nabiki gaped at her. "So it's true?" the latter asked. "Ryomō Shimei wants to take a chance with Ranma-kun?"

Ranma's sister turned to leave. "I sensed her come back down late last night from where she went yesterday morning after she visited him at the hospital, Nabiki. She's changed. She's like Hiromi and Miiko now. Ditto with her cousin and her cousin's girlfriend from Rakuyō." She then sighed. "Better make sure that Ranma doesn't get TOO overwhelmed when she tries to put the moves on him. See ya!"

With that, she headed off. "And our fates turn even more away from what they could have been," Kyoko then mused as she nodded greetings to Akane as the latter walked onto the school property alongside Sayuri and Yuka.

"TENDŌ AKANE!"

Everyone turned as Akane sprang into action, unleashing a snap side-kick that caught Kunō in the hip and sent him flying into the sky. "_**GET LOST, JERK!**_"

Kyoko sighed. "Akane!"

The youngest Tendō daughter jolted. "H-h-Hai, Sensei?"

The silver-haired tōshi gazed on her. Only Nabiki and Tsuguta were able to detect the sparkle of approval in that frigid glare. "You could have put another hundred metres on that kick. We'll be practicing that tonight! Now get to classes!"

Akane rapidly nodded. "H-h-HAI!"

As she headed off — with a gabbing Sayuri and Yuka hot on her heels demanding to know when their friend started to train with KOSHAJI of all people! — Kyoko then headed off towards Nerima General Hospital, whistling the chorus to Cutting Crew's _(I Just) Died In Your Arms_ as she went. Tsuguta and Nabiki watched her go, and then he gazed at her. "Well, I won't object if you won't."

The middle Tendō daughter blinked, and then she roared with laughter, which made many of the students nearby all make warding signs with their hands.

"It's the end of the world!" Gosunkugi Hikaru moaned for them all…

* * *

Nerima General Hospital, that moment…

"So all you have to do right now is regain your muscle memory, right?"

Mimōko nodded. "Hai. It's not as hard as I believed it'd be," she admitted as she finished her stretching, and then moved to sit down beside Ranma's bed. Miiko was also present; Kikuko was currently with Shampoo in the latter's room as she was being examined by Dō Kazua before a final decision concerning her release would be made. "Whoever created that factory definitely knew their business," she then said as she reached out with her hand — she had taken the gloves off — to squeeze one of Ranma's, which made him smile as he gazed on her. "Pity it wasn't designed to make male bioroids. Your problem would've been settled right then and there, Ranma."

"Yeah," he agreed, nodding. "Still…"

"Still what?"

"It feels like cheating in a way."

Mimōko blinked, and then she shrugged. "Some might see it that way. But if you ask me, those that would think THAT are normally people who like having the advantage over others. Bullies and the like." Her eyes then narrowed. "Like your father."

He closed his eyes. Kanami had told him about how Genma had reacted to the news that Ranma would soon be genetically transformed into an Avalonian. Once he heard that, Ranma decided then and there that he would do it; in his experience, anything his father hated was something that was normally of benefit to Ranma personally. "Well, Oyaji doesn't have any say in my life anymore, so it doesn't matter," he admitted, and then he perked. "How do you think Ofukuro would look on it?" he then asked.

Mimōko sighed. It was easy for her now to sense the uncertainty that still clouded Ranma's heart concerning his mother. And it was understandable, of course. While Ranma's respect for Genma had pretty much vanished long before he had come to live in Nerima, his long-buried desire to be reunited with Nodoka still flared strong in his heart despite what the last half-week's revelations had unleashed. "Well, if she's so fixed on this 'man above men' idea, I think she'd go for it," she mused, ignoring the face Miiko was making on mentioning Nodoka. "The lifespan enhancement alone would put you equal to your great-grandfather, I believe." She then paused before sighing. "Then again, she might not go for it. If this curse Negako-sama detected in her sword was responsible for the deaths of your relatives, you becoming an Avalonian will be another reminder of what her family's tried to hide all these years."

Uncertainty then swelled deep inside Ranma's heart, that being quickly noticed by both women. "Onii-sama, look at it this way: It's YOUR life to live, not Nodoka's and not Genma's," Miiko stated. "And you clearly are interested in pursuing that life alongside Mimōko-san. Whose happiness is more important? Hers or your mother's?"

"Mimōko's, of course!" he protested.

A shrug. "Then the matter's resolved. If you stay as a Terran, you won't be able to walk again and you'll die of old age around the time Mimōko-san — and us — reach the Avalonian equivalent of our mid-twenties." Miiko then frowned. "I wouldn't like that. Neither would Kanami-onēsama or Kikuko, I believe."

He took that in, and then he nodded. "Yeah, that's true…"

A knock. "Ran-chan?"

Everyone turned as Tanaka Tomoko leaned into the room. "What is it?" he asked.

Tomoko tried not to look too upset. "Your mother's come to see you. And she has her sister with her now. We called your grandmother, but we couldn't reach her."

Eyes locked on the crippled martial artist as he thought about it. "Well, maybe Oba-chan talked some sense into her finally," Ranma mused. "Send them in."

Tomoko nodded before heading out of the room. A moment later, a hollow-eyed Nodoka shuffled into the room, followed by her twin sister, who looked rested and refreshed. Not to mention dressed in more modern clothing, which won her nods of approval from both Miiko and Mimōko. On seeing the two women in the room, Hisayo perked. "Oh! Hello, Ranma-chan! I didn't realise you had com-…!"

"What are THEY doing here?"

That was Nodoka. Hisayo sighed as she glared impatiently at her sister, and then — on seeing the mixture of outrage and panic on the other woman's face — she turned to gaze once more on Ranma's companions. The magatama earrings told her everything. Taking a deep breath, she stared at Nodoka. "Considering that Moroboshi Hiromi is a tōshi herself and that it was her sister Tariko that managed to get Ranma-chan help in getting him healed and back on his feet, the presence of other tōshi is to be expected, Onē-chan." She then gazed in amusement at Miiko. "Especially since one of them now considers herself Ranma-chan's sister. You're Miiko, right?"

A nod and a neutral smile. "Hai, Asagaya-san. I trust you understand that given the current legal situation, I cannot address you as 'Oba-sama.'"

Nodoka stiffened on hearing that. "I can understand that," Hisayo stated as she moved to take a seat. "So what do they call you anyway?"

"Ryūen Kunrō. In my first life, I was the governor of Yízhōu, which later formed the core territory of Shǔ Hàn which was founded by my distant relative at the time, Liú Bèi, who lives today as Ryūbi Gentoku, born as Koro Sonami." Miiko then waved to Mimōko. "And may I present Onii-sama's girlfriend, Sebone Mimōko-san, also known as Ryomō Shimei-dono. I believe, if you've read _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, you'll understand what sort of fine pedigree she hails from."

Mimōko's cheeks flamed. "Miiko…!"

"_**I FORBID THIS!**_"

Eyes locked on Nodoka, who was now rapidly shaking her head. "Forbid what, Ofukuro?" Ranma then asked as he felt Mimōko's grip on his hand tighten.

"Indeed, forbid what?" Miiko asked. "You have no legal rights over Onii-sama anymore, Nodoka, so every word you say now is meaningless in the end."

Nodoka jolted on hearing that icy declaration, and then as the strength in her body began to slowly drain from her, she shuffled out of the room. Hisayo sighed. "I knew bringing her here would make things worse," she muttered.

"Then why bring her here at all?" Mimōko asked. "It's clearly obvious that she doesn't seem to care too much for Ranma having any sort of right to choose his own life."

A sigh. "Which is understandable. That's the way she was raised in the end."

"You seem so much different, Oba-chan," Ranma stated.

Hisayo smiled on hearing him call her that. "Hai. But believe it or not, I was just as bad when I was your age. That is until I met my husband for the first time and learned there was a world beyond what my parents wanted us to accept as 'proper.'" She then sat back in her chair. "My name, by the way, is Asagaya Hisayo. Back in the old days, my husband's ancestors were merchants, just like Chiaki-sama's ancestors were. Like with Genma's parents, my husband's parents were pressed by mine to allow him to become muyōkōshi and carry on the Saotome name. They almost went along with it until they discovered the truth about my grandfather, Indiana Jones-hakase. And how far both my parents and my great-grandparents went to keep that relationship a secret."

He nodded. "Yeah. Ofukuro really freaked out when Negako mentioned Hiijii-chan and she discovered some weird curses on the family sword Kyoko later wrecked."

A nod. "The curses from the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail," Hisayo stated. "I told Nodoka what Ojii-chan told me about his encounter with those things and how that ended up killing my great-grandparents, my parents and my uncle and aunt shortly after they passed their fortieth birthdays." A snort. "Of course, she immediately denied the possibility that WESTERN spirits could affect someone native to these islands." Her eyebrow arched. "Are you aware of that attitude, Ranma-chan?"

A shrug. "Seen it before. Personally never understood it. Every culture — at least all the places I went to thanks to Oyaji — have both their good and bad points. No one's superior to the next when it comes to spirit and all that. Sure, technology would give places like Japan, South Korea, China, the United States and Canada a big edge over other places, but technology's only a small part of life."

"Besides, that attitude is something a fool like Kunō Tatewaki would possess," Miiko added. "That alone would guarantee Onii-sama would never go along with it."

Ranma groaned. "Right…"

Hisayo blinked. "So what happened to you all this time?"

A sigh. "You better get comfortable. This is going to take a while…"

* * *

Two hours later…

"And there he goes."

Shampoo nodded as she watched the pigeon — a carefully wrapped note now tied to one of its legs — fly away from the hospital, soaring west towards China and a certain village in the mountains of Qīnghǎi. "He'll be there in a couple of days," she stated. "The flight over the Cháoxiānhǎi and the Huánghǎi is always quite exhaustive."

Kyoko blinked. "Didn't you train them to take over-land routes instead?" she asked. "From here to Shimonoseki, cross the Tsushima-kaikyō to Tsu-shima, then cross the Taehan-haehyŏp to the mainland, and then up through Korea to Changsan-got to cross the mouth of the Sŏhanman to the Shāndōng-bàndǎo. Or perhaps stay overland, loop around both the Sŏhanman and the Bóhǎi, then go inland."

The warrior-maiden perked, and then she sighed. She was glad that she was now strong enough to walk up the stairs on her own instead of being forced to be carried up by Kikuko. The doctors said they didn't mind if she got exercise, but warned her not to overexert herself. And thanks to negotiations by her grandmother-in-law, she didn't have to worry about dealing with the police anymore, though some of the nurses and other hospital staff were still wary around her. Which was understandable, of course, even though her honour forbade her from doing anything like what she had done to Ranma within the walls of a place of healing. She would be finally discharged tomorrow.

"We haven't travelled much in these parts, Ebisu-guìjiě." Addressing anyone touched by the "madness of the Sānguó" by "honourable" with a suffix to indicate what exactly the other person was in relationship to the speaker was one small but effective tradition the Nǚjiézú had come to develop over the years to keep such restless spirits at bay. She smirked. "Besides, I don't wish to insult the honour of my friends by forcing them to take the _easy_ way back home."

Kyoko blinked, and then she shook her head. "Adrenaline junkies…" she whispered as she moved to head downstairs.

Shampoo watched her go, and then she turned to stare wide-eyed at Kikuko. "«Why did she say something like that?»" she asked in Mandarin.

Her wife giggled. "«Ninja like her prefer to conserve their energy for when it's REALLY necessary to use it,»" she stated. "«After all, if you force-march your way a hundred lǐ, then find yourself having to fight a battle right after that…»"

Shampoo blinked, and then she laughed. "«True.»"

"«So tell me about your friends at the village.»"

The warrior-maiden blinked, and then she smiled as she and Kikuko cuddled…

* * *

Meanwhile, Kyoko was stepping out of the stairwell onto the floor where Ranma was currently staying. She was quick to sense someone approach her. "So what took you so long to get back here, Kanami-san?" she asked as she gazed on Kanami.

"Took a pass by here to check up on Ranma and make sure Mimōko wasn't doing something she shouldn't with him," Ranma's twin answered as the two moved to sit on a sofa close to the ward station. "Went back over to spend some time teasing the panda and his friend." She then frowned. "He's planning to break into the hospital sometime before the blood transfusion is done to prevent Ranma from becoming like me."

Kyoko blinked. "Why?" she asked as she stared in shock at Kanami. "If he doesn't get the transfusion, Ranma-san'll never walk again."

"I know," the other woman stated. "That's what Genma's planning."

Silence.

"What?!"

"He wants Ranma to stay crippled so that he could find some other way to get him back on his feet that won't turn around and give Ranma an unbeatable advantage over Genma," Kanami stated. "He was really thrown off his stride when Obā-chan stepped in and legally took Ranma out of his and Nodoka's control, so he's trying to think of some ways to persuade Ranma to turn his back on Obā-chan and 'come home,' so to speak."

The ninja-trained tōshi blinked, and then she stared intently at Kanami. "Does he know about the inheritance your grandfather set aside for Ranma?"

"Ironically, no," Kanami stated. "Still, as far as he's concerned, he wants — has wanted all along, I think! — Ranma to support him in his cozy 'retirement' at the Tendō place. He feels he deserves it after the hell Sensei put him through, plus all the years he's spent on the road with us." She shook her head before a snort escaped her. "To make sure Ranma could never think on his own, he had to be kept ignorant of everything, including how to relate to people outside a fight." She squeezed her eyes closed. "That's why we had to be separated from U-chan in the long term; she was getting way too close for Genma's comfort." A sigh. "I guess he hoped that with Ranma fighting Akane all the time and not making any steps towards maturing into an adult, Ranma would never notice what Genma was trying to pull on him. And now…"

Kyoko took a deep breath. "Kanami-san, I'm going to speak to Dō-sensei about this, then talk to Negako-sama when she comes in to do your brother's treatment. We may have to get him out of the hospital a lot sooner than planned."

Kanami blinked. "But where…?"

A smirk. "In orbit. One of the starships Hiromi-sama currently controls; it turns out that two other tōshi — Kōgetsuei and Jun'iku Bunjaku — were kidnapped by aliens sometime ago, then managed to escape. As they were trying to make their way back to Earth, they found a way to actually built a whole SPACE FLEET for us to bring back with them." She stood up as she gave the younger woman a knowing look and a wink. "I strongly doubt that stupid panda has the ability to teleport into SPACE!"

Kanami blinked as the other woman headed off, and then she sighed as she shook her head. "Damned Oyaji…" she hissed before her eyebrow twitched as she sensed someone approach her. "What the HELL do YOU want?" she icily demanded.

She turned to glare at Nodoka, who was standing a couple metres away, a pained look on her face. "Who are you…?" she whispered. "You're not…"

"I'm Kanami," the younger woman stated. "Unlike Miiko and Kikuko, I was actually PART of Ranma until that selfish oaf you married put us through the Neko-ken all to make your 'man above men.'" A snort. "Feh! Doubt you could ever call someone like Genma 'manly' given how much he liked to screw around with other people's lives."

A shake of the head. "No…he promised me…"

Kanami sighed. "Oh, really? Well, he also promised his pal Tendō that he'd agree for us to marry one of his daughters. Shortly after we were born, he made the same promise to Daikoku Kaori's father. Not to mention to Mochizuki Tomomi's parents, Shibayama Tomo's grandparents, Sawai Minami's parents, Nishimura Yuriko's mother and Kuonji Ukyō's father. Considering that the DOWRY that Haruka-ojichan gave up to Genma was the ONLY thing that had kept their family fed at the time, the fact that Genma turned around and STOLE the thing from them while leaving U-chan ABANDONED…!"

"_**THAT IS NOT TRUE!**_" Nodoka shrilled.

_WHANG!_

The older woman collapsed to the floor in an unconscious heap thanks to a knife-edge blow from Ukyō's baker's peel. "Stupid jackass! You're as freaking thick as that bastard you married! How the HELL Ran-chan and Ka-chan turned out so damned good, I'll NEVER understand!" She then sighed as she slung her weapon before staring in disbelief at Ranma's sister. "What the hell's wrong with her, Ka-chan?"

A shake of the head. "I don't know, U-chan. And part of me doesn't WANT to know! Hey, Fu-chan! What're you doing here?" Kanami then asked Ukyō's companion.

"Well, after your grandma put out that advertisement in the papers, all of Ran-chan's other fiancées and their relatives came to visit U-chan at her place, Ka-chan," Mago Tsueko explained. "Rest of them are with Chiaki-obāchan right now, but they'll come here to see Ran-chan when they can, just to show they're no hard feelings and all that. I came with U-chan since she wanted to see you and Ran-chan, then go out and find that creep Genma so she could pound the snot out of him for what he did."

A smirk. "I'll take you over there when you're ready to go, U-chan," Kanami stated, and then she blinked on sensing someone else approach. "Who…?"

"Excuse me, but are you Hayashi Kanami?"

She turned, and then gaped before she smirked. "Kumon Ryū, I presume."

* * *

A half-hour later…

"So the others are in town, right?"

"Currently with your grandmother. They brought their relatives with them so they can negotiate this out with her. My dad's with them, too," Ukyō stated. She and Ryū were relaxing in Ranma's bedroom. Mimōko, Miiko, Kanami, Tsueko and Hisayo were also there, as was Nodoka. Ranma's mother had been scared into silence with a mixture of verbal threats and angry stares from many of the people in the room. "They understand what you've gone through. Hell, when Obaba told them about your experience with the pit…" — she paused as Ranma shuddered on hearing that oblique reference to the Neko-ken training — "…it made almost everyone lose their breakfast, even my dad!"

Ryū shook his head. He had been hardened by the years he had spent on the road to not feel the need to throw up his breakfast on hearing of the Neko-ken, but even he had been shaken on hearing what that training required. "So why the hell did your old man just jump in and start training you without reading the whole book?" he asked. "When I started to train in the Yamasen-ken, I read all the notes several times over beforehand. Why the hell was he so determined to rush everything with you?"

"He always wanted the quick and easy solutions," Kanami stated. "Thinking was normally never Genma's style…though he obviously did have his moments." She had the copied notes of the Yamasen-ken forms in hand. "Atop that, no one ever really rammed it into his skull that the quick and easy way wasn't the right way to succeed in life. Obā-chan and Ojii-chan finally had to give up; they were MORE than glad to get rid of Genma in the long term. Sensei had his own problems, so he couldn't really teach Genma the right way, either. Because of that, I really doubt that any attempts at making him change his attitude now will succeed; he's just too set in his ways."

"A pity," Ryū noted. "My parents may have been dirt-poor, but they were quick to see the genius in what the man created with the Yamasen-ken. And the Umisen-ken, too." He now had a copy of what he had spent years looking for in his own hands.

"So what do you plan to do now, Kanami-chan?" Hisayo asked. Now that she had finally met Ranma's _true_ twin sister, she could understand why Nodoka had reacted the way she did when they had first met at the Saotome home the previous day. And given how Kanami had obviously absorbed the harsher lessons in life over the years she had been slowly developing into her own being deep within Ranma's mind, it was more than understandable that she would be quite cold and hostile to Nodoka, especially now.

"Well, we're definitely going to ensure that Genma doesn't succeed in trying to stop Ranma from getting back on his feet," Kanami stated. She WAS strongly tempted to accept Hisayo as her aunt; the woman clearly didn't care at all for all the idiot things Nodoka had allowed herself to be overcome by. But she would, for the time being, follow Miiko's example and keep the older woman at a respectful distance until she truly proved herself. "He wants Ranma weak and ready to jump at his command, which in my eyes, means he's deliberately betraying his promise to Nodoka atop his promise to Obā-chan." She smirked on hearing Nodoka gasp; fortunately, she had her head turned away from the older woman. "And since he's doing that — and Nodoka's letting him get away with it — why on Earth should we agree to anything they try to force on us?"

Hisayo's eyebrow arched as many of the people in the room nodded in approval. They then blinked as Nodoka stood up. "Excuse me, please," she whispered before she shuffled out of the room, not giving anyone else a look as she left.

Silence fell over the room, and then Ryū grinned. "That was class, Kanami."

Kanami shrugged. "Personally, I can't find myself liking her anytime soon." She closed her eyes, and then she perked as she felt Hisayo's hand squeeze her shoulder in support. "Arigatō…" she whispered before taking a deep breath. "But as long as Ranma still has hope for her, I'll do anything I can to push it along."

"So what's she going to do?" Ukyō asked.

"She will no doubt severely upbraid Genma for his failures in properly raising Ranma," a toneless voice then hailed as eyes locked on the doorway.

"Hey, Negako!" Ranma called out as Negako came into the room, followed by Kyoko and Kazua, with Ono Tōfū following them. "Sorry for the crowd here today."

"Do not apologize," Negako stated. "I do realize you have some business with Ryū to conclude now that he is in town with his students so they could pursue their own need for justice after what was done to them a year ago." She glanced at Kyoko, and then she stared at Kanami. "Kyoko has told me what Genma now plans to do to hinder your recovery, Ranma. As soon as your grandmother is informed of what is happening and she grants her consent, we will have you discharged from the hospital and transported to _Haida_ immediately so you can finish your treatment without interruption."

"Hey, U-chan, you still want to go fight Ran-chan's idiot father?" Tsueko asked.

Ukyō perked, and then she smirked. "Damn straight I do, Fu-chan!"

Negako smiled. "Tsueko."

The reborn Little Conqueror perked. "What is it, Negako?"

The grandmaster's eyebrow arched as a flash of approval appeared in her dark eyes, while some of the other people in the room gaped in shock at her on realising that Tsueko hadn't used any sort of honorific or nickname when she addressed Negako. "I would suggest you contact your mother and inform her about Nodoka," she then stated as she gazed knowingly at Hisayo. "As Hisayo here can confirm, Haeko did harbour a deep attraction for Nodoka when they attended middle school together."

Hisayo gaped. "'Haeko?' You mean KURERU HAEKO?!"

"She is now Mago Haeko. Or 'Goei' as tōshi would normally address her by."

Tsueko blinked. "You mean Mama actually once chased GIRLS when she was my age?" she demanded before she shook her head as she moved to walk out of the room. "And now she wants to chase around guys MY age? Mama's WEIRD…!"

"Actually, Tsueko-chan, let me call your mother," Hisayo then stated, winking knowingly at the younger girl. "I remember the good times she had with Onē-chan. Even if our parents never went along with it, Haeko-chan did make her happy."

A shudder. "Suit yourself, Oba-chan. C'mon, U-chan! Ka-chan!"

"See you later, Ran-chan!" Ukyō bade as she followed Tsueko and Kanami out…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Enshō Honsho** (**On Tsuguta**) never made an appearance in the _Ikkitōsen_ manga (though he was mentioned) and only a brief appearance in the second anime series, _Dragon Destiny_. It was he who ordered Koshaji (Ebisu Kyoko) to attack Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke) in the ambush that cost Kakōton Genjō (Natsukimi Makoto) his eye in manga chapter #38. Tsuguta's past-self was **Yuán Shào** (unknown date of birth, died 202). A close childhood friend of Cáo Cāo's, Yuán also had quite the critical eye when it came to finding good talent to serve him…but unlike Cáo, Yuán had no luck in utilizing such talents to his best advantage; Cáo would eventually defeat his old friend at the **Battle of Guāndù** in the autumn of 200, which effectively eliminated Yuán's hopes of achieving political ascendancy over China. Sadly, when Yuán died two years later, his failure to choose a successor eventually gave Cáo the chance to bring all of northern China under his control, a feat he finally accomplished in 208. Cáo actually did pay his respects to Yuán at the latter's family tomb in 204, shedding tears for his old friend. In this incarnation, Tsuguta and Torusuke were childhood friends until the former went to Yoshū and the latter went to Kyoshō.

2) **Gosunkugi Hikaru** first appeared in the _Ranma_ manga story "Looking For A Weak Spot" (manga episode #37).

3) Translations: **Cháoxiānhǎi** — Sea of Chosŏn ("Sea of Japan" to the Japanese; "East Sea" to Koreans); **Huánghǎi** — The Yellow Sea (where the Yellow River empties into); **Tsushima-kaikyō** — Tsu-shima Strait (the waters to the south of the island of the same name); **Taehan-haehyŏp** — Great Korea Strait (the waters to the north of Tsu-shima); **Changsan-got** — Changsan Peninsula (the arm of land jutting into the Yellow Sea just northwest of Inch'ŏn at the southwest corner of North Korea); **Sŏhanman** — Korea Bay (the sea bordering the west coast of North Korea; the Korean name actually means "West Korea Bay"); **Shāndōng-bàndǎo** — Shāndōng Peninsula (where the city of Qīngdǎo is located); **Bóhǎi** — The Bóhǎi Sea (the inner extension of the Yellow Sea and Korea Bay), which is the body of water Tiānjīn, Jǐnzhōu and Dàlián are located on; **Guìjiě** — Literally "honourable elder sister;" **Lǐ** — Classic Chinese length of measurement equal to 500 metres (1640.4 feet).


	14. Nodoka Reunites With Haeko

The Tendō home, lunchtime…

"So there is no hope for us."

A nod. "Hai, Kasumi-chan. The Chardin family will not budge on this. Nor will this 'gambling king.' While the latter can be chased off once his actions against innocent children are exposed through the newspapers and the television, the former…"

"Has physical proof that Otō-san and Oji-san did promise a daughter from either family to their son, Picolet, in marriage," Kasumi said as she stared intently at her maternal grandfather, Miyamoto Shigeru. While the widower — Shigeru's wife, Nobuko, had died of the same disease that eventually claimed their daughter Kimiko — rarely visited his son-in-law and granddaughters, he was far more welcome here than Hayashi Chiaki would have been at the Saotome residence across town. For the most part, Shigeru had accepted his daughter's interest in Tendō Sōun, knowing that despite Happōsai's quite sordid reputation, Shigeru's future son-in-law was fundamentally a decent person. He gladly even pitched in to help pay for the construction of the dōjō on the grounds of the house he had gifted to his daughter and son-in-law on their marriage…

…a dōjō that now turned out to be nothing more than a waste of money.

And as an investor — Shigeru owned stock in multiple companies across Japan affiliated with a dozen keiritsu, those controlled by the Mendō and Mizunokōji being two of them — the thought of wasting money with no return was repulsive.

Thinking of that, Kasumi tried not to grin too much. It was clearly from her grandfather that Nabiki had inherited her own money-making skills.

"Will they recognise what Chiaki-obāsan did for Ranma-kun's sisters?"

Shigeru nodded. "I believe so once they learn the depths of what Genma did to the poor boy." He then sighed. "Given the Moroboshi Clan is now involved — and given who Hiromi-sama once was — I doubt Picolet-san or his teacher, Madame Antoinette Saint-Paul, would wish to stake a claim on Kanami-chan, Miiko-chan or Kikuko-chan. Since many tōshi would gladly swear allegiance to their reborn emperor…"

"Hiromi-san could literally muster a virtual ARMY of nearly ten thousand fighters — some of them of nearly-equal strength to Negako-sama — to crush anyone that annoys her," Kasumi then said, breathing out. "What do we do, Ojii-san?"

The older man sighed. "I wish your grandmother and I were as forward-thinking as Shinji and Chiaki were when it came to Genma marrying Nodoka," he lamented. "Your parents weren't subject to a pre-marital agreement like Ranma-kun's parents were, so there's nothing I can do to compel your father to do something to directly atone for what he did to the Chardin family. And I doubt that if I directly adopted you three into the Miyamoto Clan, they will be deterred from trying to seek you out."

Kasumi hummed. "Unless we ourselves seek the protection of the Moroboshi Clan."

"Would they protect you?" Shigeru asked.

His eldest granddaughter took a deep breath. "I hope so."

* * *

Tomobiki High School, that moment…

"'Morning to you, Hiromi…it IS morning over there, is it?"

Hiromi smiled. She was currently spending her last period before lunch — a study hall — in the school computer lab. "Indeed it is, Tara-san. I believe it's about twelve o'clock midnight in the Big Apple," she mused as she gazed on the image on her screen.

Tara McFergus laughed in returned. She had surprised Hiromi in their initial communications with each other by revealing her considerable knowledge of Japanese; that had stemmed from the girl's long interest in anime. "Actually, it's almost eleven in the evening. We do daylight savings time in this part of the world." The attractive senior student currently attending New Horizons Academy — an all-girl's private institute located on Staten Island — was currently at home on her own machine. "So, tell me: What can a simple king such as I do for she who once held the Dragon Throne of China?"

"When you first e-mailed me months ago, you told me there were schools like the 'seven battle schools of Kantō' scattered around New York and its suburbs, all of whom were attended by students influenced by the souls of gaiscíoch from Éire before the time of Saint Patrick," Hiromi stated. "And while they have not formed into cohesive groups as tōshi here in Japan do, they do sometimes replay out the many epic adventures their past-selves lived through. Such as the events of the _Táin Bó Cúailnge_."

Silence.

"And why would you be suddenly so concerned now?" Tara wondered, her voice now politely neutral as she gazed on the reborn emperor on her computer screen.

"One of the tōshi presently allied directly to me, Sebone Shikuko, was touched by the soul of Lord Fèngxiān, born as Lǚ Bù. It turns out that in his first life, Lord Fèngxiān actually journeyed all the way to your ancestral homeland and made the acquaintance of Cú Chulainn of Ulster; that was when Lord Fèngxiān learned to unleash the power of his soul in what gaiscíoch would later come to address as…"

"The Ríastrad," Tara finished. "The Warp Spasm. What he used to beat off Medb's troops when they went forth to steal the Donn Cúailnge from Dáire mac Fiachna."

A nod. "Hai. When Shikuko-san became an Avalonian yesterday, she was visited within the _Te'a_ by none other than Lord Fèngxiān's old war mount, Chìtùmǎ, who lives these days as a phoenix." She then blinked as Tara gasped. "What's wrong?"

The reborn High King of Ireland took a deep breath. "Believe it or not — at least from what I've heard — the Donn also lives these days as a phoenix, as does his brother Finnbhennach. Last I heard, Finnbhennach lives with the present incarnation of Ailill mac Máta; he currently is the student council president of Connacht High School in Brooklyn, Leon Maitias. As for the Donn, his whereabouts are unknown at this time, despite all my reborn daughter's attempts at trying to track him down."

Hiromi closed her eyes. "So your friends are as cursed as mine."

A touch of a powerful burr entered the other woman's voice. "Aye!" Tara then perked as she gazed intently at Hiromi. "By the sounds of it, you're trying to find some way to break your friends of the curse their past-selves force on them."

"I have one way, which I would gladly extend to you and yours."

Tara blinked. "That's very kind of you. But…?"

"Why?" Hiromi finished for her friend on the other side of the planet. "Tara-san, how many times have you yourself been resurrected?"

A lost look crossed the other woman's face for a moment. "Don't remember all the times…" she breathed out. "At least a dozen or so."

"And every time you did live, events that happened in your first life tended to replay themselves out again among those like you, correct?" the reborn emperor then asked. As the reborn high king nodded, Hiromi then sighed. "Haven't you ever dreamt of wishing such a vicious cycle would finally come to an end somehow?"

"Many times," Tara stated, her voice quiet.

"Then let me and my family help you."

The other woman's eyes narrowed. "How?"

"It's quite easy to explain…"

* * *

Nerima, the Saotome home, after lunch…

"You are strangely quiet."

Nodoka shivered on hearing Miiko's comments, and then she turned before wincing on seeing Ukyō's baker's peel slam edge-on into Genma's gut. Both of them were sitting on the patio of the Saotome home watching events on the front lawn. Her husband — who had still to be given a chance to recover from wounds he received over the last few days thanks to Happōsai, Kanami and Mimōko! — was now caught in a three-way circle between the aged grandmaster (now sitting atop a now-dazed Sōun; he was incapacitated the instant the chef from Kyōto had arrived to deliver ten years of growing anger and frustration over what Genma's actions had done unto her), Kanami (who was currently shielding the main gates and taunting Genma with warnings that Ranma would soon be whisked away out of his reach and then allowed to become an Avalonian) and Tsueko (who was the most silent of the group, yet clearly absorbing all the moves the others were using). Try as Genma might to find a way to get clear of the yard so he could flee the scene, find a place to heal and then go forth to reign in his crippled son, he couldn't get past the deadly circle now keeping him within range of a very pissed Kuonji Ukyō.

While she still found it hard to believe that Ukyō had actually been formally ENGAGED to her son by her husband while they were on their training trip…

…right now, Nodoka couldn't find it in herself to object to the severe pummelling her husband was being forced to endure at this time.

"Am I a monster…?"

Miiko perked on hearing that quiet question, and then she sighed. "It depends on how you define the term," she then stated. "Strange as this will sound to you, Nodoka-san, Onii-sama still cares for you. He wishes to know you."

Nodoka blinked. "Really…?"

A nod. "Hai. And I can understand that. His memories of you are very dim ones at best. Your husband never hinted towards anything of you being alive to Onii-sama anytime at all during the trip. Every time Onii-sama called out for you when things became too harsh for him, your husband forced him to suppress his feelings and forget you ever existed." A sigh. "He was relieved to know you were alive and well."

The older woman shuddered. "But then…"

A sigh. "Do you wish to know why Obā-sama intervened when she did?"

Nodoka looked over. "Why?"

"She was afraid that you would have hurt Onii-sama beyond all hope of repair."

Silence.

"I AM a monster…!"

A hand landed on Nodoka's shoulder to give her a squeeze of reassurance. "No. In a way, you are as much a victim of your husband's selfishness as Onii-sama and all of his would-have-been fiancées were, not to mention all the others Obā-sama learned of," Miiko stated. "By deliberately isolating you from Onii-sama, Genma made damn sure Onii-sama would never develop his heart and emotions, mature as normal people should do. That, in part, led to Onii-sama's soul eventually splitting apart to make Onē-sama a separate being." She nodded to Kanami in emphasis, which made Nodoka look over as Ranma's twin gave a fleeing Genma a vicious crescent axe kick that sent him flying right at the edge of Ukyō's weapon. "And because of his soul being wounded like that — added onto all the things Genma did to prevent him from experiencing normal things like others his age should have — Onii-sama was very ill-equipped to deal with being forced into the situation he eventually found himself in concerning Akane-san."

Nodoka took a moment to absorb that, and then she sighed as she gazed nowhere in particular. "He loved her, didn't he?" she asked.

"He cared for her. Love is something Onii-sama still has trouble really understanding," Miiko affirmed. "His sense of honour demanded at the time that he protect her even to the point where he adamantly refused to retaliate whenever she lost control of her tempter. While he didn't fully comprehend what being engaged meant, he did understand enough that he saw Akane-san as someone under his protection. Which is what led to the whole matter with Shānpú that placed him in the hospital."

More silence.

"Could he accept her again?"

A shake of the head. "No. There are too many things that would factor against it. Obā-sama would disapprove in an instant since she knows that Genma and Sōun would do anything to force themselves onto Onii-sama and Akane-san should they ever pursue a new relationship. Akane-san herself needs a chance to develop a more positive sense of what being a woman is all about given how much she herself was abused at the hands of many of her schoolmates since well before Onii-sama entered her life. And Onii-sama himself needs time to develop his own sense of what being a man — and sometimes a woman, too — is all about, especially given his long isolation from those his age. Not to mention his need to stop looking at everything like a martial arts battle." There was also the matter of Sebone Mimōko's interest in him, but Miiko — despite she herself being a tōshi — felt it wasn't time to bring _that_ particular situation up.

Nodoka blinked. "But he IS a man, isn't he?"

"Hai. Zhòuquán-xiāng normally just transforms the body. Thought for those who endure cross-sex transformations, there have been times when the hormones affect how they think and how they react when they're not in their birth bodies." A sigh. "Sadly, the curse will not let go of Onii-sama until he has fathered — or mothered if he did it THAT way! — his own children. And I know this: Onii-sama is NOT ready to be a father." Miiko waved to Genma, who was collapsing to the dirt after Ukyō nearly sliced his throat open with her baker's peel. "Look at the example he had to live with."

Still more silence.

"I abandoned him…I abandoned my only son…!"

As Nodoka shuddered, her tears flowing down her cheeks as her hands came up to cradle her face, she then jerked on feeling a pair of soft hands fall on her shoulders. She then looked up to gaze at Miiko. Then, on realising that it was not her that was touching her, she turned around…to gaze into the face of a ghost from the past.

"Haeko…?"

"How are you, Nodoka?" Mago Haeko asked, a friendly smile on her face.

Nodoka blinked several times, and then she felt her strength go as a moaning sob escaped her as she automatically reached for her old classmate. As Haeko crouched down to draw the other woman into her arms, Miiko watched them for a moment, and then she turned as Happōsai came up to stand nearby, nodding in approval. She then stood up and fell in beside the grandmaster as they headed away from Nodoka and Haeko to give them some privacy, moving to join Kanami, Tsueko and Ukyō close to the front gate. As they joined the others, Happōsai took a deep puff of his pipe. "She needs her now."

"Um, Sensei…are Mama and Ran-chan's mom going to…?" Tsueko began.

A chuckle. "Your mother's a widow, Tsueko. And Nodoka's effectively a widow herself given how much Genma practically dropped off the face of the damned earth when he took Ranma out on their training trip." He then sighed as they turned to watch Haeko help Nodoka to her feet and into the house. "Where's your mom living now?"

"With Kōkin and I in Kimitsu," Tsueko answered. "Why?"

A sigh. "I don't mean to intrude on your family's hospitality, but I think Nodoka would benefit from some time with Haeko at her location." Happōsai then hummed. "Tell me something, Tsueko-chan: Is Haru Himon still alive?" At Tsueko's confused look, the ancient grandmaster then smirked. "I mean Chōkō Shikō."

Tsueko perked as Miiko gaped, recognizing the local pronunciation of the name of one of the early strategists that had served Sūn Jiān and his descendants as they eventually founded Dōng Wú. "Ojii-san? Sure! He helped train me, in fact!"

"Good. I'll write him a letter explaining the situation, then give it to Haeko when she takes Nodoka to your home," Happōsai then stated before a smirk crossed his face. "Back when my students were your age, Himon was one of the few people who could fight Genma to a standstill even when he first began using the Sen-ken forms."

"Really?" Kanami breathed out. "Would you mind if we spent time with him?"

A nod. "It's no problem, my dear. The more experience you — ALL of you…" — he looked at Miiko when he said this — "…gain, the better."

The Hayashi siblings nodded, and then Tsueko perked as her cell phone chimed the signal that a text message was now coming in. She slipped it out from her skirt and flipped it open to gaze at the message there. "It's from Mō-chan!" she declared. "Ran-chan's been discharged from the hospital and was sent up to the…" She then blinked as she read the katakana word written there. "…_Haida_?"

"That's the flagship of that space fleet Hiromi and her family brought to Earth when they all finally got free of Ataru's head," Kanami stated.

"Damn!" Ukyō gasped. "A SPACE FLEET?! What else can those guys do?"

The others all laughed before a polite cough made them turn to the gate to see two people standing there. "Kasumi-chan! Shigeru-kun! What are you doing here?" Happōsai called out, a delighted grin crossing his face.

Miyamoto Shigeru and Tendō Kasumi walked up to bow respectfully to him. "Our apologies for interrupting your time with your students, Sensei, but we need to speak to Miiko-san here concerning a petition we wish to present to Moroboshi Hiromi-sama in her capacity as Matriarch of her clan," the former then said as they gazed on Miiko.

Miiko blinked as confusion crossed the others' faces…

* * *

Between the Earth and the Moon, aboard H.M.C.S. _Haida_, after school…

"Wow…!"

"Pretty overwhelming, isn't it?"

Ranma perked on hearing that amused voice, and then he turned. "Hey, Ataru!"

Ataru grinned as he came up to sit down beside his new friend. After being beamed aboard the starship — going through the materialiser had reminded Ranma of the strange tingling he had first endured when he had fallen into the Niángnìquán months before — he had been brought to one of the observation domes on the aft upper superstructure, flanking the base of the mainmast and overlooking the aft-of-amidships superfiring flank main gun mounts and the hangar deck and flight deck for the ship's four large cargo/passenger transports. Ranma was now in a specially-designed mobile diagnostic bed that could recline and sit up at the touch of a finger. Atop that, a wrap-around combination sensor unit/drug injector was fixed to his left upper arm, ensuring he would still get the antibiotics and other medications he needed to boost his immune system. Even more so, the chair came with a mechanism that worked very much like a chamber pot did in the old days.

"So how soon will the blood transfusion happen?" Ataru asked as he relaxed in one of the lounge chairs close to where Ranma was currently placed.

"If nothing goes wrong, Monday." Ranma then smirked as he pointed with his right hand to the endless sea of stars overhead. "Guess you're used to this."

"Somewhat," the other man replied. "Of course, from the time I found myself 'married' to Hensō until I actually met the Noukiites, I always deep down felt a little scared of being dragged out into space. After all, in my eyes, out here was a place SHE controlled and I felt myself OUT of control when it came to my life." He then smirked. "But then I learned that those like Hensō weren't as powerful as they first seemed to me. Along the way, Tsukihana-kun and Ayami-chan — they're the two bright little geniuses who made these ships in the first place — came along with what they made and drew a line in space. People like Hensō, Damasu, Kamen, Mienai, Jariten, Rei and the rest…" He then scowled. "ESPECIALLY those we never knew about all along…" A shake of the head. "Kicked off Earth and told not to come back until they grew up finally and realize that THEIR way of looking at the Universe isn't OUR way."

Ranma was quick to detect the deep pain in the other man's voice. "You loved her, didn't you?" he quietly asked. "Hensō, I mean."

Tears glistened in Ataru's soft brown eyes. "Hai, I did. Very deeply, in fact." A smirk. "I don't know where it really started, to be honest with you. Six months after I got my brained 'cleaned out,' so to speak, it's still hard for me to think of what happened back then and try to understand what the hell made me what I was. Even more so, WHY I was the way I was to each person — especially each pretty girl! — that crossed my path." A sigh. "In a way, Hensō was the most loving and caring person you could ever know. She gave it to you a hundred-and-ten percent, without nothing held back." Another sigh. "At the same time, she had a streak of insecurity as big as the Moon there. And the will to do anything — and I mean ANYTHING! — to keep what she saw as hers. Like me." A shrug. "I guess, if enough time had passed, I would have finally given myself over to her. But then I learned how she came into being. And I learned how much the real Lum LOST because of Hensō." He shook his head. "And I couldn't do it. Even if Hensō herself was innocent of it all, I still couldn't do it. It was a marriage under VERY false pretences. In some societies, both on Earth and beyond, that's rape."

The younger man winced. "Was there anyone else?"

"Kyech."

"Who was she?"

"The Noukiite version of Shikuko-chan, believe it or not."

Ranma gaped. "You're kidding!"

"No. 'Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech' is — when you strip away all the unique Noukiite naming conventions like caste prefix, birth order and gender prefix and the prefix used to indicate a courtesy name — the direct translation of 'Ryofu Hōsen.'" Ataru smirked. "She was born in her first life over three thousand years ago on the northern continent of Noukiios. At that time, the planet-wide ruling dynasty was coming apart at the seams. Sort of like the Three Kingdoms in China with a little of the Three Kingdoms of Korea tossed in for spicing." He sighed. "She was given the power of a real dragon thanks to a being named Nengmek'i. And she was so feared by so many of her peers that several had to gang together to take her down, just like people ganged together to take down Shikuko-chan's past-self back in China.

"She's then reborn as a Noukiite-form Avalonian — a ten year-old girl at that — about fifteen years ago. And she still has Nengmek'i's gift in her soul, which — when you mix it with an Avalonian's genes — turned her into their version of Superman. And it scared the living hell out of her," he added. "So she decided after she became an adult to isolate herself from civilization as a whole. She's more comfortable with animals than people, believe it or not. And she only really comes out in public when her people are threatened big-time by pirates, bandits and the like." He then smirked. "She also was good friends with Su, the lady who brought Lum, Benten-san, Oyuki-sama and Ran-chan to Okusei after Hensō and the others were allowed to steal their lives from them. And she became friends with them. And when the news got out of my pending 'marriage' with Hensō, Kyech decided enough was enough and crashed the wedding."

"Bet people got pissed at her," Ranma noted.

A smirk. "Nengmek'i-jichan came with her. One doesn't argue with a dragon that's over two kilometres long and who can teleport between solar systems."

Ranma gaped. "Oh, man…"

"So after I put Hensō behind me, I took up Kyech's offer to go to Okusei so Onē-san, Hiromi-chan and Tariko could get out of my head." Ataru then smirked. "And I fell for her, hard. She's a simple girl underneath all the stories people say about her, calling her 'She Who Speaks To Dragons' and all that. And I guess she cared for me, too, but that fear of hers was crawling up her spine and eating away at her soul all the time we were alone and together on the road to Huohkyep'. And…"

"She let you go."

"Yeah."

Ranma reached over to pat Ataru's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Ah, it's okay," the latter said as he waved it off. "Much that it hurt — both times — I'm trying to get over it. 'Sides…" A cocky grin that wouldn't be too different than what sometimes appeared on Ranma's face crossed Ataru's as he waggled his eyebrows. "Something tells me that even if she is fully bi and wants Miyako as much as she wants me, Shikuko's not the type to want ANYONE ELSE in her bed."

Ranma shuddered. "Man, just being alone with Mimōko is enough for me!"

A shrug. "True. Then again, Shikuko's envious of her."

"Why?"

A smirk. "You-as-guy. You-as-girl. She gets to have her pick!"

"HEY! I'M NO PERVERT!"

Ataru gaped at him, and then he shook his head. _This guy needs HELP!_

* * *

Meanwhile, in the captain's quarters…

"TEN orgasms?"

Twin nods matched to twin smiles that reminded Mimōko a little TOO much of a pair of cats that caught the canaries and swallowed them before the owners got home.

"He's VERY good with his fingers," Miyako mewed.

"And his tongue-work definitely can't be discounted as well," Shikuko added.

Mimōko's cheeks began to flare. "Damn…"

"Then there's you," Shikuko said as she gazed at her cousin, her normal devil-may-care smirk crossing her face. "Soon, your boyfriend-and-girlfriend-in-one-sweet-package will be on his feet and you'll get the chance to try out the 'wild horse' for yourself." She then winked before she took a sip of her tea. "And I'll bet he — AND she — will be just as good for you as Ataru is for both of us."

Mimōko awked as Miyako gazed at her lover. "Is that what his name means?"

"Yep. Checked it out myself."

The Nan'yō senior moaned. "You guys…!"

"Mimōko-sama?"

Everyone perked, and then they turned to gaze on the woman standing by the emergency stairs leading to the bridge level. "What is it, Naoko?" Mimōko asked.

Takanashi Naoko walked up to stand beside her. "We just finished the preliminary scans of Ranma-sama's body," she stated. "It appears that Negako-sama's initial estimate of the situation is quite correct. Use of the regeneration tank won't help Ranma-sama at all given his current gender-transformation ability."

"Why?" Miyako asked. "You told us the regeneration matrix could even grow back severe wounds like lost limbs. Why can't it help Ranma-kun?"

"Because of the nature of his 'curse,' Miyako-sama," Naoko said. "In one sense of the term, Ranma-sama has two bodies now: His male body and his female body. The curse has structured it in such a way that the body not being used at the time is held in a metaphysical phased 'stasis' which can only be deployed when the transformation mechanism — water — is used on him." A sigh. "We subjected a sample of his blood to the matrix. Since both the male and female DNA are natural, the matrix ended up combining the two into an intersex state. If Ranma-sama was subjected to it…"

"He'd become a hermaphrodite," Shikuko finished.

A nod. "Hai. And given Ranma-sama's sense of self-identity is strongly male — and already has taken considerable damage due to his exposure to Zhòuquán-xiāng — to subject him to that would most likely destroy him once and for all."

"Okay, so that's out," Mimōko stated. "What about exposing him to the opposite of the curse he got? The Nánnìquán? I know there's a spring like that there."

A shake of the head. "Negako-sama advised against it."

"Why?" Shikuko asked.

"Doing such would either do what I just stated the regeneration matrix would do were Ranma-sama exposed to it or simply add another type of transformation onto what he can already do," Naoko stated. "Negako-sama explained that the transformation is keyed in on the EXACT temperature the spring water was when the victim is exposed to it."

Mimōko nodded. "And since this is now four months since Ranma first went to that place, with summer coming on now…" A hum. "It could help…"

"In essence, Mimōko-sama, it adds an unnecessary complication," Naoko advised.

The others all nodded. "Pity he was raised so rigidly," Shikuko mused. "If he actually did become a herm, it would be pretty awesome!"

Mimōko flustered. "SHIKUKO!"

Miyako laughed while Naoko simply blinked…

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home…

"So you can see why we felt it necessary to come see you, Moroboshi-himesama."

Hiromi took a deep breath as she considered what she had just been told by the eldest of her current guests. All of the Tendō sisters and their grandfather were in the living room with the reborn emperor. Kyoko was also present; she was kneeling on the floor behind and to Akane's right. Miiko was seated to Hiromi's right rear, ready to step in if she required it. Kanami was also there, seated beside Tariko and her mother Kinshō. Tariko's and Hiromi's mother had prepared tea and snacks.

After a moment, Hiromi took a deep breath. "Miyamoto-dono, please understand that I am quite sympathetic to the situation your granddaughters now find themselves in," she stated. "Ever since they were allowed to awaken in their own bodies earlier this week, Kanami-san, Miiko-san and Kikuko-san have been quite detailed in their descriptions of what life was like for their brother and your granddaughters during the brief time they lived together at your son-in-law's home." A sigh. "I doubt this should have surprised anyone given how readily Saotome Genma was in offering his former son's hand in marriage to anyone that had the misfortune — and I don't mean this as an insult to Ranma-san's integrity, of course — to cross their paths over the last decade." As the Tendō sisters all laughed and Shigeru smiled, the matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan took a deep breath. "Tell me, sir: Did you offer up your son-in-law's head, much less Genma's, to Master Chardin when they demonstrated their desire to NOT see this promise they made to Master Chardin's father all those years ago fulfilled?"

Kasumi gasped, Nabiki blinked and Akane turned pale while Shigeru took a deep breath. "I was tempted to do just that, Moroboshi-himesama," the elderly investor stated. "Given that I have a good idea of how hard-headed martial artists can sometimes be — and, of course, how much I would desire my granddaughters to have the right to choose their own futures and not have them chosen for them — it may have worked." He then smirked. "But I think their mother would curse me from Heaven Itself if I ever did that to Sōun. She forgave him his many faults, so I must do the same."

"A pity. What of the girls' paternal grandparents? Are they still alive?"

"No, Hiromi-sama," Kasumi answered. "Otō-san's parents died in a typhoon that swept through Tōkyō before he married Okā-san."

"That was one of the reasons we didn't get into the argument about the family names when it came time for Sōun to marry my daughter," Shigeru added.

Hiromi nodded. "Alright, then. Kasumi-san, a personal question if I may: Is there anyone right now that you might desire as a future husband?"

Kasumi jolted at the other woman's bluntness, and then she sighed. "Well, there is someone I do have in mind," she admitted as Nabiki and Akane both knowingly looked at her. "He's actually one of Ranma-kun's doctors, Ono Tōfū." A sigh. "However, he does tend to act silly around me as I'm sure Kanami-san can readily attest to."

"Yeah," Kanami spoke up as she made an exaggerated wince, reaching up to feel her own neck. "He actually nearly crippled us one time by twisting our neck in a way it shouldn't have gone when she came by to return a book she borrowed."

Laughter. "I see. So we have one potential husband," Hiromi stated. "What of you, Nabiki-san? Any current boyfriends we could call upon at this time?"

A shake of the head. "No, Hiromi-san, though some have tried to link me together with Kunō Tatewaki," Nabiki stated. "And much that I do understand the need to honour promises as that virtue's a cornerstone of my own business — as long as it is honoured to the EXACT letter of the agreement, of course — there's no way I'll recognise whatever Otō-chan agreed to with these people as being binding to me. I would prefer not to do a name-change as Ranma-kun and his sisters were forced to do, but if push ultimately comes to shove, I'll do it and try to recover from it later."

A nod. "I see. Another potential argument we could use to make Master Chardin see reason. Would you consider that option if necessary, Kasumi-san?"

"With regret, I would, Hiromi-sama."

"Very well, then. Akane-san, would you go along with this?"

A sigh. "If I have to," Akane admitted. "And no, I don't have a boyfriend — and really don't want one at this time! — to fall back on."

Hiromi hummed as her eyes fixed on Kyoko for a moment — that making the ninja-trained tōshi from Yoshū blink — and then she closed her eyes. "Akane-san, is your father aware of your currently seeking training with Kyoko-san?" she asked.

A shake of the head. "No, I haven't seen Tō-chan since Happōsai-ojiichan took him and Oji-chan away from the house on Wednesday," Akane answered.

"I see. So we do have ways to navigate out of this situation."

"How so?" Nabiki asked.

"We have to appeal to the virtues the natives of _la République Française_ hold above all else," the reborn emperor stated. "It is in their motto: _Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité_. Liberty, equality and fraternity. Also, they're a very forward thinking and socially advanced nation in certain aspects when compared to our own nation."

"Women's equality, you mean," Nabiki noted.

"Exactly. We can also play up to Picolet-san's sense of chivalry, which would traditionally demand that he would treat women with courtesy and respect." A pause. "Of course, such could backfire if we take that approach."

"In other words, he would feel an obligation to offer us shelter away from a father that — not to mince words — has practically abandoned us to our own devices," Kasumi stated before she looked down. "And were it not so sudden…"

"It actually might be an attractive thing to pursue," Nabiki finished.

"I got a question."

Eyes locked on Kanami. "What is it, child?" Shigeru asked.

"What IS their martial art, anyway?" Ranma's twin then wondered.

"They address it as _l'École d'Arts Martiaux de la Belle France_," the sisters' grandfather answered. "It's actually a school for speed-eaters; I found that to be quite odd given how much the French are said to like their native cuisine and how they enjoy eating such food with as much care and as much enjoyment as possible."

"Pity we couldn't ask Ranma-kun to challenge them," Nabiki noted. "He would love to get involved with something like that. Or Ataru-kun for that matter."

"We do need to get away from THAT line of thinking, Nabiki-chan," Kasumi warned.

A nod. "Speaking to the choir, Onē-chan."

"So shall we make arrangements with Picolet-san?" Hiromi then asked.

The Tendō sisters exchanged looks, and then they nodded. "I'll contact Madame Saint-Paul and inform her that we wish a face-to-face meeting," Shigeru stated. "Would you mind so much if we imposed on your hospitality once more, Moroboshi-himesama?"

A nod. "Hai, it would be best."

"Well, now that's over with, let's have supper," Kinshō then stated.

"Oh, we don't mean to intrude, Oba-san!" Kasumi protested.

"It's no intrusion," the older woman stated as she stood to head to the kitchen. "It's actually quite a relief to have visitors here and they're not bothering us for some weird thing that happened around here." She then paused. "Where's Ataru?"

"No doubt having the time of his life with Shikuko and Miyako," Tariko said as she also stood. "Doubt we'll see him at all until the end of the weekend."

The Tendō girls all gaped. "Oh, my! TWO girlfriends?" Kasumi gasped.

Kinshō awked. "Who are they, anyway?" Akane demanded.

"Ryofu Hōsen-dono and Chinkyū Kōdai-dono," Hiromi answered.

Nabiki hummed. "Well, that makes sense."

"It does?" Kasumi asked.

"Sure," the middle sister declared. "Ryofu-san and Chinkyū-san are known to be in a very close and intimate relationship. Touch the latter, the former's all over you like the plague and she won't be merciful about it, either." She then smirked. "I bet that if there are those out here in Tomobiki who still want to ride Ataru-kun's ass because of Hensō and they try to physically attack him, Ryofu-san'll make them ALL a head shorter before Negako-sama or Hiromi-san here could get their hands on them."

"Oh…"

* * *

Nerima, the Saotome home, nightfall…

"WHAT?!"

Genma nodded. "The boy was discharged."

"Where IS he?" Sōun pleaded.

A shake of the head. "I don't know. I dare not go to Tomobiki to look for the boy there if what you've told me about this Moroboshi Negako woman is even HALF true," Genma stated as he allowed himself to collapse to the kitchen floor. Happōsai had eased off on their "remedial training" around suppertime, announcing that he was going off to visit some friends. Of course, once he was gone, both men had scrambled into the house to get some food…only to find that the whole kitchen had been expertly bobby-trapped by Mago Haeko before she had taken a still-downcast Nodoka with her back to her current place of residence in Kimitsu. Fortunately, disabling the traps hadn't hurt either of them TOO much, so they were able to get a good meal into them to replenish their strength. After that had been done, Genma had gone off to the hospital, using the Umisen-ken to sneak in and try to locate his wayward child. "And I doubt he's with the old witch, either," he said, a scowl turning his lips down as he spoke of his mother.

Sōun looked almost ready to break down and cry. "B-b-but if w-w-we can't f-f-find Ranma-k-k-kun, the sch-schools will n-n-never be j-j-joined…!" he moaned.

"Oh, we WILL find the stupid boy!" Genma vowed, a growl entering his voice. "No matter what, we'll get this damned mess straightened around and finally enjoy the retirement we've always wanted…no! The retirement we DESERVE!"

Hearing that, Sōun slowly nodded…

* * *

"I just don't understand it, Negako-chan."

Negako's eyebrow arched. After she had a chance to glance at the sheets bearing the techniques behind both the Yamasen-ken and the Umisen-ken, she found it quite easy to manipulate her own ki to start replicating those very forms. And given the vast knowledge database she had been given right at her "birth" over two centuries before, it had been easy for her to see the small flaws in what Genma had created and do some modifications. Take what she was doing right now: Using her ki alone, she fashioned a variation of the Goshin Dai-ryūsei Fu self-masking technique to create a virtual light-and-sound cloaking field around her and her friend, allowing them to eavesdrop on Happōsai's students right from the living room, which opened up into the kitchen.

"What is there to not understand, Happy?" she asked. "Genma and Sōun still delude themselves into believing they are in control of their situation." A sigh. "No doubt, the harshness of their training under your charge years before so angered them that they would do anything — regardless of legal or moral boundaries — to wrest away what you created after years of work." A smirk. "The final act of one-upmanship."

Happōsai sighed. "Idiots…"

He had every right to feel that way, Negako knew. While Happōsai had been quite surprised to learn that Genma and Sōun had acquired their own masteries from a dōjō affiliated with the Art founded in 1932 by Sawayama Muneomi, the fact that they later paraded around and declared themselves _masters_ of _Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū_ rankled deeply in his heart. A quick call to the dōjō owned by students of the late Hosan Hirosuke had made him even angrier; Genma and Sōun had NEVER once approached Watari-shima to seek out their own masteries in the Art Happōsai had created. And now they thought themselves MASTERS of SEPARATED SCHOOLS of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū?

It was OUTRAGEOUS!

He then hummed. "Ranma…"

Negako smiled. "Naturally. They hope that they could manipulate Ranma into challenging you directly for the grandmaster-ship of the Art."

The old grandmaster blinked as his eyes smoked with rage at his students' arrogance, and then he paused as he considered that point. While he had only met Ranma once and only had the chance to spar with Ranma's sisters since Wednesday, he could tell that the lad had HUGE potential, potential that needed to be fully tapped into to be allowed to flower. Atop that, since getting him back on his feet now required a blood-transfusion from one of his sisters, his potential would explode even more once his DNA was rewritten to Avalonian standards. And if what he had sampled of Negako's ki — not to mention his fleeting contacts with Kanami, Miiko and Kikuko after he had met them on Wednesday morning — was any indication, that potential could become GOD-LIKE!

He then hummed. "Genma's scared, eh?"

"He is," she affirmed. "What secrets Genma has will be no secret anymore from Ranma once his DNA evolves and he endures the Awakening. Atop that, Genma no longer can use Sōun's daughter to try to force his will on his son by proxy. Mimōko is presently involved and her soul is touched by a dragon. If she comes to the point where she views Ranma as _treasure_, I doubt ANYONE who might desire him romantically will ultimately survive the experience with all their body parts intact."

He smirked. He had seen tōshi possessed by dragons before; Mago Tsueko's late father Katahiko — Sonken Bundai — had been possessed a dragon and had proven to be more than a match for both Sōun and Genma COMBINED when he went after them in response of their attempted thieving (at Happōsai's urging, of course) of his then-fiancée Kureru Haeko's lingerie. That he himself had died some years after Tsueko's birth…!

Happōsai shook his head, and then he smirked.

Wait a minute…

He knew what to do now.

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The first name given to **Madame Saint-Paul** here is my own creation. She first appeared in the _Ranma_ manga story "Bad Manors" (manga episode #166).

2) Translations: **Gaiscíoch** — Literally "man of prowess," but now basically translated as "warrior;" **Hime** — Literally "princess," this can be used as a suffix honorific title to address a young woman where the "(name) no Mae" or "ojō-sama" honorifics would be seen as improper or not necessary; **la République Française** — French Republic; **l'École d'Arts Martiaux de la Belle France** — Literally "Beautiful France School of Martial Arts;" **Goshin Dai-ryūsei Fu** — Literally "Self-Protection Big Falling Star Cloth," which is where a practitioner of the Umisen-ken would use a cloak charged full of ki to literally make him/herself invisible to anyone.

3) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Chōkō Shikō** (**Haru Himon**) first appeared in manga episode #26. Atop Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko), he has also trained Rikuson Hakugen (Oka Yuzuko) and Ukitsu (Kokoni Kichimi), as well as Tsueko's mother Goei (Mago Haeko). He most likely was also a teacher to Tsueko's late father, **Sonken Bundai** (**Mago Katahiko**). Himon's past-self was **Zhāng Hóng** (153-212 C.E.), one of the so-called "Two Zhāngs" (the other will be introduced in Part 45) that would help establish Dōng Wú throughout this period. Zhāng Hóng was a privy advisor to Sūn Jiān, was the man who sent reports to Cáo Cāo concerning Sūn Cè's actions in the east, then would be sent by Cáo to "spy" on Sūn Quán…though Zhāng always remained loyal to the Sūn Clan right to his death.

**Goei** (**Mago [**_**née**_** Kureru] Haeko**) appeared in the first manga episode alongside her daughter. She is, of course, the current incarnation of the wife of Sūn Jiān, the **Lady Wú** (unknown date of birth, died 202), whose real name is unknown but I give her the name **Wú Fūjǐng** (thus getting the modern battle name **Gofuei**); when I originally created Goei's birth-name, I just used the basic translation of the characters 吳 and 栄, which is what goes into her battle name. In this life, Haeko is the typical martial artist mom with a perverted streak when it comes to younger people (as Tsueko lamented on at the end of the previous part). She is quite skilled with traditional household items and can easily defeat most tōshi who might come after her. She also hates being referred to as "old" as noted in previous parts. Like Genma to Ranma, Haeko tests Tsueko ever chance she gets.

In conjunction to that, the cause and actual time-frame of Katahiko's death is never given in the _Ikkitōsen_ manga. Given that, in his first incarnation, Sūn Jiān had at least five sons and a daughter — and that Sūn Cè was the eldest of the group — Katahiko's death may have occurred quite recently (thus giving Haeko time to give birth to five additional siblings to Tsueko after she was born). While I will not bring in Tsueko's siblings in this story, they are there (as the events in the third anime series _Ikkitōsen - Great Guardians_ demonstrated).

4) The "**Su**" mentioned by Ataru in this part to Ranma is my take-off on the _Koihime Musō_ version of **Chōryō Bun'en** (real name: **Shia**). Her Noukiite name is **Seu-Nuk Yesu-Kye Hechnich'-T'achkaech** of Ait'uch Nehech and Eap'ye.


	15. Akane's New Girlfriend

The Tendō home, Saturday 3 July, early morning…

"Akane."

A moan. "Please, Sensei…I wanna sleep…"

Hearing that tired plea from her student, Kyoko could only smile before she leaned down to gently kiss the lower curve of Akane's right earlobe. Feeling that soft touch, the youngest Tendō daughter moaned as a sly smile crossed her face. "Oh, Ranma-chan…you perverted girl…stop doing that to me…"

Kyoko's eyebrow arched. _Aha! So some hidden fantasies come to light_, the ninja — she was rated a chūnin in her family school, which was a cadet branch of the "guardians of the garden" onmitsu ninjutsu-ka that had been organized in old Edo by the eighth shōgun of the Tokugawa era, Yoshimune, in the first half of the eighteenth century — mused. She then sighed. Much that she would gladly rip Akane's pyjamas off and pillow her silly right now, Kyoko knew that her student's sexual awareness had been badly skewered thanks to the actions of many of her classmates at Fūrinkan High since she began high school in April. _Pity she's not a tōshi. I would have had her transferred to Yoshū immediately…_

She then leaned down again…but this time, her lips ran into Akane's. That made Kyoko's eyes fly wide open as she found herself staring right into the younger woman's eyes, which were also as wide as dinner plates. They remained frozen for a moment as their minds nearly crashed from what just happened, and then Akane's eyes softened as she reached up to gently wrap her arms around Kyoko's neck, drawing her in.

Of course, the ninja-trained tōshi wasn't going to refuse THAT!

After several minutes of tender, passionate kissing, they drew apart to draw in breath, and then Akane blinked. "Are you a lesbian?" she then asked.

Kyoko smirked. "Blunt, aren't you?" she asked, and then she sighed. "You'll find that many female tōshi are bisexual, Akane. After all, the soul in here…" — she tapped her magatama in emphasis — "…was that of a man. Ever since I began to awaken to what being a woman's all about, I find myself staring at women with the same passion as I would a man. And there are quite beautiful women at my school — and the other schools — that have given me quite naughty dreams in the past."

Akane felt her cheeks redden as she considered that, and then she gazed at her. "Anyone in particular? Like Kan'u-san or Ryofu-san?"

A chuckle. "Well, you would have to be totally male and gay — or totally female and straight — to NOT appreciate how beautiful Kan'u is. And in body alone, Ryofu is her equal." A shrug as Kyoko adjusted herself. "Pity that Kan'u's got her eyes locked on Ryūbi and Ryofu cares deeply for Chinkyū (and now Ataru-san as well)."

Akane blinked. "Wait! Kan'u-san with Ryūbi-san? Aren't they supposed to be adopted sisters? What would Chōhi-san think about this?"

"From what I've learned, Chōhi tends to think more about her stomach than taking someone to bed. Then again, I think Kōchū Kanshō might have his eye on her."

The younger girl's jaw dropped. "Wait! Kōchū-sensei? Isn't he a monk?"

A nod. "Hai. But he's part of a sect that isn't as passionately loyal to the Patimokkha as most other sects." A shrug. "We all sort of shrug and wink at it, after all. Each of us are haunted by the memories of our past-selves. Dealing with those memories takes a lot from even the best of us." A sigh. "And that time was a really violent one for all of them. Their lives on a knife's edge all of the time. Even if they were destined to die of old age, it got close for a lot of them on occasion." She smirked. "It would make many tempted to 'jump ship' and join the Kōshi Kasshi. Gods only know, I was tempted at times." She then sighed. "But I couldn't."

Akane gazed sadly at her. "Is it the same now with Hiromi-san back?"

"For me, no," Kyoko admitted, and then she sighed as she shifted herself around to lie on her back. Akane immediately moved to lean against her, shifting her blankets to cover her friend's body (which was clad in a simple black ninjutsu-ka gi, which is what Kyoko had put on when she had put her student through training the previous evening after supper at the Moroboshi home). "Hiromi-sama's return — to those of us who really allow our minds to drift into philosophizing about what our fates are all about — is the biggest monkey-wrench in our destinies ever to have hit us all as a group." She closed her eyes. "I'm scared of what might happen should she die, Akane. After all, in her first life, Hiromi-sama's death effectively started the whole damned mess. Friend against friend, family against family, brother against brother…"

"A civil war, you mean."

"Hai." Kyoko slipped her arm around Akane to draw her close. "And we all knew it. Deep in each of our hearts, we believed that we couldn't escape it. And that's why so many of us gladly formed deep emotional bonds with people outside our circles. To try, in some way, to enjoy something of a 'normal' life beyond our world." She then gazed fondly at the younger woman beside her. "Like me to you, Akane."

"Kyoko…"

They stared at each other, and then their lips drifted together once more…

* * *

"Are they being really intimate?"

Nabiki perked, and then she shook her head. "No. Kyoko's a smart girl. She knows how to take her time." A smirk. "After all, that's the ninja way." She then gazed in the direction of the main entrance. "Isn't that right, Sasuke-san?"

Kasumi giggled even if there was no answer from the hidden retainer of the Kunō clan, who was currently under the floorboards of the patio as he discretely maintained his watch on his master's "fierce tigress" and her family. Of course, Sarugakure Sasuke was, despite his loyalty to his masters, a decent fellow deep down; he didn't go overboard when he spied on Tendō Akane on behalf of Kunō Tatewaki. And he clearly knew now of Ebisu Kyoko's desire to pursue a relationship with the target of his master's desire.

On thinking that, Nabiki then frowned. _Note to self: Ask Kyoko if there could be some way to get the Kunō ninja out of the Blue Blunder's control._ While she didn't know the elderly shadow warrior's true skill, she didn't want to see him go up against the likes of Ebisu Kyoko, who was in the prime of health and had the soul of a skilled, passionate, respected warrior from the Three Kingdoms of China influencing her very mind, one that had won even the admiration of a knowledgeable man like Cáo Cāo himself!

"Still, some might disapprove…" Kasumi mused.

"Onē-chan, if Akane ever got anywhere with Ranma-kun, the chances were there that she would have become curious about being intimate with Ranma-chan."

Kasumi blinked, and then she sighed. "Hai, that's true. Negako-sama did state the only true cure for Jusenkyō was to allow the circle of death the bestowing of the curse symbolized to come around and fade with the birth of new life through children." She then shook her head. "But how long would that have been? Ranma-kun is certainly not ready for a relationship of any sort. Truthfully, neither is Akane-chan."

"If Otō-chan and Oji-chan had their way…" Nabiki then took a deep breath. "I would have probably had to put the brakes on something like that if it was too soon. Even if I still find it hard to care for the family, I do want us to come out of this happy. Would Akane-chan have been happy with him? Would he have been happy with her?"

The elder sister nodded in understanding, and then she blinked on hearing very faint footsteps on the stairs. "I can't believe such sadness haunts all of you," a strange voice then made both look over as Kyoko stepped into the living room.

"Ohayō, Kyoko-san. Tea?" Kasumi asked.

"Please," the ninja-trained tōshi said as she took her seat. "Akane will be down soon after she finishes in the bathroom." She then bowed respectfully to them. "My apologies for the disturbance I bring to this household."

Kasumi smiled as she served tea. "Don't apologize, Kyoko-san. You've only been with Akane-chan two days and you've improved her spirits very much."

A smile. "My pleasure. She needs it, of course." Her eyebrow then arched before she sipped the tea. "As do both of you."

The older girls nodded. "Yeah, but how?" Nabiki asked, and then she shook her head. "Why am I asking that?" A smirk. "Our innocence was lost a long time ago, Kyoko-san. Okā-chan's death did it to all of us." She then sighed. "Strange as it sounds, Ranma-kun's coming seemed to breathe some new life into all of us."

"And then last Thursday happened…" Kasumi breathed out.

"Yeah."

Silence fell as the three women enjoyed their tea. "Perhaps this had to have happened to you," Kyoko then noted. "If Shānpú hadn't have done what she did to Ranma-san, something else might have happened in the future to bring things to that edge. Perhaps one of Ranma-san's other would-be fiancées — Ukyō-san, for example — would have taken offence to Akane 'hogging' all of his time and vowed vengeance against your family because of it. After all, the dowry in her engagement was taken and spent. Perhaps in his quest to be the best he could be, Ranma-san might have encountered a being of great power that might have proven too much for him to handle. Or Fates forbid, such a being might have targeted Akane — if she never really received any sort of decent training from either her father or Ranma-san — as the 'weaker' link…"

"Or Kunō might have done something boneheaded," Nabiki added. "Or Oba-chan might have made things difficult for Ranma-kun because of the curse. Or Ranma-kun's grandmother — even worse, his great-grandfather — might have swept in to take him away and leave Akane-chan be…" A shake of the head. "Too many things, Kyoko-san."

"Hai."

"So what do you think we should do?" Kasumi asked.

Kyoko smirked. "Form a formal alliance with the Moroboshi."

Silence.

"A formal alliance?" Kasumi asked. "For what reason?"

The smile turned genuine. "Being what I am, Kasumi-san, I happen to know a lot about how many of the old families used to relate to the organs of government in this land," the ninja explained. "As Oniwabanshū, my family served the Shōgun as their mobile eyes and ears, both inside and outside the Home Islands. After the Restoration, we shifted alliances to the new power structure forming around the Emperor and came to serve the government that bloomed from that structure. Even after World War Two, we continued to serve the government even if our positions were no longer hereditary as they were in the old days." A sigh. "Before I learned of Hiromi-sama and understood what she hoped to do for us all, I believe — if I survived high school, of course! — that I would have entered government service, most likely with the Kōanchōsa-chō."

"The Public Security Intelligence Agency," Nabiki mused, realising that Kyoko was speaking of Japan's primary internal and external intelligence-gathering force.

"So why propose an alliance with the Moroboshi family?" Kasumi asked.

A smile. "Traditionally, there were families that served the various daimyō across the Home Islands, even those families that never were mentioned in any history text or government document. Those families still hold such service to what they see as their spiritual 'leaders' even if those people don't have any true political power anymore." A pause. "There were families that served the Shōgun. Again, including those families that never were publicly known. And like those who served the daimyō, those who serve the Shōgun still adhere to those loyalties even if they have now shifted to the Shōgun's spiritual successor — the Prime Minister — or the central government of the nation as a whole." Another pause. "And there were families that served the Chrysanthemum Throne directly. The Moroboshi are one such family."

"As what?" Nabiki asked.

"They were part of the Tenchiaiki Jūkazoku."

"'Tenchiaiki Jūkazoku?'" Kasumi asked.

"The 'Ten Spiritually Harmonious Houses of Heaven and Earth,'" Kyoko translated. "All descent of the ten children of a totally-unknown daughter of the Shōtoku Empress and her lover, Chancellor of the Realm Dōkyō. The Moroboshi are the last of them all."

The Tendō daughters gaped as their minds wrapped around what their guest had just said. "I never knew the Shōtoku Empress had a child!" Kasumi exclaimed.

A shake of the head. "No one does. And that's the way it was designed to be," Kyoko explained. "As my ancestors were the eyes and the ears of the Shōgun, Hiromi-sama's ancestors were the eyes and the ears — and agents with the power AND the willpower to do things that needed to be done — of the Heavenly Sovereign. Unto their shoulders fell the responsibility of ensuring that all those who looked on the Heavenly Sovereign as their spiritual leader were protected." She sipped her tea. "I would suggest that before you have your meeting with Picolet-san later today, you speak to Hiromi-sama about that and offer your support to their reformation." She then smirked. "Either as the Tendō or as the Miyamoto. It will do you good in the long term."

Kasumi and Nabiki gazed at her, and then exchanged looks…

* * *

Kimitsu, the Meguru home…

Haeko looked at her former classmate in shock. "What?"

"I need to see them," Nodoka whispered.

Tsueko's mother blinked several times as she took that in, and then she sighed. "Why?" she then asked. "If you're thinking of trying to get at your son through your daughters, that won't work. All of them are Hayashi now. They owe you nothing in the way of respect, much less loyalty, Nodoka." Hisayo had filled Haeko in about the truth concerning Kanami, Kikuko and Miiko when the former had called her down to Nerima to take her sister away from her home and keep her separated from Genma.

Nodoka winced on hearing that, and then she closed her eyes. "They deserve an explanation as to why it had to happen, Haeko," she whispered.

"And what if they decide the explanation isn't enough?" Haeko countered as she reached over to gently squeeze her classmate's hand. While there was a touch of rigidity in the other woman's body at that close contact, Nodoka didn't do anything to withdraw her hand from Haeko's grasp. "Kikuko-chan has no loyalty to you whatsoever. Neither does Miiko-chan. Both of them see you as yet another monster that hurt their brother by practically abandoning him to Genma." She ignored Nodoka's pained wince as she added, "And if what Hisayo suspects about Kanami-chan is true, she will hate you with every fibre of her being even if she is being polite to you for her brother's sake. She's the part of Ranma-chan that absorbed all the pain and misery he suffered during the training trip. It's a foregone conclusion that whatever positive feelings she might have for you were wiped out ages ago." She then sighed. "And THEN you HAD to bring in that idiot agreement Genma forced you to accept." She smirked. "That certainly wasn't any good first impression to make with your children, Nodoka."

"It was Genma's responsibility to prepare Ranma for what was demanded of him."

Haeko squeezed her eyes shut as she mentally re-counted all the times back in high school Hayashi Genma failed to live up to his responsibilities. Reflecting on that, she then shook her head. Far too many to count. "Well, it appears that Genma failed his duty, AGAIN!" she then stated. "So I guess you better prepare yourself to be his kaishaku-nin. You can't hold Ranma-chan responsible for it anymore since that violates your promise to your mother-in-law — and YOUR parents — to raise him properly. But you can still do that to Genma. Maybe then, he'll finally wake up to all he's done and start accepting his responsibilities." A snort. "Though I strongly doubt it."

Nodoka jolted as she stared wide-eyed at the other woman. "No…"

Haeko sighed as she pulled her hand away. "Nodoka, you have a choice to make," she then said. "You have to accept the fact that your children — both your son and your daughter — have pretty much grown up without you. Yes, they have their many faults and imperfections, but no one is perfect and they're coming together with people who want to help them be better and become more rounded than what their being raised alone by Genma taught them. In their eyes, you forcing yourself on them, waving that piece of paper over their heads and demanding they do things they don't want to do — after you being totally ABSENT for ten whole years of their lives! — while doing nothing to force Genma to finally face up to HIS mistakes makes you a hypocrite! And I really doubt that neither Ranma-chan not Kanami-chan — to say anything of Miiko-chan or Kikuko-chan — want to put up with that anymore. And thanks to your mother-in-law, they don't HAVE to put up to it anymore." She shook her head. "Ye gods! That's the reason why you feel so lost. The one thing that gave you hope in getting your children back was ripped from you in such a way that you don't have any hope of getting it back. And you hate that, Nodoka-chan." A smirk. "My heavens! You're human after all."

The other woman shuddered, and then she looked away. "I don't have to put up to this!" she warned as her eyes glistened with angry tears.

"Then go," Haeko bade. "Go back to Nerima. Go back to an empty home that will STAY empty. Go back to your life of illusions. That curse that murdered your parents, uncle, aunt and great-grandparents will still get you even if the sword is destroyed. It won't affect Hisayo-chan or her children. It won't affect Ranma-chan or Kanami-chan at all. They all accept the truth about their relationship with Jones-hakase." A pause. "As for Ryūzuke, Ichihara and their families…" A shrug. "They'll be dead, too. No great loss." She then smirked as Nodoka winced before her eyes began to tear. "I really wish you would finally accept the truth. That's what will save your life, Nodoka. If you die…" A sigh. "I will miss you so much."

Nodoka blinked. "Haeko…"

"It's the way with tōshi like me, believe it or not," Haeko admitted as the other woman gazed at her. "We become so wrapped up in reliving our past lives that when the times do come that we see ourselves gazing at the world beyond us, we feel so lonely." A smile. "In both yourself and Hisayo, Katahiko and I saw what the outside world was really like. And we liked it. And we fell in love with you both."

"Why…?"

A shrug. "Why not? Even if you were quite strictly raised by your parents, you were decent people deep down. And you had futures that weren't influenced by the past as ours were." Another shrug. "Or so we believed at the time," she added with a wry smile. "And we held onto it. And we cared for you, even if you kept us at a distance. And we wanted you to be happy and live your lives as free as you could be." She closed her eyes. "We were there when Hisayo married Takeshi, when we found out the truth of your clan history and how much you'd been blinded to what happened before and after the Greater East Asia War." She sighed. "On his deathbed, my husband made me take a promise." She gazed at Nodoka. "To save you from what your family's foolishness was doing to it in the long term. To make sure that someone else other than your sister and her family would survive that damned curse the Ark and the Grail forced on you. And I will do that no matter how much it hurts you in the end, Nodoka. Because your life is more precious to me than jade, as precious to me as my children's lives are to me."

Nodoka blinked, her jaw dropping as her mind wrapped around the deep passion in her host's voice, and then she lowered her eyes. "Haeko-chan, I never deserved your love…" she moaned before sobs took away her voice and her hands flew to her face.

Haeko gaped at her, and then she smiled as she drew the weeping woman into her arms, gently soothing her as her own eyes teared with delight…

* * *

"I didn't realize Ran-chan's mom was so screwed up."

Tsueko blinked as she heard Ukyō's words, and then she sighed. "Mama really loves her," she mused as she relaxed herself in the furo. "I'm glad, you know."

The chef gazed at her. Ever since Tsueko had come to Kimitsu to begin attending Nan'yō, she and Ukyō often spent their early mornings sparring with each other before the tōshi would head off to classes and the chef would prepare for another day at her restaurant. It was good exercise, giving Tsueko the chance to learn how to deal with an armed opponent and giving Ukyō a chance to practice her skills on someone who was — in effect — BRED to be a martial artist, which would give her an edge the day she finally confronted her wayward fiancé. Even now that the engagement between Ukyō and Ranma was effectively ended thanks to Hayashi Chiaki's actions, the chef still wanted the chance to learn how to fight with Tsueko. They were friends after all. That meant a lot to Tsueko, Ukyō knew, especially when it came to how tōshi often needed some sort of link to the world outside their circles to feel as if they still belonged out there.

"Doesn't it strike you as weird, Fu-chan?"

Tsueko blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Your mom with Ran-chan's mom?"

A shrug. "Not really. I sometimes got to the 'C' mark with girls back in middle school." A smirk. "And Mō-chan's really cute when you get down to it." She then smiled at her friend. "So are you." As Ukyō's cheeks suddenly reddened at her friend's surprise admission, Tsueko sighed. "So what's wrong with that?"

Silence.

"Fu-chan…"

Tsueko looked over. "What?"

"I…" A pause, and then Ukyō blurted out, "Youreallylikeme?"

The tōshi blinked as her mind ran through what her friend had just said, and then she smiled as she shifted herself over to sit beside the now madly-blushing chef from Kansai. Before Ukyō could react, Tsueko then slipped her arms around the other woman's waist, and then she reached up to gently squeeze the former's breasts, which made Ukyō's eyes nearly fly out of her head at that surprise touch. "FU-CHAN!"

Tsueko blinked. "What?"

"Wh-wh-what the HELL a-a-are you d-d-doing?"

A shrug. "I'm giving you a body rub. What does it look like?"

The chef awked. "THERE?!"

"Oh, U-chan, relax! They need it because you wear that stupid sarashi all the time!" she admitted as her fingers gently pushed into the soft flesh of her friend's body. "Look at all these pressure marks on your breasts! If you're not careful, you're gonna hurt yourself for life!" She pulled Ukyō right into her own generous cleavage. "Okay!" she declared. "Today, we're going shopping for sports bras!"

Ukyō gulped…

…before the door opened to reveal a bleary-eyed Meguru Ichiyu. "Hakufu, are you finally…URK!" he then cried out, blood exploding from his nose as his eyes went wide on seeing his cousin now in the furo feeling up her friend.

Ukyō blinked, and then her hand snapped over for her baker's peel.

"_**GET OUTTA HERE, YOU PEEPING JACKASS!**_"

_CRUNCH!_

* * *

Nodoka gasped on hearing that noise, and then she looked up and around before she turned back to gaze wide-eyed at Haeko. "What was THAT?"

"Oh, it's just Ichiyu-kun being silly," Haeko stated as she waved it off.

Nodoka blinked, and then she slowly nodded…

* * *

Nerima, the Saotome home…

"_**WHAT?!**_"

Happōsai nodded. "You heard me."

Both Genma and Sōun were stunned speechless at what the aged grandmaster told them after breakfast. "You…you're releasing us…?" the former whispered.

A nod. "Yep. You have masteries, though they're NOT in Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū." The younger men both shivered at the icy look their teacher gave them on saying that. "And because of that, I really can't object if you decide to establish your own schools." His eyes then glowed with ki, which made his students both wail in fear. "_**ONLY EXCEPT when you use the name of MY school when you NEVER HAD THE LICENSE to do that!**_" He then relaxed. "So I'm letting you both go. Go back to your lives and your idiot dreams! Just remember that you can't use MY art to promote your dōjō!"

Silence fell as the two men considered that, and then they grinned. "Well, Master, I will say that it was educational," Genma then declared. "So if you excuse us, we'll be going back to Tendō-kun's home and get things back to normal…"

"Oh, really?" Happōsai asked. "How the devil are you going to do that? You don't have a child anymore, Genma, so there's nothing for you to give to Sōun to marry any of his daughters." His eyes narrowed as he then glared at Sōun. "If he HAS daughters after today's meeting with the Chardin family at the Moroboshi home."

Silence.

"Wh-wh-what…?" Sōun eeped.

A mirthless smirk. "Did you really think your daughters would forgive you for LYING like that all these years, boy?" the aged grandmaster then asked. "PRETENDING to be a master of a dōjō when you NEVER earned the mastery to give you the right to create your own 'school?' Not even bothering to do ANYTHING to help your children get on with their lives after your wife died? Practically ABANDONING them to their own devices?" A shake of the head. "No, they inherited a lot of things from Kimiko-chan. Including her smarts! And they're using it right now to properly take what your ignorance effectively gave them years ago: FULL control over their lives and futures!"

"Feh!" Genma spat out as he made a dismissive waive with his hand. "They'll do what their father tells them to do! And that's to marry my idiot boy…!"

"Which you no longer have."

"Hah! That can be changed!"

"Oh?" Happōsai then trilled. "Are you threatening your mother by any chance? I supposed I'll have to report that to the police, then!"

More silence.

"But M-m-Master…" Sōun stammered as Genma turned white at the thought of _Happōsai_ of all people turning to the POLICE to control him.

"Don't look at me," the older man stated with a shake of the head. "You hoped to keep your children — and yes, Sōun, I mean your daughters as well as Genma's former son — ignorant enough so that when they did marry, you could go forth and live your desired 'retirements' after they wrested control of the school from me." His eyes narrowed. "What you didn't know — what you NEVER BOTHERED to find out! — was that I NEVER was given the right to grant my own masteries when I received my own mastery from Master Hosan back in the 1920s. That's why I told you both to go up to Watari-shima to get your masteries from the Tensei dōjō there! That's the ONLY way you could have declared yourselves masters of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū!" He then smirked. "And that's the reason that your attempt at trying to pass yourself off as a dōjō owner FAILED to attract students! Everyone KNOWS the truth about your mastery! And they WON'T train under a man who tries to pass himself off as a master of an Art when he's NOT a CERTIFIED master in that Art!" He then smirked. "So go ahead, boys! Go on back and form your dōjō of NIHON-KENPŌ! I can't stop you from doing that!" He then turned away from them. "Just don't expect anyone to ever accept you as masters of MUSABETSU KAKUTŌ-RYŪ! Thanks to Chiaki-chan, the whole COUNTRY now knows the truth!"

He tossed yesterday's copy of the _Asahi Shimbun_ to the younger men. Genma and Sōun both blinked as they gazed down on the paper while Happōsai turned to leave. "If there was something you should have learned all those years you spent with me, it was this: If you REALLY want something in life, boys, WORK for it!" the aged grandmaster then stated. "And be prepared for the consequences of ALL your actions! Because right now, they're all coming home to roost. And there's no way that Ranma, his sisters — or your daughters, Sōun — will come to rescue you idiots THIS time! Have a nice life!"

And with that, he was gone, bounding off towards the Tendō home where he would pick up all his things stored there, and then he would rejoin Moroboshi Negako and her family at their home in Tomobiki. Silence fell over the scene as the two younger men remained in place, both stunned silent by the words their departed master had just said, and then Sōun reached down to pick up the paper. It had been folded in such a way so that the advertisement Chiaki had put out in that paper would be seen first thing. Opening the paper up, he scanned through the words written there. After a moment, he read through the article one more time, and then gulped. "Saotome…"

"What?" Genma feebly asked.

"Did you REALLY get your son engaged to SIX other women…?"

A shake of the head. "Feh! None of them meant anything in the end…"

"Ran up a combined food and bar bill of five hundred MILLION yen…?"

"It wasn't that much…"

"Actually stole DOZENS of martial arts scrolls from various temples…?"

"They weren't using them…"

"_**SAOTOME!**_"

Genma yelped on hearing that bellowed shout, and then he turned around…

…just as a giant baker's peel slammed into his head!

"There you are!" Kuonji Haruka then said, a smirk splitting his bearded face as he glared intently at Genma, who had dropped instantly to the ground in a faint after getting his head struck like that. "We have some things to DISCUSS…!"

Sōun blinked, and then he gaped as several other people walked into view, all of them welding weapons of all sort. "No…" he feebly moaned…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Chūnin** — Middle-rank ninja; **Patimokkha** — The basic code of monastic discipline followed by monks and nuns in Buddhism, which was first formulated by the oldest school of that faith, the **Theravāda** ("the Ancient Teaching") discipline.

2) **Kōchū Kanshō** (**Ki Magokoro**) first appears in manga episode #46 of _Ikkitōsen_. As Kyoko explained here, he is currently a monk serving as a junior abbot at the Tōgen Abbey located near Seito High School. While he doesn't demonstrate any sort of perverted behaviour towards any of the Seito girls in the manga, in _Great Guardians_ — after being possessed by an enchanted necklace — he ends up trying to hit on both Kan'u Unchō (Seki Haneko) and Chōhi Ekitoku (Haru Asumi) on several occasions. He is the current incarnation of **Huàng Zhōng** (unknown birth date, died 220 C.E.), who was an elderly yet spry general serving then under Liú Bèi. In the **Battle of Mount Dìngjūn**, Huàng was responsible for the death of Cáo Cāo's cousin **Xiàhóu Yuān** (unknown birth date, died 219).

3) **Sarugakure Sasuke** is character that only appeared in the _Ranma_ anime. He first appeared in the second episode of _Ranma 1/2 Nettōhen_, "You Really Do Hate Cats!"; in the anime series, he tends to take over all the roles Gosunkugi Hikaru played in his early manga appearances. Like the Stormtroopers from _Yatsura_, Sasuke is just too good of a character to let go and is a mainstay of _Ranma_ fan fiction stories.

4) The concept of the **Tenchiaiki Jūkazoku** — and with it, the relationship between the Moroboshi family, the **Shōtoku Empress** (718-770) and her lover **Dōkyō** (700-772) — was first postulated in _Lonely Souls_. A deep explanation of how the Tenchiaiki Jūkazoku work is given in _Long Way Home_.

5) The scene with Tsueko and Ukyō in the furo at the Meguru home is reminiscent of the OVA shorts that were released with _Ikkitōsen - Dragon Destiny_, where the female cast all go to the hot springs for a chance to relax and rejuvenate themselves.

6) The _Asahi Shimbun_ (literally "Morning Sun Newspaper") is one of the five largest daily broadsheets in Japan; it is second only behind the _Yomiuri Shimbun_ in total circulation. The _Asahi_, headquartered in Ōsaka, began publication in 1879. A Tōkyō branch of the newspaper began publication in 1888; the two papers would unite as one single broadsheet in 1908. The _Asahi_ is often seen as one of Japan's more liberal newspapers; that often saw its offices vandalized by militant right-wingers throughout its history.


	16. The Downfall of the Tendō Clan

Nerima General Hospital, after breakfast…

"«So you understand what the authorities now desire, Shānpú?»"

A nod. "«Yes, Xiāngyíng. I promise I'll behave myself.»" Shampoo then fondly looked up into Kikuko's smiling face. "«After all, if I don't, my wife will be rather quite mad at me. And I'd rather keep my home life peaceful from now on.»"

Hearing that, both Lǐ Xiāngyíng and her adopted father, Saeba Ryō, laughed. "«At least it should be a most interesting love life,»" the man known throughout the Tōkyō underground as City Hunter then stated before he gave the couple a leer. "«And if you girls are looking for some nice mokkori when you…» HEY!"

That yelp was thanks to Xiāngyíng and a handy 100 T ki-mallet. "Ryō-papa, enough!" the retired assassin known and feared throughout the Far East as "Glass Heart" then snarled as she gave her adopted father an annoyed look. "They're MY age, for Heaven's sake! Besides, you already ARE engaged to Yáng-san, remember?"

Ryō balked. "XIĀNGYÍNG!"

As the two began to bicker away, Nogami Saeko took a deep breath before she gazed down on the Nǚjiézú warrior-maiden, who (much to her embarrassment) was confined to a wheelchair until she reached the main hospital doors, where she would be allowed to walk out under her own power. "Under normal circumstances, Nǚ-san, we would have arrested you for attempted murder for what you pulled on Kikuko-san's brother. But since both he and your grandmother-in-law argued against it — and given how isolated your village is in China, not to mention you being forced to deal with the level of corruption the local police there are plagued with — we'll let this go THIS time! Make VERY sure your friends and family in your village understand this, alright?"

A nod. "I understand, Nogami-san," Shampoo stated. "Can I get up, now?"

Hearing that, Saeko laughed as she waved the younger woman to her feet. "Don't worry about it, Nogami-keishi," Kikuko promised as she picked up Shampoo's backpack. The warrior-maiden's messenger pigeons were perched on the redhead's shoulders and atop her head. "I'll be keeping my wife too busy to give her a chance to cause trouble."

Saeko nodded. "We're counting on it, Kikuko-chan."

With that, both women grasped hands as they headed out the main doors. Saeko watched them go, and then she turned as Ryō and Xiāngyíng came up to rejoin her. "So what's this about you being asked to help deal with Kikuko's father?" the police officer wondered.

A sigh. "Turns out that some of the places Genma visited with his son over the years were koryū that taught some even more eclectic art forms than the one Genma learned under Happōsai-sensei," the older sweeper reported. "They feel that given that Genma's LIED all this time about being a master in Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū and that he's been willing to do ANYTHING to get what he wants, there's no sense whatsoever in treating the man even with the BAREST sense of honour. Some of their friends would gladly resort to more direct methods…" — here, he patted his holstered .357 Magnum Colt Python revolver in emphasis — "…in seeing justice for their sufferings."

Saeko blinked. "Are you going to do it?" she whispered.

A shake of the head. "No. I rather find myself agreeing with Hayashi-sama about this matter, Saeko. Forcing Genma to face up to his own shortcomings and denying him the chance to shovel off his responsibilities to his son or daughters would be the best way to go. Maybe it'll teach him some things finally." A smirk. "Maybe."

A sigh. "Ryō, please! Just keep it under control, will you?"

Ryō smiled. "It should be easy…"

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home, that moment…

"The tea is most delightful, Madame Moroboshi."

A nod. "I'm pleased you enjoy it, Madame Saint-Paul," Hiromi said as she gazed on the elderly grandmaster of l'École de la Belle France. Along with Hiromi and Miiko as well as the Tendō sisters, Miyamoto Shigeru and Ebisu Kyoko, Antoinette Saint-Paul sat in the living room alongside her student and ward, Picolet Chardin II — whose handsome features and impeccable manners had taken everyone by surprise given how easily he could manipulate his mouth to take in as much food as possible in the blink of an eye — as they enjoyed tea while conducting negotiations. "While we Japanese do tend to cherish sencha more than any other tea form, there are some teas such as the orange pekoe type produced by Red Rose in Canada that I've taken to recently."

"A most fine tea, indeed," the elderly matron from Marseille noted. She and her student had shocked the Tendō sisters with their fluent command of Japanese, which had raised their personal appraisal of them both several notches as the casual conversation they had enjoyed continued. She then took a deep breath before she gazed on the Tendō sisters. "Well, I do believe your grandfather has told you of this matter between your family — and the Saotome family — and Picolet's family."

Kasumi nodded. "Hai, Madame Saint-Paul. In effect, our father and his friend refused to pay a bill when they had a meal at the restaurant once run by Picolet-san's father and soon to be inherited by Picolet-san himself. When they were accosted for their actions, they promised one of us — or a daughter of Oji-san and his wife if they had one — to become your student's wife." She sighed. "And while it is a matter of honour — which is the reason we agreed to meet today — to be asked to do that…"

"Strikes you as quite archaic, does it not?" Picolet asked.

A nod. "Hai, Picolet-san, it does." A sigh. "Just as much as the whole matter concerning the marriage of one of us to Oji-san's former son Ranma did."

"_Oui_, we've heard of that whole miserable business," Antoinette stated. "The newspapers yesterday — and the advertisements put there by young Ranma's grandmother — were quite detailed in explaining what happened during his training trip."

"Is what is going on between us the only thing you have to deal with directly?" Picolet then asked as he gazed with concern at the sisters.

"So far, yes," Nabiki answered. "But I am investigating avenues that Ojii-chan here hasn't looked at, so we're not too sure if this is the end of it."

"And would you consider doing as Ranma has done after his grandmother offered him the opportunity?" Antoinette then asked. "Abandoning the Tendō name and become Miyamoto, to be formally and legally related to your very delightful grandfather?"

Kasumi took a deep breath. "If it becomes necessary, yes."

Silence.

"I see," the elderly Frenchwoman stated. "I can't imagine what you girls are going through right now." She then took a deep breath before she gazed on Picolet.

He sensed that, and then he sighed. "I personally look forward to marrying a native of these beautiful islands," he then confessed. "Even if I am still French by birth and upbringing, I have lived most of my life here in Japan. I've long impressed my friends and classmates with my willingness to learn everything about Japanese culture and society." He then smiled. "Our Art, believe it or not, has come to help people from outside Japan who travel to this land to work or reside here ultimately deal with the profound speed and passion by which modern Japanese society moves. Especially in the world of business, as I'm sure Nabiki-san understands."

"Fast to eat, faster back to work," Nabiki concluded.

"Exactly." He then took a deep breath. "And while part of me would gladly have taken any of your hands in marriage, I can see — and now understand given what we've just learned what happened to the Saotome family — that forcing any of you marry me just because of your father's actions all those years ago would hurt you very much. I don't want that," he then admitted with a shake of his head. "It would be a crime to force such beautiful women into a life they felt was totally beyond their control."

The Tendō siblings all seemed to relax on hearing that. "While we appreciate your decision more than you can understand, Picolet-san, there is the problem about what did happen twenty years ago," Kasumi then stated. "Some form of restitution is required in this matter. After all, even if Ranma-kun is no longer responsible for the many engagements forced on him thanks to his father and Ranma-kun's sister Kikuko has helped resolve the issue with Shampoo-chan, their grandmother did feel it necessary to enter direct negotiations with all those people that were so badly shamed by Oji-san's actions over the years to ensure they did achieve some sort of restitution."

"It's only fair that we do the same with you people. As well as others who might have run afoul of Otō-chan in the past," Nabiki added.

Antoinette smiled. "If I may be so bold, what were you prepared to do?"

"Well, as you know now, Madame, the only real option we came up with was to have Ojii-chan adopt us into the Miyamoto family," Akane stated before she gazed on Shigeru, who smiled. "Without daughters, it would force Tō-chan to finally admit up to his own mistakes in the past and make him go out to repay what he did directly to those he offended such as yourselves." She then sighed. "There's also the matter of the dōjō eventually being taken over by this 'gambling king' Ranma and his friend, Kuonji Ukyō, ran into when they were together in Kyōto when they were six years old."

The visitors from France both perked. "The Gambling King? What did that cheating scoundrel do?" Picolet immediately demanded.

"He made both Ranma-kun and Ukyō-san give up not just her family yatai — which was the heart of their restaurant business — but our home as well, given that somehow, Oji-chan had a copy of the deed to the place," Nabiki explained. "Of course, it was a rigged game of Old Maid that he used to do that; Oji-chan himself knows about this."

"But if he somehow comes by demanding we move out…" Kasumi breathed out.

Antoinette shook her head. "Don't panic about such things, young lady. The man is a well-known brigand even in _our_ circles. Whatever he may claim will automatically be seen as false if he tries to push the matter. Should he ever come to darken your lives in the future, just contact us and we'll be there for you." She then smiled before sipping her tea. "There is one other thing I wish to propose to you."

"And that is?" Kasumi asked.

The elderly woman smiled. "Picolet and I are both Roman Catholics. We were raised in very traditional schools, I back in France and he here in Japan. Part of that upbringing came with a profound understanding of the concept of shame and how it affects one's life, much less one's future. If you seriously are considering shifting your family name from 'Tendō' to 'Miyamoto' as a way of forcing your father to finally face up to his own mistakes, it would actually do all of you much good if you go public with what happened between him, his friend and Picolet's father at the restaurant."

"You mean do as Chiaki-obāchan did with Oji-chan?" Nabiki stated.

"_Oui_. By doing that, you'll all be better accepted by your peers as I'm quite aware of what losing one's family name means in this land," Antoinette stated. "In the eyes of others, you'll be seen as innocent victims of an absent and dishonourable man who cared not for anything save his well-being, not bothering whatsoever with preparing his children for lives on their own as parents should do for their children."

The sisters considered that. "Tō-chan would be so badly hurt," Akane then breathed out.

"In a way, he'll deserve it," Nabiki noted. "Where was he when we needed money in the house to pay taxes and utilities? Where was he when you wanted to be trained in the Art? Why didn't he push Onē-chan to go to university when she graduated high school? Why didn't he do anything save serve on the ward council…?"

"Which he may be removed from if we do this," Kasumi warned.

A nod. "…much less go out and get a job or teach at the dōjō since it was there?" Nabiki added. "He would've had to realize sooner or later that mastery he did get wasn't for Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū. Why did he pass off the dōjō as THAT?"

Silence fell as the three women considered it, and then Kasumi sighed. "We have no choice," she declared before she turned to gaze on Shigeru. "We have to become part of your family, Ojii-san. If Otō-san is so insistent on following honour, he must understand now that he will have to face up to his responsibilities."

A nod. "Fair enough. Madame Saint-Paul, do you wish to come over to my place sometime later so that we can discuss what we'll release to the newspapers?"

"I will, Monsieur Miyamoto," Antoinette stated with a nod.

"Well, that's a relief!" Hiromi then said.

"What do you mean?" Picolet asked.

"Well, when they approached me to help moderate these negotiations, Picolet-san, I did came up with the idea of offering the heads of their father and his friend to you as a way of paying back your dishonour," the reborn emperor then stated.

Both natives of France jolted, and then Antoinette shook her head. "Far too crude for our tastes, Madame Moroboshi, but understandable given who and what you are," she stated as she indicated her own ear, a knowing smile crossing her face. "We have had to deal with tōshi in the past, especially since our circles also intersect with those of wealthy families such as the Tsukasame Clan, whose daughter and heiress Yoiko takes the battle name 'Shiba'i Chūtatsu.'" A smile. "A polite girl despite the horrible wound she suffered at the hands of that poor child who was raped by her father."

"Who was that?" Miiko demanded.

"That was Ten'i, Miiko-chan," Nabiki stated.

"And what of the father?" Hiromi frostily asked.

Picolet grimly answered, "Dead at Somumi-san's — that's her real name: Sakan Somumi — hands. And even if it was self-defence, she is still shamed by it by her peers. That made her gladly place her loyalty firmly with that of Yoiko-san."

A hum. "For that information, you have my thanks, Picolet-san, Madame Saint-Paul," Hiromi stated before she closed her eyes. "Kunrō-dono."

Miiko braced herself. "My Emperor?"

"You will be my emissary to Chūtatsu-dono. I wish to see how my former subjects now attending Kyoshō are these days. Koshaji-dono will guide you there. Do it today."

Miiko and Kyoko bowed. "Your wish is our command, Majesty," the latter said.

Kinshō then entered the room. "Well, at least have some snacks before you all go, first," she insisted as she held up a plate of freshly-made muffins.

Everyone jolted, and then laughter broke out…

* * *

Chichibu, near Seito High School, lunchtime…

"So what happened?" Seki Haneko demanded.

Koeru Kumomi was desperately trying to fight down the deep blush crawling up her cheeks. They — as well as a whole slew of students from Seito, including Koro Sonami, Haru Asumi, Morokuzu Ryōko and Kashira Tōko — had all gathered in the local Yoshinoya to enjoy a noon meal of gyūdon with friends as they exchanged gossip, especially when it now concerned their reborn emperor and her acting aide-de-camp. "As you no doubt sensed, Haneko-san…" — following the tradition started by Hiromi when it came to dealing with business beyond the world of the tōshi, the silver-haired sophomore was using birth names in lieu of battle names — "…Miiko became quite attracted to me at our first meeting at Hiromi-sama's home. When we finally got alone, her passions overcame her and that night passed by in considerable bliss." She then smiled. "As did last night when I went to Tomobiki to spend the night with her."

"Will she be coming to Seito?" Asumi asked.

"I believe she intends to do so if Hiromi-sama doesn't ask her to remain in Tomobiki," Kumomi replied. "Hiromi-sama is worried about other things than just us. She is the Matriarch of her Clan as well, not to mention the spiritual leader of the Tenchiaiki Jūkazoku, who have served the House of Yamato for well over a thousand years, but are now no more save for the core remnants of the Moroboshi Clan. She desires to see the Ten Families restored as soon as possible. She already pretty much has an unspoken agreement with Miiko's sister Kanami that the Hayashi Clan of Inarichō will become the second clan of the reborn Jūkazoku. Which leaves eight open spaces."

"Is she considering some of OUR families?" Haneko asked.

"Hai. Clearly, the Sebone Clan will be invited as Shikuko-san is now in an intimate relationship with Hiromi-sama's brother and Mimōko-san now wishes to pursue the same with Miiko's brother. The Koro Clan could easily be drawn in as well."

Sonami perked. "_My_ family?"

A smile. "Of course, Sonami-san. Even if they are Moroboshi and Hayashi these days, Hiromi-sama and Miiko both see you as their spiritual cousin."

The others all hummed as they considered that. "Well, the other big families that could fall into this are the Mago, the On, the Tsukasa and the Natsukimi. Possibly the Tsukasame, the Hari and the Haru. The Uma as well," Tōko said after considering that.

Everyone else nodded in understanding. "So when will Miiko-sama finally come to school?" Uma Tatsuko — Bashoku Yōjō — then asked as she crossed her arms, standing beside her twin sister Tsukasa — Baryō Kichō — protectively behind Ryōko.

"Not until after her brother is finally back on his feet," Kumomi stated. "No earlier than Tuesday or Wednesday, I believe." She then "gazed" heavenward. "Negako-san transported herself aboard _Haida_ a half-hour ago to administer the last ki treatment to Ranma-san's spine before he will be allowed to rest for a day, and then get the blood transfusion from Miiko, Kanami-san or Kikuko-san on Monday."

"Was Hiromi-sama invited to the Great Fighters Tournament?" Tsukasa asked.

"She wasn't on the formal invite list that Rakuyō sent us," Asumi stated.

A hum. "We'll include her and Miiko-san both as part of our delegation to the Tournament," Sonami then declared, which made everyone gaze in shock at her.

"You sure that's a smart idea, Sonami?" Tōko asked.

"Well, if Rakuyō won't bother to include Hiromi-san as part of their delegation, it might as well be us," Sonami stated, and then she sighed. "Still, we should let it be known to the other schools what we're doing so there's no hard feelings."

"I'll have messages sent out to the other Tournament coordinators as soon as I get back to my computer, Sonami-sama," Tatsuko volunteered.

"Arigatō, Tatsuko-san."

"I doubt the others will object, especially if we make it clear that we're including Hiromi-sama only because of Rakuyō's oversight," Haneko noted.

The raven-haired chain-fighter and personal bodyguard to Ryōko nodded as she interpreted the older woman's unspoken warning. "I'll mention that, Haneko-sama."

"Ryōko-chan, is there a possible threat to Hiromi-sama now?" Takai Minoko — Gien Bunchō — asked as she reached over to gently grasp Tsukasa's hand.

A shake of the head. "Not from any of us. But there are two things coming that may provide problems for all of us," Ryōko said as she closed her eyes.

Everyone tensed. "What?" Tōko asked.

"One is a minor threat from China. No doubt something related to the Nǚjiézú warrior whose actions brought us finally together with Hiromi-sama," the young shrine maiden said before she sighed. "And there is something potentially more disturbing." She gazed on the others. "Have any of you had the 'Klingon dreams' recently?"

Silence.

"Why ask THAT?" Sonami asked.

"Because I had a dream of this 'other' me," Ryōko confessed. "And she was with all her friends — the 'other' versions of Haneko-onēsan, Asumi-onēsan, Kumomi-onēsan, Sonami-onēsan and Minoko-onēsan, not to mention the version of Uma Mikoko from Ryōshū High School and the version of Takadono Osami — in a fight with _Oni_!"

More silence.

"What type of Oni?" Kumomi demanded.

Ryōko sighed as she gazed knowingly at the older woman. "The type Hiromi-sama's brother had to deal with up to six months ago," she hissed out.

Still more silence.

"You mean LUM'S people?" Asumi snapped.

A nod. "Hai."

Eyes then locked on Sonami as she stood up. "Sonami…" Haneko gasped.

"We have to go to Tomobiki," the leader of Seito stated as she closed her eyes. "I've had those dreams, too. Hiromi-san needs to know about this."

The others all nodded…

* * *

Between the Earth and the Moon, aboard H.M.C.S. _Haida_, that moment…

"Who's Kuhu?"

Ataru perked on hearing that question, and then he shrugged. "That's Lum's wife. She's a Noukiite, a free warrior who also is studying to get the equivalent of a master's degree in interplanetary relations at the Okusei Academy." He turned to Negako, who was in the midst of performing her final ki treatment in Ranma's back. "But how could Mimōko-san know of Kuhu, Onē-san? Before the whole mess in Onishuto, no Noukiite has ever…!"

"I cannot speculate," the grandmaster stated before she gave her host-turned-brother a knowing look. "Ataru, you should know by now I do NOT know everything."

"Got a picture of this girl?" Ranma asked as he gently squeezed Mimōko's hand.

"Easily produced," Negako stated. "Computer!"

"_Working_," a male voice echoed all around the observation room, which made Ranma, Mimōko, Shikuko and Miyako all gape in awe. "_State request._"

"Project a life-sized holographic image of the Noukiite free warrior Seu-P'ye Yesu-T'ek Hechnich'-Nut'yek of Hichp'u," Negako then instructed. "Display her in normal clothing. Allow the image to stand one metre past the foot of Hayashi Ranma's bed on the deck."

"_Image displayed._"

Everyone turned as a hologram of a woman approximately the same height as Sebone Mimōko — though appearing several years older — then appeared at the foot of Ranma's bed. She was dressed in a beautiful purple-and-burgundy martial arts gi-like uniform with a string of gold han'gŭl-like characters running down the front flap of her jersey from just below her collarbone to her leather belt. Slip-on shoes finished the deal and she had a sheathed taiken single-edged long sword to her side. Her face had quite an aristocratic bent to it, framed with brown hair tied up in twin balls behind her ears. Her eyes — as dark brown as her hair — were behind circular-frame reading glasses. She had spinal ridges sprouting from the bridge of her nose to cover her forehead, though much of that was covered by bangs of her hair. And she had two blooming flower tattoos on her cheeks, one right under each eye. "Whoa…!" Shikuko breathed out before she turned to stare wide-eyed at Ataru. "Lum actually married…?"

"You…!"

Everyone turned as Mimōko got up and walked over — wide-eyed and slack-jawed — to stare intently at the image of the Noukiite warrior-scholar that had won the eternal love of the Oni warlord's daughter whose replica had been Ataru's "wife" for a half-year before that fateful day in Onishuto. "It's you…" she breathed out as her hands came up to cover her mouth. "Ye gods…you really DO exist…!"

"Mimōko-san, what are you talking about?" Ataru asked.

The Nan'yō senior took a deep breath. "Over the last while, a lot of tōshi have had odd dreams of people like her…" She waved to Kuhu's image. "Living lives in places we don't even come CLOSE to ultimately recognizing, remembering events that were so much like what we all lived through in our first lives, yet…"

"Mimōko…" Ranma breathed out.

Ataru took that in, and then he perked. "Computer!"

"_Working. State request._"

"Display life-sized holographic images of the Noukiite metahuman free warrior Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech; and her friend, the free warrior Seu-Nich Yesu-Ak Hechnich'-Ekpuo of Ait'uch Nehech. Display them in normal clothes. Put the Lady K'ekhech to the left of the image of the Lady Nut'yek, with the Lady Ekpuo to her left."

"_Image displayed._"

Everyone turned to look…

"OH, GODS!"

Shikuko's head snapped over to stare at Miyako. "What?!"

The brown-haired sophomore from Rakuyō stood up and walked over to gaze on the image of the girl appearing to be the same age as Kuhu, though she was dressed in a white-top-and-dark grey pants uniform. She also had hair the same shade as Miyako's lover, though it was tied in side-by-side ponytails with ball barrettes behind her ears. Brown eyes peaked out of a very cute face that had a different head-ridge pattern, though the tattoos — _Caste markings?_ Miyako wondered — were the same. Staring at her for a moment, she shook her head. "It's her, Shikuko-sama…" she whispered as Shikuko came up to gently slide into her lover's embrace. "It's the one I've always seen in my dreams…" She then blinked before she stared at Ataru. "At'at'at'?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that's her childhood name. But how…?"

Miyako shrugged, and then she turned to look at the tall redhead standing beside the image of At'at'at'. She was displayed in her normal uniform. Her weapon, however, was a long pole-arm with a double-bladed battleaxe at the business end, that topped off with a very sharp spear-point. As she, Shikuko and Mimōko all looked at her, Ranma shifted himself on his arms to take a look himself, and then he stared at Ataru. "Is that her?" he asked. As everyone looked at him, he nodded to the redhead's image.

A nod. "Yeah. That's Kyech." Ataru then stared at Shikuko, an apologetic look then crossing his face. "Did you ever dream of her?"

A shake of the head. "If I ever did, I can't recall them now," the Rakuyō senior stated. "Miyako remembers her dreams about — At'at'at', was her name? — a lot more."

"They've always been together, haven't they?" Miyako asked as she waved to the image of At'at'at', and then Kyech. "In their first lives and now, right?"

Ataru nodded. "Yeah. But given that Kyech's powers force her to stay away from civilization as much as she can, it's been rather hard for At'-chan."

Shikuko perked. "'At'-chan?'"

A smirk as he reached up to feel his cheek. "Yeah. She doesn't care for ANYONE attracting Kyech's attention away from her. If someone ever did get close…"

"She normally responds with a flying side-kick to the jaw," Negako finished. "And then Kyech usually admonishes her for not performing the attack correctly."

"So Kyech is a martial arts sensei, right?" Ranma wondered.

"No," Negako stated. "Computer, dispel the images."

The images all faded from view as everyone took their seats. "Kyech sees her first responsibility in defending the whole of the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios from all the unusual, asymmetric and paranormal threats," the grandmaster continued. "Her gift from Nengmek'i grants her the equivalent strength of the American comic book hero known as 'Superman,' along with the equivalent invulnerability, the ability to teleport long distances — she was able to take us (while we were all within Ataru's mind) from Uru to Okusei, which is TWENTY-FIVE light-years away — and the ability to manipulate ki to allow her to hover and fly. Her personal combat skill is quite impressive, but given that a punch from her could shatter a bolder, she would hesitate on trying to pass on her direct knowledge save for those who would have similar powers."

"Like Yoai and P'yap'ya," Ataru noted.

"Who are they?" Shikuko asked.

"The analogues of Sakan Somumi and Bakari Choko," Negako stated.

Ataru hummed. "Yeah, that's them, alright. Names translate directly."

The three tōshi blinked. "You mean Ten'i and Kyocho?" Shikuko demanded.

A nod. "The very same. Computer, display life-sized holographic images of the Noukiite metahuman free warriors Seu-Nech Yesu-Kai Hechnich'-Kep'uo of Eap'ye and Seu-Se Yesu-He Hechnich'-Nakuk of Eap'ye," he called up. "Display side-by-side one metre from the foot of Ranma's bed. Display in normal clothing, with their preferred weapons."

Everyone turned as two images appeared. "Whoa!" Shikuko breathed out…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) As shown in the manga and anime series _Angel Heart_, **Lǐ Xiāngyíng** (also known as **Glass Heart**) was a Taiwan-based assassin who would later be adopted by **Saeba Ryō** (**City Hunter**) shortly after she recovered from heart-replacement surgery and — prompted by the spirit of Ryō's late wife, the former **Makimura Kaori** — she travelled to Japan to seek Ryō out. The events in the early part of _Angel Heart_ will be reflected on in _Long Way Home_.

Of course, because she has Kaori's heart in her body now, Xiāngyíng does have the ability to wield ki mallets just like Kaori herself did in _City Hunter_.

2) Ryō's "fiancée," **Yáng Fāngyù**, was first introduced in episode #43 of _Angel Heart_, "My Daily Life." If there was a prior appearance in the _City Hunter_ anime or manga series, I am personally not aware of it.

3) Translations: **Mokkori** — A sound-symbol word that normally represents something sticking out of flat ground or rising very quickly…but in the _City Hunter_ context, represents anything perverted; **Keishi** — Police superintendent.

4) **Red Rose** is perhaps Canada's most famous tea brand; it is usually created from only the top two tea leaves in each plant spring to ensure top quality. The brand is quite well known for its commercials from the 1980s, where British tea drinkers — on learning that the brand they were drinking was from Canada — would often comment, "Only in Canada, you say? Pity…"

5) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Ten'i** (**Sakan Somumi**) first appeared in manga episode #54. She is the current incarnation of **Diǎn Wěi** (unknown birth date, died 197 C.E.), the abnormally strong personal bodyguard to Cáo Cāo in his early years as a warlord striving to restore order to China; Diǎn would die at the **Battle of Wǎnchéng** after being struck down by multiple arrows after he distracted Zhāng Xiù's troops to allow Cáo to escape. In this incarnation, Somumi — as noted above — was badly abused by her father, causing the dark side of her soul to come forth and kill him; this saw her effectively ostracized by her schoolmates. Desperate for some form of love, Somumi began to embrace an extreme form of Catholicism, readily taking faith in the Virgin Mary (whom she called "Madonna") as she sought out a surrogate parent figure. She eventually would find that in…

…**Shiba'i Chūtatsu** (**Tsukasame Yoiko**), who first appeared in manga episode #55. The second-in-command of Kyoshō and lover to Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke), Yoiko is the current incarnation of **Sīmǎ Yì** (179-251), who became Cáo Cāo's senior strategist in the latter years of Cáo's life after the death of Xún Yù…and would go on to serve his patron's son and grandson in creating Cáo Wèi. Sīmǎ's life and the destiny of his family to form the **Jìn Dynasty** (266-420) from the ashes of Cáo Wèi — it was the forces of Jìn that helped finally unite China in 280 — influences Yoiko to this day; she is striving to form her own faction within Kyoshō…ironically, with her lover's own blessings! Yoiko is also a master of a form of mind-magic — as personified by the dragons tattooed into her lower arms — that allows her to communicate with all her subordinates and influence them if required.

As an aside, it turns out that in the manga (revealed by the start of volume #18), the woman everyone believes to be "Shiba'i Chūtatsu" is actually **Gifū Shikyō** (whose real name for this story would be **Takai Fūko**), who is the current incarnation of **Wèi Fēng** (unknown birth date, died 219), a minor official who served under Cáo Cāo. I will not be using that storyline here.

**Bashoku Yōjō** (**Uma Tatsuko**) first appeared at the end of manga episode #49. She is the personal servant and bodyguard of Shokatsuryō Kōmei (Morokuzu Ryōko) and is armed with grappling chains and could also make use of two dagger-tipped tonfā which can be coated in poison if required. Tatsuko's past-self is **Mǎ Sù** (190-228), who was a general of Shǔ Hàn and personally admired by Zhūgě Liàng…though in the **Battle of Jiētíng**, Mǎ lost his army due to some serious blunders, wound up arrested and — according to _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ — was beheaded at Zhūgě's order (the historical sources don't confirm this). In this life, Tatsuko is always ready to respond to Ryōko's orders; no doubt, the latter wishes to keep the former on a short leash to ensure she doesn't make any stupid mistakes in the future.

Tatsuko's twin sister **Baryō Kichō** (**Uma Tsukasa**) first appeared in manga episode #90. Her past-self is Mǎ Sù's older brother **Mǎ Liǎng** (187-222), a general of Shǔ Hàn…and Zhūgě Liàng's sworn oath-brother; it was Mǎ Liǎng who persuaded the Hidden Dragon to take Mǎ Sù under his tutelage. The elder Mǎ would fall at the **Battle of Yílíng** against the forces of Dōng Wú. In this life, Tsukasa is a shrine maiden and assistant to **Josho Genchoku** (**Omomuro Chikarō**) at the Tōgen Abbey. I did a change here; while Tsukasa was raven-haired like her sister in the manga series, in the universe of this story, she has silver hair like Chōun Shiryū (Koeru Kumomi). This is a reflection of Mǎ Liǎng's nickname **Báiméi** ("white brows"), thus Tsukasa is known to her peers as "Hakubi."

**Gien Bunchō** (**Takai Minoko**) also appeared in manga episode #90 with Tsukasa. Her past-self is **Wèi Yán** (unknown birth date, died 234), another general of Shǔ Hàn. Another contemporary of Zhūgě Liàng, Wèi didn't particularly care for Zhūgě's battle strategies and was always striving to lead his troops off on their own despite Zhūgě's master plans. This lack of respect would see Wèi killed after Zhūgě passed away during the **Northern Expeditions** against Cáo Wèi (228-234); Wèi wanted to press on the attack but the other leaders of Shǔ Hàn had lost heart and wanted to follow Zhūgě's deathbed call to retreat…and thus, Wèi was declared a traitor, hunted down and killed. In this incarnation, Minoko is another shrine maiden at Tōgen, often accompanying her lover to hunt mushrooms for Omomuro Chikarō in the forest.

Note that both **Uma Mikoko** and **Takadono Osami** will be introduced in the next part.

6) **Yoshinoya** is Japan's largest chain of **gyūdon** ("beef bowl") fast food restaurants. In effect, this particular chain, which was first established in 1899, is Japan's answer to McDonalds; you can find them next to anywhere in any major city in the country. The restaurant's name literally translates as "House of the Field of Good Fortune" and its motto is "_Tasty, low-priced and quick_."

7) Lum's wife **Seu-P'ye Yesu-T'ek Hechnich'-Nut'yek** of Hichp'u (childhood name **Kuhu**) is based on the _Koihime Musō_ version of Ryomō Shimei (real name **Ashe**), who first appeared in the third episode of _Shin-Koihime Musō Otome Tairan_, "Ryomō Tries Academics." Miyako's counterpart amongst the Flower Youth of Noukiios, **Seu-Nich Yesu-Ak Hechnich'-Ekpuo** of Ait'uch Nehech (childhood name **At'at'at'**), is, of course, based on the _KM_ version of Chinkyū Kōdai (real name **Nenene**). She first appears in the seventh episode of _Shin-KM_, "Chinkyū is Taken In by Ryofu." The counterpart to Sakan Somumi, **Seu-Nech Yesu-Kai Hechnich'-Kep'uo** of Eap'ye (childhood name **P'yap'ya**), is based on the _KM_ version of Ten'i (real name **Ruru**). She first appears in the sixth episode of _Shin-KM_, "Ten'i is Tested by Sōsō." And the counterpart to **Kyocho Chūkō** (**Bakari Choko**) on Noukiios, **Seu-Se Yesu-He Hechnich'-Nakuk** of Eap'ye (childhood name **Yoai**), is based on the _KM_ version of Kyocho Chūkō (real name **Kii**). She first appears in the seventh episode of _KM_, "Chōhi has a Fight with Kan'u."

8) The concept of a **taiken** (literally "great sword") used here was taken from the _The Book of Days_ series of **Peter Morwood** (born 1956). In effect, a taiken is a katana with a straight blade. The Noukiite version of this is called **seucheuchet'** (literally "blade of the eunuch"); such weapons are normally created by barren sword-smiths.


	17. When Tōshi Dream of the Flower Youth

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home, early afternoon…

"Ye gods…"

"Holy shit! That's Kuohu…and Kyekkyek…and Ch'esyuk…!"

"Kyechkyu-san, Ryep'-san, Tai-san, Nap'i-san and Tap'i-san…!"

"Um, Hiromi-sama…?"

Hiromi and Tariko looked up from the beautiful sketches that had been provided to them by Asumi — the brown-haired freshman from Seito loved doing pencil sketching as a hobby — to gaze on Ryōko. The whole Seito crowd had come to Tomobiki, arriving shortly after the soon-to-become Miyamoto sisters and their grandfather had left to head to the Tendō home and get their personal belongings before shifting themselves to Shigeru's residence near the border with Wak in Saitama Prefecture. Kanami — who had spent the morning with Tariko (who had taken the weekend off from her volunteer work to help her girlfriend) going shopping to pick up some more decent clothes for her and her sisters — had gone with them so that if there was interference from Genma or Sōun, no one would get hurt. "What is it, Ryōko-san?" the reborn emperor asked.

"Could you tell us of these people?" the young shrine-maiden then asked as her lips began to quiver, and then she blinked as Tatsuko leaned over to gently squeeze her shoulders. "When I dream of — Nap'i, was her name? — there are things about her that confuse me. I mean…she seems so nice…and yet she also…"

"Wait here," Tariko stated.

She then headed upstairs as Kinshō walked into the living room with a tray of tea and snacks. "How could this be possible, Hiromi-chan?" she asked as people reached over to nibble on the danishes and other food. "Until that whole business in Onishuto, no Noukiite has ever come to Earth…"

"No known _human_ native of Noukiios has ever come to this world, Okā-san," Hiromi reminded her. "But that wouldn't stop the ch'uokyek from exploring this place."

"'Ch'uokyek?'" Kumomi asked.

"Noukiite spirit-dragons," Hiromi answered as footfalls heralded Tariko's return to the living room. "They're as real as the dragons I now can sense within my own cousin, yourself and Ryōko-san, not to mention Mimō-…what?"

Most of the visitors from Seito were now looking like they had just been caught doing something VERY naughty. Sonami had a confused look on her face while Ryōko and Kumomi were both visibly wincing. "A dragon?" the leader of Seito asked. "I don't have a dragon inside me, Hiromi-san. What are you talking about?"

Hiromi's eyebrow arched, and then her eyes fell on Haneko and Asumi, who both had guilty looks on their faces. "Unchō-dono, Ekitoku-dono, we — AND Kunrō-dono! — will speak of this at a future time," the reborn emperor icily warned, which made both of Sonami's oath-sisters wince as they gave her wary looks. She then sighed as Tariko handed her what looked to the visitors from Seito to be an Apple iPad on steroids. Placing the device on the table before her, she tapped controls to allow a hologram to appear over the screen.

"Holy…!" Minoko breathed out. "She's got a yǎnyuèdāo!"

Hiromi giggled. "Actually, the Noukiite version is not called that, Minoko-san. Noukiios, unlike Earth, has no moon." She waved to the image of the very statuesque and busty Noukiite woman with the lovely caramel eyes and the long black hair that was tied off in a long ponytail to her left side, though she had a long bang leading down from her right temple. She was dressed in a white-and-green uniform with slate grey trim and projected the demeanour of a very serious warrior. "On Noukiios, the weapon type is referred to as a _euchch'e_, or 'the blade that stops the door from opening.'"

"A near-literal transliteration of 'guāndāo,'" Kumomi mused.

"Hai." Hiromi then gazed on the image. "Kuohu-san's weapon actually is named the _Chuokkyet-e_. The Frost Blood Blade." As people gaped at her, she added, "In her first life serving the forces that would eventually form the kingdom of K'uongno — the southwestern kingdom of the Tri-Kingdoms — she did a favour to a ch'uokyek (known these days as the 'Unnamed Guardian of the T'ach'uk Mountains') who guarded a temple that bandits wanted to loot and she killed them all off by herself."

"Bandits…"

Eyes locked on Haneko. "What is it, Haneko-san?" Kumomi asked.

A sigh. "Kuohu — her proper name is Seu-Euch Yesu-A Hechnich'-Kachnuk of K'uongno — has spent the majority of THIS life fighting bandits of all types. It's a revenge-quest; her parents and older brother were all killed by them when she was a child."

"Damn…!" Asumi breathed out.

"Can you tell us of these other ones, Hiromi-san?" Sonami asked.

"Before doing that, there is something you need to know."

Eyes locked on Ryōko. "Why is that, Kōmei-dono?" Hiromi asked.

"Because, Majesty, my dream saw our sisters-from-space fighting Lum's people."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"I see," Hiromi frostily declared before she tapped controls on her device.

The image of Kuohu disappeared, replaced by the image of Takanashi Naoko. "Hai, Hiromi-sama, what is it?" the woman currently in charge of _Haida_ asked.

"Naoko-san, would you please open a subspace channel to Tengsei," Hiromi then ordered. "Directly to the governor's office if you can. Once done, link it to my PADD."

"Hai, Hiromi-sama, right away."

"What is Tengsei?" Sonami asked.

Hiromi smiled. "That is the world YOUR spirit-sister rules as governor."

Sonami's jaw dropped. "Oh, my…!"

"Hiromi-sama?"

Hiromi gazed on Naoko's image. "Hai?"

"I have the Lady Governor Syechch'eng."

"Put her through." A pause as the image changed to that of a red-haired, blue-eyed woman appearing to be Haneko's age, dressed somewhat similarly to what they had seen Kuohu dressed in. "Heaven's Blessings upon you, Ch'esyuk-san."

"Hiromi-yu!" Seu-P'ya Yesu-Ki Hechnich'-Syechch'eng of K'uongno called back, a delighted smile crossing her face. "You haven't called for over a month! We were all getting a little worried about you! If Seup'it' had her way, she'd send a whole FLEET your way!"

The reborn emperor chuckled. "My apologies, but things have been quite busy for us here on Earth, my friend." A sigh. "Have there been any problems reported by any of the Outmarches world governors and commandery warlords concerning the Urusians?"

Ch'esyuk blinked, and then she shook her head. "No, not really. They still moan and complain that we're not letting them sail past the orbit of Jupiter to try to reopen relations with Earth — especially after Ataru helped Lupica with her love potion problem — but nothing really threatening. Why do you ask?"

A sigh. "Ch'esyuk-san, one of the people here I seek now to help is has some form of precognition," Hiromi stated. "She also — for reasons I don't even BEGIN to start comprehending — possesses an odd dream-bond with Nap'i-san of all people!"

Silence.

"What…?" Ch'esyuk gasped. "How did that happen?"

"I don't know since I just found out about this myself," Hiromi replied as she sat back on her hands. "Still, she just had a dream of yourself and your friends getting in a fight with the Oni for some bizarre reason. Given that — save for the matter of the Konton pirates — they just seemed to fall quiet after we freed the Avalonians from the Niphentaxians and revealed what was discovered here in Tomobiki to President Lana…"

"Okay! Okay! I understand!" the governor of Tengsei stated, nodding. "Look, I'll get everyone together and we'll come over to visit you people."

Hiromi gaped. "Ch'esyuk, I don't want to…"

"Please!"

The reborn emperor sighed. "Kuohu will be quite upset at you over this."

"So what? I need to get out of this damned office!" The Noukiite governor then laughed. "Fine! I'm taking my vacation! Kaep' can't argue about that!"

Hiromi moaned as Tariko roared with laughter…

* * *

Nerima, the Tendō home, an hour later…

"Um, Tendō…"

"What is it, Saotome?"

"Where is everyone?"

Sōun blinked on hearing that question, and then he took a moment to look around the living room of his home. Nothing seemed out of place, yet…

Where were his daughters?

"They moved out."

Both men spun around to see a familiar sight leaning against the doorway leading to the outside patio, now dressed in a tank top over a sports bra, that above quite stylish blue jeans, running shoes on the feet. "Ranma-kun?" Sōun gasped…

…before a cinder block slammed into his jaw to knock him onto his back! "Get it through your thick skull, buster! I'm KANAMI, not Ranma!" the girl snarled before her eyes fixed on her genetic father. "You going to try something, Oyaji?"

Genma jolted as he sensed something QUITE ominous emanating from the woman before him. "No…how did you…?" he sputtered as he shakily pointed at her.

A smile. "Thank Kumon Ryū," she stated. "You remember his father, don't you? The very poor owner of a dōjō out near Ōsaka? The one you gave a copy of the Yamasen-ken scrolls to?" The smile then slipped. "Who later — out of sheer desperation to see his dōjō brought back to life — ended up trying out those skills inside the dōjō and brought the whole building down on his head?" Kanami stood up as she turned to leave. "Ever since that time, Ryū's been looking for you to get the Umisen-ken scroll so he could balance out his school. We traded scrolls yesterday, so I'm busy teaching my sisters and I both schools and he can go back home to get his dōjō back on its feet." She then blinked as Sōun moaned. "I have a message from your FORMER daughters, Tendō-san. They've taken up their maternal grandfather's offer and are now in the process of having their names transferred to the Miyamoto Clan registry. They moved out of the house a half-hour ago, so you won't see them again anytime soon."

Silence.

"_**WHAT?!**_"

Sōun was back on his feet and glaring intently at this red-haired she-demon that had gladly helped made the last several days for him and his friend total hell. Kanami didn't look the least bit impressed. "You heard me," she said as she smirked at him. "They just finished their meeting with the Chardin family about two hours ago. In return for Picolet-san dropping all marriage claims on any of them, they agreed not only to take up their grandfather's offer to switch their family name to 'Miyamoto,' they also agreed to a public revelation of your actions against Picolet's father all those years ago. That should be coming out in tomorrow's or Monday's newspapers."

More silence.

"Wh-wh-why…?" Sōun moaned as he collapsed to his knees, his eyes instantly tearing at the thought of being separated like THAT from his own children.

A snort. "You have a brain, Mister NEVER-Was-A-Dōjō Master!" Kanami snapped. As Sōun jolted on being called THAT, she smirked. "Use it for once. Or have all those years you sat back and allowed Kasumi to wilt away in here, Nabiki to sink deeper and deeper into a potential life of crime, and Akane to never be properly trained as a martial artist destroyed that, too?" A snort. "By the way, they took your wife's ashes with them so they can be placed in the MIYAMOTO family grave! Have a nice life, Tendō-san! Good luck in starting up your dōjō of _nihon-kenpō_! And remember Sensei's warning; he's got a Dōjō Destroyer ready to come here in case you step out of line!"

With that, she literally faded out of sight. Silence then fell as Sōun allowed her words to sink in, and then he wailed as he collapsed on himself. Watching that, Genma could only sink to his knees as he stared at where she had been…

* * *

"Excuse me."

Kanami blinked after she allowed herself to drop the Umisen-ken ki cloak she had allowed to form over herself, and then she turned before smiling. "Hey, Oba-chan!" she called out before the smile slipped on seeing who was with Mago Haeko. "What is it?"

Hearing the warning tone in her daughter's voice, Nodoka winced. Seeing that, Haeko sighed. "You have every right to feel that way, Kanami-chan," she stated, and then she glanced in the direction of the Tendō home. "I assume Sōun's girls are finally out of that place and they're with their grandfather now."

A sigh. "They had no choice. Picolet Chardin wanted his pound of flesh for what happened, so he got it. Atop that, Sōun's name is going to be dragged into the gutter thanks to his father-in-law, just like Obā-chan did the same to Oyaji yesterday." Kanami then nodded to Nodoka. "What does she want?" she asked.

"To speak to you and your sisters," Haeko replied as Nodoka winced on noting that Kanami had not asked that question of her directly. "She wants to give you girls a full explanation as to why she agreed to that seppuku contract Genma forced on her, much less letting him take you out on a training trip all those years."

"Oh?" Kanami asked as her eyebrow arched. "So why explain it to us now? Why couldn't she do that in the first place with Ranma when she came by the hospital on Tuesday?" She shook her head. "No. The only way we will allow her to be part of our lives again, Oba-chan, is that she has to TOTALLY reject all the lies heaped on her by her parents and great-grandparents concerning what really happened between Hiijii-chan and Hiibā-chan before the war." She ignored Nodoka's shocked intake of breath as she added, "In other words, she has to do exactly what her sister finally did. Come fully into the Twenty-first Century and reject all the pathetic nonsense so many people in this country fill themselves up with just to make themselves feel superior to everyone else when they have no RIGHT to feel superior to ANYTHING at all!"

As Nodoka stared in shocked disbelief at her daughter, Kanami thumbed herself. "In all our travels, we met and got to know people who went through HELL thanks to the leaders of this nation all those years ago," she snarled. "We met comfort women who had their LIVES destroyed thanks to Imperial soldiers who didn't care that they were human beings they were abusing just to get their rocks off! We met people who watched whole VILLAGES in China wiped out by soldiers who thought themselves modern-day samurai but brought total INSULT to the basic tenets of bushidō with their actions! We went to places where they never gave a damn about the colour of your skin or the language you spoke, but only cared for how good you fight! And we went to places in Japan where people see the truth about things that too many others blind themselves to!"

She then glared intently at her mother. "And you STILL want us to come back and be your obedient little slaves so you can keep perpetuating a LIE that hurt a decent man like Hiijii-chan and destroyed the heart of the woman he actually wanted to MARRY hadn't that damned war her PARENTS gladly wanted to happen got in the way?" As Nodoka began to shake her head, Kanami smirked. "No, Nodoka, you can't hide the truth from us anymore! That sword you had that Kyoko destroyed? It was a BRIDAL GIFT Hiijii-chan had specially forged for Hiibā-chan's parents to show them how much he RESPECTED the old ways of Japan and wanted to honour them even if he himself wasn't Japanese! And he really DID want to marry Hiibā-chan, Nodoka!" As the older woman rapidly shook her head, Kanami smirked. "At the time, he was separated from Marion Ravenwood-hiibāchan and had no idea that she was pregnant with their baby at the time he left her!"

"It's not true…it's not true…" Nodoka moaned.

"Oh, shut up!" Kanami spat out. "Yeah, maybe when he was younger, Hiijii-chan couldn't keep it zipped up, but at least he took responsibility for what he did! Soon as he found out about Ojii-chan after the war, he came straight here to take him back to America so he could have a good life. And what did those cowardly BASTARDS Hiibā-chan called her parents do? They chased him off their property with the very sword HE gave them, accused him of DELIBERATELY raping Hiibā-chan to ensure she could never truly marry a real Japanese man and left her for dead when the B-29s came in 1945!" She leaned back. "And he left, heartbroken, then plunged into his work full-time for the CIA, which FORTUNATELY got him reunited back with the other woman in his life and his other son, so he did manage to get some sense of family back."

The smile faded from her face. "And the spirits of the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant were watching all that time." A smirk. "And your family's been paying for it ever since. So no, Nodoka. We will NOT allow ourselves to be dragged into something that guarantees we'll be dead before age fifty. And no, we won't allow ourselves to have our lives dominated by someone who ABANDONED us to a man not fit enough to raise a DOG for TEN YEARS all to become some warped pervert like Sensei was." She shook her head. "You just sat there and allowed your sense of _honour_ to make you mark time while we were being starved, tortured and treated like a living punching bag by that monster you married." Her eyes began to flood with tears as an angry hiss entered her voice. "You didn't do a damned thing to try to track us down and find us; you just SAT there in your little house and believed all would be well eventually!" She then leaned in to yell, "_**YOU WEREN'T THERE WHEN WE CRIED OUT FOR YOU EVERY TIME THAT MONSTER HURT US! AND YOU EXPECT US TO WELCOME YOU BACK INTO OUR LIVES WITHOUT EVEN A DAMNED APOLOGY FOR ABANDONING US FOR ALL THOSE YEARS?! WELL?!**_"

Nodoka looked down. "I'm here now…" she whispered.

Kanami blinked, and then she shook her head. "Well, you're too late. You're TEN YEARS too late, Nodoka. Get out of our lives and stay out of them." She then glared at Haeko. "Take her away and don't ever bring her to us again, Oba-chan."

As Nodoka collapsed and began to cry, Kanami turned away. "Kanami-chan…" Haeko whispered as she reached for the younger woman.

"Nodoka."

Nodoka looked up, a flash of hope in her eyes.

Kanami squeezed her eyes closed. "If you decide on suicide, don't bother with any sort of note to Ranma. You won't be allowed ANY chance at trying to hurt him again, even through a PATHETIC, DISHONOURABLE and COWARDLY attack like THAT." As Nodoka winced on hearing her daughter's insult towards what she herself saw as an honourable act of atonement, the younger woman turned away. "As a matter of fact, if you are going to kill yourself, kindly do something right and go find some place to hide yourself so they'll never find your body until I erase the memory of you from Ranma's mind."

And with that, she leapt away and vanished into the air as she bounded off to the west and Tomobiki. Nodoka watched her disappear, and then a moan escaped her as she collapsed into Haeko's arms, a pained scream then erupting from her as she cried out for her daughter and son to come back to her. Haeko held her close as she soothed the other woman, ignoring the few passers-by as they tried not to stare at the weeping woman in the middle of the street after seeing her daughter rip her apart publicly like that. After a moment, Haeko then tensed on sensing a familiar presence approach her from behind. She then turned to glare intently at Genma, who instantly balked on seeing those burning chestnut-brown eyes lance into him with a hatred that knew no bounds.

"See what _your_ worthless actions have done?" the tōshi clearly stated.

And with that, she helped Nodoka back to her feet and moved to walk her away from the quaking Genma, the other woman still shuddering as pleading sobs escaped her. Genma then tensed on sensing many onlookers glare at him, their disapproval at what Haeko had said as plain as day. Grunting, he marched back to the Tendō home…

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home, fifteen minutes later…

"Ah! Onē-chan! There you are!"

Kanami perked on hearing Kikuko's excited voice, and then she forced a smile across her face on seeing the latter at the front gate of the house alongside her wife. "Hey, Kikuko! Hey, Shān! Out of the hospital finally, huh?"

Shampoo smiled as she embraced the other woman. "And glad to away from there, sister-in-law," she said as she kissed Kanami on the cheek, and then she blinked. "What's wrong?" she asked as she gazed intently at the other woman.

A sigh. "Another run-in with our so-called 'mother,' Shān."

Disapproval flashed in the other woman's brown eyes. "Kanami, it's not right to be disrespectful to your mother! Without her, you wouldn't be here!"

Kanami gazed at her. "Shān, believe it or not, I would gladly give her that respect if she only DID things that were WORTHY of respect," she stated. "Not only does she wish my brother to act like some uncouth and uncaring barbarian to draw in as many women as he can into his futon, she refuses to acknowledge our relationship to Hiijii-chan regardless of the fact that very powerful spirits he once had to deal with have been killing her family off for the last sixty years and more! And probably soon will kill HER!" A sigh. "Ranma wants her back in his life, but with the way she thinks, I'm afraid she'll end up destroying him in the end. Who do I care for more, Shān? A mother that's nearly a total stranger to us or the part of ME that still lives as a man, my brother?"

Shampoo blinked as she considered that, and then she nodded. "I guess I can understand what you now face, Kanami. But still, you should respect her for what she _has_ done." She then smiled as she wrapped warm arms around her wife and sister-in-law, drawing them into a warm family embrace. "After all, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be married right now to such a beautiful woman like Kikuko as my Àirén!"

Kanami blinked, and then smiled. "Yeah, that's true." She leaned over to kiss Shampoo's cheek, and then she warmly held Kikuko close to her. "I don't mean to be an old poop to you two! Here, I'll go drown Ta-chan with my sorrows! You go have fun!"

With that, she broke off from them and then headed into the Moroboshi home. Kikuko and Shampoo watched her go, and then the former sighed. "«She had her heart broken today by our mother, Xiánqī,»" she said in Mandarin. "«The curse of the empathy that comes with these bodies. We can sense what people really think and feel even if they mask their true feelings from their faces. As far as Xiǎotáng is concerned, Rénxiōng must behave in a truly dishonourable manner when it comes to other women. Fates only know what she would have in mind concerning Kanami-rénzǐ, Miiko-rénzǐ and myself!»"

"«No doubt to make you behave like some stiff geisha girls without any hope of really becoming the warriors you all really are, much less exploring other avenues of education to expand your lives beyond what was considered 'acceptable' for women over two hundred years ago in this land, Kikuko,»" an aged male voice said in Mandarin.

Both women turned, and then Shampoo gasped. "You…you are…?"

Happōsai nodded. "Hai, child. No doubt, your great-grandmother and all the other living village elders have told you all the horror stories about my visit to your home valley all those years ago," he admitted with a weak smile, and then his eyes twinkled as he beckoned them with him. "C'mon into Negako-chan's dōjō for a few minutes. I've got some things you might be interested in taking back with you to the village when you finally head home in triumph in netting yourself the great-granddaughter of **Indiana Jones** himself as your wife."

Shampoo blinked before she exchanged a shocked look with Kikuko…

* * *

"Did I do the right thing?"

Tariko sighed as she held Kanami closed to her. "You did," the former then said as she gently shifted her fingers through her girlfriend's hair. Both were now relaxing in Tariko's bedroom; Hiromi was still entertaining her guests in the living room and Kanami didn't want to bother Miiko's would-be schoolmates with her own family troubles now that the Moroboshi siblings' friends from Tengsei were coming to Earth at Hiromi's behest due to Ryōko's precognitive dream. "It's really hard at times to deal with parents who are just too set in their ways to make them realize that you happen to have your own brain and your own ideas of how you want to live your life." A smirk. "It's the same pretty much anywhere, Ka-chan. Parents want their kids effectively to be their clones. It supposedly makes the job of parenting a whole lot easier in the long run. And they don't factor in things like changes in outside society, advances in technology and all those other neat little things that they didn't have when they were kids and their kids can get their hands on." She then shrugged. "And it's odd that I just said _that_ given the way I — and you — came into this world."

Kanami blinked, and then she sighed. "Why won't she accept it? Even if it's a good thing that she still wants to maintain contact with us, why can't she realize that there's no way that Ranma or I — much less Kikuko and Miiko — can't accept the stupid story she's been force-fed all her life about what really happened between Hiijii-chan and Hiibā-chan? That's even more stupid that agreeing to slit your belly open just because you didn't turn out to be a panty-stealing pervert that knocks up every pretty girl that crosses your path just to prove how 'manly' you are!" A shake of the head. "Weird, isn't it? She actually wants Ranma to behave like Hiijii-chan did back when he was here in Japan in the 1930s helping out his university pals with digging up old Jōmon villages in Sannai, Ōfunato and Kawaguchi! And then she turns around and denies any relationship with the man just BECAUSE he was 'manly!'" A sigh. "Idiot…"

"Yeah, she really does sound pretty screwed up in the head," Tariko noted. "And marrying a jerk like your dad didn't do her any favours. At least your aunt married a pretty decent guy and got two really nice daughters out of the deal." A shrug. "Well, all I can say to you is just leave her be and let her stew for a bit." She winked. "Although you pulling that 'don't bother with the suicide note' bit was smart."

Kanami closed her eyes. "She sees that as the only path for her now. If she did that, Ranma would be hurt so bad…" She shook her head. "She doesn't really SEE, Ta-chan! All she cares about is maintaining all these illusions that have been with her since before she even married Genma! Doesn't she really realize there's a noose now around her neck and it's going to be pulled in tight one of these days? Didn't the deaths of her parents and her uncle and aunt teach her ANYTHING?!"

Tariko shook her head. "She can't accept there are powers beyond these islands that are stronger than what she's always worshipped as the 'supreme' kami of the world. She certainly can't accept that there are WESTERN spirits that could strike her family down from halfway around the world, from both Turkey AND from California!" A sigh. "Ka-chan, just let it go for a while, okay? Worry about Ranma getting back on his feet in the next few days, then you going out to decide which school you want to go to from now on. You smacked the ball into her court. It's all in her hands now."

"She'll fumble it."

"And if she does, there's really nothing you can do about it," Tariko warned. "She has to make the decision to change, Ka-chan. She has to understand that she's not in control of the situation now and there's nothing she can do to change that. She has to be the one who realizes she has to totally re-earn your trust, as much as she has to re-earn Ranma's trust, too." A smirk. "She'll do it, I think. She doesn't want to be alone for the rest of her life; no one does." A wink. "That's how we were able to make Baka Tō-san and Baka Kā-san finally accept us when we came back from Okusei."

"How did you do that, Ta-chan?"

A smirk. "Before the whole mess began, Tō-san and Kā-san buttered up to Lum's parents to get themselves much better lives for themselves on Uru if we married Hensō. And even if they did agree that what happened to Lum was damned raw, they didn't like the idea of being 'cheated' out like that. So when we came back and the novelty of their having three daughters as well as a son wore off, they began to treat us no differently than they treated us when we were all together in Ataru's head. A lot of casual indifference even if there was no true malice behind it." A sigh. "And we made it very clear right then and there that they'd grow old and die alone if they kept it up. Onē-san was given the rights of a full adult by the Imperial Palace Agency due to the service she rendered to the Chrysanthemum Throne for all those years, which allowed her to become our legal guardian; Tō-san knows about this but Kā-san doesn't. And we were, if it really got out of hand, prepared to move lock, stock and barrel as far away as possible from Tomobiki to drive the point home. Not to mention make it very clear to everyone who asked that it was THEY who drove us out of our home."

"You were prepared to embarrass them to make them give in?"

A nod. "Yep. And given how much they were prepared to sell us off to Hensō right from the Tag Race onward, we — Ataru and I, I mean — had every right to feel that way to them. And they knew it; we made it quite clear that we would gladly cause them a world of pain if we felt it necessary in the long term." A sigh. "And that's what your mom's really scared of, Ka-chan. You — not to mention your grandma — are airing out all your family's dirty laundry in public. That's not the normal way things are done here and your mom can't stand you doing that." A nod. "Give her a little time. She'll finally get a clue one of these days, then go after your dad like she should have done in the beginning. Give her time and she'll come around."

A sigh. "For Ranma's sake, I hope so, Ta-chan," Kanami breathed out…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Noukiite Flower Youth notes:

**Kuohu** is, as noted in the text above, Haneko's counterpart. She is based on the _Koihime Musō_ version of Kan'u Unchō (real name **Aisha**). Her proper name, as noted above, is **Seu-Euch Yesu-A Hechnich'-Kachnuk** of K'uongno. Like Aisha, Kuohu is known far and wide as the "Black-haired Bandit Slayer."

**Kyekkyek** is Asumi's counterpart. Based on the _KM_ version of Chōhi Yokutoku (real name **Rinrin**), her proper name is **Seu-Nuk Yesu-K'i Hechnich'-Kingch'eng** of K'uongno. Kyekkyek is happily single and will gladly remain that way for a long time to come.

**Ch'esyuk** is Sonami's counterpart. Based on the _KM_ version of Ryūbi Gentoku (real name **Tōka**), her proper name is, as noted above, **Seu-P'ya Yesu-Ki Hechnich'-Syechch'eng** of K'uongno, the current governor of **Tengsei** (which was known as "Jiyū" in _The Senior Year_; it is the fourth world of Alpha Centauri A). Tōka first appeared in the second episode of _Shin-KM_, "Ryūbi visits Tōka Village" (the man who called himself "Ryūbi Gentoku" in the eleventh episode of the first series, "Kan'u Meets Ryūbi," was revealed by Tōka to have taken her name as well as her family sword; the cases of mistaken identity this caused is one of the running jokes in _Shin-KM_). She is known to the outside galaxy as the "Emerald Dragon of Tengsei," making her one of the **Three Princess Dragons of the Outmarches** with her counterparts from the planets Kaisei and Kesei (the other two will be introduced soon).

**Kyechkyu** is Takai Minoko's counterpart. Based on the _KM_ version of Gien Bunchō (real name **En'ya**), her proper name is **Seu-Kai Yesu-Kyech Hechnich'-T'achnuk** of K'uongno. En'ya first appeared in the fourth episode of _Shin-KM Otome Tairan_, "Gien, Falls In Love At First Sight." Kyechkyu is Ch'esyuk's bond-mate (in reflection of En'ya's overwhelming attraction for Tōka in the episode mentioned above).

**Ryep'** is Kumomi's counterpart. Based on the _KM_ version of Chōun Shiryū (real name **Sei**), her proper name is **Seu-Ne Yesu-Ach Hechnich'-Nukyek** of K'uongno. Sei made her first appearance in the second episode of _KM_, "Kan'u is Going to Die With Chōun." Like Sei, Ryep' is a shit-disturber and proud of it. She's also married to…

**Tai** is the counterpart to Bachō Mōki (Uma Mikoko), who was mentioned in the previous part by Ryōko. Based on the _KM_ version of Bachō Mōki (real name **Sui**), her proper name is **Seu-T'up' Yesu-Te Hechnich'-T'uok'i** of K'uongno. Sui made her first appearance in the third episode of _KM_, "Chōhi and Bachō Fight Each Other."

**Nap'i** is Ryōko's counterpart. Based on the _KM_ version of Shokatsuryō Kōmei (real name **Shuri**), her proper name is **Seu-Noup' Yech'a-P'yuk Hechnich'-Ekt'yek** of K'uongno. Shuri made her first appearance in the sixth episode of _KM_, "Chōhi Competes With Kōmei." Nap'i is currently a student at the **Okusei Academy** on the planet of the same name near Noukiios; she is schoolmates with Lum, her wife Kuhu, Benten and Nap'i's wife…

**Tap'i** is the counterpart to Hōtō Shigen (Takadono Osami), who was also mentioned in the previous part by Ryōko. Based on the _KM_ version of Hōtō Shigen (real name **Hinari**), her proper name is **Seu-K'ek Yesu-Mek Hechnich'-Hukaech** of K'uongno. Hinari first appeared in the tenth epsiode of _Shin-KM_, "Kōmei Wishes for a Younger Sister."

And finally, **Kaep'** is the counterpart to Tōtaku Chūei (Tadasu Suguta). Based on the _KM_ version of Tōtaku Chūei (real name **Yue**), her proper name is **Seu-Ch'ek Yech'a-Mung Hechnich'-Nakkyek** of Ait'uch Nehech. Yue first appeared in the fifth episode of _KM_, "Kan'u Exterminates a Monster." Kaep' is **Her Imperial Majesty's Chancellor of the Outmarches**, based on the planet Okusei; in effect, she is the governor general of twenty colony planets and the direct representative of the Dragon Empress of Noukiios to the people of Tengsei and elsewhere. And like Yue, Kaep' finds it no problem at all to go out on her own to learn about things happening on the streets, which makes her immediate subordinates rip their hair out every time she does that! Note that the birth-order prefix **Yech'a** means "second daughter."

As for the other person Ch'esyuk mentioned to Hiromi, that will be explained in a future part.

As an aside, **Bachō Mōki** (**Uma Mikoko**) was originally meant to be the star of _Ikkitōsen_; Shiozaki-sensei trialled her out in a "concept" manga episode that was later published in the first volume of the final series. The version of Mikoko that exists here is the version that appeared in the first episode of _Ikkitōsen - Xtreme Xecutor_, "Wet Fighter." Her first-self is **Mǎ Chāo** (176-222 C.E.), known more commonly as "Mǎ Chāo the Splendid." One of Shǔ Hàn's more prominent generals, Mǎ had more than enough reason to enjoy fighting the forces of Cáo Wèi; Cáo Cāo would have Mǎ's family all put to death in response to his rebellion before the **Battle of Tóng Pass** in 211. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Mǎ did not perish in battle. The whole theme of Mǎ's family being slaughtered by Cáo was looked at in _Ikkitōsen-XX_, thus driving Mikoko to seek out Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke) at Kyoshō to avenge the death of her older brother.

**Hōtō Shigen** (**Takadono Osami**) first appeared in cameo in manga episode #64 and fully appeared in manga episode #68. Her pretending to be **Shōkan Shiyoku** (**Makomo Mikiko**) and attending Kyoshō reflects on her past-self's actions that led up to the Battle of Chìbì. According to _The Romance of the Three Kindgoms_, **Páng Tǒng** (179-214 C.E.) — who was friends with Cáo Cāo's adviser **Jiǎng Gàn** (unknown dates of birth and death) and was known personally to Cáo himself — was invited to the Hàn camp prior to the battle and warmly received by Cáo. In that meeting, Páng suggested to Cáo to link up his warships with heavy chains together so as to ensure they wouldn't rock so heavily on the waters as they moved in on the positions held by the rebel forces (Cáo's troops were all northerners who had no experience fighting on the open waters). Said decision would later prove costly to Cáo; in the battle, naval forces under the overall command of Sūn Quán unleashed fire ships on Cáo's fleet, destroying many of the ships and denying Cáo's troops on the ground an easy way of escaping after they were finally routed.

2) Translations: **-yu** — Noukiite version of "-chan" for vowel-ending names (for consonant-ending names, it's **-u**); **Xiǎotáng** — Literally "My insignificant mother."

3) _Indiana Jones_ character note: **Marion Ravenwood** first appeared in _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ and would not appear again until _Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull_; she married Indiana at the end of that film.

4) The **Jōmon** Period in Japanese history is said to span from 14,000-300 B.C.E. Various sites containing artifacts from this period come from places like **Sannai** (known fully as "Sannai-Maruyama") in Aomori Prefecture at the northern end of Honshū, **Ōfunato** in Iwate Prefecture a hundred kilometres north-northeast of Sendai, and **Kawaguchi** in Saitama Prefecture north of Tōkyō itself.


	18. The Attack

Nerima, the Tendō home…

"_**SHE DID WHAT?!**_"

Genma sighed. "She basically ripped my wife apart, Tendō. And that damned whore Kureru just stood there and let her get away with it, too!" Another sigh. "Without Nodoka, our hopes of trying to get the stupid boy back under our control — BEFORE he gets the blood transfusion from those aliens! — dwindles by the day! We may have to take more direct actions against the Moroboshi to make them give up the boy!"

Sōun balked. "But Genma…!" he eeped. "Don't you remember?! The _**Black Death**_ is there! And so's that woman who's practically the leader of all tōshi alive today! And the Master will be there, too! If we tried to do anything…!"

"Tendō, are you just going to SIT there and allow these people to destroy all we've tried to create all these years?!" the other man thundered. "Why did you allow that worthless thing you call a father-in-law to take your disobedient daughters away from you like that?! You used to be stronger than this, Sōun…!"

"_**HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY CHILDREN LIKE THAT, SAOTOME?!**_"

Genma awked as a Demon Head loomed over him, he quickly assuming the Crouch of the Wild Tiger as he moaned out an apology to his friend…

"You two are the most pathetic creatures I've ever laid eyes on."

Hearing that, both men turned to see a silver-haired woman standing at the doorway, gazing in amusement at them. Quickly seeing her magatama, Sōun stopped himself before he gazed intently at her. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Ebisu Kyoko. Koshaji of Yoshū. And your youngest daughter's new TEACHER!"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

Demon Head again. "_**I FORBID THIS!**_"

"Forbid WHAT, Tō-chan?"

Sōun jolted on hearing that familiar voice, and then he broke out in tears as he moved to lunge over and embrace Akane. "AKANE-CHAN! THERE YOU…!"

_WHOMP!_

"…are…" Sōun moaned after he was smashed face-first into the patio thanks to Akane's new-and-improved ki mallet before he could embrace her.

"OYAJI NO BAKA!" Akane snarled. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PULLING?!"

Genma shuddered. "Now, see here, girl! You'll…!"

_SPLASH!_

"GROWLF!"

"You stay out of this, you abusive monster!" Akane said after she lowered the canteen of cold water she had with her as the transformed Genma stared wide-eyed at her. "You've done more than enough! I'm sick and tired of listening to your warped lies! Stay quiet if you want to know what's good for you in the long term!"

"B-b-but…Akane-chan…Saotome-kun…"

A kick to the side ribs made Sōun yelp. "You be quiet, Tō-chan!" his youngest daughter snapped. "You've no right to talk if you always keep bowing to this cheating freak of nature you call a 'friend!'" She thumbed Genma in emphasis. "I just came back here to give you a message from Ojii-chan. It's this: As of now, all of us are registered in the _koseki_ for the Miyamoto Clan of Nerima, not the Tendō Clan. You have no daughters anymore."

Sōun jolted. "But Akane-chan…"

"QUIET!" Akane snapped.

Niagara Falls resulted. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AKANE-CHAN'S…!"

_WHOMP!_

"…yelling…at me…"

Kyoko sighed. "He clearly can't make himself see what's going on, Akane," she stated, and then she glared at Genma, which made the transformed martial artist balk as those huntsman's eyes bored into him. "So you get the duty to tell him this, Saotome-san: As of Thursday, I — as given my right as a true _Master_ of the Ebisu-ryū of the Edo-Oniwabanshū-ryū — took Miyamoto Akane as my first true student."

Genma jolted, and then raised a sign. [**THAT'S FORBIDDEN, GIRL!**] The sign twirled around. [**SŌUN IS THE STUPID GIRL'S MASTER, NOT A CREATURE LIKE YOU!**]

"_**PANDA NO BAKA!**_"

_WHOMP!_

A sign weakly and wobbly came up from the crushed mountain of black-and-white fur on the floor now: [**THAT DIDN'T HURT!**]

Akane sighed. "Idiot…"

"Indeed," Kyoko breathed out, and then she turned to stare at the slowly-recovering Sōun. "Since you appear to be back to some form of consciousness, Tendō-san, I'll tell you what's happened," she stated. "Since you are NOT a certified master of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū and since you have been LYING to your daughter all this time about being a master in Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū and the founder of your 'school,' I felt I had no choice but to officially enrol your daughter in as MY student in the Ebisu-ryū of the Edo-Oniwabanshū-ryū so that she wouldn't be seen by others as a rogue BERSERKER without ANY form of school affiliation." As Sōun gasped in shock and denial at that ugly statement, Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "And I will confess that I've been spending a little too much time trying to REPAIR the DAMAGE your NEGLECT when it came to training your daughter after your wife's death unleashed! Hopefully soon, that damage will be repaired, and then she can progress in the martial arts in the way she needs to now!"

Silence.

"Akane-chan…you can't do that…"

"And why not?" Akane hotly demanded. "You just stopped teaching me PERIOD when Kā-chan died, Tō-chan! Do you want to know how many HOLES Kyoko found in my basic defence stance? How much I was out of BALANCE because YOU never taught me to alter my stance when I started growing up finally? Well?" As Sōun just stood there and sputtered, shaking his head in denial, Akane then sighed. "Well, there's another reason that Ranma — if he wasn't hurt by Shampoo — might have finally rejected marrying into our family in the long run! WE COULDN'T GIVE HIM A DAMNED THING!"

"But…that's not true…!" Sōun moaned.

"Oh, shut up!" Akane snapped. "You're a disgrace, Tō-chan!"

That did it.

"_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AKANE-CHAN THINKS I'M A DISGRACE! NOW THE SCHOOLS WILL NEVER BE JOINED! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAH!**_"

Akane snorted. "WHAT schools?!" she wondered. "C'mon, Kyoko! Let's leave the blubbering, selfish idiot to his stupid daydreams! I got a life to live!"

A nod. "Hai."

Sōun moaned as he watched his daughter walk away, and then he moved to follow…only to have the sharp tip of a kunai jab into his throat. "Leave MY student alone, old man!" Kyoko angrily declared as she glared at him, which made him wilt under that deadly gaze. "And pass it on to your friend when he wakes up," she added as she nodded to the still-unconscious Genma. "We met up with his wife a few minutes before we came here to pass on the news to you. As far as she's now concerned, he's FAILED in his promise to make his son a 'man above men,' which means that if he returns home, he'll be made to commit seppuku! Just like he PROMISED her all those years ago!"

As Sōun collapsed to the floor in shock, Kyoko withdrew her weapon, and then she headed off after Akane, who had already walked through the main gate…

* * *

Aboard _Haida_, just before supper…

"Whoa…!" Asumi breathed out.

"And you have FIFTY of these things?!" Haneko demanded.

Hiromi shrugged. She had invited all her guests aboard the starship — they were now in the observation lounge forward and below the pilotage platform — to give Morokuzu Ryōko a chance to be with Ki Tsukihana again, plus help the others understand what her friends had created. "Tsukihana-kun and Ayami-san both planned for much more, but when word of the Tag Race got to them finally, they stopped construction at fifty ships so they could be deployed here as quickly as possible." She indicated a chain of lights hovering over the Moon's northern hemispheric "seas," the Mare Imbrium, the Mare Serenitatis and the Mare Tranquillitatis. "Out there are several of the couple dozen space docks and many of the factory satellites we seized from the Niphentaxians when the Noukiites and the Yehisrites swept in to free the Avalonians. As soon as we moved everything here, the first thing we did was have meetings with the leaders of the armed forces across the planet to determine how the ships will be crewed and managed." She then smirked. "Which required a lot of repainting; they were all initially painted United Nations blue."

Hearing that, all the people from Seito giggled as many looked out from the main lounge on the four other starships that were grouped together with _Haida_. _Yamato_, _Arizona_ and _Paekbŏm_ were painted the haze grey sported by surface warships of their home nations' navies, while _Zhèng Hé_ sported the off white-grey worn by ships of the People's Liberation Army-Navy. While the other starships of the "volunteer Earth Defence Force" — which it legally was at this time as the United Nations' leadership was still debating over how such would be managed, governments being as sluggish as ever — were nothing more than bright lights in the distance, some of the people there could see the slight difference of colours in the hulls of the nearer ships. "So how soon will everyone send crews up here to take over from your friends?" Sonami then asked.

A sigh. "Can't say. We've been told it will be at least a half-year before we could at least get the core crews here. That depends on how fast recruiters can get personnel to replace those being drafted for space service. The Chinese and the Americans might be the first ones out here, along with the Russians and the Indians. As for all the others…" Here, Hiromi shrugged, and then she perked. "What is it, Naoko-san?"

"Forgive me for interrupting you with your guests, Hiromi-sama, but _Bismarck_ just detected a large task force of Noukiite star-barques passing the Neptune orbit line, originating from Tengsei," Takanashi Naoko reported from her place now at the stairwell leading into the main hull. "A total of three dozen ships."

"Which ships?" Hiromi asked.

"The core vessels of the Expeditionary Forces of the Front, Hiromi-sama."

"What does that mean?" Kumomi asked.

A sigh. "It means Kyechkyu-san is taking a potential incursion into this system by the Urusians very seriously," Hiromi said as she stood, stretching herself. "Naoko-san, my compliments to the Lady Admiral T'achnuk and inform her that I wish no open display of their presence here that can be detected by normal people on Earth."

Another bow. "Hai, Hiromi-sama. Excuse me, please."

"This woman's my counterpart, right?" Takai Minoko asked as Naoko headed out.

A nod. "Hai, Minoko-san. Your 'spirit-sister,' so to speak, can be something of a very laid-back person whenever she's not in a middle of a fight. When she does get into a fight, however, it can be quite destructive to whoever has drawn her wrath. In the meantime, minna-san, let's take this up to the pilotage."

Everyone nodded as they stood to follow her…

* * *

"We got visitors coming in, Hiromi-chan."

"I'm fully aware of that, Onii-san," Hiromi said as everyone walked onto the pilotage to find Ataru now in the captain's chair, with Noberu Miyako standing to his side. Sebone Shikuko was now at the helm station, currently being shown all the various equipment available to the duty helmsman by Hakaru Ayami. And — much to the total delight of everyone from Seito — Morokuzu Ryōko was currently sitting in Ki Tsukihana's lap at the main sensory station as the latter guided the former in tracking in the incoming Noukiite ships. "You've been told of Ryōko-san's dream?"

"Hai! Hai!" Ataru said as his sister walked up to take his place at the chair. Even if he was the technically "elder" brother, he still didn't particularly care for dealing with anything of a military nature, so he was more than glad to "turn the Conn over" to his sister whenever she came onto the bridge. "Hard to believe that most of your friends actually dream of their counterparts in the Flower Youth." He then gazed on the Seito people. "I know Miyako-chan here and Mimōko-san over in the aft lounge with Ranma dream of At'-chan and Kuhu. Who else has undergone all this?"

"Well, we have an observer currently attending Kyoshō who reports that Sōsō often dreams of this blonde-haired girl with pigtails all the time," Haneko noted. "Every time he does and she gets wind of it, Shiba'i curses the blue streak over it."

Miyako snorted. "'Observer'…"

"That is enough, Miyako-san," Hiromi chided. "I assume, Haneko-san, that the observer you now have in Kyoshō is Takadono Osami-san, currently disguising herself as 'Shōkan Shiyoku,' actually using the real name 'Makomo Mikiko?'"

Haneko nodded. "Hai, the same. We have Jiǎng Gàn's magatama with us; he never resurrected in this particular generation, so it was easy for Osami-san to fit in."

A hum. "Would you be willing to turn Lord Zǐyì's magatama over to me?"

The Seito people blinked in surprised. Sonami then gaped. "You mean you'd do for Jiǎng Gàn what you did for Liú Yān?" she asked.

"Hai," Hiromi affirmed with a nod. "Lord Zǐyì did serve Lord Mèngdé well right to the Battle of Chìbì. I would believe Mōtoku-dono would desire to have Shiyoku-dono fully within his service, which would allow you the chance to extract Shigen-dono and restore her back to where she really belongs with no hard feelings on either side."

Haneko hummed. "Well…"

"Haneko-san, you know I never liked the idea of you forcing Osami-san to do that," Sonami stated as she glared at her friend and adopted sister.

Haneko tensed, and then she sighed. "Hai…"

"Hiromi-sama?"

Hiromi looked over. "What is it, Yuri-san?"

Yamanoue Yuri looked up from her station. "A live signal from the Lady Admiral T'achnuk," she reported. "She passes her compliments and expresses her desire for your permission to come alongside _Haida_ so she and her party can meet you. She reports that forces from the Expeditionary Forces of the Left and the Right have deployed from Kaisei to support the Lady Admiral's squadron if required. And the Lady Governor Tuongta has instructed the Lady Admiral Ekk'eng to increase frontier patrols throughout the Noukiite side of the Slot to monitor possible ship movements from Toshitto."

A nod. "My compliments in return to the Lady Admiral and inform her that we eagerly await her arrival with the Lady Governor Syechch'eng. Please also inform her that if they desire it, both the Lady General Kaechkyuk and the Lady Admiral T'yenuo can deploy their own forces into the solar system if they wish to concentrate here."

Yuri nodded. "I'll relay that right away."

Kumomi turned to "gaze" on Hiromi. "What does that mean, Majesty?"

Hiromi stood. "In means, Shiryū-dono, that despite animosities still haunting dreams of their first lives three millennia ago, the Three Princess Dragons of the Outmarches can gladly act in unison and present a united front to anyone that threatens any one of them, to say anything of all THREE of them." She moved to head off the bridge. "Come, cousin," she then called out to Sonami. "You need to be with me."

The leader of Seito jolted. "M-m-ME…?!" she eeped.

Haneko and Asumi moaned while the others gave her sympathetic looks…

* * *

"Heaven's most sincere blessings upon you all."

"And to you as well, Hiromi-yu."

Watching their reborn emperor greet the visiting warriors from Noukiios, the people from Seito were quick to notice several things. First of all, the salute: Noukiites did it left fist-to-open right palm in lieu of the opposite as was used in old China (and among tōshi these days). Secondly, the clothes: While it was clearly obvious that the visitors were all quite young and very beautiful, they didn't do anything to show off their bodies, preferring full-sleeved and full-legged two-piece gi-like uniforms that were clearly made of quite thick and durable material even if the colours spanned the spectrum. Third, their willingness to adhere to both ancient and modern martial traditions: While most of them were armed with side holsters containing a pistol shaped like the modern models produced by Glock, they also gladly carried swords and pole-arms with them. And all of them looked as if they got frequent use.

"So was it a quiet trip?" Hiromi asked as she gently grasped Ch'esyuk's hand.

"Oh, pretty quiet," the governor of Tengsei replied. To the silent relief of all of Hiromi's friends, she spoke fluent Japanese with next to no noticeable accent; they had been told of _Haida_'s on-board universal translation systems, but they had noted Ch'esyuk's natural lip movements. "Kyechkyu-yu's flag captain has a live-time link to the monitoring stations along the border." Here, she glanced fondly at the senior officer in charge of Noukiite military forces based on Tengsei, the Lady Rear Admiral Seu-Kai Yesu-Kyech Hechnich'-T'achnuk of K'uongno, a busty tomboy with reddish-brown eyes and a white streak in her pitch-black hair. Much to the surprise of both Sonami and Minoko, Ch'esyuk and Kyechkyu were holding hands. "If anything happens, we'll know about it right away." She then blinked as her eyes turned to gaze on Sonami, and then she gasped. "Heaven's Gate…"

The leader of Seito found her cheeks reddening as this woman who — in one sense of the term — had been born over a millennia before her past-self had lived his first life gazed on her, and then she blinked as she felt the other woman's hands gently grasp her shoulders. "Relax," Ch'esyuk stated, smiling. "This is as much a shock to me as it is to you." She shook her head. "Many different images. Some male, some female. And yet deep down, it's all the same person." Back to Hiromi. "Were you like this?"

"No, this is my first reincarnation. And I've been debating within myself over the last six months if such was a good thing," the reborn emperor stated, and then she smiled. "Cousin, don't be so silent," she gently chided Sonami. "She won't hurt you."

Sonami awked, and then she giggled. "I'm sorry…!"

That was enough to break the ice for all the others. Quickly enough, people paired up with their "spirit-sisters" as greetings were exchanged and they introduced themselves. As the tōshi of Seito High School came together with their counterparts among the Flower Youth of Noukiios based now on Tengsei, Hiromi watched as three of those of the latter group who didn't have their "spirit-sisters" here to greet them today shift closer to her. "So have you had a chance to meet up with everyone you wanted to help and put them through the factory?" Seu-T'up' Yesu-Te Hechnich'-T'uok'i of K'uongno — "Tai" to her friends; she was "spirit-sister" to Uma Mikoko (Bachō Mōki), a freshman student attending Ryōshū High School in Saitama City — asked as she watched her wife Seu-Ne Yesu-Ach Hechnich'-Nukyek of K'uongno — Ryep' — take hold of Zanryū from her "spirit-sister" Kumomi while the latter held onto the former's double-pronged battle spear, the Kyek-kuch'ap'.

"Only a few," Hiromi answered. "Kyech-san's, At'at'at'-san's and Kuhu-san's spirit-sisters — along with T'ia-san's spirit sister; you know about her, I believe — not to mention one who was like myself before Onii-san found my magatama when he was a child." She then giggled as she gave Tai a knowing look. "Irony of ironies, Kyech-san's and At'at'at'-san's spirit-sisters are now Onii-san's current girlfriends."

"Well, one certainly can't fault Ataru's good taste," Morokuzu Ryōko's "spirit-sister," Seu-Noup' Yech'a-P'yuk Hechnich'-Ekt'yek of K'uongno — Nap'i — then noted before she looked around. "Where's Ryōko-yu?"

"Currently on the bridge with Tsukihana-kun," Hiromi answered. "In his first life, he — then a she — was Lord Kǒngmíng's wife, the Lady Huáng Yuèyīng."

"Ne, Asumi, isn't that hard?" Kuohu's younger adopted sister, Seu-Nuk Yesu-K'i Hechnich'-Kingch'eng of K'uongno — everyone called her "Kyekkyek" as she had next to NO use for any of the formal titles employed to those like her — asked as she gazed on her "spirit-sister," Haru Asumi.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, back then, Yìdé was a man. You're a woman. Doesn't that bother you?"

A shake of the head. "Nah, not really. I was Haru Asumi for a long time before I started thinking of myself as 'Chōhi Ekitoku.'" She then blinked as she gave the red-haired tomboy with the deep amethyst eyes a curious look. "What about you?"

"No, I was a girl all along. We all were," Kyekkyek affirmed.

"And this was allowed three thousand years ago?" Haneko asked as she gazed at Kuohu. "Women warriors actually being leaders of society?"

Kuohu shrugged. "We were a gender-equal society at the time of the Ch'uoeuk, Haneko." That term, many of the Seito people knew, identified the man who had been the first world-wide king of Noukiios five millennia ago, Muchach. "It was quite easy for us to switch from male to female leaders if dynastic needs required it."

"First-one born is the one that gets the throne," Kyechkyu stated.

"Or the head-of-household," Ryep' added.

The others all nodded. "So what exactly was this dream of Nap'i's spirit-sister all about, Hiromi?" Nap'i's wife, Seu-K'ek Yesu-Mek Hechnich'-Hukaech of K'uongno — Tap'i; she was the "spirit-sister" to Takadono Osami (Hōtō Shigen) — then asked as she gazed upon their host. "You told us that she sensed a coming battle between ourselves and the Urusians. None of us — even those of us who reside now on Okusei or any of the worlds close to Uru such as Chuttusei, Kegusei and Kaechsei — have heard even a peep from Onishuto about their government moving to ignore Ataru's declaration forbidding anyone from that world to visit Earth again."

"Though there has been the odd complaint from the more conservative circles on that world in the galactic news media every once in a while," Ch'esyuk reminded her as she crossed her arms.

"That did fade into the background after we finally dealt with the Niphentaxians," Kuohu reminded her beloved friend and adopted sister.

"I rather would err on the side of caution, my friends," Hiromi stated. "Let's go to the bridge; Ryōko-san is there. Maybe a direct mind-probe might give us more details."

The others nodded…

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home, after supper…

"How is she?"

A sigh. "She's okay," Tariko stated as she moved to make tea. "Her mom hears what she's saying, but it's not sinking in where it has to go."

Kinshō took that in, and then she sighed. "Some people really need it rammed into their heads at times, Tariko," she noted as she remembered what her children had put her through over the previous four months to get her to stop being so emotionally abusive to Ataru. "Is she staying with someone?"

Tariko nodded as she set up the cup and dropped the tea bag into it while the kettle began to blow off steam on the stove. "Yeah, Mago Tsueko's mom, Haeko." At the older woman's questioning look, Tariko added, "Tsueko-chan is Sonsaku Hakufu. Her mom's Goei." She then walked over to take the now-whistling kettle off the flames and place it on a tablecloth before she would pour the tea. "Turns out that Ka-chan's mom and Haeko-obachan were lovers back when they were going to middle school."

Kinshō blinked. "If she was strictly raised by her parents, I doubt they ever went THAT far, Tari-…" She then paused before blinking. "Is it me…?"

"Or is it getting colder?" Tariko finished as she blinked on noting her breath misting in the air and frost forming on the inside of the window. "Oh, SHIT!"

As Kinshō automatically reached over for one of her large cutting knives — all of whom had been replaced at Negako's behest to give them the same hardness and deadly edge as a properly-forged katana — Tariko quietly moved into the living room, where a small safe was located. Opening it, she reached inside to draw out a Lawgiver, a Zephyrite-designed particle-proton pistol that had multiple power settings and a 500-shot energy magazine in the grip, plus a targeting sensor under the barrel for the tricky or long-distance shots. As she clicked the safety off, she whispered, "Heavy stun, in-air manoeuvre, non-Terran and non-Avalonian targeting profile."

The pistol's on-board command computer beeped once; when the Moroboshi siblings had been given the weapons by their friends from Noukiios, they had been modified so that the computer wouldn't verbally repeat the commands, thus alerting potential targets that Death was now about to reach out and touch them directly. As Kinshō placed herself in the doorway of the kitchen, Tariko nodded at her and then looked upstairs. There, she saw Kanami standing near the closed door of Ataru's bedroom, the redhead now rock-still as she peered through the wall by the door, her eyes narrowed. Realizing her girlfriend was using her ki senses to pick out what was there, Tariko relaxed herself as she aimed the pistol at the closed door. Kanami was quick to sense that, and then she looked over. "How many?" Tariko wordless mouthed to her.

Kanami responded with four raised fingers, the thumb of her hand tucked in. Tariko nodded, then mouthed again, "Open the door."

Kanami nodded, and then seemed to fade from view. Seconds later, the door slid open. At that moment, a familiar female voice cried out, "What the FUCK…?!"

Tariko scowled as she squeezed the trigger. The Lawgiver barked loudly as four energy bolts — they reminded Kanami of photon torpedoes launched from the U.S.S. _Enterprise_ as she was depicted in the original _Trek_ television series — ripped out in rapid succession from the muzzle, racing upstairs almost at sonic speeds, and then veering hard left right through the open doorway into Ataru's bedroom. Sparking-like noises then echoed from the room, that accompanied by the shocked cries of three women and the more animal-like grunt of something that Tariko — when she was part of Ataru — had encountered once before, sometime after she had been "married" to Redet Hensō.

It was something she hoped she never had to deal with again.

"B-Boy!" she snarled. "Ka-chan, he's a yeti! Nail him with vacuum blades!"

Kanami suddenly became fully visible as a thunderous voice howled from inside the bedroom, "**YOU HURT THE PRINCESS…!**"

"_**KIJIN RAISHŪ DAN!**_"

A second later, the windows of Ataru's bedroom exploded outward as a white furry form much larger than anything humanoid native to Earth was propelled outside…

* * *

Nearby…

"HOLY SHIT!"

"What the hell happened?!"

Seeing what looked like all the Western stories of the infamous Yeti from the Himalayas crash on the street not too far away from the Moroboshi home, Tsukasa Torusuke — Sōsō Mōtoku — blinked before his eyes narrowed as his own ki-senses took a closer look. "It appears, Ryūen, your hosts are being attacked by some old 'friends' from beyond this world," he said as he glanced briefly at Hayashi Miiko.

Miiko blinked, and then she looked up to see her sister appear at the shattered windows of Ataru's bedroom while many other people began to peek out from the windows of nearby homes on hearing the explosion of noise. "Onē-sama!" she cried as she and Ebisu Kyoko — the tōshi from Yoshū had guided Miiko to Kyoshō so she could meet Torusuke before she returned to Nerima to make sure Akane was safe when she confronted her father finally, and then she went back down to meet up with Miiko when the Kyoshō delegation arrived in Tomobiki — sprinted away from the group from Kyoshō to assist.

By then, Kanami had taken a detailed look at the now badly-bleeding B-Boy. The huge ape-like creature had been hit several times in the body by the vacuum blades of the Demon God Assault Bomb. That — added to the many cuts he got when he was sent flying through the reinforced Plexiglas windows of Ataru's bedroom — made her believe he would stay down. Noting then that Miiko and Kyoko were approaching — they followed by a small crowd of tōshi dressed in a mixture of clothing — she then shouted out, "Keep him down there, Mii-chan! If he even twitches the wrong way, put him down!"

"No…please…!"

Kanami spun around as one of the three women who had been dropped by Tariko's pistol struggled to shake off the heavy stun effect of the Lawgiver and get back to her feet. Quickly recognizing the woman from her girlfriend's descriptions of those who had interacted with the natives of Tomobiki up to six months ago, she then raised her hand as she allowed ki to coalesce around it. "Stay down, Mienai," she stated. "If you do, you'll live through this. If you don't, you go home a HEAD SHORTER!"

Hearing that cold threat from this strange woman who had blasted away her personal bodyguard with what seemed to be NO difficulty whatsoever, Mienai felt a frightened gulp surge up her throat. Before she could move any more, she then became rock-still on feeling the touch of a hot pistol muzzle on her temple close to her left eye.

"Don't even think about it, Mienai," Tariko icily warned.

The Neptunian princess blinked, and then she turned to stare up at this female replica of her friend's ex-husband, and then she tried to smile. "I…"

"Shut up."

Mienai jolted on hearing that hissed command from Ataru's sister, and then she found herself staring into a pair of very cold brown eyes that showed no hint of mercy or pity inside them. As she allowed herself to relax, Tariko sighed as she gazed in the direction of Ataru's closet…which now was covered by a yawning, snow-filled portal that was full of mist and heavy clouds. "Shit!" Tariko hissed. "Ka-chan?!"

"Yeah?"

"Incoming!"

Kanami looked herself, and then she tensed as her ki senses were quick to detect the first signs of a whole battalion's worth of humanoids surging through this odd space-warp in the middle of the air. Without hesitation, she savagely kicked Mienai in the jaw, thus knocking her into the wall close to where Shigaten Kamen had collapsed after she had been shot by Tariko, and then she swept her hands forward.

"_**KIJIN RAISHŪ DAN!**_"

Twin waves of vacuum blades raced into the warp as Tariko levelled her Lawgiver. "Kill-disrupt, non-Terran and non-Avalonian targeting profile, full automatic!"

The Lawgiver thundered as a storm of bright bolts raced into the warp right after Kanami's vacuum blades. A second later, a chorus of pain-filled shrieks echoed through the tunnel in space-time, that followed by scattered explosions mixed with shouts of anger and fear. A second after that, the warp seemed to fizzle before it collapsed in on itself and disappeared, leaving behind a considerable pile of snow and ice on the floor of Ataru's bedroom. Not to mention three unconscious alien girls; beyond Mienai and Kamen, there was Aruka Damasu, who presently lay on the floor close to Ataru's work desk, a dropped anti-personnel launcher on the floor nearby.

Silence fell, and then Kinshō peeked inside to see the damage. "Well, it's not THAT bad," she then admitted as she crossed her arms, her knife at the ready in her right hand. "So what brought these three here, anyway?" she wondered.

Tariko sighed as she lowered her weapon. "Search me, Kā-san," she breathed out, and then she blinked as footsteps echoed from the hallway. "We're alright!"

As Miiko and Kyoko came in, a pained moan then escaped the slowly-moving Kamen. Without breaking stride, the ninja-trained tōshi from Yoshū whipped out a kunai and slammed the blade right into the Fukunokami biker-babe's back, just right of her spine below her diaphragm! Kamen howled in shock on feeling that searing hot blade rip into her liver, and then she collapsed to the floor as blood began to spurt out of her now sheared-open inferior vena cava. "Stay down," Kyoko stated, though she kept the kunai in the other woman's body so that she didn't bleed out until her fate was determined.

As people began to relax, a moaning roar echoed from outside, that followed by a surprised cry of pain from someone, echoed with shouts of outrage and panic. "Oh, HELL…!" Tariko hissed out as she ran to the shattered window…

…just as that roar turned into a howl of shock and pain.

As Tariko watched, a shivering Torusuke — with the veins of his lower arms now pulsing with power and his normally dark chestnut eyes now glowing with gold fire — was holding up a struggling B-Boy SINGLE-HANDEDLY. She then glanced down close to the feet of the leader of Kyoshō to see a black-haired man about the same age as Torusuke on the street, gripping the area around his left eye as blood pooled on the ground beside him. Noting the fallen man was being comforted by a young freshman girl appearing to be distantly related to Torusuke — Tariko remembered Hiromi telling her once that the leader of Kyoshō had nominated his paternal cousin, Tsukasa Satomi (also known as "Sōjin Shikō"), as head of Kyoshō's "shock troopers" — Tariko then scowled as she watched the roaring B-Boy try to bash away the man that was slowly choking the life out of him. Grimacing, she turned and raced out of her brother's bedroom for her own.

"Hey, Ta-chan…!" Kanami began…

…and then her breath caught in her throat as her girlfriend marched back in, carrying with her what appeared to be an old-style breech-loading rifle musket from the latter half of the nineteenth century. As Tariko stormed past her, she flipped open the breech mechanism and slipped in what looked like a rather big shotgun shell into the firing chamber. Snapping closed the breech, she cocked back the exposed hammer, and then hoisted the weapon as she aimed it right at B-Boy's head.

"_**SŌSŌ! DROP HIM!**_" she yelled out.

Torusuke's burning eyes snapped over to glare at her, and then they went wide on seeing the rather BIG rifle in her hand and aimed in his general direction. He then let go of B-Boy, who staggered a bit as he began to breathe in fresh air…

_BOOM!_

A bolt of bright, burning energy slammed through B-Boy's skull, making half the creature's head explode in a shower of gore and shredded flesh that cascaded harmlessly on the ground off to Torusuke's left. As the tōshi who had come with their leader morbidly watched B-Boy's dying moments, the alien monster collapsed to the ground, his eyes staring nowhere in particular as the last breath of life escaped him. Silence then fell as Tariko lowered her rifle, and then she breathed out in relief before sensing Torusuke's now-normal eyes fall on her. They gazed on each other for a moment before the leader of Kyoshō nodded his thanks, smiling. Tariko glanced at Satomi. "Get him up here!" she yelled out as she pointed to the wounded man in her lap. "We'll get him up to the _Haida_ so that we can get his eye looked at!"

The tōshi on the street blinked, surprised by that offer from the sister of this town's most famous resident, and then Torusuke barked, "YOU HEARD HER! MOVE!"

They moved…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Mare Imbrium** — Sea of Showers; **Mare Serenitatis** — Sea of Serenity (the place where the capital city of the Moon Kingdom in _Sailor Moon_ was located); **Mare Tranquillitatis** — Sea of Tranquility (the place where Apollo 11 landed on 20 June 1969); **Conn** — _Star Trek_ short-form term for "flight controller," the position that **Wesley Crusher** was assigned to in _The Next Generation_; **Kyek-kuch'ap'** — Twin Fangs of the Dragon.

2) The "girl with pigtails" Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke) dreams of is his Noukiite "spirit-sister." Given the birth name **Seup'it'**, her proper name is **Seu-Ne Yesu-Ne Hechnich'-T'uokch'eng** of Eap'ye. She is based on the _Koihime Musō_ version of Sōsō Mōtoku (real name **Karin**). Karin first appeared in the fourth episode of _KM_, "Bachō Tries to Attack Sōsō." Seup'it' is currently the governor of **Kaisei** (known to readers of _The Senior Year_ as "Magairu," home planet of Ataru's would-be wife Sunhair Windrider of Zephyrus). As the "Black Princess Dragon of Kaisei," Seup'it' was assigned there as that world is the closest Noukiite colony planet to Seifukusu space.

3) The "Lady Governor Tuongta" that Yuri speaks of to Hiromi is none other than the Flower Youth analogue to Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko). Given the birth name **Hep'p'yech**, her proper name is **Seu-Hech Yesu-Tuong Hechnich'-Tuongta** of Hichp'u. She is based on the _KM_ version of Sonsaku Hakufu (real name **Sheren**). Sheren first appeared in the tenth episode of _KM_, "Sonsaku's Life is Threatened." She is the "Rose Princess Dragon of Kasei;" **Kasei** is a planet located on the Noukiite side of the "Slot" connecting Earth-Neptune to the Urusian colony world of Toshitto (whose near-destruction in the _TSY_ story "Great Father Ataru Stage Ten - Revelations" effectively wrecked the Urusian Imperial Round). To Urusians, Kasei is called "Tsumetaru."

4) The "Lady Admiral Ekk'eng" Yuri also speaks to Hiromi of is the Flower Youth equivalent to the _KM_ character of **Kōgai Kōfuku** (real name **Sai**). This person is based on the historical character **Huáng Gài** (unknown birth and death dates), one of the senior generals to ever serve the Sūn Clan in the early years of the Three Kingdoms period. The Noukiite version of this person was given the birth name **Nuo** and has the real name **Seu-Seuk Yesu-Uo Hechnich'-Ekk'eng** of Hichp'u. She is the commander of Frontier Patrol Forces that ensure no intrusion of Noukiite space in and around Kasei and other planets near the Slot. Sai first appeared in the seventh episode of _Shin-KM Otome Tairan_, "Kōgai Makes A Plan To Deceive Her Allies." Unlike other _KM_ characters, Sai has no _Ikkitōsen_ equivalent.

5) **Chuttusei**, **Kegusei** and **Kaechsei** are the Noukiite names for three planets who — in the universe of _The Senior Year_ — belong to Uru: **Tamamono**, **Baiseki** and **Machibusu** respectively. In _TSY_ history, fringe Noukiite radicals claimed these worlds even though the mainstream policy of the government acknowledged a secret agreement between the first President of the Dominion of Uru and the first President of the Union of Uru (post-Union Revolution) that acknowledged that Machibusu, Baiseki and Tamamono were Urusian. In the reality of this story, Urusians who didn't wish to live under the rule of the old Urusian Empire live under Noukiite governance on the three planets in question; their rights as sentient beings have only recently been reasserted thanks to the efforts of Kaep'.

6) The **Lawgiver**, the standard sidearm of the Zephyrite Inquisition in _TSY_ (also the standard sidearm for the Men In Black), is based on the like-named weapon from the _Judge Dredd_ comic series. Unlike the comic weapon, the Zephyrite firearm is shaped like a Glock pistol with a grey-green metal finish, a streamlined targeting sensor and computer unit affixed to the barrel ahead of the trigger guard.

Note that the weapon Tariko used to kill B-Boy was a Yehisrite **Qu'f-piaqu'r** (literally "fire-stick"), which made its first appearance in the _TSY_ story "Sakura's Class Reunion." The qu'f-piaqu'r is a particle-photon breech-loading musket shaped similar to the .577 Snider-Enfield rifled muskets used by the British Army in the late 1860s.

7) **B-Boy** first appeared in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Oyuki" (manga episode #7).

8) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Sōsō Mōtoku** (**Tsukasa Torusuke**) is the current leader of the Kyoshō Academy. He first made his appearance in manga episode #30. He is a man full of contradictions despite his being made one of the antagonists in the manga…but then again, that dichotomy fit his past-self, **Cáo Cāo** (155-220 C.E.), to a "T." The adopted son of one of the eunuchs who served the Imperial Hàn, Cáo was loyal to the idea of doing everything to ensure central rule would remain in place after things began to collapse after 189; only near the end did he actually entertain the idea of forming his own dynasty…which occurred right after his death when his son deposed the last Hàn Emperor and formed the state of Cáo Wèi. It is because of his ruthlessness that Cáo is often the villain in many series based on _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_; _Sōten Kōro_ was the main exception to that rule. In this incarnation, Torusuke is portrayed as a lazy beach bum at first, but he later came to show all of Cáo's more positive traits in the manga series: Loyalty to friends and subordinates and a determination to protect what is his, even if such requires him to crush his foes. I play up on that here.

**Sōjin Shikō** (**Tsukasa Satomi**) first appeared in manga episode #73. She is Torusuke's paternal cousin and, as noted here, the commander of Kyoshō's special "shock troops," a squad of highly-skilled fighters that can be thrust into a situation when required…and when there is no need for the **Three-Pillared Gods** (first noted in Part 2) to get involved. Her past-self was Cáo Cāo's younger cousin **Cáo Rén** (168-223), who fought at his relative's side throughout the preliminary struggles that led up to the Three Kingdoms, eventually topping out as Grand Commander of the armies of Cáo Wèi. In this incarnation, Satomi is a tomboy and quite the late bloomer; she is Torusuke's age yet hasn't developed anything of a figure whatsoever. She is loyal to her cousin and will do anything to support Torusuke in whatever he does.

The person who was wounded by B-Boy here will be introduced in the next part.


	19. The Response

The _Haida_, nightfall (Japan time)…

"So what did you find, Michiko-san?"

On Michiko — formerly On Michiji, also known as "Enjutsu Kōro" — took a deep breath. The black-haired, brown-eyed tomboy's image was currently being projected from the main bridge of the Federal German Starship _Bismarck_, which currently served as flag of a five-ship formation (also including Her Majesty's Starship _Hood_, the French Starship _Richelieu_, the Italian Starship _Vittorio Veneto_ and the Spanish Starship _Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad_) close to Neptune. "The whole area of the Central Warp Chamber is a disaster zone, Hiromi-sama," the reborn ex-leader of the Nan'yō Academy stated before she bowed her eyes apologetically. "We didn't see it coming until it was too late; there were NO visible movements of troops or anything like that we detected from Uru to Triton." She took a deep breath. "From what our sensors could detect, the people killed by your sister's Lawgiver and her lover's vacuum blade attack were mostly Oni- and Seishin-Urusians with a group of Niphentaxians; total KIA about six hundred with at least four hundred more badly wounded. The Chamber itself — not to mention the whole staging area by its entrance — is wrecked and probably will be out of commission for a while to come." Her eyes then fell on Kanami, who was standing beside Tariko off to Hiromi's left; the reborn emperor was now surrounded by Koro Sonami, Hayashi Miiko, the Sebone cousins, Seki Haneko and Tsukasa Torusuke. "Nice attack, by the way."

Kanami blinked, and then she weakly nodded before she felt Tariko's comforting hand on her shoulder. "Why would they attack Ataru-kun?" Shikuko demanded. The other tōshi were quick to sense the outrage burning in the aqua-haired warrior's heart as she glared at Michiko. "He divorced that Oni legally by her people's very own laws. Who the HELL gives her friends the right to sneak into his house and try to kidnap him when he made it DAMN clear he wanted nothing to do with them anymore?!"

A shrug. "I can't answer that, Shikuko. I haven't done much in the way of communications monitoring since Hiromi-sama put me in charge of this bunch three months ago. My primary task was to provide advanced warning of large starship movement into the solar system from the direction of Ipraedos or any of the Federation states. When I found out about what the Neptunians could do with that warp chamber of theirs, I tried to do my best to make sure there weren't any attempts at trying to move people to Earth. As far as we could tell, they didn't move anything past the asteroid belt other than snow." A sigh. "No doubt, they suspected we were on the lookout for them…"

"So they felt the best thing to do under the circumstances was a quick in-and-out strike," Torusuke finished as he stared at Hiromi. "They clearly believed your brother would present no danger to them. And they clearly either didn't know fully how prepared your whole family was when it came to dealing with potential intruders…"

"Or believed that you and your sisters would ultimately be no threat to them either," Haneko added as she crossed her arms.

Hiromi sighed. "Stupid people…" she breathed out as she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Yuri-san?" she called out.

Yamanoue Yuri perked. "Hai, Hiromi-sama?"

"Send a direct signal to Kōri City. I wish to speak to anyone in authority — make that **_competent_** authority! — over there about this incident," the reborn emperor stated. "The presence of foreign troops on Neptunian sovereign soil is a violation of several treaties unless they were given clearance to deploy there by Oyuki-san's father." She then perked. "Oh, before you make that call, send a signal out to the Lady Admiral T'yenuo's flagship. My sincerest compliments to her and please have her come here as soon as she can. And if her wife is with her, please ask her to come along."

A nod. "Hai, Hiromi-sama."

As the red-haired Avalonian began making calls, Michiko then asked, "What would you want me to do now, Hiromi-sama?"

"Get her back here to mass everyone together," Torusuke then proposed. As the others looked at him, the leader of Kyoshō added, "Her ships are crewed the same way as these ships are, right? You can't ask untrained people to act as a reconnaissance force without their being prepared to fight their way out if they get ambushed."

"Besides, with the Warp Chamber down, there's no threat that could sneak up on us now," Mimōko added. "If they want to push it, let's fight them on a field of our choosing, not theirs. Don't leave Michiko hanging out there, Hiromi-san."

A sigh. "Agreed," Hiromi stated. "You overheard, Michiko-san?"

"Hai, Hiromi-sama."

"Get those ships back here now."

"Hai!"

The link with _Bismarck_ was closed off. "Hiromi-sama, a message from the Lady Admiral T'yenuo," Yuri then stated. "Her compliments to you. She will be ready to board _Haida_ alongside her wife, cousin and cousin-in-law within the hour. She also has relayed information back to Kaisei. The Lady Governor T'uokch'eng will be coming shortly on her own flagship with support forces to reinforce her cousins."

A nod. "Send my thanks back to her and please inform her that we eagerly expect their arrival as soon as they can get here. Hold off on any signal to Triton."

Yuri nodded. "Hai, Hiromi-sama."

* * *

The aft observation lounge, a half-hour later…

"So what the hell happened?"

Kanami sighed. "I had to kill today, Ranma…"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

Ranma's eyes went wide. "What happened?"

His sister blinked as she felt Miiko's hands squeeze her shoulders, and then she lowered her head as she began to mutter out the explanation. Hearing those words, the crippled martial artist closed his own eyes. He felt tears well up inside them as he sensed the mix of pain, shame and anger in Kanami's voice as she described the vicious ambush she and Tariko had pulled on the invaders from Triton and what they had to do to help shut down the space-warp between Kōri City and Tomobiki. At the end of it, she closed her eyes. "They didn't see it coming until it was way too late, Ranma. From what Mimōko's friend described of what happened after the warp collapsed, it was like a whole field of wheat had been cut down by a big scythe." A sigh. "I can see why Oyaji decided to seal the Yamasen-ken. Even if he is a selfish idiot…"

"He won't ever stray close to murder," Ranma finished for her, and then he focused on Miiko. "What did Michiko-san say about these people, Mii-chan?"

"All of them were clearly armed with advanced weapons, Onii-sama," the reborn governor of Yízhōu stated. "A battalion-sized group. Clearly an invasion force of some sort. No doubt, they were prepared to deal with Ataru-san's friends should any of them have attempted to come to his aid were he kidnapped." She closed her eyes. "As far as Hiromi-sama, Tariko-san and Ataru-san were concerned, it was already excessive with the presence of this B-Boy creature that normally protected Mienai from harm. If it was Mienai, Kamen and Damasu coming alone, it might have been peaceful…"

He then perked. "Wait a sec'! Damasu's from Uru! Ataru said that no one from Uru was ever to come to Earth again!" He then breathed out. "Damn…!"

"Most of the troops Onē-sama and Tariko-san struck down were Urusian as well," Miiko stated as she gave Kanami's shoulders a reassuring squeeze, which made the latter relax as she sat back in her chair beside Ranma's bed. "No doubt, these alien barbarians have decided that whatever promises they gave our people in supposed 'good faith' a year ago when they forced their 'tag race' on us will no longer be honoured."

"So it seems."

Everyone perked as Tariko walked into the lounge. "Hey, Tariko! You okay?" Ranma asked as Ataru's twin sister came up to gently kiss Kanami on the cheek.

A nod. "I'm okay," Tariko admitted. "I kinda expected that sooner or later, Hensō or one of her friends might pull something stupid to get back at us over what happened on Uru six months ago. Especially after we helped Lupica get that love potion she wanted; she warned us that the Urusians didn't take too well to the idea of our closing off our space to them all because of the 'lies' surrounding Lum's double, not to mention the whole business with the Niphentaxians and the Avalonians."

"Has someone called up from Triton about what happened?" Kanami asked.

"The calls started coming in about a half-hour ago," Tariko replied. "Messages mostly from Oyuki's father Fuyu; he's the king of the planet. We're ignoring them for now. Kyechkyu put out a picket line in the direction of Neptune in case he gets it into his head to send something our way now that the Chamber's shut down for a while." A sigh. "Hopefully, Pukaze will get involved and put a stop to it soon enough."

"Who is this Pukaze?" Miiko asked.

"Oyuki's paternal cousin and second-in-line to the throne after Mienai," Tariko explained. "She's the big boss of the Neptunian military. She knows the truth about Oyuki and Mienai; while we were on Okusei, she came there to visit Oyuki and Tap'uch — that's Oyuki's wife; she's one of the force commanders based out of Kaisei — to learn the whole truth. She believed it just like everyone from Earth believed Lum's story when she got the chance to mind-meld with them after Kyech crashed the wedding." She took a deep breath. "While Pukaze really doesn't want the throne, she'll take it if she has to."

"Didn't Mienai's being a fake disqualify her for the throne?" Miiko asked.

A shake of the head. "Not in her father's eyes. He found it impossible to believe the soul-swapping story anyway. Just like Lum's dad didn't believe it."

"Why can't they believe it?" Ranma wondered.

Tariko took a deep breath. "It all started when Lum was born. There's this very old witch — the Lady Zōju of the Oak Forest Asteroid — who lives out on the frontier between Urusian and Fukunokami space. She was hoping to be invited to Lum's baby shower, but the invite got lost in the mail. So she cursed Lum to ensure she never knew true love." As the Hayashi siblings gaped, Ataru's twin smirked. "It's true. She later found out the invite to the shower WAS sent, so she cancelled the curse with the intergalactic organization that runs these things. But the controlling orb that she created to manage the curse got lost. And then it somehow got found — or at least as the theory goes now — by somebody three hundred years from now, who got possessed by the damned thing and made him travel back in time several times over the last decade or so to look in on Lum, thus ultimately activating the curse." As looks of disbelief crossed her friends' faces, Tariko smirked as she shrugged. "I know. That's what I said when I heard the story after my siblings and I met Lum on Okusei."

"So how did this lead to Lum-san and Hensō switching bodies?" Miiko asked.

"The curse was designed to deny Lum true love," Tariko answered. "This guy — whoever the hell he was — who travelled from the future was young, about Tsukihana-kun's age. And you have to remember, we had TWO controlling orbs in existence at that time." She raised the index fingers of both hands to emphasize her point.

"Oh, I get it!" Ranma then said. "The orb that got lost in this time and the version of it that got brought here from the future. So what happened?"

"Well, as Zōju-obāchan explained it, magic is always attracted to like magic to make it grow and ensure it stays alive," Tariko stated. "With the orb from the future influencing the one from the present, that activated the support units the organization Obā-chan contacted about the curse set up to help it along. And with that, the curse was running full out when Hensō's body was created five years ago." She shook her head. "And what better way to deny Lum any chance to know true love than to…"

"Literally take her **_life_** away from her," Kanami finished for her girlfriend.

"Yeah."

"Damn…" Ranma breathed out.

"Tariko-chan?"

Tariko perked, and then she looked over before grinning. "Hey, Oyuki!"

The Hayashi siblings looked over as a more mature-looking version of the Neptunian princess Kanami encountered in the Moroboshi home came into the room. She was dressed in a white gi-like uniform, her name in Noukiite letters written down the front of her jersey above her belt. Her hair was also melted and free-flowing; having lived so long on a much warmer world than her native Triton hadn't allowed the hair to freeze up as it would have had she resided on her native soil. As they watched Tariko and Oyuki share an embrace, the Hayashi siblings were quick to see she wasn't alone; accompanying her was a beautiful Noukiite woman appearing to be about twenty, dressed in a stylish gold-trimmed uniform with a dark blue top over light blue pants, a sheathed sword similar to a taiken to her side. She had golden-brown eyes and silver-blue hair cut very short, with rakish bangs over her right eye. As Tariko and Oyuki chatted away, the other woman came over. "Heaven's most sincere blessings on you all. You must be Tariko's heart-mate and her siblings." A deep bow. "I am Seu-Susa Yesu-Kyech Hechnich'-T'yenuo of Eap'ye, rear admiral of Her Imperial Majesty's Navy and flag officer commanding Her Imperial Majesty's Expeditionary Forces of the Left. You may call me 'Tap'uch.'" She then smiled as Oyuki came over to take her wife's hand. "Oyuki is my heart-mate."

"Damn!" Kanami breathed out. "Oyuki-chan, you sure have good taste!"

"Indeed she does, Onē-sama," Miiko added as Oyuki's cheeks flamed.

Laughter filled the observation room, and then Tariko did introductions. Tap'uch and Oyuki beamed on hearing that Kanami was now Tariko's girlfriend and that Miiko — who had been like Hiromi had been when Ataru had found the magatama bearing her soul over a decade before — was now serving pretty much as the reborn emperor's aide-de-camp these days. Ranma was then introduced, the reasons behind his being aboard _Haida_ soon explained. When that was done, Tap'uch took his hand in both of hers. "With your permission, Young Master Ranma, I'll call over a very skilled healer I know of to look at your wound and see if we can have you restored to your feet as soon as possible. Much that I personally would not question the Most Venerable Grandmaster Negako's wisdom, she is not solely trained as a healer but as a warrior and as a teacher of warriors. I believe the Venerable Healer Kaechseu might be able to do something to allow you to receive blood from your sisters sooner than when the Most Venerable One planned."

He smiled, though his cheeks were blushing at her calling him "young master." "I appreciate that. Much that I'm glad that I'll be on my feet soon enough, now that this fight's coming, I want to be back on my feet sooner."

"And it's a good thing," Tap'uch said. "In the meantime, we'll get to the bridge so that I can discuss this with my wife's cousin. I'll get my flagship's healer to signal the Venerable Healer Kaechseu and have him come here as soon as he can; I believe he was visiting a hospital on Kasei, which is not too far away."

"Appreciate it," he stated, nodding…

* * *

The bridge, minutes later…

"I resent such an accusation, Madame!"

Tap'uch stared intently at the image on the main view screen. Seeing that hunter's glare cross the Noukiite naval officer's face, Oyuki's father Fuyu seemed to wilt even though he was billions of kilometres away from Tap'uch in his private office on Triton. "Your Majesty, I care not what you think!" the admiral hissed, her slow-burning rage over the emotional trauma her wife had endured over the years thanks to this man's blind faith in a mass-murderer like Ōgi finally bubbling to the surface. "Your people were given the gift of the Central Warp Chamber by the Great Dragon Ship and the Maidens of the World of Holy Reincarnation over a millennia ago. And you have, for the most part, seen to it that the full power of the Chamber has never been abused. Until now." She took a step closer to the view screen, which made the King of Neptune falter back. "The leaders of Earth's United Nations and their member nation-states made it VERY clear when we discovered the Niphentaxian annihilation bomb planted in Tomobiki at that madman Ōgi's orders that NO citizen of ANY world belonging to the Galactic Federation will ever come to Earth without direct permission obtained from their Special Committee of Alien Activities. THAT was guaranteed by Her Imperial Majesty herself! I contacted Lord Zachariah prior to my boarding this ship and he made it VERY clear that what just happened in Tomobiki was NOT permitted!" She pointed accusingly at him, which made Fuyu wilt even more. "YOU — and whoever on Uru and Phentax Two was supporting YOUR actions — have committed an act of WAR on a race under our protection, thus you have committed an act of WAR against the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios as a whole! If you DON'T give me a satisfactory answer as to WHAT this was about…" Her eyes narrowed as a bloodless smile crossed her face. "Then the war begins now."

Silence.

"You wouldn't…!" Fuyu eeped…

…before a shocked gasp escaped him, and then he collapsed, allowing what appeared to be a slightly older Oyuki to step into view. "Take Uncle to the Medical Centre," the woman stated as she held up what appeared to be a futuristic hypodermic injector. "Inform the Privy Council he may have to be declared unfit to remain as monarch of our people. If they start asking questions, explain what has just been discovered concerning what happened at the Warp Chamber earlier today."

"At once, My Princess," an older woman's voice echoed from off-screen.

A nod as several people came into view to carry off the now-unconscious Fuyu, and then the woman turned to gaze apologetically at her cousin-in-law. "I really am sorry this sordid incident happened, Tap'uch-u," Pukaze stated, and then her smile brightened even further as she noted who stood to the Noukiite admiral's right rear. "How are you, Oyuki? How soon am I going to be made an aunt finally?"

"Well, Pukaze, much that I am looking forward to having a baby, the only man I would EVER consider to be that child's father has been taken away by none other than Kyech's and At'at'at's own dream-sisters," Oyuki stated as she waved to where Shikuko and Miyako were standing beside Ataru. "I don't think they share."

Ataru awked and Miyako gaped while Shikuko howled with laughter. Seeing that, Pukaze laughed. "Cousin, you've kept up your training in diplomacy even after you were forced into exile thanks to that monster Ōgi," the field marshal in charge of Neptune's armed forces stated. "I think if you take the time and get to know those two ladies quite well, you might actually succeed in getting Ataru into your bed soon enough!"

"HEY!" Ataru yelped.

More laughter filled the bridge. "So what happened?" Tap'uch asked.

A sigh. "The warriors that were caught by Tariko-chan and her beloved in the Warp Chamber had come to Triton in small groups over the last three months," Pukaze stated. "Staying at the expense of the Urusian ambassador; we expelled him back to Onishuto an hour ago and we sent a message to President Lana explaining to him what happened. In the interrogation of the survivors, we learned that those senior leaders on Uru with Imperialist leanings — supported by surviving senior clerics of the Church of Lum on Phentax Two — were all behind an attack on Hensō's ex-husband."

"No doubt because of Onii-san's rather final declaration in the wake of the revelation of what really happened to Lum-san which forbade Urusian contact with Earth as long as they chose to behave like spoiled children instead of responsible sentient beings," Hiromi stated from her position in the captain's chair.

A nod. "Hai. I sent a private message to Lum's adopted sister Negau telling her what we found out. She can certainly organize things there that would forever eliminate the leaders of the Imperial Round once and for all time."

"What is this Imperial Round, Your Highness?" Torusuke asked.

"They're the blue-bloods that want to turn the clock back on Uru and force the planet back into a feudal absolute monarchy," Ch'esyuk replied. The crowd from Tengsei had all come to the bridge alongside their spirit-kin from Seito to witness this communication with Oyuki's cousin. "If that happens, they'll no doubt plunge the whole of Urusian territory into an inter-system civil war that will drag in neighbouring powers such as ourselves and the Ipraedies, not to mention their own allies in the Galactic Federation such as Fukunokami." A shake of the head. "It would be a wasteful thing altogether. Too many Urusians don't want to lose what their ancestors won for them two centuries ago." A sigh. "But the people of the Imperial Round don't care."

"So seek them out and kill them," Shikuko stated. As people gazed on Rakuyō's best fighter, she cocked her fingers as if she was aiming a pistol, and then she squeezed the trigger. "Eliminate them all and whoever is following them will think twice about walking in their path. Sometimes, the simple solutions…"

"Are the best ones," Mimōko finished for her cousin.

Shikuko nodded. "Pukaze-sama, is Lana-daitōryō politically strong enough to remove these creatures from their current posts?" Hiromi then asked. "I remember learning of Rei-san's uncle Yethis from Lum-san; he's the president's chief-of-staff. And he's been dreaming of restoring the Urusian Empire since he was a child!"

Pukaze smiled. "Well, once he learns that Rei himself died thanks to one of Tariko-chan's Lawgiver bullets, I think General Yethis will have to worry more about his sister's reaction than any sort of action done unto him by the President."

A shocked gasp of breath made everyone look at Tariko for a moment. Seeing the look of horror crossing the face of Ataru's sister, everyone then watched as she turned and headed into the turbolift to go below decks. As the doors closed behind her, people blinked before they turned to gaze on Ataru. He took a deep breath as he stood up. "Much that we never really cared for that overgrown cow, we didn't want him to die," he stated as he headed to the stairwell to take him up to the captain's cabin.

They watched him go, and then Miyako went off after him…

* * *

Meanwhile…

"So it can't be re-grown back in?" Tsukasa Satomi asked.

Takanashi Naoko shook her head. "No, Satomi-sama. The regeneration machines we have for local body repairs like this are designed specifically for Avalonians to use. As to what might happen if Makoto-sama was exposed to such a device…"

"Don't worry about it, Naoko-chan…"

She looked down. "Makoto-sama…"

Natsukimi Makoto — Kakōton Genjō — smiled at her. His now-empty left eye socket was covered with dressings. "It's okay," he said as he grasped the would-be nurse's hand. The Kyoshō sophomore then smiled. He and his cousin were currently in _Haida_'s very nice medical station as he recuperated from what happened in Tomobiki. Also present was his other cousin, Natsukimi Mien (also known as "Kakōen Myōsai"). "In every incarnation I've lived, I always go through this one way or another." He closed his good eye. "It's my fate, I guess. Can't damn hell run from it…"

Naoko's eyes softened. "Makoto-sama…"

"Naoko?"

She turned as a tanned, red-haired tomboy with light blue-green eyes walked up to her. "What is it, Narumi?" she asked.

Sasamoto Narumi, who was also of the group of Avalonians who had been rescued months before by Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami, was another one who planned to become a medical technician as soon as she was allowed to complete basic training at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and naval environmental training in either Halifax or Esquimalt. "While Makoto-sama does seem resigned to the permanent loss of his left eye, he still has endured considerable emotional trauma from the experience," she declared with a noticeable Tōhoku lilt in her voice. "Clearly, intimate therapy must be employed to restore his spirits. If he desires, I will volunteer to sleep with him tonight and the following nights until his spirits are properly restored."

"Logical," Naoko stated, nodding.

The Terrans all awked on hearing the Terran-form Avalonian's surprise offer. "_**SLEEP WITH ME?!**_" Makoto screamed. "_**WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!**_"

Naoko and Narumi smiled at him. "Throughout the history of our creators' race, it was long proven that an injured person's spirits were easily restored to full health by just the simple act of sleeping with a loved one," the former stated with such honesty in her voice, even the normally-taciturn Mien was hanging off every word she was saying. "We can sense that you do not possess a current intimate lover and you clearly would not desire to be intimate with either Satomi-sama or Mien-sama…"

"_**OF COURSE I WOULDN'T! THEY'RE MY COUSINS! WHY THE HELL WOULD I WANT TO SLEEP WITH EITHER OF THEM, FOR PITY'S SAKE?!**_" Makoto howled as Mien and Satomi both looked away, their cheeks now reddening in embarrassment.

"My point exactly, Makoto-sama," Naoko calmly stated. "Still, you do require and desire someone to be close to you as — unlike the case of several other tōshi I have encountered since first meeting Hiromi-sama, Tsukihana-sama and Ayami-sama — you do not possess any sort of emotional link to what you see as the 'normal' world. As Hiromi-sama's primary desire for all of you is to emotionally reintegrate you to the 'normal' world, anything we can do to aide that process will certainly be welcome."

Silence.

"Reitei-sama really wants to save us…?" Satomi gasped.

"Hai," Naoko replied with a nod. "And Satomi-sama…"

The leader of Kyoshō's shock troopers jolted. "H-h-hai?"

"Hiromi-sama prefers 'Ryūkō Kyōrei' as her battle name, not 'Reitei.'"

The cousins from Kyoshō blinked, and then Makoto sighed. "You people are just plain strange…" he breathed out, though he didn't let go of Naoko's hand.

"A question."

Everyone turned to Mien. "What is it, Mien-sama?" Narumi asked.

"What are Kyōrei-sama's intentions for the three alien girls captured in her family home?" the statuesque brown-eyed, black-haired, adopted Vietnamese jade-shot fighter then asked. "The biker woman was stabbed by Koshaji…"

"She is currently in a secure recovery room nearby," Naoko replied. "Mienai and Damasu are presently in one of the detention cells in the ship's internal security section several decks below from here. No doubt, Hiromi-sama will discuss their final fate with Pukaze-sama, Oyuki-sama and Ran-sama over the next while."

"I want to be in on that," Makoto stated.

Naoko nodded. "Hai, Makoto-sama. I will inform Hiromi-sama of your desire."

* * *

An hour later…

"_**YOU KILLED REI-SAMA?!**_"

Tariko spun around to glare intently at Damasu. Fortunately for the rose-haired Seishin teenager, a force field was currently separating her from Ataru's twin sister. "Yeah, I did, you psychopathic, schizoid airhead!" Tariko snarled back. "What the HELL were you, the ice bitch here and the S-and-M queen over in Sickbay THINKING of when you decided to use the stupid WARP CHAMBER of all things to try to kidnap Ataru, huh?" Before Damasu could answer, Tariko snorted as she looked away. "Oh, that's right! I forgot! You CAN'T think!" she said as she glared intently at Ran's sister. "The concept is as ALIEN to you as you are to me!" As Damasu sputtered in outrage as Tariko's words sank in, Ataru's twin then glared at Mienai. "And don't expect that overgrown snowman you like so much to save you either, Mienai! After he ripped out the eye of Tachp'uch's spirit-brother, I put a bullet through his skull!"

The Neptunian princess gasped as she sank to her knees in shock and disbelief. Nearby, Aruka Ran — who was dressed in a rose-pink Noukiite uniform, her name in the native tongue of her adopted people on her top — gaped as she stared in shock at Ataru's twin sister. Also present in the detention block — along with Takahashi Ayumi, one of the ship's Avalonian crew who planned to be a military policeman when she graduated from training at the Canadian Forces Military Police Academy in Borden — was Ran's wife, the Lady Major-General Seu-Susa Yesu-Ch'ech Hechnich'-Kaechkyuk of Eap'ye (known to her friends as "Tachp'uch"), who had an approving look on her face despite she sensing the regret and pain in her wife's heart on hearing of the death of the man she herself had loved before the creation of Damasu had totally and completely destroyed her life.

"Why…?" Mienai rasped.

"Why?" Tachp'uch asked as she glared intently at the Neptunian. Like her "spirit-brother" Natsukimi Makoto, the Noukiite soldier had lost her left eye in a battle five years ago; she wore a butterfly-shaped eye patch (the design was chosen by Ran, of course) over her empty eye socket as a result of it. She was dressed now in her normal burgundy-and-purple uniform. "You committed an act of WAR against a planet that was under OUR protection. Your leaders all agreed four months ago after we removed the anti-matter bomb that k'uk'e Ōgi placed in Tomobiki that NO citizen of ANY of the worlds of the Galactic Federation would violate the sovereign space of ANY nation of Earth, especially Nihon, without permission from their Men In Black! And after you were caught DELIBERATELY leaning an ATTACK against Tariko's family with a BATTALION of strike troops from URU along with a COMPANY'S worth of mercenaries from PHENTAX TWO right behind you three idiots, you NOW try to plead your INNOCENCE?!" A snort. "Don't bet on it, _Princess_!" The sneer in her voice on saying that word made Mienai wince. "By the time we're finished with you and all your idiot friends, Earth will never have to fear your kind for a LONG time to come! That I…! No! That WE vow!"

Mienai winced. "But we…"

"We what?" Tariko asked.

"We need Ataru's help to save Lum!"

Silence.

"You mean you need Ataru's help to save _Hensō_, don't you?" Tariko asked.

Mienai jolted, and then she lowered her head, faintly nodding. "So what in the Ch'uoeuk's Name happened?" Tachp'uch asked as she crossed her arms. "Stupid girl found herself engaged against her will by that fat moron she calls a father again?"

"She was kidnapped."

Eyes locked on Damasu. "By who?" Ran asked.

"I don't know!" the imprisoned Seishin teen snarled. "Some idiot cloaked in black and with a whole flock of flying pigs pulling his chariot! He showed up out of nowhere when we were having a picnic near Lum-chan's house, paralysed all of us and took her and Ten-chan away! He shouted out to us that he was coming to claim his BRIDE!" She then glared at Tariko. "And if that stupid brother of yours hadn't listened to Lum-chan's idiot replica six months ago, this wouldn't have happened!"

Tariko moaned. "Oh, gods! I don't believe it! Even now when we went to ALL that trouble to show the galaxy the truth behind you idiots, you STILL deny it?!" she asked before turning away. "And then you assume that Ataru will just capitulate and go off with you to go rescue Hensō after he PROPERLY divorced her from a marriage that DID NOT have any sort of LEGITIMACY even under YOUR laws?! Grow up, for Heaven's sake, Damasu! As far as WE'RE concerned, you all can go dive into a BLACK HOLE!"

As Damasu became slack-jawed on hearing Tariko's tirade, the latter marched out of the corridor, heading for the nearest turbolift. Ran was quick to note the sparkle of tears in her friend's eyes, and then she sighed before turning to stare at Damasu. "I hope you're satisfied, little 'sister,'" she snarled. "Darling is one of the nicest and most caring people you'd ever meet! And thanks to YOUR blindness to everything that's been governing YOUR life since you took over MY body, Darling was forced to kill the man we BOTH loved!" As Damasu winced, Ran turned away. "YOUR fault, Damasu! And YOURS as well, Mienai, when you think of B-Boy! Remember that!"

With that, she moved to leave. "Call Lum," Tachp'uch then said.

Ran stopped. "Why?"

"I recognise your sister's description of Hensō's 'kidnapper,'" the Noukiite officer stated. "He's Crown Prince Rupa of Yaminokuni. He came to Okusei a couple months ago to meet with Kaep' and Kyek. He also visited the Academy there."

Ran blinked. "You mean Lum-u might have arranged this?"

"It's a possibility that she encouraged it," Tachp'uch stated, smiling.

Her wife then hummed. "Let's hope so."

With that, she headed out as Damasu sank to her knees. "No…!"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Enjutsu Kōro** (**On Michiko**, _née_ **On Michiji**) first appeared in manga episode #53. His/her past-self is **Yuán Shù** (unknown date of birth, died 199 C.E.), who was Yuán Shào's younger half-brother. Rising to prominence in the wake of the downfall of the Ten Attendants, Yuán would later join his sibling's alliance against Dǒng Zhuó. After that collapsed, the half-brothers went their separate ways, with Yuán Shù establishing himself in present-day Shòuxiàn in Ānhuī Province. There, he elected to declare himself Emperor of the "Zhòng Dynasty" in 197. That, added to his extravagant lifestyle, turned all his supporters — especially Sūn Cè — against him, thus leaving Yuán open to be targeted by all the big players active at the time: Cáo Cāo, Lǚ Bù and Liú Bèi. An attempt by Yuán to reconcile with his half-brother failed to save him when Liú Bèi came after him and he died shortly afterwards. In this life, Michiji was the fraternal twin brother of Enshō Honsho (On Tsuguta), but they parted ways when their parents divorced, thus allowing Michiji to attend Nan'yō while Tsuguta attended Yoshū. As I stated before, Michiji's fate is based on what happened in the anime. A detailed explanation of what actually happened to him/her will come in Part 50.

**Kakōton Genjō** (**Natsukimi Makoto**) first appeared in episode #7. The "Master of Basics" and the first non-Nan'yō tōshi friend made by Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko) after her transfer into that school, Makoto's past-self is **Xiàhóu Dūn** (unknown date of birth, died 220), one of Cáo Cāo's cousins. A passionate warrior who killed a man for insulting his teacher when he was only fourteen, Xiàhóu would join his cousin in the battles against Dǒng Zhuó and would later lock horns with Lǚ Bù, thus leading eventually to the Battle of Xiàpī where the Flying General was finally taken down. During this time, Xiàhóu's left eye was shot out by an arrow; his actually **eating** the eye is a story from _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_. Xiàhóu would remain in the service of his cousin until Cáo's death, dying of illness shortly afterwards. In this life, Makoto is Torusuke's maternal cousin and his best friend. He also is in charge of all basic martial arts training at Kyoshō. He wants to be a civil engineer after graduating high school; after every fight, he cleans up whatever damage he unleashes…and he made sure Tsueko learned that as well!

**Kakōen Myōsai** (**Natsukimi Mien**) first appeared in episode #33. She is the current incarnation of **Xiàhóu Yuān** (unknown date of birth, died 219), who was one of Cáo Cāo's cousins and younger cousin to Xiàhóu Dūn. Xiàhóu Yuān joined his cousins in the coalition against Dǒng Zhuó, eventually rising to become Cáo's chief of logistics. He would be heavily involved in Cáo's subjugation of the Qiāng and Dī tribes; due to his success in dealing with both groups, Cáo always made sure Xiàhóu was at his side when he had meetings with tribal representatives. Xiàhóu would eventually die in battle against Huáng Zhōng. In this life, Mien — she is also Torusuke's maternal cousin and Makoto's paternal cousin — was captured by Hmong rebels when her family was touring in Vietnam; she was depicted as being a child fighter in a flashback scene in manga episode #74. Given her halting speech as shown in the anime, I postulated that after her capture, she was adopted by one of the Hmong chieftains and indoctrinated in the local languages (her primary tongue is Vietnamese), thus eroding her mastery of Japanese by the time she was rescued by Torusuke four years ago after she had been nearly raped. She had, by then, mastered the jade shot-weighted garrottes she normally uses in battle these days.

2) On Michiko is the "spirit-sister" to **T'ia** (whom Hiromi mentioned in the previous part). As with other Noukiite Flower Youth appearing in this story, T'ia is based on the _Koihime Musō_ version of Enjutsu Kōro (real name **Miu**), who appeared in the third episode of _Shin-KM_, "Kōsonsan Fights Enshō!" T'ia's proper name is **Seu-Kaech Yech'a-Hap' Hechnich'-Ekche** of Ait'uch Nehech. In her current life, T'ia commands the Expeditionary Forces of the Marches; she is based on the planet Kaechsei.

**Tap'uch** (real name **Seu-Susa Yesu-Kyech Hechnich'-T'yenuo** of Eap'ye) is based on the _KM_ version of Kakōen Myōsai (real name **Shūran**). Her cousin **Tachp'uch** (real name **Seu-Susa Yesu-Ch'ech Hechnich'-Kaechkyuk** of Eap'ye), of course, is based on the _KM_ version of Kakōton Genjō (real name **Shunran**). Both girls appeared in the fourth episode of the first television series, "Bachō Tries to Attack Sōsō."

The "Venerable Healer Kaechseu" Tap'uch speaks of to Ranma is one of the few males who have been given an honorary place in the modern Flower Youth. Given the birth name **Hichkai**, his proper name is **K'u-Seu Chusu-Mu Hechnich'-Kaechseu** of Ait'uch Nehech. He, of course, is based on the _KM_ version of **Kada Genka**, who first appeared in the fifth episode of _Shin-KM_, "Kakuka and Teiiku come into Sōsō's Service." Like the female Flower Youth, he is resurrected from his first life three millennia ago, but was reborn as a normal Noukiite, not a Noukiite-form Avalonian. Ganzo dai-Louc would later provide a special DNA-recombinant therapy drug that would make Hichkai the genetic equal of his peers. Hichkai, as a healer, is part of the **K'uot'hu** ("Tribe of the Healing Serpents"), the fifth of the Ten Orders (super-castes) that divide Noukiite society socially. His birth-order name prefix **Chusu** means "first son."

And **Kyek** (proper name **Seu-U Yesu-A Hechnich'-T'achseu** of Ait'uch Nehech and Eap'ye) is based on the _Koihime Musō_ version of **Kaku Bunwa** (real name **Ei**). Ei first appeared in the fifth episode of _KM_, "Kan'u Exterminates a Monster." Kyek currently serves as the Chief of Staff to the current Imperial Chancellor of the Outmarches, whom she constantly dotes on…which normally results in her ripping her hair out every time Kaep' goes out amongst the common folk in disguise and without escort.

3) Starship name notes: H.M.S. _Hood_, F.G.S. _Bismarck_, F.S. _Richelieu_ and ITS _Vittorio Veneto_ are all named after famous battleships from World War Two. The direct histories of each name are as follows:

_Hood_ (pennant number **51**, fourth ship of the name) is named in tribute to various naval officers bearing that family name, the first of which being Admiral **Samuel Hood**, 1st Viscount Hood (1724-1816), mentor to Britain's most famous naval commander, Admiral **Horatio Nelson** (1758-1805) of Trafalgar fame.

_Bismarck_ (pennant number **56**, second ship of the name) is named in tribute to the man who united Germany in 1870, Chancellor **Otto von Bismarck**, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg (1815-98).

_Richelieu_ (pennant number **50**, third ship of the name) is named in tribute to one of the most famous of French clerics, **Armand Jean du Plessis**, Cardinal-Duke of Richelieu and Fronsac (1585-1642). Fans of Alexandre Dumas' famous novel _The Three Musketeers_ will recognise this name.

_Vittorio Veneto_ (pennant number **49**, third ship of the name) is named in tribute to the **Battle of Vittorio Veneto**, the last major battle fought between the Italians and the Austro-Hungarians, which occurred between 24 October-3 November 1918. The town of **Vittorio Veneto** is located in the Province of Treviso, about fifty kilometres north of Venice.

The last of the group, SPS _Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad_ (literally meaning "Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity") (pennant number **16**, third ship of the name), is named in tribute to the 112-gun, three-deck, first-rate ship-of-the-line (later upgraded to a 140-gun, four-deck format) launched in Havana in 1769 and would later participate as a unit of the combined Franco-Spanish Fleet at the **Battle of Trafalgar** on 21 October 1805. In that battle, her considerable lack of manoeuvrability (thanks to the weight her fourth gun deck forced on her) made her an easy target for Lord Nelson's warships to pick apart despite her huge broadside. After her masts were destroyed, the _Trinidad_ was captured by H.M.S. _Neptune_. She would be lost the very next day thanks to the storm that forced the Trafalgar survivors to seek shelter in nearby Gibraltar Bay. While no other Spanish Navy ship has taken up the name of the _Trinidad_ in the wake of that ship's capture and loss, three warships of the navy of Argentina (including a British-designed Type 42 destroyer that served from 1981-89 and is laid up either to await a major overhaul to return to service or final decommissioning and transformation into a museum ship) have made use of that name.

4) The **Central Warp Chamber** is my name for the system the Neptunians use to teleport between planets. In effect, it's a more free-ranging version of the **Stargate** concept from the film and television series of the same name; unlike the Stargate, the Warp Chamber only needs spacial coordinates to lock onto to form the wormhole to transport someone there. In the background story of _The Senior Year_, I have the **Gatherer** (the "Great Dragon Ship" to Noukiites) gift the Warp Chamber to the Neptunians a millennia ago to allow them to flee their dying planet for the moon of **Triton**.

5) **Pukaze** and **Redet Negau** both are minor _TSY_ characters. The former first appeared in "Mie's Story," while the latter appeared in "Towards the Unstoppable Future." **Seq Yethis** (based on a character created by Lew Burton in his story _Just A Dream_) was the main antagonist for the whole of the "Great Father Ataru" storyline in _TSY_. Rei's mother **Seq Yedris** (also based on one of Lew's characters) was also a major character in that part of the series.

6) The term **Maidens of the World of Holy Reincarnation** is the Noukiite term applied to the _Daishi'cha_ of Sagussa as they appeared in _TSY_.

7) **Zachariah Rhetor** is the real name I give the character of **Chief Zed** from the _Men In Black_ movies.

8) Translations: **Daitōryō** — President (of a country); **K'uk'e** — Idiot, fool, moron; **Ch'uoeuk** — King of Kings.

9) **Sasamoto Narumi** and **Takahashi Ayumi** are both characters from _Grand Prix_. Narumi hails from Kōriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture. She is a sportswoman who loves to swim and play soccer. Ayumi is from Nagasaki on Kyūshū. She is a budding kyūdō-ka (Zen archer) who is also expert in computer games.


	20. Up, Men, Up! And To Your Posts!

Aboard _Haida_, Sunday 4 July, just past midnight…

"So your great-grandfather turned out to be just as honourless as my would-be bond-mate's father is, eh, Lum?" Tariko asked.

Redet Lum giggled. "So it seemed to be, Darling. At least the First Patriarch certainly thought so when he ran across Hiijii-chan on his travels." She and her wife — along with Shigaten Benten and her wife, Seu-Nuk Yesu-Kye Hechnich'-T'achkaech of Ait'uch Nehech and Eap'ye (known to all her friends as "Su") — were now relaxing with the Moroboshi siblings, their lovers and relatives, the other victims of the Old Lady's curse and their wives, not to mention the senior tōshi from Seito and Kyoshō in _Haida_'s main observation lounge. "When he came to Okusei with Rupa to present his case to Kaep', he willingly allowed Kyech to do a mind-probe of both him and his great-grandson to prove their sincerity."

"Kyech let them both pass with flying colours," Su said before she took a deep gulp of the Noukiite spice wine she drank as easily as one might drink water. Of course, given that she had Avalonian genes in her, the lavender-haired, green-eyed and quite busty bounty hunter currently based on Okusei could never get drunk on her favourite alcohol no matter how much she tried. Benten was pretty much the same way with her native super-vodka. "If you pass muster with HER, you're as good as pure emerald."

"So what happened when they found out you and Kuhu were married?" Mimōko asked.

Lum shrugged. "They wished us both the best. Deep down, Rupa has a crush on a very nice girl named Carla; she's descent of one of the other main patriarchal lines on that planet." She then giggled. "But Rupa has a little sister named Ika."

"Though in the First Patriarch's eyes, the Princess Ika is actually a 'prince,'" Kuhu added as her eyes sparkled with mirth.

Everyone blinked. "She's forced to cross-dress? Why?" Tariko asked.

The Noukiites from Okusei all sighed. "The First Patriarch's dying of a soul-warping disease," Su stated. "On Earth, you call it Alzheimer's. On Yaminokuni, it's called Rekki's Syndrome. According to Hichkai, he's got about five years left."

Silence.

"How horrible!" Hiromi gasped.

"Rupa and Ika are playing up to the latter being a boy to make their great-granddad happy in his last years," Benten stated. "They really love the old guy; he was there for them after their parents bought it thanks to some Yizibajohei creep that one of Kyech's pals had to hunt down about fifteen years ago, just after Ika was born."

People exchanged looks, and then they started to nod. "So the 'Prince' Ika wishes to marry Hensō?" Kumomi then asked. "Have they ever met?"

"No," Lum stated. "The First Patriarch is aiming more for Rupa to marry my 'sister'…" — everyone was quick to sense the scorn in the Oni's voice when she said that word — "…as he is the elder child. But despite Carla possessing some interesting anger issues, Rupa does love her. So Ika is willing to step in."

"I don't like the idea of ANYONE being forced to deal with Hensō," Ataru stated as he pulled Shikuko and Miyako closer to him. "Especially if she — if what we've seen of Kamen, Damasu and Mienai is true for her, too — is still in denial over what she is."

"So what can we do?" Kanami asked. "We still have to deal with what just happened today at your house, Ataru. They can't be allowed to get away with that."

"Agreed," Tap'uch stated.

Tachp'uch gazed on her cousin. "What did Pukaze say, cousin?"

A sigh. "While she personally would prefer NOT to do this, she's ready to become the Regent of Neptune if she has to and if the Privy Council agrees with her uncle's doctors and he is seen as no longer fit to hold the throne," Natsukimi Mien's "spirit-sister" stated as she gripped Oyuki's hand. "Mienai, by ALLOWING troops from other planets to ILLEGALLY use the Warp Chamber to invade another planet — which is a violation of several treaties AND an act of war against a planet under the protection of the Imperial Dominion — proved herself totally unfit to take the throne. My wife refuses to return to Triton as long as her parents still don't recognise her as their true child. And Tōji — who is Oyuki's other cousin through her mother and thus also eligible to take the throne — is even less willing to step into her uncle's place than Pukaze."

"So at least we've got that angle covered," Hiromi stated. "Lum-san, what would your father think of this whole business concerning Rupa-sama's family?"

Lum snorted. "He'd want his 'baby' to be safe and happy back on Uru. I doubt he'd support any attempt at forcing Darling to play at being Hensō's 'husband' again — he struck me as having never really liked Darling in the first place — but he'll definitively not approve of Hensō being forced to marry anyone against her will." Even though both of them had no deep emotional bonds to Hiromi's brother, Lum and Ran called Ataru "darling" since his given name translated to "sex-crazed idiot" in Urusian. And as Tariko was once part of Ataru, she also earned the nickname from the two expat Urusians even if her given name had no disagreeable translation in their native tongue. "Especially because of some old honour-debt forced on her because of Hiijii-chan."

"So he's as totally honourless as our would-have-been sister-in-law's father," Miiko noted as she exchanged a knowing look with Kanami.

Kanami nodded. "What's that about?" Benten asked.

The Hayashi sisters sighed. "It's a long story, Benten," Kanami said…

* * *

As the newcomers began to hear about Ranma and his sisters and their dealings with the former Tendō (now Miyamoto) sisters, Hiromi rose from her seat and walked to one side of the large lounge, which was as big as a family home in the United States. Quick to notice their reborn emperor's movements were the senior tōshi from four of the Seven Schools: Koro Sonami, Tsukasa Torusuke, Sebone Shikuko and Sebone Mimōko.

All four rose to walk over to join Hiromi near the aft entrance to the lounge, which was framed now with various Canadian military flags — the Maple Leaf Flag, the Canadian Forces tri-service white ensign, the Canadian Navy jack, the Canadian Air Force blue ensign (_Haida_'s air group of 224 fighter and support craft would be under the administrative control of the newly-formed 21 Space Wing, a formation currently under the operational command of Headquarters 1 Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg…but soon to be shifted over to a newly-formed Headquarters 3 Canadian Air Division, to be headquartered in Ottawa alongside the headquarters of Maritime Command) and the Canadian Army red ensign (_Haida_ would also have an on-board infantry battalion battle group assigned to her, the core of which would formed from volunteers from Canada's regular and reserve infantry and put together as the 1st Battalion of the reborn Regiment of Canadian Guards, under the administrative command of 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Petawawa and the operational command of Headquarters 1st Canadian Division in Kingston) — that had been placed there when civilian and military leaders from Ottawa had toured the starship after she had arrived in her home solar system four months ago. As they approached her, they tensed as Hiromi gazed at them, and then she turned back to stare at the simple red-and-white flag that had been the national banner of the Great White North for the past five decades. "I had hoped my family was done with them once and for all."

"There has to be a harsh response to this, Majesty," Torusuke stated, slipping into the more comfortable formal mode their past-selves had used eighteen centuries before in Luòyáng. "Even if the attack was repulsed by Kunrō-dono's sister and your own sister, if we don't do something to properly demonstrate our people's disapproval for their violating our sovereign space like that, it'll hurt us in the long term. Your brother acted honourably towards Hensō even when his own mind was being forced to hold your soul, his twin's soul and the soul of the Lady Grandmaster Negako within it. They swore to honour his decision concerning all of their kind. And now they've broken their word."

"Agreed, My Emperor," Mimōko added. "They have to be punished."

Hiromi was quick to see both Shikuko and Sonami nod to that. "Mōtoku-dono, do you have any idea as to how we should proceed with such a response?" the reborn emperor asked.

A sigh. "I'm not totally familiar with the whole situation, so I hope you won't base any decision on just my advice alone. Still, I can say this: Keeping your brother's concerns in mind, I don't think it would be a good idea to force the Princess Ika to marry Hensō if she proves to be anything less than what the Princess deserves in a future life-mate. Prince Rupa, as just reported by your honoured guests from Okusei, is interested in the Lady Carla and since Lady Benten has hinted that such a marriage would be seen as acceptable among the leaders of that world, it will eventually fall on Princess Ika to honour her end of the bargain struck between the First Patriarch and Hensō's great-grandfather all those years ago. Atop that, given how fast Hensō's parents were willing to reject the Lady Lum as their child, we have to consider this: Can they — especially her father — be trusted to hold posts of leadership and social influence on that world? Can WE live with such a situation on a planet so close to us?"

"And who have demonstrated a complete and total disregard for our own sovereign space ever since they came here in the first place?" Shikuko added. "Ataru told us about what happened during the whole oil-theft incident just after the Tag Race, Hiromi-chan. Hensō was willing to allow that cab driver to take the world's oil unless Ataru agreed to respect their 'engagement.'" Her eyes narrowed. "They need a serious attitude adjustment. The sooner, the better."

"As loathsome as it sounds to me, I have to agree," Sonami said with a reluctant nod of her head. "We have to hit back and hit back hard and sharp, Hiromi-san. Make it a brutal enough lesson to deter ANY of them from doing this again. In any way."

A sigh. "So be it, then." Hiromi then closed her eyes. "If you wish to return to your schools to pass the word and seek people to help out in this matter, I'll have Yuri-san beam you back down as soon as possible." She gazed on them. "I want VOLUNTEERS for this, everyone. If people don't want to come, don't force them and don't allow them to be shamed because they refuse to come. I'll make sure the news gets to the Kōshi Kasshi." Seeing the shocked and surprised looks on the others' faces, the reborn emperor smiled. "My friends, they willingly walked away from this 'fate' that has ruled all your lives for so long. In essence, they showed the path for all of you to take if you simply elected to take it."

"Besides, you told us that each of these ships comes with a full space wing of two hundred space fighters, Hiromi-chan," Shikuko added. "Given their skills with motorcycles, the people under Chōkaku's leadership would make good pilots."

"You'll probably need something else, My Emperor."

Everyone turned as Mien came up, then went to one knee before her as she gave the reborn emperor a right fist-in-left palm salute. "What do you mean, Myōsai-dono?" Hiromi asked as she gazed on the jade shot fighter from Kyoshō.

Mien looked up. "The Dragon Jade."

Silence.

Hiromi's eyes widened. "The Lóngyù? I remember Onē-sama telling me about this device. It still exists?"

"Hai. It's now in a temple in Hong Kong. Easy to retrieve." Mien then gazed up at her cousin, a fond smile crossing her face. "I was thinking of obtaining it so that I could help Torusuke-san control the dragon within him." She then stared at Hiromi. "But I now believe it could be better used to help the souls trapped in the forest near Nanban High School to be finally free and merge with the crews aboard these ships. The Three-Pillared Gods told me about that situation sometime ago; with the capabilities of the Avalonians now aboard these ships, it might be possible to use the Jade to fuse the souls in the Forest with the people aboard _Haida_ and elsewhere. Narumi-san told me about your desires towards that end."

"What is this Dragon Jade anyway?" Sonami asked.

"It's a crystal made of the same material our magatama are made from," Mimōko stated. "Supposedly, it was created by one of Saji Genpō's earlier incarnations in a failed attempt to help us change our destinies." A sigh. "I wanted to go after it myself. Both to help me control Zǐmíng and to help Sonsaku control her dragon, too."

"But you don't need that anymore," Shikuko reminded her cousin.

A nod. "Hai, true."

"Why not?" Torusuke asked.

"Because I'm an Avalonian now," Mimōko stated. "When my soul was shifted into my new body, Zǐmíng and I came to an agreement that will let us both live together."

"Can this help me? And Torusuke-san, too?"

Eyes locked on Sonami. Seeing the pained look in her eyes, Torusuke sighed as he walked over to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You know now, don't you?"

A weak nod from the leader of Seito. "Hiromi-san sensed it."

"We will have to have a long discussion with Unchō-dono and Ekitoku-dono about their failure to inform you — their sworn oath-sister — of the Sky Lord Zhāoliè's presence in your body, cousin," Hiromi stated after she took a deep breath. Both Seki Haneko and Haru Asumi had taken up the offer to sleep aboard _Haida_ that evening.

"I would advise a show of mercy, My Emperor."

Hiromi turned as Miiko came up to join them. "And why is that, Kunrō-dono?"

A smile. "It is their overwhelming love for our dear cousin that forced their silence when it came to Lord Zhāoliè, Majesty," Miiko stated as she waved to Sonami. "Sonami-san's desire to have a normal life — her innocence, if I may — made them determined to do anything to allow her to keep her dreams and hope alive before you came into their lives with your own promises concerning everyone being freed of their 'fates.' Doing that included keeping Lord Zhāoliè's presence in her body a secret from her."

A nod. "If that is your observation, Miiko-san, I accept it," Hiromi stated.

"Hiromi-sama?"

Everyone turned to see Takanashi Naoko standing near the doorway leading out of the lounge. "What is it, Naoko-san?" Hiromi asked.

A deep bow. "A signal from New York City, Hiromi-sama. It's Secretary-General Pan Kimun. He's currently in a conference call with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Prime Minister Kan Naoto, President Hú Jǐntāo, President Yi Myŏngbak, Prime Minister David Cameron, President Nicolas Sarkozy, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Prime Minister José Rodríguez Zapatero. They wish to speak to you about the events at your family home."

Hiromi blinked as the tōshi all gaped. "Who are they?" Miiko asked.

"The leader of the United Nations, as well as the leaders of America, Canada, Japan, China, South Korea, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain," Mimōko stated. "Represented here by the ships close by us and the ships under Michiko-san's command."

"And clearly, they also desire to make a response to the incident at my home," Hiromi breathed out. "Torusuke-san, Sonami-san, Miiko-san, you'll be with me."

Torusuke and Miiko nodded. "Eh?! Why?!" Sonami gasped.

"Because I want your opinions as to what we will do now," the reborn emperor stated as she waved them to follow her to the bridge…

* * *

Minutes later…

"So this was ultimately the desperate act of three friends trying to rescue their friend from an unwanted marriage," the American President stated. "And this was taken advantage of by the more conservative leaders of Uru, not to mention those surviving leaders of Phentax Two's 'One True Faith' who wanted their slaves back."

Hiromi nodded. "Hai, Obama-daitōryō," she responded in Japanese; _Haida_ came with built-in universal translators that would allow the eleven heads-of-state and heads-of-government now speaking with her to understand her every word. "While my family and I may forgive what Mienai, Damasu and Kamen planned — considering that we took the lives of Damasu's would-be husband Rei and Mienai's guardian B-Boy in my sister's and her lover's response to their intrusion upon our home — I'm sure you'll all agree that what ALSO could have come with that attack had no right to happen at all."

Nods all around. "Given the rather unprepared state of the fleet your friends brought with them when you were freed of your brother's mind, do you feel confident that any action you take will not result in unnecessary casualties, much less a retaliation, Moroboshi-ssi?" the Secretary-General of the United Nations asked.

"I can't predict that, Pan-samuch'ongjangnim," Hiromi stated, addressing the career Korean diplomat with his title in his native tongue. "We've no real read of what are the true intentions of the Yaminokuni in this matter. Though given what I've been told so far of why this is happening, anything we can do to ensure Hensō marries Prince Rupa — or most likely, Princess Ika — will be of great benefit to us."

"How so?" the British Prime Minister asked.

"Simple," Hiromi answered. "Lum-san is — or rather, WAS — seen as a future leader of her people. In the eyes of the Urusian Imperials, she was potentially the first ruling Empress of the restored Urusian Empire. In the eyes of the militarists currently in charge of the Union, a potential president once she properly rose up through the ranks in her father's footsteps. In the eyes of the democratic reformists, the lady that would persuade her people to turn their backs on BOTH the Imperialists and the Unionists and march forward to a more democratic and egalitarian future." She paused. "Before she was forced into exile on Okusei, Lum-san had not bothered to really stop and understand how other people looked at her. After she went to Okusei and began to be courted by the Lady Nut'yek, she finally came to understand what could have been asked of her. And was — as Oyuki-san herself came to be — quite glad to be forever free of it.

"Since most people on Uru obviously still find it impossible to accept the truth of what happened to Lum-san and Hensō five years ago, Hensō is now seen AS Lum-san and thus, is the focus-point of all those people's dreams and aspirations," Hiromi added. "Thus, their willingness to fight for her desire to marry Onii-san when we encountered Queen Elle, not to mention their willingness to turn a blind eye to her more ethically questionable actions when she was living in Tomobiki." A smirk then crossed her face as she added, "And, no doubt, that drove the Imperialists to support her friends' desire to kidnap Onii-san when she was kidnapped herself by Prince Rupa."

"And that's where we can hit them hard."

Eyes locked on Torusuke, both from those standing on the bridge of _Haida_ and across Earth. "What do you mean, young man?" the Chinese President asked.

"Quite simple, sir," the leader of Kyoshō stated, a grin crossing his face. "The basic argument Hiromi-san and her family have made all this time is that Hensō did NOT live to her responsibilities as a GUEST on our planet when she was 'married' to Hiromi-san's brother. No one's clearly ever taken her to task for it, even now. So since her own people won't force her to face up to her faults, we have to do it for her. And if we do it for her, we basically force that lesson on her people as well." He held up a finger in emphasis. "There is an honour debt currently outstanding between her family and the family of the First Patriarch of the Kingdom of Yaminokuni. As I see it, it's an intergalactic incident in the making and a potential cause for war. If we show that we support Yaminokuni's side to this issue — and with support from Noukiios, we may gain other allies in this matter — it will make the Urusians stop and think."

"And that ultimately is what we need to gain success in this endeavour," Hiromi stated. "We are willing to open the doors to other races to interact with our own. None of your governments — much less the other member-states of the United Nations — were willing to totally slam the door closed on aliens even after we discovered the presence of that anti-matter bomb the Niphentaxians placed in Tomobiki four months ago. Rhetor-hakase's people are still in negotiations with the Seifukusu over the turn-over of their territory close to us so that we can have colonies to ease our population and natural resource problems once we build transports and cargo craft to allow us to properly take over those worlds. We need to ensure no interference from the Federation states, especially Uru. And if we show we're willing to stand up to them…"

"It could lead to a potential war," the Japanese Prime Minister stated.

"Or potentially to them learning to respect us properly as they should have done all along," the President of the Republic of Korea objected.

Nods all around. "Moroboshi-ssi, how soon can you prepare a force to head out to Yaminokuni to show our willingness to help shield them from Uru?" the Secretary General then asked. "Not to act as an offensive force, but a defensive one?"

"Truthfully, we're woefully unprepared," the reborn emperor then stated. "The crews currently on these ships have next to no life experience whatsoever. I hope to change that once I find a way to tap into the trapped souls under Nanban High School in the Izu Islands south of Tōkyō and allow them to merge with the souls of the crews aboard these ships. I was actually going to lead a small force to a temple in Hong Kong this weekend that contains a device that can help in that end."

"We'll help you when you arrive there," the Chinese leader then said.

A nod. "My eternal thanks, sir. Atop that, I am asking for volunteers from the Seven Battle Schools and their affiliated schools to help crew these ships. That will also included the Kōshi Kasshi group, who are motorcycle enthusiasts and I think would take well to becoming volunteer fighter pilots for our ships' air wings." She sighed. "But if you intend to also include a potential ground combat force…"

"We can help."

Eyes locked on the image of the Canadian leader. "How so?" Sonami asked.

"As you might know, Miss Koro, a lot of Avalonians have been moving off the factory and resettling on Earth over the last four months," the Prime Minister stated. "Despite all the press Miss Moroboshi and her siblings got when they remained on the factory after they brought it here, our governments — and the governments of other nations who've welcomed them amongst us — have not interfered in their wanting to resettle on Earth. Given what so many of them went through when they were enslaved by the Niphentaxians, it was just simply inhumane; there was just no need to force the public spotlight on them after what they endured." He smiled. "Ironically, as soon as most of them were given their citizenship papers and allowed to settle in, those Avalonians who resettled in Canada flocked to various militia and other reserve military units to join up. And that's not just in Canada, but elsewhere." He gazed on the images of the other world leaders from his office in Ottawa. "Fortunately, military leaders here were quick to capitalize on it and get them formed into 'ghost' units and formations that can be mobilized with a vote in Parliament. As for equipment…"

Hiromi giggled. "We have it aboard these ships if needed."

"How big of a formation are we talking about?" Torusuke asked.

"A full armoured brigade group — the equivalent of a Noukiite Imperial Marine cavalry regimental battle group — including support troops." The Canadian leader then waved around him to indicate his counterparts elsewhere. "I don't want to steal the whole show from everyone else; hopefully, they can contribute to this as well."

"We are not as far ahead as the Canadians are in organizing volunteer forces from those Avalonians who settled in the United States among the Army and Air National Guard of the several states. Still, we certainly can help prepare things with Navy and Marine pilots to help train your volunteers," the American president then proposed. "Not to mention shipboard Marines and other naval infantry forces."

"Which we all have to one extent or another," the Chinese leader said. "I propose that there should be at least a core contingent of military personnel from the armed forces of each nation represented in the Task Force on each ship."

Nods all around. "Then we have to start preparing everyone," Hiromi said…

* * *

Meanwhile, on a planet at the outer edge of the Orion Arm…

"We were being nice to you…and THIS is the way you treat Master Rupa?"

Hensō grunted as she tried not to allow herself to get cut by the business ends of the many spears now being pointed at her. Glaring at his would-be wife, Rupa tried not to sneer too much as he gazed down on the now-hornless Oni that his great-grandfather wanted him to marry. Taking a moment to remember his fateful meeting with the REAL Redet Lum, the heir apparent to the First Patriarchy of the Kingdom of Yaminokuni could only then smile. While he definitely wouldn't mind marrying such a beautiful woman, the fact that this was just a mental REPLICA of the girl he had long dreamt of marrying was a big turn-off. Not to mention the fact that even now, six months after the truth concerning Hensō had been revealed thanks to the Noukiites and their greatest living hero, she STILL was in a state of denial over what she was.

Sighing, he glanced over to his sister, who — like he — was properly dressed in a very formal man's kimono-like uniform with a hood covering her head of silver hair, cut short and mannish to help better disguise her. "You really want to marry this thing?" he hissed as he turned back to stare at the captive Hensō.

A sigh. "I'll have to if I've got to," Ika stated, her pale blue eyes shining with a mixture of both considerable interest and a touch of revulsion when it came to the Oni girl before them. "But first of all, it's time to put a little brat in his place."

With that, she held out her hand and blew a cloud of dust seeds right into Ten's face. The young Oni — who, despite also being chained down to prevent his escape, did still have the horn on the back of his head and thus, could still use his flame-breath (as Rupa's now-singed clothes demonstrated) — cried out as the dust overwhelmed him, and then he dropped to the floor, his horn now falling out of the socket joint at the back of his head to roll off away from Hensō. As the older Oni cried out, Ika walked over and slammed her foot on the horn bud, crushing the cartilage into fragments.

Seeing THAT, Hensō froze as her mind replayed the awful images that had haunted her for nearly a half-year. The image of her own beloved Darling — possessed by SOMETHING that was utterly dark and demonic — lashing out with some sort of energy chain to yank her right out of the air and right into his outstretched fist. How — as she collapsed to the ground outside the chapel where she would have been at last married to the man she loved — that blow was strong enough to cause her own horns to fall off her head. How her Darling then picked up those horns, looked at them for a moment before he glanced at HER…and then he…then he…he…

Rupa blinked. "She's out of it again."

Ika looked. Sure enough, Hensō had passed out on the floor, her eyes still open yet clearly not responsive. "To believe her stupid parents never realised for over FIVE years that this wasn't their real daughter!" she spat out. "Take her back to her guest room!" she then ordered the guards covering her. "Take the brat and put him in a holding cell. I think keeping him separate from her will keep her calm!"

"Right away, Master Ika!" one of the guards said.

As Hensō and Ten were dragged off in separate directions, the two great-grandchildren of the First Patriarch of Yaminokuni breathed out. "This is becoming too much of a bother," Rupa then muttered as he walked over to a window to gaze out on the dark capital city beyond the palace he and his sister had called home for years. "Maybe Lum was right all along," he stated. "Getting married to an Oni — ANY Oni — is just too much trouble! I can see why Moroboshi Ataru divorced her at the end."

"He did it for more honourable reasons, my brother," Ika noted.

Rupa gazed on her, and then he nodded. "I wonder what might have happened."

Ika perked. "About what?"

"If the Lady K'ekhech hadn't done what she did on Uru six months ago?"

Ika jerked, and then she sighed. "No doubt, Ataru would — by now — have really come to care for Hensō if he never learned the truth about her. And he'd still have his sisters' souls stuck in his head, making him act like what his name means in Oni." She closed her eyes. "And then sooner or later, the Lady Grandmaster Negako would have taken over his body…and being what she was — or at least, what Lum and her wife described about her! — the chances were there that when THAT happened…"

"It would have been quite ugly," her older brother concluded.

"Master Rupa?"

The siblings turned as one of the guards came up. "What is it?" Rupa asked.

"We just received a signal from the planet Okusei, Master Rupa," the guard reported. "It came directly from the office of the Imperial Chancellor of the Outmarches. It appears that Miss Hensō's friends tried to launch a sneak-attack on Earth in hopes of trying to kidnap Miss Hensō's former husband, no doubt to…"

"Bring him here in some hopes of trying to convince us she is still 'married' to the poor boy," an aged voice then said from nearby.

"Great-grandpa!" Ika gasped.

Upa walked up to them, and then he glanced into the room where Hensō was now being held prisoner. "I saw the message on my private board," the First Patriarch then said. "It was supposed to be just her closest friends, but those idiot Imperialists on Uru and Ōgi's surviving morons from Phentax Two decided to make it an invasion."

His great-grandchildren both gasped. "What?!" Rupa snapped. "After what the Noukiites found out about what Ōgi threatened to do to Ataru's hometown? That's cause for war!"

A delighted cackle escaped Upa. "Yes, that's true!" With that, he headed into the room and came to a stop before the still-dazed Hensō. Staring at her, he took a deep breath before drawing out some dust seeds, and then he blew them straight into her face, which made Hensō cry out before a sneeze escaped her. "Awake now, my dear?"

Hensō moaned, and then she gazed in confusion at him before she jolted. "YOU!"

"Yes, me!" the First Patriarch then said. "I'm afraid, my dear, I have some very bad news for you. Your friends tried to do something very stupid earlier today. They actually led an INVASION FORCE to EARTH in hopes of trying to kidnap your fake 'husband' and make him come here in some hopes of stopping your marriage with my great-grandson!" As Hensō gaped at him, Upa turned away, his smile turning lethal. "A pity that Moroboshi Ataru's sister Tariko didn't care too much for that sort of thing…and she had the power to stop it in its tracks. Your friends are most likely dead now, Hensō." He glared at her as her skin turned white. "There's no escape for you now."

With that, he walked out of the room, cackling all the way. Hensō watched him go, and then a moan escaped her as she passed out on the floor…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Upa**, **Rupa** and **Carla** are all characters from the "Boy Meets Girl" storyline in the _Yatsura_ manga (manga episodes #354-364). **Ika** first appeared in _The Senior Year_ side-story "Tales of Avalon: Ria and Shūtako." **Tōji** first appeared in the _TSY_ story "Oyuki's Story."

2) The **Yizibajohei** (known to almost all in the Galactic Federation as "**They Who Must Never Be Named**" or the "**You Know Whos**") are a race of metahumans living on a planet close to Elle. They are based on the Levramites from Jim Valentino's parody comic series _normalman_ from the 1980s. They have appeared in various episodes of the Anime Add-venture, usually in _The Doctor Is In_ storyline. I also made use of them in _The Saga of Coyote and the Tempest_ and _Manacled Dominatrix_.

3) The "sex-crazed idiot" translation of Ataru's name in Urusian is a joke Mike Smith and I came up with in _TSY_ to explain why Lum never calls Ataru by his name.

4) **1 Canadian Air Division** (short-form **1 CDN AIR DIV**) is the primary formation controlling Air Force assets in the Canadian Forces. It also serves as the primary operational formation controlling the **Canadian Region** of the **North American Aerospace Defence Command** (**NORAD**). With the massive intake of Avalonian-Canadian recruits joining the Canadian Forces over the previous several months as Prime Minister Harper mentions to Hiromi in this part, new squadrons had to be formed, including more squadrons dedicated to support the Navy at sea and in space. Thus, as a spiritual successor to **Maritime Air Group** (which existed from 1975-97 and was under the operational control of Maritime Command), **3 Canadian Air Division** (**3 CDN AIR DIV**) was established to have overall operational and administrative control of all Air Force assets dedicated to supporting the Navy at sea and with H.M.C.S. _Haida_. The primary formation for space support, as noted in this part, is **21 Space Wing** (**21 SW**).

5) **2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group** (**2 CMBG**) is the primary Army formation controlling combat assets based in the province of Ontario (at this time, it also has a battalion based at **Gagetown** in New Brunswick). It is headquartered at **Petawawa**, which is on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River a hundred kilometres northwest of Ottawa itself. While not administratively part of 1st Canadian Division, units of 2 CMBG could be called up to work under the control of HQ 1 CDN DIV if required…as what will happen to the infantry battalion to be assigned to _Haida_.

As an aside, the **Canadian Guards** (**CDN GDS** or **CG**) — formally the _Regiment of Canadian Guards_ — was an infantry regiment formed in 1953 from the re-designation of battalions of two other units and two new battalions formed by direct recruiting from various militia units across the nation. Seen as the Canadian equivalent of the British **Household Guards** regiments who are the ceremonial Army guardians of the Sovereign, the Canadian Guards served diligently in Canada, Germany and on United Nations deployments until the unit was reduced to nil strength due to budget cuts (and also seen as being "too British" in the face of growing Québec nationalism) in 1970.

6) The **Dragon Jade** (_Lóngyù_) was first introduced in the second _Ikkitōsen_ anime series, _Dragon Destiny_.

7) Translations: **-ssi** — Korean suffix honorific which is the equivalent of the Japanese "-san"; **Samuch'ongjangnim** — Literally "Bureau Head" with the suffix honorifc "**-nim**" (the Korean equivalent of the Japanese "-sama") added to it.

8) A **Canadian Armoured Brigade Group** (**CABG**) would be composed of the following:

A **Brigade Headquarters and Signal Squadron** (**CABG HQ & Sig Sqn**) (company-sized) to act as the overall command and controlling element of the brigade, plus provide internal brigade telecommunications and electronic warfare assets;

A **Reconnaissance Regiment** (**Recce Regt**) (battalion-sized) to serve as forward reconnaissance for the whole brigade (and larger elements if the brigade is part of an army division);

Three **Armoured Regiments** (**Armd Regt**) (battalion-sized each) to serve as the heavy armour elements of the brigade;

A **Mechanized Infantry Battalion** (**Mech Inf Bn**) to serve as group infantry support to the armoured regiments;

A **Field Artillery Regiment** (**Fd Arty Regt**) (battalion-sized) to serve as indirect fire support to the armoured regiments, plus provide area air defence and target acquisition capabilities (either with forward observers, ground radar or UAVs); and

A **Combat Engineer Regiment** (**CER**) (battalion-sized) to serve in both field engineer (bridging, demolition, construction, EOD and geomatics duties) and auxiliary infantry roles.

At the time of this story, with the way the Canadian Forces is structured, support assets that would come out into the field with the brigade are controlled by other formations as follows:

A **Tactical Helicopter Squadron** (**THS**) (light battalion-sized), assigned from **1 Wing** of the Air Force, to provide tactical air movement and support assets;

A **Field Ambulance** (**Fd Amb**) (light battalion-sized), assigned from the **Canadian Forces Health Services Group**, to provide medical and dental support;

A **Service Battalion** (**Svc Bn**), assigned from the local **Area Support Group**, to provide combat service support such as logistics (transport, supply, food services, personnel resource management and postal services) and land equipment maintenance forces;

A **Military Police Company** (**MP Coy**), assigned from the local area **Military Police Regiment**, to provide internal security, POW detainment and other services; and

An **Intelligence Platoon** (**Int Pl**), assigned from the local area **Intelligence Company**, to provide information collection, analysis and dissemination to the brigade headquarters staff.

It should be noted that a **Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group** (**CMBG**) would have the same type of units, but would have four infantry battalions and one armoured regiment as the main combat forces.

Note that the Canadian Army's **Land Forces Areas** are broken up as follows:

**Land Forces Western Area** (**LFWA**) — British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Lakehead region of Ontario (including Kenora, Rainy River and Thunder Bay Districts). All area units assigned to LFWA always have their unit names start with the number "1" (i.e. **1 Area Support Group** [**1 ASG**] in Edmonton);

**Land Forces Central Area** (**LFCA**) — Ontario (except Kenora, Rainy River and Thunder Bay Districts). All area units assigned to LFCA always have their unit names start with the number "2" (i.e. **2 Military Police Regiment** [**2 MP REGT**] in Toronto);

**Land Forces Québec Area** (known in French as **Secteur Québec de la Force Terrestre**) (**SQFT**) — Québec. All area units assigned to SQFT normally have their unit names start with the number "5" (i.e. **5 Service Battalion** [**5 SVC BN**] in Valcartier); and

**Land Forces Atlantic Area** (**LFAA**) — New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. All area units assigned to LFAA normally have their unit names start with the number "3" (i.e. **3 Intelligence Company** [**3 INT COY**] in Halifax).


	21. The Hound of Chulainn

National Mito Hospital (Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture), after dawn…

"You don't know how much I appreciate this, Sempai."

Standing beside the girl with the tanned skin, shaggy raven-black hair and now tear-filled blue eyes, the older woman currently dressed in the stylish and form-fitting motorcycle racing leathers could only smile. "Don't thank me, Kichimi-chan," Hari Sumiko — Chōkaku — said as she squeezed the shoulders of the current leader of Gogun Senior High School, who was now seated on a chair beside the bed now holding her would-be-boyfriend and frequent sparring partner. "I would do this for anyone, regardless of which school they attend or how they looked on our so-called 'fates.'" The gold-haired tōshi — she was in her early twenties, having dropped out of Yoshū in her third year when she formed the Kōshi Kasshi with her siblings Takara (Chōhō), Harimi (Chōryō) and Hironaru (Chōmansei) — then smiled. "That you called out to me proved to me that indeed, this is truly the time of Jiǎzǐ for us all." That term was what the leader of the Kōshi Kasshi often used to mark the time in a tōshi's life that s/he could finally break free of the chains of the past and live his/her life the way they desired, not as the past dictated. "Of course, I have seen other signs as well."

Kokoni Kichimi — Ukitsu — gazed at her. As a reborn Taoist priest herself, she often found herself drawn into such talk quite easily. "What other signs?"

A knowing smile crossed the older woman's face. "Have you heard rumours of a tōshi calling herself 'Ryūkō Kyōrei?'"

Silence.

"Reitei-sama…?" Kichimi breathed out, her mind quickly translating the local way of saying the name and posthumous name of that particular man. "But, Sempai…!"

"She lives," Sumiko said. "Currently under her real name: Moroboshi Hiromi."

More silence.

"One of Moroboshi Ataru's bioroid sisters, you mean?"

A nod. "Hai." Sumiko then stared at the woman now examining the still body of the greatest fighter from Yōshū High School. "How is he, Sandi-san?"

The auburn-haired American now leaning over the comatose Futoshi Itsuku — Taishiji Shigi — looked up to gaze on the other women present with her dark blue eyes. Eyes, Kichimi had been quick to conclude, that were MUCH older than one would expect of a girl from the North Riverdale section of the New York borough of the Bronx. "He's starting to feel the power flood him," Alexandra Lucy McLugh — who was currently on summer vacation before the final year of high school at Ulster Riverdale Collegiate — stated as he gazed down on Itsuku's unmoving face. "His wound wasn't too bad. Who the devil stabbed this poor man in the back, anyway?" she then asked in very crisp Japanese, aided ironically by her native New York dialect of English.

"Hannō and Ryūyō Seirei," Kichimi said, a snarl in her voice.

Sandi blinked, and then she shook her head. "Typical. In his first life, Liú Yáo eventually fell to Sūn Cè and died after he lost his land. Tàishǐ Cí was spared and switched sides as a result. By trying to kill your lover here, Kichimi, Liú's modern-self was hoping to avoid his past fate at the hands of Minaka's cousin Tsueko."

Kichimi gaped. "You know a lot about us, don't you."

Sandi paused, and then she held out her left arm. "«Get in here, you stupid cow!»" she barked out in English with an Irish burr. "«I need your help!»"

A flash of flame later, a phoenix with dark reddish-brown feathers appeared and landed on the American's arm, cooing with a mixture of annoyance and mock-anger. Seeing such a beautiful creature, Kichimi gaped, her jaw now down on the floor. "«Oh, shut up!»" Sandi snarled. "«It's YOUR damn fault we met up with that wanderer and I got transported across half the damned PLANET to hook up with Sumiko and her friends! And you STILL won't tell me WHY I'm here anyway! Now, we need some of your tears to get Kichimi's boyfriend back on his feet, so give them up! Now!»"

The phoenix squawked, though he was willing to allow a couple of drops to emerge from his dark eyes. Sandi gently caught them on the tips of her gloved fingers, and then she allowed the tears to be smeared on the exposed parts of Itsuku's stomach, right opposite from where the knives welded by his school leader Koro Masarai (Ryūyō Seirei) and schoolmate Magaki Yokusuru (Hannō) had plunged into his back. Once that was done, Sandi took a deep breath, and then pulled the gloves off her hands as the phoenix shifted onto her shoulder. Taking a scalpel from a nearby dressing tray, she pricked her little finger with it and then allowed the drops of blood to land on the place where the phoenix's tears had fallen.

Kichimi and Sumiko gasped as a burst of ki erupted from that place to wrap Itsuku's body with tendrils of energy. His dark eyes flew open as a shocked scream escaped him, and then he cried out in relief as the ki faded away. "Oh, man…!" he moaned as he looked around, and then he stopped on gazing on a pretty Western teenager, currently dressed in a New York Yankees home uniform top over a pair of faded blue jeans. Perched on her shoulder was a lovely phoenix, which made Itsuku's eyes go VERY wide, and then he spotted the intricately carved Celtic cross hanging as a pendant around her neck. A cross bearing a lovely white jewel at the intersection point that radiated the same type of ki that a magatama worn by an A-rank tōshi possessed. "Who…?"

"_**SHIGI!**_"

He then yelped as a black-haired typhoon of energy nearly swamped him with a hug. "HEY! Wha-…?" he began, and then he blinked. "Ukitsu…?"

The leader of Gogun shuddered, and then she began to sob as she moved to shower the wounded tōshi's face with kisses. Itsuku remained still as his mind tried to catch up with what the hell was going on — the last thing he remembered was walking away from his fight with Mago Tsueko — and then he sighed as he moved to hold her close.

By then, both Sumiko and Sandi had stepped out of the room to give them privacy. The leader of the Kōshi Kasshi then turned to bow low to the phoenix perched on the American-born gaiscíoch's shoulder. "Oh, great Donn Cúailnge, this unworthy one thanks you for your gift that restored my friend's beloved back to health," the reborn Taoist priest declared as she gazed respectfully at the immortal being reborn from the living spirit of the swineherd who once served one of the blood descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann and — in a later incarnation — became the target of a "cattle raid" that pitched his companion's past-self against an ARMY! "Please tell us, Great One, was THIS the reason you brought your defender to the Land of the Wa so she may ride with us?"

The Donn cooed as he shook his head, and then he took flight before he vanished in another burst of divine crimson fire. "Guess not," Sandi mused, an amused smile crossing her face. "Looks like I'll be riding some more with you people."

"Doesn't that bother you, Sandi-san?"

Both women perked as they were joined by Sumiko's siblings. Like Sumiko herself, Takara, Harimi and Hironaru possessed pale golden hair and deep brown eyes; that was the sign in the eyes of their grandfather, Hari Michioka (Chōdōryō), that they were destined to bear within them the souls of the famous leaders of the Yellow Turbans in this lifetime. They were dressed in the normal black form-fitting biker's leathers that was standard uniform for the Kōshi Kasshi, all adorned with the Southern Cross battle flag born by fighting regiments of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The flags were embossed with the golden kanji that was read "Kōshi Kasshi" in each of the crimson fields around the blue saltire cross with its thirteen silver stars. And while they seemed to be like your normal bōsōzoku to the average passer-by, the members of the Kōshi Kasshi had earned a hard-won reputation for social justice that made them akin to the legendary "Merry Men" who once joined together with the fallen English lord Robin of Locksley.

"No, Takara, it really doesn't," Sandi stated as she smiled at the middle sister of the Hari siblings, reaching over to wrap her arm around Hironaru's waist to draw him against her. That made the effeminate boy — he was the youngest of the Hari siblings, having only been a freshman at Yoshū (he was also Harimi's fraternal twin) when Sumiko and Takara had first raised their rebel banner and led a mass exodus of tōshi from all the Seven Schools — blush; he was STILL trying to get used to the raw sensuality that Sandi McLugh could express towards anyone that caught her eye, especially since she didn't seem inclined at this time to pursue a permanent relationship. "In my first life, I interacted with the blood kin of the Tuatha Dé Danann, so I know what magical phoenixes are all about. The Donn feels I have to remain here for a spell. So I'll stay."

"Sandi-chan! You don't have a passport or anything…!" Harimi moaned.

"We simply have to trust that the great Donn will return our friend home when it is time," Sumiko advised. She stared knowingly at Harimi. "What is it?"

The reborn General of Man of the Yellow Turbans tensed, and then she drew out her sister's cell-phone, which she had hung onto while Sumiko had gone in to visit Kichimi. "A text message for you, Onē-san. From Hiromi-sama."

Sumiko gaped as she took the device and stared at the message on the screen:

**From:** Moroboshi Hiromi  
**To:** Hari Sumiko  
_Chōkaku-dono, the Blue Sky cannot be without the Golden Sun. I need you._

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"The Emperor calls upon us!"

The others all tensed. "Your High King calls you to her side?" Sandi asked.

A weak nod. "H-h-hai…" Sumiko sputtered before she paused, and then she took a deep breath. "Send messages out to everyone to ride for Tomobiki! Go!"

The other Hari siblings tensed, and then they nodded before heading outside so they could send out text messages to each of the eleven other team leaders (Hironaru lead Team One), each of whom commanded a force of nearly a hundred riders. As they did that, Sumiko took a deep breath, and then she gazed on Sandi. "This is why you're here," the reborn Taoist high priest stated. "Clearly, Hiromi-sama believes something now threatens all of Earth. She needs warriors at her side to fight it."

"You mean like the monsters her brother once had to deal with?" the Bronx native asked.

A nod. "Hai."

Sandi then hummed. "Never once dreamt of being an astronaut."

The leader of the Kōshi Kasshi blinked, and then she laughed. The door to Itsuku's room then opened to reveal Kichimi, who had a worried look on her face. "Reitei-sama texted you, Sempai? What's wrong?" the leader of Gogun asked.

"Your High King has summoned all of Sumiko's kin and friends to her side in Tomobiki," Sandi answered. "She doesn't know why, but since your High King's kin had to deal with those rather rude aliens up to a half-year ago, it's easy to guess."

Kichimi blinked, and then she grimaced. "She needs us all."

"Most likely," Sumiko stated.

A nod. "I'll text Chōkei and get Gogun massed together." She then stared at Sandi. "So who are you, anyway?" she asked. "Or rather, who WERE you? You're an American and you radiate the same level of ki as Ryofu Hōsen! I never knew…"

"I'm not a tōshi," Sandi gently cut her off. "Those such as I call ourselves 'gaiscíoch;' that's the Irish Gaelic word for 'warrior.'" She then smiled at the leader of Gogun. "In my first life, I was Sétanta mac Súaltam of Ulster. Born of a deified High King of Ireland, Lugh mac Ethniu. In that life, I also earned a nickname: Cú Chulainn."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then…

"We'll have to spar sometime," Kichimi said, smiling.

"Go be with your man," Sandi insisted. "He needs you now."

A nod. "Arigatō, Kūkurin-sama."

"Dō itashimashite, Ukitsu-dono. Don't worry about your High King. She'll understand." Sandi then blinked. "Oh, by the way, Kichimi…"

"What?"

"When it comes time for you to go over to Itsuku's school to properly thrash the backstabbers that put him here, invite me to the party," the New Yorker snarled.

A nod. "I will…"

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home, just before lunch…

"So you have no objections concerning Kikuko-chan marrying Shampoo-chan?"

Hayashi Chiaki shook her head. "No, of course not." She sighed as she took the offered tea from her host; the matriarch of the Hayashi Clan of Inarichō had come to visit her grandchildren at their present residence to begin preparations for having them finally go to school. "She may not be my granddaughter in spirit — Negako-sama was quite thorough in describing her origins to me, much less how her soul eventually got into my grandson's head — but she is my granddaughter none the less, Moroboshi-san. And if these Joketsuzoku are as dangerous as Shampoo clearly has shown, making peace with them is a smart thing to do." She then smirked. "Besides, given that it _**is**_ a lesbian relationship, such would drive my daughter-in-law quite insane. And hopefully back into the arms of the woman who clearly loves her above all else."

Moroboshi Kinshō gazed on the older woman, and then she sighed. "You really do hate your son, don't you?" she asked as she prepared tea for herself.

A shake of the head. "It is not hate, young lady," Chiaki said, a touch of weariness in her voice. "It is simply a final, ugly realization: That try as I might, try as my husband did, there is NOTHING that can be done to turn my child away from his chosen life's path." She then gazed at Kinshō's husband, who was also enjoying morning tea with them. "I assume you were treated somewhat the same way by your late mother."

Kinshō fought down the automatic twitch in her body on hearing her guest mention THAT person. "She gave up on us, true," Muchi then noted. "But it was for a pretty stupid reason in the eyes of both my wife and I." A pause. "Our family has always been run as a matriarchy. Leadership passes from grandmother to granddaughter. Never to a grandson. If necessary, a granddaughter-in-law — if she is acceptable to the Matriarch — could take her place." A shrug. "Of course, Okā-san was long dead by the time Hensō entered our lives, so we felt we had every right to support her desire to marry Ataru." He shook his head. "After our son was born, my wife found out she could never have children again. And there was just no way I would go to bed some strange woman to give Okā-san her heir." He closed his eyes. "I really loved my mother, but there were things about what she wanted that I just couldn't support, Hayashi-sama. And I was afraid that she would do anything to destroy my marriage so that I could find a 'better' woman to be with." A sigh. "I suppose that's part of the reason we turned around and ended up treating our own son with such indifference at times."

"Yet he still remains here," Chiaki noted.

"Only because his sisters forced a choice on us," Kinshō noted, a sad smile crossing her face. "And I suppose they had a right to do that to us given how quick we were to support Hensō's 'marriage' to him in our quest to better our own lives. They made it very clear that if things became too intolerable for Ataru, they'd move out, then make it publicly known what caused them to leave Tomobiki. And while Tariko-chan and Negako don't have much in the way of a public following, Hiromi-chan…"

"If they heard she was hurt, all those like Hiromi-sama would bring the wrath of the Kami all over you," Chiaki noted, and then she sighed. "Fate places challenges against families to either strengthen them or break them. My family was broken because of Genma's thieving ways and the extent he was willing to go to hurt others all just for his own betterment. Your family was almost broken when you were caught up in something that you didn't really understand until it was nearly too late." She then toasted her hosts. "And you recovered from it quite well. I salute you both."

"Obā-chan?"

Everyone turned as Kikuko walked in, followed by Shampoo. "Ohayō, you two," Chiaki stated as she accepted her granddaughter's embrace, and then she nodded as the Nǚjiézú warrior went to one knee and gave her a classic fist-in-palm salute. "I trust you were able to finally settle matters with Happōsai, Shampoo-chan?"

"Hai," Shampoo said. "We'll ask Hiromi-sama if we could use the transporters on her flagship to beam back to the village so that I can present the things Happōsai-lǎoshī once took from the village back to Hiibā-san and the other elders."

"And where is that man right now?"

"Currently with Negako-dàlǎoshī…"

"Shānpú."

Shampoo paled on hearing that toneless voice, and then she turned around to see Negako about to walk into the kitchen. "H-h-hai…?" she sputtered.

"Do not call me that," the grandmaster stated.

Shampoo gulped as Negako headed into the kitchen to prepare tea. "Ojii-chan is with Negako-onēchan so that he can be finally purged of all the things those horrible priests did to him back in 1888 that turned him into such a pervert in the first place," Kikuko then explained. "He should be alright soon enough."

"And then he can start training Àirén and her siblings properly," Shampoo added.

"Is Ranma still aboard _Haida_?" Kinshō asked.

The couple nodded. "Hai!" Kikuko answered. "I'm hoping that…"

The front door then opened. "Tadaima!" Hiromi called out.

Everyone turned as the reborn emperor came inside, followed by Sebone Mimōko, Seki Haneko and Natsukimi Mien. "Okaeri nasai, Hiromi-chan," Kinshō said with a smile, and then she blinked. "Where's everyone else? Still up in space?"

"Hai, Okā-san," Hiromi answered as her companions respectfully bowed to her mother. "My friends and I will be going to Hong Kong to retrieve an object we will need to help us when we finally move to deliver our response to the Urusians concerning yesterday's events. Oh, has the damage to Onii-san's room been finally repaired?" she asked.

"The contractors will be here after lunch," Muchi noted. "Is Ataru still up in space with Mimōko-chan's cousin and her girlfriend?"

"Hai, Otō-san," Hiromi said with a smile as Kinshō jerked on being reminded once again that her son now had TWO girlfriends and not just one like 'normal' people possessed at his age. "And they'll most likely stay there for a while."

"So what was this all about, anyway?" Chiaki asked.

"Lum-san arranged for Hensō to fulfil an honourable obligation that has been hanging over their family for quite some time now," the reborn emperor stated. "Kamen, Damasu and Mienai didn't agree to it, so they intended to kidnap Onii-san to make it seem as if he was still married to Hensō. The Urusian Imperials and a small scattering of Lumite worshippers from Phentax Two elected to take advantage of it." As she watched her parents make faces on being reminded of the Niphentaxians, Hiromi added, "As of now, a much more competent leader — Oyuki-san's cousin Pukaze-sama — is the acting Regent of Neptune. And hopefully soon, the Imperial leaders on Uru will be eliminated once and for all time. One of them, ironically, being Rei-san's uncle."

Her parents perked on hearing that. "Was Rei involved?" Muchi asked.

"He was about to come through the warp when Onē-san fired into it with her Lawgiver and Kanami-san used her vacuum blades," Hiromi stated as she sensed something approach from the north. "The wound was fatal." On seeing her parents pale on hearing that, she sighed. "Onē-san knows and she's accepting it, but it still hurts her."

"Kanami-onēchan's with her, isn't she?" Kikuko asked.

"Hai, she is. And by the sounds of it, Chōkaku-dono and her friends are now arriving," Hiromi answered as the distant echo of motorcycle engines began to rattle the windows of the Moroboshi home. "Relax and have tea, ladies," she bade the other tōshi, who nodded. "I'll receive them in the dōjō. As soon as we get the clearance from the Chinese embassy, we'll be back aboard _Haida_ and be off to Hong Kong."

With that, she headed back outside through the front door. "What's happening?" Kinshō asked as Negako walked into the living room with a tray full of cups and an extra kettle of hot water, along with tea bags, sugar, sweetener and cream.

"We're going to make sure Hensō gets married," Mimōko said as the grandmaster headed off to take another tray of tea to the dōjō. "Even if we have to damn hell rip her horns off her head and chain her to the altar so she DOES get married!"

"And we'll even have a nice-sized force to make sure there won't be gate-crashers this time," Haneko added as Kinshō began to pour tea.

"Will ten starships, a heavy armoured brigade group and two thousand fighter craft be enough?" Mien then wondered as the three tōshi relaxed.

"It better be," Mimōko noted, and then she smirked. "Then again, we've got Shikuko, Tsueko-san, Torusuke-san, Sonami-san, Ryōko-chan and Kumomi-san on our side."

"And you," Haneko noted.

Her rival from Nan'yō blushed. "Yeah. We'll be…"

"Who's the American woman with the Yellow Turbans?"

Everyone perked on hearing Shampoo's question, and then they looked outside. By the front gate, Hiromi was now meeting with a group of people all dressed alike in form-fitting black racing leathers with the Confederate battle flag stitched on their arms and backs. Several were standing around a strange woman wearing a jean vest over what appeared to be a Yankees baseball shirt over blue jeans, sunglasses over her eyes. As Mimōko, Haneko and Mien gazed intently at her, they then tensed as the stranger's azure eyes seemed to focus on them for a moment before they shifted back to Hiromi.

"She's good…" Mimōko breathed out.

"Like us…yet not like us," Mien warned.

"As powerful as your cousin, Ryomō," Haneko warned. "Who IS she?"

"Alexandra McLugh."

All three women yelped, and then they spun around to see Negako standing nearby. As Kikuko and Shampoo fought back snickers and the older people all grinned on seeing how much the ninjutsu grandmaster had surprised them, Haneko thumbed outside. "How's this possible, Negako-sama? She's clearly a Westerner and she's a tōshi, too!"

"She is the ancient Irish version of a tōshi, Haneko. They address themselves as a group as 'gaiscíoch.' Resurrected time and time again from almost the same period of history as your own past-selves through mesonium crystals that were later implanted on Celtic crucifixes that were passed down as your magatama were passed down from one incarnation to the next." Negako glanced outside. "In her first life, Alexandra was an acquaintance of Shikuko's past-self, Sétanta mac Súaltam of the province of Ulster. Who died young in the defence of his kingdom against an attack launched on their land by the army of Connacht under command of the queen at the time, Medb nic Eochaid." She turned away. "All to appropriate a particularly fertile male bull so she could demonstrate to her husband, Ailill mac Máta, that she was as wealthy as he."

She walked off, leaving three slack-jawed tōshi in her wake. "Ye gods…!" Haneko then breathed out as she gazed outside at Sandi McLugh. "That's…?!"

"Cú Chulainn…!" Mimōko finished for her rival, her voice hushed with awe.

"Was he a great warrior?" Shampoo asked.

Haneko gazed on the Nǚjiézú. "He defeated a whole army practically by HIMSELF, Shānpú!" the best fighter of Seito flatly stated. "That good enough for you?"

Shampoo gaped as Kikuko blinked in disbelief…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Ukitsu** (**Kokoni Kichimi**) first appeared in manga episode #29. Like some of the characters from _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, the person that Kichimi is descent from is most likely fictional: **Yú Jí**. However, Yú Jí is most likely a misinterpretation of a real person, **Gān Jí** (unknown birth date to 200 C.E.), who was a Taoist sage active in the time period Yú Jí was said to be active in the _Romance_. Such mistakes are common throughout Master Luó's work, look at the similarity between the two names as they're written in Chinese characters: 于吉 (Yú Jí) versus 干吉 (Gān Jí). In this life, Kichimi is the most skilled and powerful fighter without dragon enhancement known to all tōshi across Kantō; she is often nicknamed "Ukitsu the Genius" because of it. Her relationship with the man she was visiting at the start of this part is inferred by what was said in manga episode #28 concerning the fact that he was the only tōshi that Kichimi sparred with who was never hurt by her; she normally straps hundred-pound weights on her arms and legs to help increase her natural strength.

**Taishiji Shigi** (**Futoshi Itsuku**) first appeared in manga episode #9. I nicknamed him the "Righteous Tōshi" thanks to the statement he once made in the fourth episode of the first anime series "A Duel! Taishiji Vs. Sonsaku": "You are not a fighter." He was stabbed in the back by **Hannō** (**Magaki Yokusuru**) at the command of **Ryūyō Seirei** (**Koro Masarai**) in manga episode #11. People will remember Yokusuru from the very beginning of the manga series; he was the first tōshi that Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko) fought before she was prompted by her mother to transfer to the Nan'yō Academy. Itsuku's past-self is **Tàishǐ Cí** (166-206), a general who fought under several warlords until he came under the control of Sūn Cè after breaking away from **Liú Yáo** (156-197) after the latter refused to heed Tàishǐ's advice…which reflected in the manga series as Koro Masarai is Liú Yáo's modern incarnation. In the manga series, after recovering from his wounds, Itsuku went to help the joint Seito-Nan'yō force go forth to stop the re-enactment of the Battle of Chìbì; Itsuku personally rescued Chōhi Ekitoku (Haru Asumi) from the Three-Pillared Gods after knocking out **Chōkō Shungai** (**Haru Kazua**) with one punch!

As an aside, the part-Polynesian ancestry I attest to Itsuku is speculation on my part given his darker skin than what is normal for Orientals.

**Chōkei** (**Koeru Kagetori**) first appeared in chapter #28. He was the second tōshi of Gogun that Tsueko fought when she sought out Kichimi. Unlike other tōshi, he doesn't seem to have a known counterpart amongst the characters that appeared in _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ or any of the other annals of that particular time period. His battle name, when switched to Mandarin, would read **Zhào Jǐng**, which DOES match the name of an officer of the _Táng_ Dynasty and who lived from 736-796. If Shiozaki-sensei meant for this character to be a reincarnation of that person, the proper battle name would read "**Chōkei Taiō**" as Master Zhào's style name was "Tuìwēng."

And the people I introduce here:

**Chōkaku** (**Hari Sumiko**) is the leader of the Kōshi Kasshi motorcycle gang. Her past-self is **Zhāng Jué** (also known as **Zhāng Jiǎo**) (unknown date of birth, died 184), who was a Taoist "great teacher" who supported the sick and infirm during the years of the Xiàolíng Emperor's reign. Zhāng became the General of Heaven in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, achieving early successes against the Hàn Dynasty…only to be thwarted when leaders such as Liú Bèi, Cáo Cāo and Sūn Jiān took to the field. Zhāng's death tore the heart out of the Yellow Turbans…but in this incarnation, Sumiko and her siblings took the lessons of the past to heart and simply _**walked away**_ from their various schools (the Hari siblings themselves were students at Yoshū, with Sumiko a third-year) when they rose their rebel banners in the summer of 2007. That — combined with a policy of self-defence when gangs of tōshi went out to take them back in — ensured the replay of the Yellow Turban Rebellion succeeded this time.

**Chōhō** (**Hari Takara**) is the second-in-command and primary strategic planner of the Kōshi Kasshi. Her past-self was the General of the Earth in the Yellow Turban Rebellion and Zhāng Jué's younger brother, **Zhāng Bào** (unknown birth date, died 184). He took co-command of the Yellow Turbans after Zhāng Jué died, but wasn't as effective in leading the rebels as his older brother had been. Zhāng Bào would perish in battle against **Huángfǔ Sōng** (unknown date of birth, died 195) at the **Battle of Guānzhōng**. In this life, Takara was a second-year student at Yoshū when she quit school alongside her siblings and helped form the Kōshi Kasshi. It is she who formed the overall strategy of self-defence against those tōshi who went out to try to force the "rebels" against the "Fate of the Magatama" back into the fold of the Seven Schools.

**Chōryō** (**Hari Harimi**) is the third-in-command of the Kōshi Kasshi as well as the _hatamochi_ ("flag carrier") who carries the group's flag when the Kōshi Kasshi are riding together. Her past-self was the General of Man in the Yellow Turban Rebellion and Zhāng Jué's and Zhāng Bào's younger brother, **Zhāng Liáng** (unknown birth date, died 184). He split the overall the leadership of the Yellow Turbans with Zhāng Bào after Zhāng Jué died, but despite his obvious skill in leading troops, was defeated and killed by the forces of Huángfǔ Sōng just before Zhāng Bào was killed at Guānzhōng. In this life, Harimi is the effective public relations officer of the Kōshi Kasshi; it is she who controls the group's web page and vets out all e-mails and text messages from other tōshi (such as what Kichimi had to use to get the Hari siblings to the hospital to look in on Itsuku) to ensure they don't fall into a trap they ride out to assist.

The past-self of Harimi's twin brother **Chōmansei** (**Hari Hironaru**) is **Zhāng Mànchéng** (unknown birth date, died 184), who commanded rebel forces in the Nányáng area and was killed by the local prefect there. It is unknown what (if any) sort of family relationship Zhāng Mànchéng had with the Zhāng brothers who commanded the Yellow Turbans. In this incarnation, both Hironaru and Harimi were freshmen at Yoshū when the Kōshi Kasshi were formed. These days — as noted above — he is the leader of Team One of the group.

**Chōdōryō** or **Chōryō Fukan** (**Hari Michioka**) is the current incarnation of **Zhāng Líng** (also called **Zhāng Dàolíng**) (34-156), who was one of the **Four Celestial Masters** in the eyes of some Taoist sects. Zhāng Líng was said to be the grandfather to Zhāng Jué and his brothers, but that has not been proven historically. In this life, Michioka — while not seen as a tōshi _per se_ as his first-self lived many decades before the prelude of the Three Kingdoms period began in 189 — did his best to instill proper Taoist virtues in his grandchildren to make sure that THIS time, the Yellow Turbans would not only succeed in breaking away from the Fate of the Magatama, but would not leave a tonne of broken bodies in their wake. He clearly succeeded.

Finally, **Alexandra Lucy "Sandi" McLugh** is, as noted here, the current incarnation of Ireland's mightiest warrior and equal to Lǚ Bù in China, **Sétanta mac Súaltam**. The most well-known hero of Irish myth — who also appeared in various Scottish and Manx myths — Sétanta was the actual son of **Lugh** (himself the son of one of the Tuatha Dé Danann) and **Deichtine** (sister to **Conchobar mac Nessa**, then King of Ulster). Sétanta — when he was a boy — accompanied his maternal uncle and his party to the home of the smith **Culann**, but was distracted by a game of **hurling** (an ancient Gaelic sport similar to field hockey) and vowed to catch up later once the game was over. When Sétanta finally got to Culann's home, the host forgot about the boy and sent his fierce watchdog after the "intruder," forcing Sétanta to kill it in self-defence. In repentance, Sétanta volunteered to take the dog's place and thus earned the nickname **Cú Chulainn** (literally "Hound of Culann"), which is rendered "Kūkurin" in Japanese. When he was seventeen, Cú Chulainn went out to defend Ulster from the army of **Medb** (queen-consort of neighbouring Connacht) when she elected to get her hands on the **Donn Cúailnge** (literally "Brown Bull of Cooley") to prove she was as wealthy as her then-husband; this event was depicted in the _Táin Bó Cúailnge_. Cú Chulainn would die after Medb conspired with **Lugaid** (the son of **Cú Roí**, the King of Munster) and other children of those who had lost loved ones to the Hound of Ulster, though he died standing on his feet. In this life, Sandi is a Grade 11 student at Ulster Riverdale Collegiate in the southern end of the Bronx across the Harlem River from Manhattan. Unlike most tōshi, Sandi personally doesn't care a whit about what happened to her past-self. She lives her life according to her wishes, which clearly made her quite acceptable to the Kōshi Kasshi when the Donn brought her over from America to ride with them.

2) As the highest leader in Ireland was often referred to as a "High King," Sandi McLugh would be inclined to do the same when she speaks of Moroboshi Hiromi.

3) The **Tuatha Dé Danann** (literally "People of the Goddess Danu") are, according to most Celtic myths, the fifth race to invade Ireland, conquering same from the **Fir Bolg** in the **Battle of Maighe Tuireadh** (the events of which are covered in the Irish Mythological Saga text _Cath Maighe Tuireadh_, which is the Irish Gaelic phrase for the battle in question). The Tuatha Dé Danann would eventually be equated to ancient Irish nobles when the tales about them were finally committed to writing a century after Ireland was Christianised, but there are many clues in those writings indicating that the Children of Danu were gods and goddesses, if not some other type of immortal.

As an aside, phoenixes like the Donn Cúailnge in this universe are the same as beings like **Fawkes** from the _Harry Potter_ series.

4) **Robin of Locksley** is the proper name often given to the legendary bandit **Robin Hood** (as witness films such as Kevin Costner's _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_ from 1991).

5) Translations: **Lǎoshī** — Literally "old master" (to ad **Dà-** before this would then make the term mean "great old master"); **Nic** — "Daughter of…" (Medb's full name is normally not given in ancient Celtic texts, but since she was said to be the daughter of Eochaid Feidlech, calling her "Medb nic Eochaid" does make sense).


	22. The Dragon Jade

The Bāyánkālā Mountains of Qīnghǎi, just before lunch (Japan time: end of the lunch hour)…

"«Dear Goddess, Shān! What have you got yourself involved with?»"

"«Is there something wrong, Kělún?»"

Cologne tensed on hearing that concerned voice asking her that question in English — it was the private language used by the rulers of this mountain village when they desired to keep things secret from the younger ones; all of them had learned it years before from missionaries from Britain that had come to the Middle Kingdom before the Second Sino-Japanese War to spread their faith — and then she turned to see a woman appearing to be in her fifties standing at the doorway to the elder's private meditation room. "«Oh, Lākěr! Come in, please,»" the older woman bade the youngest of the Council of Elders inside. "«I just received the latest report from Shānpú.»"

"«What news?»" Lacquer asked.

"«She is married,»" Cologne stated. "«But not to the boy she reported had defeated her in her last letter to us. But to his adopted sister now.»"

Silence.

The younger elder was trying to pick her jaw up from the floor. "«How…?»"

Cologne handed the letter over. Lacquer took it and scanned through it. She then gaped as certain details became clear. "«Goddess! That girl…!»"

"«Was in truth a man cursed by Zhòuquán-xiāng. As was his father; he was the panda,»" Cologne stated. "«And as you see there, Shān's hunt would have turned into a total disaster hadn't the Moroboshi Clan taken interest in Saotome Ranma.»"

A nod. "«I see,»" Lacquer stated, and then she gaped. "«Oh, Goddess…»"

The older woman's eyes narrowed. "«You noted that part, didn't you?»"

"«The Cat Fist?!»" the younger elder — Lacquer was the Mistress of the Records, in charge of all scrolls and other books in the village's central library, including those books that were not meant for general consumption — hissed out. "«Just for that alone, this…!»" She then stopped before she gaped. "Happōsai…?"

"«The same. I suspect the panda — his name is Saotome Genma — was one of Happy's last students before he vanished from all view even by those of our relatives currently living in Japan these days.»" Cologne then shook her head. "«And it turns out that a noble act he tried to perform during the age of the Guāngxù Emperor was turned against him to make him FAR worse than he was when he first ventured into our lands decades ago.»" She then indicated the paper in her guest's hand. "«Though by the sounds of what Shān just wrote to us, Moroboshi Negako is moving to heal him of such wounds and allow him to live the remainder of his life in peace and contentment.»"

"« Shān expressed hope that through Negako, what that man stole from us could be recovered and returned,»" Lacquer stated, nodding in approval. "«A good thing.»"

"«Indeed. But look what else was written there.»"

Lacquer perked, and then she scanned through the letter before she gaped. "«Oh, Goddess…!»" she breathed out. "«Indiana Jones' great-grandson…?!»"

"«Yes. We dodged an avalanche with that one from the spirits touching the Ark and the Holy Grail. And with the restless spirits of the Sānguó as well. It turns out that Moroboshi Negako's last living host — her now-adopted brother, Ataru; he was the lad who stood up to those aliens who came to invade Earth last summer — found the soul-jewel bearing the living spirit of the Xiàolíng Emperor himself when he was a child. The Emperor now lives as Ataru's adopted sister, Moroboshi Hiromi.»" A wry smile then crossed Cologne's face. "«Even more so, when Shān was chasing Ranma and his fool father out of the country, Ranma also found a soul-jewel, that bearing the living spirit of Liú Yān, who was distant kin to the Xiàolíng Emperor and later provided the land that Liú Bèi later used to create Shǔ Hàn. She now lives as Ranma's other adopted sister, Hayashi Miiko.»" She shook her head. "«Shān also reported that for some bizarre reason, Indiana's Japanese relations, for the most part, adamantly refuse to acknowledge their kinship with him.»" A snort. "«It appears that when the alcohol got a little out of hand, Junior left the girl that caught his fancy pregnant with a child. And the poor girl's idiot parents decided that wasn't to be tolerated.»" As her guest grinned — Cologne had once met Indiana's father, the elder Henry Jones, and had caught onto his using the "Junior" appellation for the younger archaeologist — Cologne then sighed as she gazed out the window at the mountains surrounding her home. "«And then…»"

"«The spirits haunting the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail decided to punish them for it. And quite viciously at that,»" Lacquer noted. "«You were all very wise to declare him and his descendants free of the Kisses. But what…? Oh, I see now!»" she then said as she read past that part of the letter. "«It appears this Hayashi Kikuko is driven by things that she cannot fight. And Shān…»"

"«Lucked right into it.»" A snort. "«That won't go over well with Mùsī.»"

Lacquer smirked. "«Kělún, Shānpú's new wife gave her the Kiss of Marriage _of her own free will_.»" Given that Mousse was — atop being the grandson of another of the Council of Elders, Aloe — also one of the only living practitioners of the Hidden Weapons School, his antics towards Shampoo had been tolerated. To a certain extent; Shampoo herself had been more than capable of thrashing the blind idiot whenever he went too far with her. "«Indiana's great-granddaughter is now **soul-bonded** to your great-granddaughter. Not even Lǚoé's grandson would question THAT!»"

"«With him, it's hard to…!»"

"Elder Kělún! Grandmother!"

Both turned as a tall, statuesque and muscular woman stepped into the hall, and then went to one knee, bowing her head as she gave them a classical fist-in-palm salute. "What is the matter, Dāoěr?" Lacquer demanded, surprised to see the worry on the young gate-guardian's face. "Were you properly relieved of your post…?"

A nod. "Yes, Grandmother, I was! By Zhùpié!" Dowel stated. "But Commissar Yǐn is at the main gate, asking to speak to Elder Kělún! He states it's urgent!"

Both women blinked…

* * *

Minutes later…

"Peace be with you all, Elder Comrade Nǚ."

Cologne pleasantly nodded to the middle-aged man in the relaxed clothing now standing just outside the main gate to the village. "And with you as well, Comrade Yǐn. What brings you to our quiet corner of the mountains today?"

Yǐn Bīnyōng bowed his head. He was a ninth-level government bureaucrat who worked as a Party official in the government of Qūmálái County. He also often served as the direct envoy of the central government of the People's Republic to the "Noble Tribe" (as the Nǚjiézú referred to themselves, despite their being officially seen as one of the legal ethnic groups living within the borders of the People's Republic, possessing no special privileges). And while his own sense of what was right and proper often clashed with the desire of these people just to be left alone to their own devices and not properly intermingle with the rest of the citizens of the land, he didn't do anything to offend any of these people, especially elders such as the diminutive woman before him now. He had seen Cologne in action during the last years of the Cultural Revolution before the death of Máo Zédōng. When she and her friends had easily put down passionate Red Guards from other parts of Qīnghǎi and elsewhere when they moved to destroy the village library in an attempt at wiping out the ancient writings these people had held onto for ages.

In his eyes, Cologne was a living personification of the Angel of Death.

"I bear greetings from the President, Elder Comrade," Bīnyōng stated. "He just learned very early this morning of your noble great-granddaughter's marriage under your laws and customs to the adopted great-granddaughter of Professor Indiana Jones. He extends his hopes for a long and peaceful marriage between Shānpú and Kikuko." He took a deep breath, instantly surprising Cologne with a look of true, deep horror. "He also informed me of how exactly the woman calling herself 'Hayashi Kikuko' came into being. Tell me, Grandmother…" — calling her THAT nearly made Cologne fall off her cane in shock — "…is it all true? Have you sensed what's in orbit over Earth?"

Cologne blinked, and then she sighed as she turned her dark eyes heavenward to the cloudy sky over her village. "For the last several months, those of us who have the ability to truly See into the heavens have sensed a large group of human-like spirits — of a population that would equal all that live now within the Middle Kingdom as a whole, combined with all who live in the noble Kingdom of Bhārat — living on what I have to assume is a great starship or star base of some sort, currently beyond the level of even what the Americans and the Russians put into orbit recently." Her eyebrow arched. "And many of them have suffered. Though for what, I can't even begin to guess…"

"I know what it is."

Silence.

"And that is?" she asked.

Bīnyōng reached into his jacket and pulled out a small booklet, which he gave to Cologne with a shaking hand. "This is from the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of National Defence. It…" He lowered his eyes. "Read it. You will understand then, Grandmother." He shook his head before turning away.

"Wait!"

He paused, and then looked back. "When was the last time you ate, child?" Cologne stated as she gave him a chiding look.

"Actually, breakfast today," he admitted, smiling. "But as the details of what's in that book sank in…" A shake of the head. "It didn't stay down."

She smirked. While she had no care at all for most of the current versions of the mandarins running the country from Běijīng, Cologne knew that behind the mask he often presented to people like her, Yǐn Bīnyōng was a human being at heart. And if he was affected like THIS because of what was going on in orbit right now…?

"You won't go back to your home and your wife on an empty stomach," she said as she beckoned him into the village walls. "I'll have the healers look at you while I read this book provided by our friends in Běijīng. And then you'll eat!"

He gaped. "But…!"

"MOVE, Comrade! Or BE moved!"

Bīnyōng gargled as he fell in behind Cologne as they headed in, both ignoring the dropped jaws and gaping looks from those who had watched them…

* * *

Hong Kong, near Seoíjaántìhn village hall in Bātheūng (Jyùhn Lóhng District, New Territories), that moment…

"You sure it's here?"

"Can't you sense it, Haneko-san?"

Haneko tensed, and then she nodded as she gazed on the dark and old temple that was nearly hidden in the trees of a grove close to the Fángám Road. The small but concentrated point of ki deep within the pagoda was something Seito's most powerful fighter couldn't begin to ignore. "It's almost like standing in the presence of the Gyokuji itself," she whispered as her grip on Reienkyo tightened.

"It is said to have the power to change a tōshi's destiny," Mien noted; she had a portable translation device with her so she could speak Vietnamese and still be understood by her companions. "For my cousin, for your oath-sister and for Mimōko-san and her friend…"

"The prize to free you all," Hiromi mused. "Or something that you all would have gone to war with each other for, just like you did over the Chuánguóxǐ…"

"Moroboshi-san?"

"«Yes?»" Hiromi asked in Mandarin as she looked behind her.

The smartly-dressed thirty-something woman in the dark business suit — the tōshi were all quick to sense the pistol hidden under the jacket — came up to bow to her. "An honour to meet you at last, Moroboshi-san," she said in very literate Japanese as she offered her hand, which Hiromi took with a gentle grip. "I am Major Sūn Lìyuán of the Ministry of State Security. My people will make sure you won't be disturbed."

"«Comrade Sūn,»" Hiromi stated, keeping to Guānhuà. "«Truly descent of a most noble family. You bring honour to all your kinsmen by your service to this land.»"

Lìyuán's cheeks went cherry red as her mind interpreted that compliment. "«You are truly too kind to me, Majesty,»" she whispered as she bowed low to the other woman.

"«I am an emperor of nothing, Lady Lìyuán. In the meantime, I'm sure the noble servants of your Ministry would prefer to be doing other things on a Sunday, so we won't be long.»" To Mimōko, Haneko and Mien. "Ladies, shall we go fetch the Lóngyù?"

The other tōshi nodded as they turned to march in line of review at the chained main door of the pagoda. Lìyuán fell in behind them, her hand ready to snap for her holstered gun if she needed to. Much that she did, deep down, believe the incredible story her superiors had told her about these tōshi — they all being possessed by the undying spirits of the great heroes and warriors of one of the most bloody periods in China's history — it was still quite jarring to encounter the reborn Liú Hóng, Lǚ Méng, Guān Yǔ and Xiàhóu Yuān in the forms of very beautiful teenage women. And from JAPAN of all places, even if Hiromi herself spoke the northern tongue of the Middle Kingdom as if she had been born and raised here. _Then again_, she mused to herself as the younger women all focused on the lock holding the chains barring the door in place. _In one sense of the term, she — and her friends — WERE raised here!_

_CRACK!_

Lìyuán gasped as Mimōko's sweeping side kick shattered the lock and a good length of chain, thus allowing the now-freed doors to open. Without pause, the four visitors from Japan walked inside the darkened space, Hiromi holding up a hand as a ball of bright ki flared into existence over her palm, thus giving them all light to see. "In the centre of the building," Mimōko stated, pointing. "Doesn't seem to be…"

A whistle shrilled through the air.

The four tōshi quickly danced clear as several sharp-edged linking rings flew out of nowhere to rip into the floor where Hiromi had been standing. "Spoke too soon!" Mimōko snarled as she rolled to her feet, snapping out her long-chain handcuffs as she scanned around the darkened space for whoever had thrown those weapons.

"«Stay close to me,»" Haneko said to Lìyuán as she held her polearm at the ready and shifted herself protectively in front of the MSS officer, and then she glanced into the darkness over their heads. "Mōkaku! I know it's you! Show yourself!"

"Who is that?" Lìyuán demanded.

"She who was once Mèng Huò, the prince of the Nánmán," Hiromi answered before her eyes narrowed. "And her sister is with us today as well. Konnichi wa, Mōyū-dono."

Everyone tensed, and then turned as the darkness close to Mien melted into a slender and pale-skinned woman with centre-parted blue hair and dark grey eyes, the right eye socket now under a black eye patch. She was dressed not in her usual strapless bikini top and hot pants, but in a very beautiful form-fitting crimson qípáo. What WAS normal for Kashira Yutako — Mōyū — was the very sharp jiàn in her right hand, not to mention the vicious sneer on her face. "Konnichi wa," Yutako said as she firmly gripped her weapon in both hands as she braced herself. "Your son will not let you take the Dragon Jade," she then stated in an icy voice. "Your time is past, _Reitei_! It's time for you stand aside and allow the TRUE Emperor to rise…!"

"_**SEISHIN-HASAI HI-KŌSEN!**_"

A bolt of very sickly green energy exploded from Hiromi's hand to zero in on Yutako's midsection. As the blue-haired woman was hit hard by the spirit-shredding attack — that causing her to scream out in gut-wrenching pain — several sharpened linking rings raced at the reborn emperor's head. Before Mimōko or Mien could leap over to intercept them, a shower of energy produced an aqua-haired terror in a burgundy uniform, now welding a long jǐ with a deadly end spear framed with two crescent-shaped cutting blades. With a wave of the Hōten-gageki, Shikuko shattered both of the flying rings, sending the parts falling harmlessly out of the way. "Now, _Emi_-chan…!" the best fighter of Rakuyō then stated with a sarcastic whine to her voice as she glared into the darkness near the ceiling. "That's NOT the way to play!"

Darkness then moved to allow a girl with tanned skin — which was quite in marked contrast to the now-fallen Yutako — to appear in the faint light from outside. Unlike her younger sister, though, Kashira Emi — Mōkaku — was dressed in her normal fighting uniform: Golden shorts, opened gold shirt exposing a very skimpy bra and a peaked cap with rider's goggles slipped way over her pale blue eyes gazing out of a hawkish face framed with shaggy chestnut-red hair. "Get the hell out of my way, bakayaro!" Emi snarled as she readied two more rings. "If you think we're going to let you idiots walk away with the Dragon Jade, you're smoking something you shouldn't be!"

Hiromi hummed. "And why is it my reborn son wishes the Lóngyù, Mōkaku-dono?"

Emi smirked. "You think Kentei-sama's blind, Moroboshi?!" she then snarled. "You got a freaking ARMY up there in space with those pretty starships of yours! Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what you intend to do with it!" She then screamed out as she wound up to let her rings fly at her targets.

"_**SEISHIN-HASAI HI-KŌSEN!**_"

Emi gasped as a ball of green light blinded her, and then she screamed in pain as the energy bolt slammed into her forehead, knocking off her peaked cap and sending her flying backwards into a wall, her head bouncing off hard on the unyielding wood before she collapsed to the floor. As silence then fell, Shikuko breathed out. "What the hell happened to them?" she asked as she straightened herself, allowing the Hōten-gageki to rest on her shoulder as she turned back to gaze on Hiromi.

"They're possessed by the spirit of my second son," Hiromi said before she glanced over, and then she blinked before she smiled. "There you are…"

She walked over to the altar in the middle of the room. Upon it, held in a tower-like device, was a clear glass globe, encasing a golden sphere with a dragon etched around it. Kneeling before it, the reborn emperor then smiled. "The Lóngyù," she whispered before she reached over to gently take the globe off the altar.

A shocked gasp made Hiromi stop as she spun around to see Mimōko suddenly curl in on herself…and the main doors of the pagoda slam shut! "Oh, crap!" Shikuko snarled as she took a defensive stance close to her moaning cousin as Lìyuán came over to help her stay on her feet. "Something tells me people don't want…"

**«Why, Father…?»**

As Lìyuán gasped and the tōshi all tensed, Hiromi straightened herself, a sad look crossing her face. "Why do you seek to stop me, my son?" she called out.

**«You allow these monsters — who rebelled against you AND me! — the chance to be free of what they've long deserved?»** the disembodied voice of the reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor, Liú Xié, then demanded. **«THEY plunged OUR country into chaos! THEY caused the peasants to rebel against US! THEY unleashed misery on millions! And for all this time, they've been hailed as HEROES! And you now seek to REWARD them for that?»**

Hiromi sighed as she picked up the Lóngyù. "And who are YOU to judge them for what they did all those years ago, my son?" she asked. "Who are YOU to demand blood of these innocent souls who never asked to have their lives so weighed down by the past?" she wondered as she waved to her companions. "What happened back then was regrettable, my son. I failed the Middle Kingdom, I lost the Mandate of Heaven and when I died, my spirit was forced to watch as good people made war on each other, most often because they lost their sense of peace and security, willing to die to regain it once more, in any way possible!" She lowered her eyes. "I even failed you…"

**«Yes, Father. You did…»** that voice then snarled as all the tōshi in the room tensed. **«And yet, I realize you seek atonement for your failures. So be it, then. Allow me to perform one last act of filial piety towards you…»**

A bloom of ki then appeared far overhead, which made everyone look up.

**«…and grant you the final release from LIFE!»**

The ki then exploded…

…as the main doors were blasted inward, a giant man in torn clothing sailing through to crash land on the floor close to Shikuko. Gazing on the dazed Ki Kenshika — Bokuroku Daiō — the best fighter of Rakuyō could only gape at the extent of the cuts and bruises now covering the giant warrior's body and face…

…just as a lithe form leapt in afterwards, welding a long, wicked javelin-like spear topped with a deadly point framed with seven pairs of shark teeth-like spikes. Before everyone could take note of her, an inhuman cry of pure RAGE escaped Sandi McLugh as she allowed the safe end of her weapon to rest on the toes of one of her feet, and then she kicked out, sending her weapon spiralling right into the wave of ki soaring towards Hiromi. People turned up as the spear flew into the light…

**«_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!_»**

A second later, the whole top of the pagoda exploded in a column of fire…

* * *

Somewhere near Aoga-shima, south of Tōkyō, that very moment…

In the darkened halls and within the underground caves below Nanban High School, dozens of tattooed warriors froze as they felt something lance into their very souls for a brief second, and then they all collapsed as if they had been knocked out by a forest of invisible maces, their faces now blank and without feeling…

* * *

Back at the temple in Bātheūng…

"_**MAJESTY, LOOK OUT!**_"

Hiromi gasped as Sūn Lìyuán tackled her at the waist, sending the reborn emperor tumbling away just as an armoured body came crashing down on the floor, the chain mail shattered thanks to Sandi's thrown spear, which had punched through the body within just under the diaphragm, digging in deep into the underlying flesh and the vulnerable organs beyond. As the dust kicked up by that impact finally settled, people turned to look. One look caused them all to blink. "Kentei's…?" Haneko began.

"A girl?" Mien finished.

Hiromi blinked, and then she walked over to kneel before the fallen warrior, her hands reaching out to take off the mask covering her face. Once that was removed, she looked down, and then she turned to the other tōshi. "Does anyone recognise this woman?" she asked as she moved to cradle the poor woman's head in her lap.

Mimōko moaned as she got back to her feet, and then she — with a hand over her left eye — looked before her jaw dropped. "Masaka! Shukuyū…?!"

The others blinked. "Mōkaku's wife?" Haneko asked.

"The same…"

Everyone turned as they watched Kenshika slowly rise to his feet. Despite the many wounds on his arms, chest and face, the giant fighter from Nanban was moving with the grace of an experienced warrior, one who could endure much before being felled. Seeing that, the other tōshi nodded in appreciation. "How are you, Kenshika-kun?" Shikuko asked; the top fighter of Rakuyō had fought the third-rank of Nanban in the previous year's Tournament and had spent intimate time with him afterwards.

A lopsided grin crossed his face; he remembered that wonderful night together they had spent. "For the first time in months, truly free, Shikuko-chan."

"My son?" Hiromi asked.

A nod. "Hai, Majesty." He then smiled before going to one knee, giving the reborn emperor a fist-in-palm salute as he bowed his head. "My Emperor, I, Ki Kenshika, born in my first life as Mùlù of the Nánmán, pledge myself and all those who follow me to Your Service. Your enemies are mine and we will fight them to the death."

Hiromi smiled. "Rise, Bokuroku-dono," she bade him. "While I did once fly close to Nanban High School in one of my flagship's fighter jets, I know nothing of the true state of affairs within the school itself. Will you advise me on this?"

His eyes widened, and then he bowed his head. "I will, Majesty."

"As will I."

Everyone turned as Yutako stood, and then sheathing her weapon and stowing it into her personal warp space pocket, she walked over to go to one knee and salute the other woman. "My Emperor, I, Kashira Yutako, born in my first life as Mèng Yōu of the Nánmán, also pledge myself to Your Service," she said as she bowed her head. "Your enemies are mine and will fall at my blade if you so command it, Majesty."

Another nod. "Rise, Mōyū-dono. I also hope you'll explain to me what has happened within the walls of Nanban when we have time to speak of it."

"Hai!"

"May I…" — a cough — "…give my…pledge as well, My Emperor…?"

Everyone gasped. "Tōmi-san!" Kenshika cried out.

"Ah! I thought that would work."

Eyes locked on the lone American in the room. "Kūkurin-san, what do you mean by that?" Haneko asked as Sandi walked over to kneel beside the fallen warrior who had been possessed by the spirit of Hiromi's second son.

Kenshika and Yutako jolted. "'_**KŪKURIN?!**_'" both exclaimed.

"Hai, Cú Chulainn," Hiromi said, smiling, and then she blinked. "Sandi-san?"

"Don't fret, Hiromi-chan," Sandi said as she firmly gripped her spear with her left hand, and then poised the underside of her right wrist over one of the spikes lining the sides of the tip. "Now, hang on tight, lass," she said as she gazed on the wide-eyed Norito Tōmi ("Shukuyū"). "This will unfortunately hurt a bit…"

Tōmi blinked, and then cried out as Sandi began to pull the spear out of her body. Everyone winced as they watched each of the spikes rip free of the flesh while the poor woman moaned her pain…and then they gasped on seeing one of the spikes cut into Sandi's arm, allowing her blood to drop into the wound. Instantly, ki began to billow as the awful wound instantly began to mend just as the spear came out. Tōmi's cry of pain then became a croak of relief as she passed out in Hiromi's lap. Eyes then turned to see the wound healed, not to mention the cut in Sandi's arm.

"How…?" Mien asked.

"It's simple, Mien," Shikuko stated. "In her first life, Sandi was the son of a deified High King of Ireland. The blood of Cú Chulainn had the power to heal all wounds." She then nodded to Sandi's spear. "Even those unleashed by the Gáe Bulg."

"I see."

Eyes locked on Kenshika. "You see what?" Yutako asked.

"Why my pets wouldn't approach her when I confronted her outside the pagoda, Yutako-san," the large warrior said as the shuffling of many paws on the floor indicated the arrival of a large pack of Siberian timber wolves. As the other tōshi watched, the animals all warily gazed on the lone American in the room as they moved to sit protectively close to their master. "No doubt in this life, Sandi-san has already slain the hound of the blacksmith whose name became part of her battle name in her first life. They can sense that any attack on her will end their lives."

"Not that I'd like to hurt such handsome animals as what you have, good sir," Sandi noted, and then she looked over as shuffling noises indicated the fourth Nanban warrior who had come to this temple was getting to her feet. "You okay, Emi?"

A moan. "Feel like I'm gonna puke," Emi groaned…and then she gasped before dropping to her knees and upchucking her whole breakfast.

The others watching this all tried not to laugh…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) As is often done when one takes a look at events deep within the mountains of Qīnghǎi, the names of some of Cologne's fellow tribes-people here have been taken from countless fan fiction stories that have been written by nearly-countless writers over the years. I also did my best to transform the English-sounding words to proper Mandarin syllables. Hopefully, I got it right.

2) The **Guāngxù Emperor** of Qīng (birth-name **Aisin-Gioro Zaitian**) (1871-1908) was the eleventh emperor of the **Qīng Dynasty** (1644-1912) and the ninth to rule over China. His reign was from 1875-1908. He was the predecessor to the last emperor of China, the **Xuāntǒng Emperor** (birth-name **Aisin-Gioro Puyi**) (1906-67), whose tumultuous life was brought to the big screen in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 epic film _The Last Emperor_.

3) The civil service rank of **Yǐn Bīnyōng** would make him a vice-minister at the provincial level of government (there are a total of 27 ranks in the Chinese civil service, with the first rank falling onto the President of the People's Republic, of course). Given his job as being an official liaison to the Nǚjiézú, being of such high rank would be seen as necessary given the tribe's self-perceived status as a "Noble Tribe" of old and their desire to remain as autonomous as possible (not to mention their ability to defend themselves against outside attack).

4) Translation: **Bhārat** — The Sanskrit name for **India**; **Jiàn** — Chinese double-edged straight sword; **Seishin-Hasai Hi-Kōsen** — Spirit-Breaker Fire-Light, the long-distance spirit-shredding attack of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū (it can destroy spirits and remove spiritual possessions from a mortal body but, unlike the soulsword, cannot kill a normal person even if employed at point-blank range); **Hōten-gageki** — Literally "Sky Piercer," this is the Japanese reading of the characters that go into the proper name for Lǚ Bù's primary weapon, the **Fāngtiān Huàjǐ** (a **jǐ** is the Chinese version of a halberd).

5) As Cantonese is spoken in the area around Hong Kong, I use a modified Yale Romanization of that language to refer to local words which incorporates both the tone marks often used in the Pīnyīn Romanization of Mandarin but the double vowels and "-h" add-on to certain vowel sounds. **Jyùhn Lóhng District** is known more commonly in English as "Yuen Long District," which is the western part of the mainland section of the New Territories. The area called **Bātheūng** here is known more commonly as "Pat Heung." And **Seoíjaántìhn** village is known as "Shui Tsan Tin."

6) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Mōkaku** (**Kashira Emi**) is the current incarnation of the legendary leader of the Nánmán tribes in the time of the Three Kingdoms period, **Mèng Huò** (unknown dates of birth and death). While many of the stories concerning Mèng are considered fictitious or at the least very implausible — such as him being captured and released from custody _**seven times**_ by Zhūgě Liàng during the time of the **Southern Campaign** launched in 225 C.E. to suppress the Nánmán after they broke ties with Shǔ Hàn in the wake of the death of Liú Bèi — he is believed to have truly lived. In this life, Emi is a second-year student at Nanman High School out in the Izu Islands south of Tōkyō proper. She is an expert in throwing rings and always makes use of the word "bakayaro" in her speech. She — like the others of Nanman introduced here — first appeared in the fourth _Ikkitōsen_ anime series, _Xtreme Xecutor_.

Emi's sister **Mōyū** (**Kashira Yutako**) is the current incarnation of the fictitious brother of Mèng Huò, **Mèng Yōu**. He made a very brief appearance in _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, surrendering for the final time with his brother and pledging allegiance to Shǔ Hàn after the seventh time Mèng Huò was captured by Zhūgě Liàng's forces. In this life, Yutako is the more level-headed of the Kashira sisters of Nanman; she is a competent swords-woman despite her lacking one eye…and, as depicted in _Xtreme Xecutor_, she wisely surrendered to the forces to Seito after she tried to go forth and kill Ryūbi Gentoku (Koro Sonami) in a replay of the Southern Campaign.

**Bokuroku Daiō** (**Ki Kenshika**) is one of the larger and more wild characters ever to appear in _Ikkitōsen_; in _Xtreme Xecutor_, he and his wolves went forth to support Kashira Emi in capturing or killing Koro Sonami when the students of Nanban under Kentei's moved to destroy or suppress the tōshi of Kyoshō, Nan'yō and Seito by staging a fake Great Fighters Tournament. He is the current incarnation of the fictitious **Mùlù**, the king of the **Bānà Cave** — I use the word "grotto" in this story in lieu of "cave" as the standard translation doesn't normally relay what the original Chinese word meant — during the time of the Southern Campaign. Mùlù was said to be a sorcerer of considerable power with control over weather and wild animals…which was replicated in this life with Kenshika's affinity to Siberian timber wolves.

Finally, there comes my creation for this story: Emi's lover **Shukuyū** (**Norito Tōmi**) is the current incarnation of Mèng Huò's fictitious wife, **Zhù Róng**, who was said to be descent from the fire god of the same name who was also said to be the ruler of the Southern Hemisphere in Chinese myth before the time of the **Qín Dynasty** (221-206 B.C.E.). Physically, I base Tōmi on the _Dynasty Warriors 7_ version of Zhù Róng, though Tōmi would have raven-black hair in lieu of silver, plus would also have brown eyes in lieu of grey. She is a ki mistress of considerable power…which made her the perfect host for Kentei to possess when he moved to seize control of Nanban High in his campaign to destroy tōshi.

As for **Kentei** himself, he will be properly introduced in Part 39.

7) As Sandi McLugh demonstrates in this part, whenever Cú Chulainn made use of the **Gáe Bulg** (literally meaning "spear of mortal pain/death"), he had to — after allowing the weapon to be bathed in the flowing water of a stream — launch it from the "fork of the toes"…which most likely means the space between the great and second toe (supported either by the toes themselves or by the sandal under the foot). As the _Book of Leinster_ once described the Gáe Bulg's effects on striking a human body, it creates ONE wound…but then sprang open into THIRTY separate barbs to literally hack up the underlying flesh. The Gáe Bulg was also said to have seven separate heads, but I changed it here to give the weapon seven pairs of spikes emitting from the warhead. The Gáe Bulg was said to be forged from one of the bones of the sea monster **Coinchenn** (who had died in battle with another sea monster, **Curruid**). Cú Chulainn himself learned how to use this weapon thanks to the teachings of the immortal warrior-woman/goddess **Scáthach**.


	23. Akane Goes To Yoshū

Aboard _Haida_, just before supper (Japan time)…

"So they are recovering?" Hiromi asked.

"Hai," Yutako responded from the student council room at Nanban. "The other senior tōshi are taking charge of all the junior ones. Those nurses you sent down are doing wonders in helping the others regain their minds and souls back." She then grimaced. "There's still the problem of all the trapped spirits in the forest."

"As soon as Onē-sama finishes examining the Lóngyù and devises a way that I can use it to free those poor unfortunates, she or I will come down with it to clear out the forest, Yutako-san," Hiromi promised. "Oh, how are Emi-san and Tōmi-san?"

The blue-haired woman rolled her good eye. "Soon as they got to their private room, the clothes came off and they started catching up on all the months they missed out on making love to each other," she stated with a touch of disgust in her voice. "Your second son was quite the prude when it came to that sort of thing, Majesty."

"Understandable given how fast he was forced to grow up after I died and everything went out of control," Hiromi stated, and then she gave the other tōshi a look. "As for your sister and her beloved, that is normal for a loving couple."

"Not the level those two go at it."

Hiromi felt a sweat drop appear in her hair. "How bad…?"

"Have you ever read the manga _Take On Me_?"

The reborn emperor hummed, and then she sighed. "From Takemura Sesshū-sensei. That's one of Onii-san's favourite adult manga series. You mean to say that they're…?"

"Pretty much like Ōno Hikaru and Tsuda Tomonori," Yutako finished, shaking her head. "Sometimes, I think Onē-san and Tōmi-san want to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the amount of orgasms they have in a single day."

Hiromi was quick to sense the touch of amusement in the other woman's voice. "As soon as the time comes, I'll get in contact with you."

"Hai."

The link was cut…as the turbolift doors then opened. "Hey!"

Hiromi gasped, and then she looked over before she gaped. "Ranma-san!"

Ranma chuckled before he slowly walked onto the bridge, allowing the walking crutches in his hands to support him as he took one step at a time before getting to the captain's chair. "That doc Tap'uch got to come over really did a miracle on me."

"So when…?"

"I got the blood transfused from Kanami while you were all down in China," he said as he moved to relax against the side of the console placed in front of Hiromi's station. "The Doc managed to put the fragments of my spine into place before that happened. It was the first thing those enzymes in Kanami's blood went after. I got a brace on my back just in case something goes wrong, but the Doc doesn't think it will."

Hiromi hummed as she gazed on the exposed part of Ranma's arm. "Your skin's clearing up, too. I remember seeing all the calluses and the cut marks in your body when we first met at the hospital last week." She then perked as she gazed once more into his face. "Did Hichkai-sensei say anything about how the enzymes…?"

A sigh. "I'll still change into a girl. The Doc told me he had NEVER seen a curse with so much power in his life. But…" Ranma then shook his head. "I got the blood transfusion as a man, so the enzymes probably realized right away that I'm a man even if I change into a girl thanks to that curse." He smirked. "I'll probably turn out looking like Kikuko-chan at the end of it every time I get splashed, Hiromi. Don't worry about it. It's just something I gotta live with for a while."

She smiled. "At least until you get married and help father children."

He perked. "Huh?"

"Don't you know? That is said to be the one true cure of Zhòuquán-xiāng," Hiromi said. "It is, after all, a place of death. To truly defeat the curse's power, you must bring new life into the world. A natural turning of the cycle, in other words."

Ranma paused as he took that in, and then he sighed. "So what happens to any kid I have? I don't want to pass this on to anyone, especially my own kid!"

"You won't. But what WILL happen is that your first child will most likely be a girl that strongly takes after your cursed form. That's normal for those cursed by any of the springs in Zhòuquán-xiāng where humans drowned." A sigh. "As for those who had the misfortune to fall into springs where animals drowned, they'll inherit the most powerful attribute of that animal. Your friend Ryōga will most likely have a son that will be something of a cleanness freak. As for your former father…"

A laugh. "Doubt I'll get any more brothers or sisters out of Oyaji and Ofukuro." Ranma then paused before he sighed. "Damn…"

She smiled. "You want to forgive them, don't you?"

He blinked, and then he stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. Both of them, in fact," he admitted. "Less so Oyaji. Even if he did do all those things to U-chan and the other girls — not to mention going along with that crap that ended up coming down on Akane and her sisters — he's not really evil. Just…"

"Selfish and horrendously misguided," she finished for him.

A nod. "Yeah." He then smirked. "Same with Ofukuro. Though I sure hope Tsueko-chan's mom can straighten her around finally."

She smiled. "It's good you feel that way…oh!"

"_**RANMA?!**_"

He turned, and then yelped as a black-haired typhoon of energy nearly broke him in half with the strength of her hug. "YOU'RE ON YOUR FEET!" Mimōko cried out before she began to shower him with a virtual cyclone of kisses.

"Excuse me, you two."

Both froze, and then they turned to see Hiromi gazing in amusement at them. "Much that I understand your feelings for each other, but can you PLEASE go to your cabin?" she asked as she thumbed the nearby turbolift. "I don't think you'd like the idea of the whole bridge crew joining in on your 'intimate therapy.'"

Ranma and Mimōko jolted, and then they turned to see a dozen people gazing with very frank speculation at them. On realising that, both began to blush…

* * *

"And to them, it's normal."

"Still, they were pretty restrained, weren't they?"

Ranma smiled as he felt Mimōko's fingers gently probe the area of his back where Shampoo's sword had gone through him. The skin around the wound was fully sealed though it was still quite red and tender to the tōshi's touch. Both of them were naked and lying on the bed in the officer's cabin Mimōko had been using since she first began spending nights aboard _Haida_, with Ranma face down on the mattress, showing off all his other remarkable talents to his new girlfriend's wide eyes. "Still, I can understand their need to be close to others," she noted as she allowed her other hand to gently glide up the back of one of his thighs and then squeeze the well-muscled butt cheek above it. She was quick to sense his body shiver at that contact. "How much?"

"It's coming back," he admitted as he fought down the embarrassment he now felt at being naked and now sharing a bed with a naked girl he only met a few days before. "Still a lot of numb places, but the Doc said it'll be back to normal by morning."

She smiled. "That's good."

With that, she reached over to draw the blankets over them as she lay down on her side, allowing herself to lean against his shoulder. He tensed slightly on feeling the hard contact of her nipple against his shoulder blade, and then he relaxed as a flood of reassurance seemed to surge through her skin into his body. They gazed on each other, and then she leaned in to kiss him. "I won't do anything you're not ready for, Ranma," she admitted as she gave him a knowing smile.

"I know that," he admitted, and then he smirked. "Damn…"

"What?"

"It's all sort of coming to me now…"

She blinked, and then she smiled. "Give it time, Ranma. You've got a lot to catch up on," she advised him, and then she smirked. "You're like me, actually."

He gazed at her. "What do you mean?"

A sigh. "Back when I was a kid, all I wanted to do was to fight," she admitted. "I liked it, it was good exercise and it was something I had a talent for even before I began wearing the magatama full time and started to call myself 'Ryomō Shimei.'" A sigh. "But because I concentrated so much on being a good fighter, my studies took a really bad hit." She then smirked. "And strange as this will sound to you, I think it was Sonken Chūbō herself that came to me one day to make me finally concentrate on my academics."

He blinked. "She'd be Tsueko-chan's sister, right?"

"I think so. Or at least I believe she was," she admitted. "I was involved in a fight back in middle school against tōshi under the control of Ryūban, who had just taken over as Nan'yō's head and wanted to 'trim the ranks' before my generation would get there and challenge his own appointed successor as the new head." An embarrassed look crossed her face. "I put all those jerks into the hospital. I really loved what I had done, Ranma…" She then closed her eyes. "But then I heard that one of them had suffered some sort of brain damage after getting a massive concussion thanks to one of my kicks. He still hasn't really recovered from that day. And I…" Tears appeared, and then she shuddered as he immediately moved to hug her. "I never felt so guilty in my whole life…"

He shushed her as she began to cry. Silence fell over the room as Mimōko continued to weep at that bitter memory. Weep for her innocence, which was lost that day and never could be recovered. Cry out in shame, knowing that she had badly wrecked the life of an innocent boy who had deserved the chance to live his life as much as she did. "What happened?" he then asked as she allowed herself to sink into his arms.

"Well, I got drunk for the first time in my life," she admitted. "Found some of my father's hidden stash of brandy and got myself totally plastered. Ended up wandering the streets for a bit. Maybe hoping I'd blunder in front of a car so that I'd die and I wouldn't hurt anyone anymore." A shudder ran through her. "But then I got sick, threw up and fell unconscious in some alley someplace. Next thing I know, I'm on a bench in a park, lying in the lap of a really pretty girl who introduced herself as 'Sonken Chūbō.'" She then smiled. "And she told me that she knew my pain and urged me to go crack the books to find some other way than fighting to resolve things." Her eyes closed as she leaned closer to him. "And from that point on…"

"You stopped being 'Ā-Méng ' and started really being Lǚ Méng."

She gazed into those beautiful blue eyes, and then she smirked. "I like to think I _rediscovered_ what being Sebone Mimōko was all about."

They gazed into the other person's eyes, and then they smiled before leaning together to kiss. Ranma then tensed as he felt something rush down to his groin, and then he felt his cheeks redden as she pulled away to glance down at what was happening under the covers. He then gulped as her own cheeks went red, and then she gazed at him.

"Um, Ranma-kun…is THAT because of ME?"

Ranma awked before he found himself swamped by another kiss…

* * *

"Oh, my…"

Sandi perked on hearing that trilled comment from her friend in their first lives, and then she gazed to see a knowing grin crossing Shikuko's face. "What?"

"Mō-chan is about to get laid!" the top fighter of Rakuyō said as she sipped her own tea. "And with someone whose name means 'wild horse.'" A giggle. "I can only guess at how **manly** he must be now that his spine's back together."

Sitting around the table in one of the junior ranks' cafeterias/mess halls deep within _Haida_'s main hull, the other people at the table felt their cheeks heat. "To believe that a straight arrow like Sebone Mimōko would gladly hop into the sack with a near-stranger," Haneko noted. "Doesn't she still have a crush on your ex, Shikuko?"

"Not anymore," Shikuko stated. "Hiromi-chan hinted that there's something way off about Itsuji-kun, so there's now a whole ton of trust issues to deal with." She then smirked. "At least I always understood that he wasn't looking for something permanent with me. Given the way our fates could have gone…"

"It was just being smart," Haneko finished for the other woman.

A nod. "Hai."

"Is it the same with you?" Mien then asked as she gazed on Sandi.

The gaiscíoch from the Bronx blinked, and then she shrugged. "I don't know to be honest with you. While I dream of my past lives, I don't really allow it to weigh down heavily on my head. Sure, we get into fights with gaiscíoch from other schools, but I've never seen any real recreations of the bigger battles that happened back in those days, especially on the scale of the _Táin Bó Cúailnge_." She then sighed. "Still, one can't predict the future. Especially after the Donn showed up and helped me get over to Japan so I could ride with Sumiko and her friends."

The tōshi all perked. "The Donn…?" Haneko asked.

"Medb's target in the _Táin_, Haneko: The Donn Cúailnge," Shikuko emphasized.

"He's now a phoenix, just like Shikuko's old war mount," Sandi added.

Haneko gaped as Mien paled. "You mean Sekitoma?"

A nod. "Hai," Shikuko said. "When I became this, he came to me in a dream."

"And?!" Mien asked; everyone KNEW that the coming of the reincarnated Red Hare would automatically spell the demise of any incarnation of Lǚ Bù. Or one of Guān Yǔ.

"He said he was happy that I was free of the past once and for all," Shikuko admitted. "I guess that every time he came to my past incarnations, he was trying to do something to make them turn away from the fate the magatama forced on them." She shook her head. "Never worked. Stupid bird…" she then muttered.

"Well, now you don't have to worry about it anymore," Haneko stated as she hoisted her tea cup. "Here's to a whole new future. For us all."

Shikuko blinked, and then she lifted her own glass. "To a new future!"

"_Kampai!_" Haneko chanted.

"_Chúc Sức Khoẻ!_" Mien called out in her adopted language.

"_Sláinte!_" Sandi added.

They clinked their glasses together, and then drank just a voice called out, "Hey! What's with all the toasting?"

Everyone perked. "Hey, Makoto-kun!" Shikuko called out as Mien's cousin walked inside, and then she grinned. "Whoo! Nice eye patch! Who chose it for you?"

A smirk. "It was gift from my cousin who's a part of your group at Rakuyō," he said as he took the seat beside her. His empty left eye socket was now covered with a black patch embossed with the traditional skull-and-crossbones insignia once born centuries before by pirates that preyed on helpless ships in the waters of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. As he relaxed himself, Nozoe Chiemi, one of _Haida_'s original crew of Avalonians who planned to become a steward, came up with a tea set and a kettle to prepare something for him. "Dōmo," he said after taking the offered tea, and then he toasted the others at the table. "So how is everyone?"

"We're fine. How are you?" Haneko asked.

A sigh. "Well, the wound's not infected or anything like that, but the only way to get the eye to properly grow back is to do a blood transfusion from an Avalonian whose DNA is cloned from mine. Like what Kanami-san did for her brother." He then clicked his tongue. "Don't have any other cousins that weren't resurrected in this generation. And I sure as hell don't want to get turned into a girl like On Michiji had to, so I guess I get to wear the patch from now on." His normal devil-may-care smirk then crossed his face. "'Sides, a lot of the girls think I look sexy with it!"

Mien moaned. "Can't you be serious for once?!" she demanded.

A shrug. "Becoming too serious guarantees an early heart attack, Mien! You know that!" he said as he gave the jade shot fighter a knowing look.

The others nodded. They then perked as Takanashi Naoko came up to stand beside the table. "Please excuse me, Makoto-sama. I didn't mean to interrupt you."

He gazed at her. "What is it, Naoko-chan?"

"We have prepared her."

Silence.

"Prepared who?" Shikuko asked, blinking in confusion.

Naoko turned…

…as a slender, silver-haired woman with deep chestnut eyes walked up to stand beside her. The tōshi blinked as they gazed on her, dressed stylishly in form-fitting blue jeans and a white knit turtleneck sweater, and then they gazed on her eyes. "Oyuki-san?" Haneko asked.

A shake of the head. "No, Haneko-san. I'm Mienai, not Oyuki-onēsama."

More silence.

"C'mere, Yukiko," Makoto then bade.

A shy blush crossed the Neptunian-form Avalonian's face, and then she moved to sit herself in the lap of the Kyoshō sophomore. Everyone watched this, and then Sandi reached over to wave her hand in front of Mienai's face. The silver-haired woman blinked, and then she gazed innocently at the gaiscíoch from the Bronx. "Hai?"

"What happened to her?" Shikuko asked.

Makoto sighed. "Turns out that the curse that nailed Lum-san and her friends five years ago wasn't fully destroyed when the Noukiites hit Phentax Twelve to free the Avalonians," he explained as he gently shifted Mienai over to lean against him. "Far as Negako-sama can figure out after Mienai got her soul switched to a new body, when the controlling orb this old witch used to make that curse in the first place got destroyed, the curse energy turned around and latched onto Hensō's body. And it's still there and would've kept affecting her friends hadn't Oyuki-san's cousin agreed to let me take Mienai as my girl, then she got a new body." He smirked. "She has a local name: 'Kanki Yukiko.' Once the Men In Black help out, I'll get her to come to school at Kyoshō."

The others blinked. "Does Torusuke-san know of this?" Mien asked.

"He was all for it," Makoto replied. "Kamen and Damasu — or Fujikaze Nobuko and Arashi Mika as they'll be known now — got the same treatment. As to where they'll go, it's hard to predict. Maybe introduce them to Yoisuke or Haruka?"

Mien giggled. "What about Hensō?" Haneko asked.

"Well…"

A whistle echoed through the mess. "_Attention, please. Natsukimi Makoto-sama, Natsukimi Mien-sama, Seki Haneko-sama, Sebone Shikuko-sama, Alexandra McLugh-sama and Kanki Yukiko-sama: Please report to the main pilotage immediately_," the voice of the ship's main computer echoed through the loudspeakers. "_Attention, please…_"

"What's going on?" Makoto asked as the girls all stood.

"Let's go find out," Shikuko bade…

* * *

Nerima, the Miyamoto residence, after supper…

"So you're convinced that after some intensive training, Akane-chan will finally be at the level she should have been all along hadn't her father stopped teaching her?"

Ebisu Kyoko nodded. "Hai, Kasumi-san," she said as she proceeded to give a smiling Akane a rubdown after a hard afternoon's workout on the lawn of her grandfather's home. While lacking anything like a dōjō, the Miyamoto property was spacious enough and did have several old trees that would help out when it came to performing some of the basic kata of the Ebisu-ryū. But for more complex training, Kyoko would prefer to take Akane back to her family home in Utsunomiya, which HAD a proper dōjō and all the necessary equipment to help her student/girlfriend along. "Most of the serious bad habits Akane here developed because her father stopped teaching her can be easily corrected, but she needs to practice at them for quite a bit before she can really progress ahead. And like it or not, I have to get back to school."

"Could Akane transfer to Yoshū?" Nabiki, who was sitting beside her sister in the living room of the spacious home, then asked as she sipped her coffee.

A nod. "It could be done," Kyoko stated as she finished work on Akane's spine, and then began to work on her flanks below her ribs. "I just found out. There's nothing in the school by-laws that FORBID a non-tōshi from attending. On the odd occasion, students have invited non-tōshi relatives or friends to attend. At least when she gets the chance to spar, she'll be able to spar against real martial artists, not the pack of thugs she had to deal with before Ranma-san began to attend that school."

"Well, that's good…" Kasumi began, and then she blinked. "Oh…"

Kyoko stared at her, and then her eyes narrowed. "The boys are here."

"YO! KOSHAJI! WHERE ARE YOU?!" a gruff man's voice called out.

A sigh. "In here, Ganryō!" Kyoko called back.

Kasumi raced outside to greet the new arrivals, and then she guided them into the living room. All of them, despite their casual dress and the tough gang-kid demeanour they seemed to project, quickly stood to attention and gave the beautiful home a respectful bow complete with clapped hands to alert the kami of the home that they had come in peace. "Use real names, everyone," Kyoko said as she continued to work on Akane, who had turned around to nod at the newcomers.

"No problem, Kyoko-chan," Kao Yoichi — Ganryō — said before he and his companions all turned to bow politely to Kasumi, and then Nabiki. "Please forgive us for disturbing the harmony of this honoured household, Miyamoto no Mae, Nabiki-san."

Kasumi's cheeks went totally red while Nabiki smirked. "You know, for real hard-ass fighters, you guys really can be classy at times," she noted.

"Yeah, it's amazing, especially with THESE two lugs!" Takai Mirumi — Kōran — said as she thumbed both Yoichi and his best friend, Kazaru Tagurō ("Bunshū").

Laughter filled the room, and then introductions were made all around, including real names. "So how's your new student, Kyoko-chan?" Tagurō asked.

"In desperate need of serious training and a lot of corrective exercises since she's not been trained at all since she was a child when her mother died," Kyoko said. "But she's got the potential; you can all sense it, can't you?" As the visitors from Utsunomiya all nodded, the silver-haired tōshi began to work on Akane's other side.

"She's got the stuff," the bald Tagurō stated, nodding in understanding. "How come she didn't get properly trained? With her power, she could be a berserker."

"Because when our mother died, our father — _former_ father, that is — totally abandoned her training, not to mention other things, Tagurō-san," Kasumi replied.

"Far as we can tell, the only reason he still kept living was in hopes that when Saotome Genma finally showed up with his son, the dōjō would be revived under Ranma-kun's charge," Nabiki added. "Of course, Ranma-kun wasn't the least bit prepared to live life in the city after ten years or more practically alone on the road." She shook her head as she finished her coffee. "Chances were there that if he married Akane or us, they would have done everything in their power to leech off all their hard work."

The visitors from Yoshū shook their heads. "Idiots," Mirumi hissed.

"That they are. And dangerous ones at that," Kyoko advised.

"How dangerous?" Yoichi wondered.

"Dangerous enough that if they're given any sort of advantage, they'll take it in an instant and leave people right in the dust," Kyoko stated. "But not so dangerous that it would actually be wiser to eliminate them on the spot."

The Miyamoto sisters all tensed. "Kyoko, you're bloodless!" Nabiki hissed.

"Nabiki-san, if you lived our lives before Hiromi-sama made her presence publicly known, you'd be pretty bloodless, too," Akane's teacher/girlfriend advised. "There are some people in our world who are so wrapped up in what they can do that they're no different than rabid dogs. We're on the lookout for folks like that all the time." She then took a deep breath as she patted Akane's butt. "Okay, all done!"

A moan escaped the youngest sister as she moved to sit up. "Gods, that feels GOOD!" she said as she stretched herself, and then she looked over at the visitors from Kyoko's school. "So what does it take to get into your school, anyway?"

The visitors all laughed while Nabiki grinned, Kyoko nodded in approval and Kasumi covered her mouth politely. "I'll send a text to Toyomichi-kun to get the Executive Council together so we can put it to a vote later today," Mirumi vowed, making mention of On Tsuguta's chief strategist, Kari Toyomichi (Denpō Genkō), who currently served as the secretary to the Council.

"Will there be any problems getting her records from Fūrinkan?" Nabiki then asked as she gazed at them. "We've tried to get Akane-chan and me transferred out of there several times before, especially after the whole 'beat Akane to date her' garbage started up in earnest. Kunō-chan always stepped in to put a stop to it."

"The dumb ass may try," Yoichi stated as his one good eye narrowed. "But let's see what he can do after we slam that bokken of his down his throat."

Akane's sisters all shuddered at that icy statement from the Yoshū senior. At that moment, an angry shout was heard from outside. "That's Ojii-chan!" Akane gasped as she bolted to her feet and ran out to the genkan to see what was going on.

The others all rose and headed over to look themselves, and then they blinked on seeing Shigeru face off against the sisters' father (now only in genetics). Also present was Saotome Genma, who was standing smugly behind his friend as Sōun screamed away at his father-in-law. "HEY!" Akane then bellowed as she slipped on her shoes and marched outside. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?! GET OUT OF HERE!"

Sōun jolted, and then began to wail as he collapsed to his knees. "_**AKANE-CHAN TOLD ME TO GET OUT OF HERE! THE SCHOOLS WILL NEVER BE…!**_"

_CRUNCH!_

"Shut your flappin' mouth, moron!" Yoichi snarled after he had smashed Sōun into the side wall of the Miyamoto property. "The young lady said you're not wanted here, so you're not wanted here! Take the backstabbing thief and get lost!"

Genma jolted on hearing that. "Boy, it's time someone…!"

_THUNK! THUNKTHUNK! THUNKTHUNK! THUNK!_

A howling scream escaped him as he bolted into the air and then bounced over the wall as he vanished. Watching him go, everyone gaped on seeing six arrows jabbed into his butt. As laughter escaped all the Yoshū fighters, Kyoko looked over her shoulder. "Good shooting, Hakana-san!" she called out.

Akane herself turned around as a lithe form looking somewhat like a less-busty Shiranui Mai from the _Fatal Fury_ video game series leapt down from the roof of her grandfather's home to gingerly land on the ground, and then she straightened herself. She was dressed also in the grey Yoshū girl's school uniform, though she carried a kyūdō-ka's normal longbow, a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder. Her gold magatama marked her as B-rank. "Lucky thing I didn't have anything to do today, so I decided to follow everyone else down here and see what you're doing, Kyoko-san," Kuruwa Hakana — Kakuto — stated as she moved to stand beside her classmate. "What's with the waterworks and the idiot I just shot in the butt?" she asked as she thumbed Sōun.

"This one WAS my student's father until his father-in-law decided it was time to get her and her sisters away from him once and for all," Kyoko began to explain.

A Demon Head exploded. "_**HOW DARE YOU…?!**_"

_THUNK!_

Sōun howled in pain as he now gripped his right hand, which had an arrow slammed through it thanks to Hakana. "Quiet, Oyaji!" the master archer of Yoshū snarled as the last legal member of the Tendō family of Nerima collapsed to his knees and began to cry. "Serious people are having a serious discussion here. Next time you talk, I put an arrow through your throat to shut you up! TERMINALLY!" she then hissed.

Sōun gaped at her. "B-b-but…"

_WHAM!_

Back into la-la land thanks to Shigeru's cane. "You are lucky that I still honour my late daughter's memory enough that I didn't give into my original urge and have you BEHEADED to give that empty head of yours over to Picolet Chardin!" the elderly investor snapped before he gazed on the visitors from Utsunomiya. "Will one of you nice kids kindly dump this idiot's carcass back where it belongs, please?"

"We'll take care of it, Ojii-san," Yoichi promised.

"Here, I'll do it," Tagurō volunteered.

The others nodded as they headed back into the house. Yoichi paused before he gave his friend a knowing look. Tagurō noted that, and then he smirked, nodding.

No sense in sending someone off without a parting present…

* * *

Aboard _Haida_, nightfall (Japan time)…

"So the leaders of the Imperial Round are eliminated once and for all?"

A nod from the tomboyish Oni woman — she reminded all the tōshi now standing on the bridge of the starship of a green-haired version of Ten'ō Haruka from _Sailor Moon_ — gazing at them from the view screen, which now displayed the bridge of her own battlewagon, currently hovering close to Jupiter with a Noukiite star-barque close to it to guarantee the peace as the visitors from Uru had asked to speak to the leader of the Volunteer Earth Defence Force under the traditional flag-of-truce rules dating all the way back to Noukiios' Tri-Kingdoms period. "Hopefully so, but we're looking for sympathizers and other hangers-on we may have missed," Lum's adopted sister Redet Negau stated. "But there is something you'll have to be concerned of."

"That being?" Hiromi asked.

"A stealth ship was stolen from one of our special defence construction works on Erihana," the captain — Lum's adopted sister was actually an officer of the Urusian military intelligence group, the Defence Intelligence Directorate — replied. "A prototype we built in response to the Ipraedies moving to render all their warships cloak-capable. Also the first vessel we ever developed that may have the capability of breaking through the Galactic Barrier and travelling beyond the galaxy."

"You mean like what was in _Star Trek_?" Kanami asked.

A nod; most Urusians, given their profound interest in all things that happened on Earth, were aware of that particular television series from the United States. "The same. A galaxy-sized version of a heliopause; that's the Galactic Barrier in a nutshell. You need to accelerate to well close to two thousand times the speed of light to break through it. From what I was able to learn from the eggheads that worked on it — the ones that survived being 'retired' to keep their mouths shut — they didn't get a chance to test it against the Barrier, but it would have come soon."

"What crew is on this ship?" Torusuke asked. He was standing to Hiromi's right side, with Miiko to her left, they acting as the reborn emperor's chief advisers now that Sonami had gone back down to Chichibu with her schoolmates (save Haneko) and their "spirit-sisters" from Tengsei had returned to Kyechkyu's flagship for the day.

A sigh. "Avalonians."

Silence.

"How?!" Miiko demanded as all the bridge crew all gaped on hearing that.

"No doubt, some silent support from Ōgi or one of his friends who would've loved to see Lum-chan sit as our first new Empress in two centuries," Negau stated as she gazed knowingly at Lum, who — along with Benten, Oyuki and Ran — was standing off to one side of the captain's chair close to where Torusuke was. "As to how they were prepared or programmed, I can't say. That was not passed on to Yethis' friends."

"How many?" Hiromi asked.

"Don't you know?" Negau wondered.

A shake of the head. "When Kyech-san led the forces of the Outmarches on Phentax Twelve, the tower the Niphentaxians had placed on the bioroid factory to serve as their command-and-control centre was destroyed. A lot of records were lost."

"Damn!" the Urusian officer then spat out.

"So what would these people try to do?" Tariko asked.

"No doubt, try to kidnap or kill Darling."

Eyes locked on Lum. "Damn! Got a point, Lum," Benten mused.

"Captain, under your planet's laws, who has the right to try to override Ataru-kun's edict forbidding any of your people to come to Earth?" Torusuke asked.

"Legally, no one, not even the President," Negau stated. "But realistically, anyone with the willpower, the equipment and the desire could easily make their way to Earth. We may be governed by something of a military dictatorship, but we do respect that certain rights and freedoms are inherent for all the citizens of the Union. Including freedom of movement both within and beyond the Union's borders."

"Then we have to do something to drag this thing out so we can fight it."

Eyes locked on Shikuko. "That's right," Torusuke stated, and then he blinked. "Hey, wait a minute…" he then trilled as he gazed on Hiromi.

The reborn emperor blinked, and then she stared at him, her eyebrow arching as a smile crossed her face. "Hai, it could work," she mused.

Tariko blinked, and then she looked over. "What?"

Hiromi smiled at her. "For that, we need to talk to Onii-san, Onē-san."

Tariko's jaw dropped, and then she shook her head. "Good luck, Hiromi…"

* * *

Minutes later…

"Well, if you want me to do it…"

"Hey, man! If you don't feel up to it, there's no shame in backing out."

Ataru blinked as he stared at Makoto, and then he took a deep breath before feeling Miyako's hands fall on his shoulders. "It's not that," he admitted. Everyone was now in the captain's cabin. Both Ataru and Miyako were currently wearing nothing more than towels wrapped around their bodies; the others in the room couldn't ignore the smell of very intensive sex in the atmosphere. "I've know right from the start that the instant I was made Earth's tag champion, the chances were there that I'd be asked to do something more to help defend the planet." He smirked. "Though I still don't like dealing with anything that leans close to the military or the like." As the others in the room nodded, he sighed. "But if I go to Yaminokuni, it might make Hensō think she's still got a chance with me. Much that I find myself missing her at times, I have moved on in my life, plus I'm trying to get things started with Shikuko and Miyako. I won't do anything that will hurt her, much less give her false hope."

"Darling, you think that after Hensō is restored to proper function, she'll still behave as she did when she was under the influence of that curse," Damasu, who was — like Mienai and Kamen — now dressed in Earth clothing, stated. "Once she is either restored to proper function or has her _mei'na_ shifted to a replacement body, whatever errors in her behaviour will be eliminated, as they were for us." She pointed to herself, and then her companions, in emphasis. "There's no need to fear, especially once Hensō senses the _marei'cha_ bond between Shikuko-san and Miyako-san and realizes they see you as their child-mate and have made it clear you are theirs alone."

"So that means Shikuko and Miyako have to go with you," Makoto noted.

"You up for it?" Sandi asked as she gazed at Rakuyō's top fighter and her lover.

They grinned. "We're ready," Shikuko stated. "So how do we get there?"

"With Damasu's ship," Mienai reported.

Damasu jolted. "MY ship?"

The Neptunian-form Avalonian gazed at her. "I have no access to anything that rightfully belongs to Onē-sama, Damasu. And Kamen's air bike won't be enough."

The rose-haired bioroid blinked, and then she sighed. "Oh, okay!"

"Can that dinky little thing go all the way to Yaminokuni?" Makoto asked. "I saw the star charts. The damned place is thousands of light-years from here…"

"There is a 'cheat' around that, Makoto-kun," Mienai stated.

"What sort of cheat?" Torusuke asked.

"Flying into the shadow of your own moon."

Everyone gaped. "What would that do?" Shikuko demanded.

Ataru chuckled. "Figures it'd be something weird like **that**!"

Everyone gazed on him, and then laughter filled the room…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) _Take On Me_ was an actual two-volume adult manga series released in 2004 by **Takemura Sesshū**. The very tall **Ōno Hikaru** and the quite short **Tsuda Tomonori** are the star couple of the series. And yes, as Yutako noted, Hikaru and Tomonori seem to go at it at a virtual drop of a hat, anywhere and anytime.

2) While no actual cure to the springs of **Zhòuquán-xiāng** was ever discussed in the _Ranma_ manga, I have personally always been of the opinion that the only way to deal with a curse that was provoked with the **death by drowning** of a person or animal is to allow life to somehow come forth as a way of allowing the living spirit of the drowning victim a chance to live anew. Of course, since both people and animals have unique possibilities, the theory I came up with as to what happens to any children born of a victim of Zhòuquán-xiāng (as Hiromi explains to Ranma) is quite easy to figure out.

3) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Sonken Chūbō** (**Mago Hakana**) — as fans of _Ikkitōsen - Great Guardians_ know — is the younger sister to Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko). She is the reincarnation of Sūn Cè's younger brother, **Sūn Quán, the Dà Emperor of Wú** (182-252 C.E.). However, the person who was credited as "Sonken Chūbō" at the start of _GG_ turned out not to be the reincarnation of Sūn Quán. At the end of the series, it is revealed that the girl pretending to be Mago Hakana is none other than **Shōkyō** (given the name **Hashi Sasami** in this universe), the destined fiancée to Tsueko's cousin Shūyu Kōkin (Meguru Ichiyu). I won't bring Sasami into this story as Ichiyu has someone else on the horizon about to declare her own intentions for him. More information on Sasami and her family comes in the writer's notes for Parts 35 and 47.

**Ganryō** (**Kao Yoichi**) first appeared in manga episode #14. His past-self was **Yán Liáng** (unknown date of birth, died 200), who was one of Yuán Shào's more prominent generals. He fought at Yuán's side right to the **Battle of Bómǎ**, where he was slain by Guān Yǔ; this was during the time Guān was separated from his oath-brothers and had pledged his skills and guāndāo to the service of Cáo Cāo. In this life, Yoichi is a badly-scarred fighter who lost his right eye in a previous Great Fighters Tournament. He was quite determined to fight Mago Tsueko when he got the chance, knocking out one of his own schoolmates to fight in a bout with the reborn Little Conqueror. He is also a very big man…but, as seen in the manga, fell at the hands of Ryomō Shimei (Sebone Mimōko).

Yoichi's best friend **Bunshū** (**Kazaru Tagurō**) first appeared in the flashback scene in manga episode #12. In the manga, he was the one who badly crippled Teifu Tokubō (Hodo Amanezuke); as I indicated in the writer's notes for Part 4, in the universe of this story, it was a Yōshū fighter named Kōso (Ki Hajime) who sent Amanezuke to the hospital. Tagurō's past-self was **Wén Chǒu** (unknown date of birth, died 200), who was another of Yuán Shào's generals who would join him in his fight for dominance against Cáo Cāo. Wén would fall in battle against Cáo's troops at the **Battle of Yán Ford**.

**Kōran** (**Takai Mirumi**) first appeared in manga episode #16. She was originally meant to be the only fighter for Yoshū in the initial bout with Nan'yō, but was knocked out by Yoichi when he wanted to go forth and challenge Mago Tsueko. Her past-self was **Gāo Lǎn** (unknown dates of birth and death), yet another of Yuán Shào's generals who helped in his campaign against Cáo Cāo…but after Yuán was defeated in the Battle of Guāndù in 200, Gāo switched allegiances and became one of Cáo's generals. As to how the replay of that in this incarnation as depicted in the manga affected Mirumi, it is unknown; most of Yoshū was wiped out by the Three-Pillared Gods at the orders of Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke) in vengeance over the attack by Koshaji (Ebisu Kyoko) — as ordered by Enshō Honsho (On Tsuguta) — that cost Kakōton Genjō (Natsukimi Makoto) his left eye.

**Denpō Genkō** (**Kari Toyomichi**) first appeared in manga episode #16. He was the captain of the Yoshū team who fought against the Nan'yō delegation in the initial qualifying round of the Great Fighters Tournament. His past-self was one of Yuán Shào's closer advisors, **Tián Fēng** (unknown date of birth, died 200). Before the Battle of Guāndù, Tián advised Yuán to not attack Cáo Cāo…and wound up imprisoned to ensure his actions didn't affect troop morale. Unfortunately, Tián was proven right…and in a fit of outrage, Yuán ordered his death. Tián committed suicide. In this life, Toyomichi — as stated above — serves as secretary to the Executive Council of Yoshū.

And now, my own characters:

**Ryūban** (**Koro Iwami**) is the reincarnation of **Liú Pán** (dates of birth and death unknown). In Iwami's first life, Liú Pán — then based in Jīngzhōu — fought against Tàishǐ Cí. He would eventually come into the service of his kinsman Liú Bèi at the recommendation of Huáng Zhōng. Because of that, while he attended Nan'yō while still in school, Iwami would later join the reincarnation of his former patron — now living as Kōchū Kanshō (Ki Magokoro) — at the Tōgen Abbey after graduation.

The person Natsukimi Makoto refers to in his conversation with Ryofu Hōsen (Sebone Shikuko) and her companions is **Sōsei** (**Tsukasa Nariko**). She is the current incarnation of **Cáo Xìng** (unknown dates of birth and death), who was a military general who served under Lǚ Bù and whose historical basis was noted in an incident described in the _Records of Heroes_, written by **Wáng Càn** (177-217). In her current incarnation, Nariko is a paternal cousin of Tsukasa Torusuke's and attends Rakuyō Senior High School; she is a freshman in Shikuko's faction there.

Finally, **Kakuto** (**Kuruwa Hakana**) is the reincarnation of **Guō Tú** (date of birth unknown, died 205), who was one of Yuán Shào's generals during his campaign against Cáo Cāo during the Guāndù Campaign of 200-201. Like several of Yuán's generals, Guō advised him on both military and civil affairs. After Yuán Shào died, Guō moved to serve his former commander's elder son **Yuán Tán** (unknown date of birth, died 205)…but got caught in a power-play between Yuán Tán and his younger brother **Yuán Shàng** (unknown date of birth, died 207), who had been Yuán Shào's favourite son and chosen successor. Because of this, Cáo Cāo was able to eliminate the final elements of his old friend's armies and remove that threat once and for all. Guō's final fate is unknown. In this life — as seen here — Hakana is a master at kyūdō and is captain of the Yoshū girl's team.

4) Translations: **Kampai** — Literally "empty cup," this is the Japanese euphemism for the English "Bottoms Up"; **Chúc Sức Khoẻ** — Literally "Wishing you a lot of health"; **Sláinte** — Literally "To your health"; **Kyūdō-ka** — Practitioner of **kyūdō** ("way of the bow"); **Mei'na** — One's soul, everything of a person that is not of the physical body; **Marei'cha** — Literally "One with whom you raise a child" but normally translated as "bond-mate" (this is the Sagussan/Avalonian equivalent to a marriage bond).

5) **Nozoe Chiemi** is a character from _Seigra 97_ (short for _Zenkoku Seifuku Bishōjo Grand Prix 1997_), the visual novel book series that came after the original _Grand Prix_ in 1996, though none of the characters here ever transitioned to the _Find Love_ games. Chiemi is from Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture and normally works as a waitress at a restaurant; she's really into sweets and cake.

6) The Earth names postulated for Mienai (**Kanki Yukiko**), Damasu (**Arashi Mika**) and Kamen (**Fujikaze Nobuko**) were first created in _Lonely Souls_.

7) **Erihana** is an Urusian colony world that lies on the general line between Uru and Noukiios. It was first noted of in the sequel series of _The Senior Year_, _The Ishinomaki Years_.


	24. Mission Briefing

H.M.C.S. _Haida_, Monday 5 July, just after midnight…

Ranma's eyes fluttered open as he found himself staring at the deckhead of the cabin he was now sharing with Mimōko. Taking a deep breath as he felt his mind re-orientate from the deep slumber he had been in, he then relaxed as he turned to gaze fondly on the smiling woman now leaning against his side. As the memories of the hour or so they had spent together kissing and fondling each other — with Mimōko calmly and patiently explaining everything she was doing to him and allowing him to do to her as it had ALL freaked him out to one extent or another! — before they drifted to sleep came back to him, he could only smile before a lost look then crossed his face.

Damn!

If he _hadn't_ been hurt by Shampoo, he would've probably NEVER met any of the people he had associated with over the last week or so.

He wouldn't have met any of the Moroboshi siblings.

None of the tōshi either.

Especially Sebone Mimōko.

Even more, he would have still been seen as "engaged" to Tendō Akane.

Still ignorant of the truth about Kuonji Ukyō.

Still forced to keep Hibiki Ryōga's curse a secret from Akane.

Still believing his mother was dead, not knowing of the seppuku contract…

_**MANY QUESTIONS, YOU NOW ASK, YOUNG STALLION.**_

He blinked as he looked down…

…and then he gaped on seeing a glowing bird with gold-fringed red feathers sitting at one corner of the bed, it gazing at him with what struck the martial artist to be a look of delighted amusement (which rather surprised Ranma as birds didn't have lips or other means of properly expressing human-like emotions). After a moment, he then blinked as he remembered what Mimōko had told him about what had happened the night she had been transformed from a Terran to an Avalonian to fulfil Moroboshi Ataru's promise to the late Uneme Nozomi concerning the welfare of her beloved cousins.

"Sekitoma…?"

A series of jovial chirps, the phoenix version of laughter. _**AYE, YOUNG RANMA! OF COURSE, IF YOU WISH, MY PROPER NAME IS PRONOUNCED 'CHÌTÙMǍ' AS I FIRST DID SEE LIFE IN THE MIDDLE KINGDOM! BUT I WILL ACCEPT 'SEKITOMA' IF YOU DESIRE.**_

A shake of the head, "Nah, it's okay. Let me try it." A pause, and then Ranma slowly breathed out the word, "Chì-…tù-…mǎ."

Delighted chirps as Chìtùmǎ fluttered up to soar over and land at the head of the bed. _**A TRULY GOOD ATTEMPT, YOUNG STALLION! COME, LET US LEAVE YOUR GOOD MATE TO HER WELL-DESERVED SLUMBER! YOUR BACK IS STRONG ENOUGH TO ALLOW YOU TO WALK UNAIDED, SO WE SHOULD GO OUT AND ABOUT! I WISH TO SEE ALL THOSE OF MY OLD FRIEND'S COMPANIONS AS THEY PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR THE COMING MISSION TO THE DARK LANDS! COME!**_

Nodding, Ranma then slipped out from under the covers and then quickly got to his feet…before a crimp surged up from his lower back. "Damn!" he hissed out before he walked over to the nightstand where his clothes were. "Back's still sore…!" he admitted as he slipped on his underwear. "You sure Mimōko won't mind?"

A moan. "Mind what…?"

He turned to see her slowly rise up. "Got company," he said.

Mimōko blinked, and then she turned to gaze wide-eyed at the phoenix now seated on the headboard. "Chìtùmǎ?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"He wants to make sure Shikuko and her friends are okay," he stated.

The Nan'yō senior took that in, and then she nodded before rising to dress…

* * *

A few minutes later…

"So who are all these people?"

"Many of our sisters currently residing in Canada who joined their Militia — their Army reserve — regiments, now called up to duty to assist with the mission to Yaminokuni, Ranma-sama," Takanashi Naoko stated as she stood beside Ranma (who had Chìtùmǎ perched on his shoulder) and Mimōko on the gallery overlooking the deck of the port-side flight deck. There, arranged by squadrons, stood nearly eight hundred people — almost to the end all young women between ages 18 and 25 — in matching dark blue, red-trimmed jumpsuits similar to the two-piece martial arts gi-like uniforms he had seen on the holograms of Ataru's friends from Noukiios when he had been brought aboard _Haida_ a couple days before. Black Tilley hats were worn on their head, each bearing a circular green badge on the front bearing stitched symbols on them that could be seen as a regimental hat badge. "This particular group is the 2nd/10th Dragoons, which traditionally is based in the Niagara region of the province of Ontario. They will form one of the four armoured battalions in the brigade group that is going with us."

Ranma hummed as he took that in. He was quick to spot some of the normal Terran officers and men assigned to this particular regiment; all you had to look for were the camouflage combat uniforms with the black berets — the standard colour worn by members and those affiliated with the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps — and Maple Leaf Flag shoulder flashes. Remembering when he had travelled with his father through Vancouver some years ago, Ranma hummed. He had trained at a dōjō close to one of the armouries there and had met up with some reserve soldiers that had taken up martial arts as a way of augmenting their combat training. While they wouldn't really match up to what he had been long led to believe was an "acceptable" level for martial artists that also did soldiers' work — an attitude he had inherited from Genma — he had to admit that those people he had met were pretty dedicated in their own right. "So what other units were called up?" he then asked as he gazed on Naoko. "Anyone from British Columbia?"

A nod. "The British Columbia Regiment, which is an armoured unit based in Vancouver. Is that the unit you are aware of, Ranma-sama?"

He nodded, nonplussed by the fact that Naoko had been quick to sense what he was interested in knowing. "Yeah, though I mostly met folks from the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada when I trained in Vancouver. Even once met the last guy still alive in Canada who won the Victoria Cross outside Raeburn-shōsa and her friends from the War Hawks; he was part of that regiment back in the Second World War." A smirk. "Really classy guy, Smokey was!"

"Who else, Naoko-san?" Mimōko asked.

"Representing Québec, le Régiment de Hull from the city of the same name, just across the river from Ottawa, Mimōko-sama," Naoko explained. "It is also an armoured unit, as are the 2nd/10th Dragoons and the British Columbia Regiment. From Alberta will come the last of the armoured battalions, the 19th Alberta Dragoons, based in Edmonton. The infantry battalion comes from Manitoba: The Royal Winnipeg Rifles from the city of the same name. The artillery battalion is from Saskatchewan: The 10th Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery in Regina. The combat engineers are from Nova Scotia: 36 Combat Engineer Regiment from Sydney on Cape Breton Island; they were just brought up to regimental strength from its founding sub-unit, 45 Field Engineer Squadron, that was based in that city. Signals and brigade headquarters staff will be a mixed representation from both New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island: A squadron of 721 Communications Regiment from Charlottetown teamed with 37 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters staff from Moncton. Military police will come from 3 Military Police Regiment in Lower Sackville outside Halifax, which patrols all of Atlantic Canada. The Rifles will also have a military police platoon assigned to them from 1 Military Police Regiment in Edmonton, which patrols all of Western Canada. Second-line logistics and land equipment maintenance forces will be provided by 37 Service Battalion, which is based in Saint John in New Brunswick and Saint John's in Newfoundland and Labrador. Intelligence personnel will come from 3 Intelligence Company in Halifax. And health support services will be primarily provided by 33 Field Ambulance, also from Halifax; all units will have medical platoons assigned to them by the closest field ambulance unit to their home armouries. As required by mobilization policy, all parts of Canada are represented in the brigade group." A pause, and then she added, "As the ships in the Task Force will have air wings with them, there's no need to provide a tactical aviation squadron or air cavalry regiment to support the brigade group."

"But what are they going to use?" Mimōko asked.

A light smile crossed Naoko's face. "Follow me and I will show you."

Ranma and Mimōko exchanged a wary look…

* * *

Minutes later…

"Whoa…!"

"I just HAD to ask!"

"Ah! Mō-chan! Ran-chan!"

Both perked, and then they looked over as two familiar faces appeared. "Fu-chan! U-chan!" Ranma called back as Mago Tsueko and Kuonji Ukyō came up to them. They were now standing in one of the starship's massive equipment bays along the keel of the main hull, which was filled almost to the brim — there was a large cargo materialiser unit at the stern end of the room — with vehicles that would be compatible in size and mass to the prototype Nazi Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus tank. Not to mention armed in roughly the same way; each tank had not just a single heavy gun in the aft-mounted turret that seemed to equal what could be mounted on a World War Two heavy cruiser, there were two co-axial shorter guns that matched what Mimōko believed would be "normal" tank armament on Earth. "What are you doing up here anyways, U-chan? Hiromi's only looking for tōshi volunteers!"

Ukyō laughed. "Ran-chan, if you think I'm going to let my friends go off and face aliens in a big fight, you got another think coming!" she said before she pointed up. "Besides, all the Avalonian cooks want me to teach them how to make okonomiyaki so they can prepare field rations for the folks that are going down to the planet when we get over there. They're even gonna pay me for it, too!"

"Well, that's good," Mimōko noted as Tsueko walked over to offer her hand to Chìtùmǎ so he could inspect it before he trilled and hopped onto her shoulder. As Tsueko laughed while she reached up to stroke the reborn war horse's feathers, the raven-haired woman then looked around the storage room. "Damn big tanks, huh?"

"Yeah!" Ukyō said as she took the chance to take a look around. "Bet these things'll stop even a starship if it gets low enough to shoot at."

Tsueko hummed. "If whoever has got that stealth ship that was stolen from the Urusians plays it like Lum-chan's dad did when he came here a year ago, it should be easy."

"What do you mean?" Ranma wondered.

"When they came to challenge us in the Tag Race, they flew their base ship in really low in the atmosphere," Mimōko stated. "About a kilometre off the ground. Depending on the range of these guns…" — she turned to wave to the giant weapon mounted on the nearest tank — "…and if there are enough of them in range, that should make things pretty hot for that ship before the big ships could move in to wreck it."

The others nodded, and then they perked on hearing footfalls. "Ah, Ranma!"

Ranma turned, and then he grinned. "Hey, Shan!"

Shampoo smiled as she came up to gently embrace him. Kikuko accompanied her wife, she also holding in her arms a very elderly woman in flowing robes with long silver hair held back from her face by a wide hair-band. She also held a long staff in her hands which was supercharged — as Ranma, Mimōko and Tsueko could sense — with ki. As soon as they pulled away, Shampoo moved to do introductions. "Brother-in-Law, Sebone-guìjiě, Mago-guìjiě, Kuonji-san, this is my great-grandmother, elder of the Nǚjiézú, the Lady Nǚ Kělún; she just came aboard via the _Zhèng Hé_." She turned to Cologne. "Great-grandmother, my would-have-been husband and my wife's brother, Hayashi Ranma; his beloved, the Great Lady Sebone Mimōko, who bears the soul of Lǚ Méng, Lord Zǐmíng of Dōng Wú; her schoolmate and friend, the Great Lady Mago Tsueko, who bears the soul of Sūn Cè, Lord Bófú of Dōng Wú; and her beloved and my brother-in-law's former fiancée, Kuonji Ukyō."

Ukyō yelped. "Hey, Shan! It's not like THAT between…!"

She then awked on seeing a super-cute face with puppy-dog eyes and waterfalls of tears. "Don't you like me anymore, U-chan?" a sobbing Tsueko moaned.

Cologne laughed uproariously and Chìtùmǎ chirped in mirth as Ukyō moved to calm the wailing Tsueko down. "Oh, my heavens! I haven't seen something like that in a LONG time!" she said as the phoenix fluttered over to Mimōko's shoulder as Tsueko and Ukyō headed off to be on their own. Once they were roughly alone, the elder warrior turned to bow her head deeply to Ranma. "Young man, I must apologize to you for all the trouble you've undergone thanks to your encounter with my great-granddaughter at our village some months ago. Had we known of your relationship to Indiana Jones, neither the Kiss of Death nor the Kiss of Marriage would have been applied to you." She then gazed fondly at him. "I must also thank you as well as your grandmother for ensuring my great-granddaughter was not punished for her actions in your land. Much that we do everything we can to protect our own, we rarely travel beyond the borders of China. Shān's ignorance of your country's laws, though understandable given the isolation of our people, was still quite disrespectful. We are in your debt."

A shake of the head. "There's no need to apologize, Hiibā-chan," Ranma said, which made Cologne gape at him at his calling her "great-grandmother." "Yeah, at first, I was really mad at Shan for what she did. But thanks to Tariko and Hiromi, I came to realize a lot of things that went wrong that day. Shan's a really great fighter; it would have been horrible to see her locked away even if what she did was legally wrong in Japan. But I was partially responsible for shaming her in front of all her friends and family back in her village, so I was more than glad to convince Obaba not to have anything done to her. Fortunately, one of the senior officers in Tōkyō's police force was quite familiar with your people thanks to a friend of hers, so she was glad to get the charges dismissed." He then smirked. "If you still want to take whatever you want out of Oyaji's hide, though, I won't stop you."

A chuckle. "Yes, Shān has told me you're now estranged from your father. She also told me that Happōsai has dismissed both him and his friend from his school. Given that he was cursed at Zhòuquán-xiāng, if he proves to be more troublesome in the future, come talk to me. We have ways of making idiots behave themselves."

"We might be tempted to do just that, Elder," Mimōko stated. "Even with the current legal situation concerning my boyfriend and his sisters — not to mention the three sisters who would have been asked to marry Ranma under a verbal agreement made between their fathers — Saotome Genma, to say anything of Tendō Sōun, refuses to see any reason." She then hummed. "Tell me: Do the Musk still have control of the Zhǐshuǐtǒng?"

"I believe they do," Cologne stated. "However, relations between ourselves and the Musk are somewhat strained at this time. I doubt even direct intervention by the Xiàolíng Emperor herself would make Prince Herb see reason." She then smiled, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Still, we have our own ways of dealing with idiot miscreants who've been touched by Zhòuquán-xiāng. If necessary, we can use…"

A whistle echoed through the room. "_Attention, please. Hayashi Ranma-sama, Sebone Mimōko-sama, Mago Tsueko-sama, Nǚ Kělún-sama; please report to the Operations Room_," the ship's computer then called out. "_Attention, please…_"

"Wonder what's going on," Ukyō noted as she and Tsueko came up to rejoin them.

"We best find out," Cologne stated…

* * *

Located several levels below the main pilotage deep within the upper forward superstructure, _Haida_'s operations room — which, in the United States Navy, would be called her "combat information centre" — was the central hub for all operations whenever the starship was in actual combat; in those circumstances, the main bridge (due to its exposed location) would be de-manned and flying controls switched over to a combat pilotage space deep within the main hull. Currently standing around the central plotting table were a large group of people, including Hiromi, all ten ship captains of the Task Force, the Canadian brigade group commander and the commanding officers of all the subordinate units, the senior leaders of the Kōshi Kasshi, and leaders and/or senior tōshi from not just most of the Seven Schools, but several affiliated schools, including Nanban (as personified by the Kashira siblings and Norito Tōmi).

"You wished to see us, Majesty?" Cologne called out as everyone came into the room, the elder warrior of the Nǚjiézú hopping out of her great-granddaughter's arms to land gingerly on the table right next to the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn.

"Indeed I did, Lady Kělún. I trust matters between your family and my friends have been properly resolved to everyone's satisfaction," Hiromi stated.

A nod. "They have been."

"Excellent," Hiromi stated. "Well, let's get started with planning; we want to get this underway by the end of today Japan time. First of all, Colonel Bell: The status of your brigade group? Are the people ready to go into the field?"

A nod from Colonel Wayne Bell, the former infantryman from the Royal New Brunswick Regiment who normally commanded all militia forces in New Brunswick and Newfoundland. "They're ready to go. I've already seen intelligence reports and maps of the capital of Yaminokuni, Muzlim Madiina. I've got a general idea what I intend to do once we make planet-fall there. If I can have the map brought up?"

A technician nearby flipped a control. On the large table before everyone there, a three-dimensional projection of a large city surrounded and layered by forests of mushrooms the size of skyscrapers then appeared, the sky overhead quite dark as Yaminokuni's upper atmosphere had a dark dust matter layer that shielded the planet's surface from its home star, a type O9V blue main sequence star about triple the diameter of the Sun itself. In the middle of the large city was a fair-sized lake about a half-kilometre wide; there was a scale metre at every corner of the table so that people could compare for themselves what they were looking at. "As you can all see here, ladies and gentlemen, Muzlim Madiina is about the same physical size as metropolitan Montréal in Québec. Local population is about two million; last census taken was a year ago. Here…" — he took a pointer and indicated a large cluster of buildings close to the central lake — "…is the administrative buildings where the Kingdom is controlled. First Patriarch Upa and his family reside nearby; that's been confirmed by the Noukiite Imperial Central Intelligence Agency. The central religious complex of their faith — a local equivalent to Saint Paul's Cathedral in the Vatican — is located close to there as well. Since either Prince Rupa or Princess Ika are the First Patriarch's most likely heirs when he passes away, their marriage will be conducted at that location. Which puts it close to the city spaceport here."

He indicated the lake. "That is but a lake, child," Cologne stated.

"It's more than that, Madame Nǚ," the colonel stated. "It's an inter-dimensional gateway. Miss Moroboshi's brother and the forces of Kyoshō under Miss Tsukasame's charge will be warping into the city spaceport from the dark side of the Moon." He ignored the surprised and dubious looks from the others in the room as he stated that. "It's believed, thanks to intelligence given to us by Miss Lum's sister Captain Negau, that the rogue stealth ship controlled by the remnants of the group that tried to attack the Moroboshi home late Saturday afternoon will also attack through this spaceport. If that happens, the guns of my armoured regiments and my artillery regiment will be deployed around the spaceport; Miss Tsukasame will negotiate landing rights with the First Patriarch. That should make a hot reception for these guys when they burst through."

"How many guns?" Captain Thomas "Iceman" Kazanski, the American navy captain in command of _Arizona_, asked.

"Our regiments are the equal of one of your Army cavalry squadrons, Captain Kazanski," the commanding officer of the British Columbia Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Beckingham, explained. "A tank battalion for those who follow that particular standard of rating unit sizes. Four sabre squadrons — 'troops' in American Army cavalry terminology, 'company' for everyone else — composed of nineteen tanks; you've seen the pictures of them, I think. Regimental Headquarters Squadron would have three tanks for themselves. Total: 79 vehicles armed with a primary gun that can shoot a round a thousand kilometres, deploying a warhead with the explosive power of a ten-kiloton tactical nuclear missile. Four regiments will be deployed, which makes a total of 316 vehicles. Colonel Fiacco?"

The commanding officer of the 10th Field Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Ed Fiacco, then spoke up, "My regiment — an artillery battalion for those who rate things that way — has four field batteries, one air defence battery and a target acquisition and locating battery. Traditionally, field batteries of the Royal Canadian Artillery have two firing troops — platoons — of four guns per troop. The Avalonians insisted we increase that to four troops per battery to bring it up to sixteen guns to equal the standard combat fighting size of an armoured tank squadron. Total field guns in my unit are sixty-four pieces, plus sixteen anti-aircraft quad-gun mounts. We'll need the field guns in this case. Each field gun can shoot two thousand kilometres in a ground-to-space situation, deploying a solid-shot round with a warhead explosive equal to a thirty-kiloton tactical nuclear missile. They can also fire delayed-release canister-shot rounds containing a package of a thousand small bombs, each with the power of five hundred tons of TNT, if you want a wide-dispersal effect to knock down starship shields. The enemy ship was not built as these ships were with an internal air wing, so we don't need to deploy a specific air defence artillery regiment to help out with keeping fighters out of the sky, but I'll put out an air defence troop with each battery to be deployed with each armoured regiment in the brigade just in case."

"What will be the designated kill-zone for your units, Colonel Bell?" Captain Nathan Kerr, the British navy captain in charge of _Hood_, then asked. "I don't think anyone would like the idea of your tankers and gunners dropping friendly fire rounds on Muzlim Madiina."

"Of course not, Captain Kerr," Colonel Bell stated. "Another thing working for us will be this: Yaminokuni's upper atmosphere has a zone of heavy dust particles suspended at the three hundred kilometre mark, roughly fifty kilometres thick. If the enemy ship comes through the spaceport, it's coming in fast and hard. By the time they emerge from the spaceport gateway — if they don't break themselves at the right moment, which Captain Negau believes they won't be trained to do since the crew is almost all Avalonians, thus not possessing the experience in starship handling — they're already many kilometres over the city. My field engineers will set up a city-wide shield generator system to protect the city itself. Atop that, the rounds fired by the tanks and field guns are computer-guided, so they'll be right on target when they open up. No chance of a friendly fire incident; the rounds will detonate harmlessly on the shield protecting the city if they don't hit the target and gravity yanks them back to the ground again. A few rounds into the hull — the ship won't be shielded in this case as that will interfere in the warping from wherever they're coming from — will convince whoever is in charge there to get the hell out of Dodge before they get shot down. So they'll sail through the particle zone to get clear of all the guns."

"And we'll be on the other side with a red carpet rolled out for them," _Capitaine de Vaisseau_ Marc Marzin, the French captain of _Richelieu_, finished for the Canadian. "Madame Moroboshi, what is the plan for the crew itself should they come into our range? I would assume removing the Avalonians via materialiser will be the first thing, but what of any other crew?"

"They'll be given one chance to surrender, Captain Marzin," Hiromi stated. "If they refuse, you may all consider the black flag raised and you may reduce the ship to ruins. Preferably gutting the ship's hull to let the atmosphere vent into space. I _would_ like to have it captured so we can study the technology and make the necessary countermeasures if the Urusians decide to deploy something similar in the future. If also possible, I would present the ship's remains to the First Patriarch as a war prize." A sigh. "However, all our plans _**are**_ bound to fall apart at first contact with the enemy, so let's not get our hopes up." As laughter filled the room, she then focused on the group of tōshi from Nanban. "Emi-san, how are things with your schoolmates?"

"Full recovery of everyone that was affected by that bakayaro Kentei," Kashira Emi replied. "The Black Death came to the school about an hour ago with the Dragon Jade to look into the forest to see what she can do with the souls trapped there. We'll head on back down again soon to see how she's doing."

"Excuse me, _Frau_ Kashira; 'Black Death?'" the captain of _Bismarck_, _Kapitän zur See_ Emil Weber, asked.

Laughter from all the tōshi. "That, _Herr Kapitän_, is what we call Moroboshi Negako," On Michiko explained. "And it's understandable, given what she is."

"I don't understand, Comrade On," the captain of _Zhèng Hé_, _Hǎijūn Shàngxiào_ Liú Xīyuán, stated.

"Young man, the Lady Negako has the capability of killing someone with but the touch of her finger to the right acupuncture point on the body," Cologne stated.

"Which is one of Onē-sama's uglier talents, honoured kinsman," Hiromi added, which made Captain Liú blush as she gave him a kind look; when he had first met the reborn emperor, she had immediately begun to treat him like long-lost family (which he might be, though he didn't have proof positive given how records had been lost from the time of the Latter Hàn Dynasty to today).

"In other words, she scares the living fuck out of ALL of us!" Emi added.

More laughter. "What's the plan with Shiba'i, Sōsō?" Mimōko asked as she gazed on Tsukasa Torusuke. "I assume you're going to be giving her a new body since Ten'i cut off her legs a year ago, but who's going with her?"

"Since Ataru's acting as bait for this stealth ship, both Ryofu and Chinkyū will be with him," the leader of Kyoshō replied. "Shiba'i will have Ten'i, Kakōton, Kakōen, Kakuka and Chōryō go with her, along with the sisters of Princess Oyuki, Benten-san and Ran-san so they can help Hensō get into the new body being prepared for her right now."

"Lum-san has agreed to have _two_ replicas of herself made," Hiromi added. "One will be the replacement body for Hensō to make use of; the body will be fashioned to allow her to live on Earth if she elects to join Mienai, Kamen and Damasu since all three will now be attending the Kyoshō Academy when this is all over with. The other replica, which will be programmed with Lum-san's own memories, will be conditioned to be Ika-sama's proposed wife; even if we're able to break the Old Lady's curse on Hensō, I strongly doubt she'll be in any mood to consider marriage to anyone from that planet given that she was kidnapped from Uru by Rupa-sama in the first place."

"Why make Hensō disappear?" _Arizona_'s captain asked.

"A psychological victory, which is my ultimate goal for this mission, Captain Kazanski," the reborn emperor explained. "For all this time, Lum-san's father — and the father of the other victims of the Old Lady's curse — have deluded themselves into believing that Hensō and the others were their real daughters. If Captain Invader comes out on his own ship to try to stop this mess after we deal with the rogue stealth ship, I hope Princess Ika will be married to Lum-san's replica by then. If we use that replica to make Invader believe SHE is Hensō…and with Lum-san present…"

"He'll want to go after Ika's great-granddad. Or Ika herself."

Eyes locked on Ranma. "That's right, Ranma-san. But what I believe will happen is that Invader will be made to see how much he's hurt his own child," Hiromi stated. "And that will hurt him more than killing Hensō will ever do. He demonstrated quite clearly to all of us that he will do ANYTHING for his child, even launch a war to see her able to marry Onii-san without interference. If he realizes he was made to ABANDON his child — and all at the word of a mass murderer like Ōgi — it will be a knife driven right into his heart and left to fester. With him thus not able to properly command the battle fleets of Uru for the foreseeable future — and with the Imperials who served in the Urusian Navy having been, for the most part, eliminated thanks to Captain Negau and her friends — we should be pretty much left alone for the time the Men In Black need to convince the Seifukusu to turn their frontier territory over to use for settlement."

"And that will convince the Urusian leadership that leaving us alone will be much to their advantage," Michiko added. "Their biggest fear — what actually drove them into launching the Tag Race in the first place — was having the Noukiites, the Seifukusu and the Ipraedies constantly sitting astride their spin-ward trade routes to planets like Spotak, Zeiwan, Tahupraemiku and the in-spin worlds of the Royal Kingdoms of Yehisril." She tapped a control to disperse the map of Muzlim Madiina and draw up a local galactic star chart of the regions close to Earth. Taking a moment to ensure the territories of all the local powers were properly labelled, she then indicated the "slot," the corridor of free space sandwiched between Noukiite and Ipraedies territory connecting the Earth-Neptune system with the system containing the closest Urusian colony world to Earth, Toshitto. "The Men In Black have always taken a total neutral stance when it comes to aliens visiting our world. The United Nations plans to make that standing policy for Earth when we start settling our new colony planets. That means we won't interfere in any trade with any star-faring race that doesn't try to threaten us in return. We will have it guaranteed by the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios." She indicated their territory, marked in lime green, with her hand. "If possible, we'll also make a non-aggression pact with the Seifukusu." She indicated their territory. "With those in place, leaders on Uru and elsewhere would have to be totally insane to try to provoke anything. Other powers simply won't stand by and let it happen."

Nods all around the room. "Will there be any sort of public announcement about our response to the attack on your family home, Majesty?" Cologne asked.

Hiromi smiled. "It's now 1:22 in the morning Tōkyō time. At eight o'clock this morning, _Yamato_ and _Paekbŏm_ will deploy to the airspace over Tōkyō and Sŏul respectively to be formally commissioned into the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force and the Republic of Korea Navy. One hour after that, which will be eight o'clock in the morning China Standard Time, _Zhèng Hé_ will deploy over Běijīng to be properly commissioned into the People's Liberation Army-Navy. Six hours later — eight o'clock in the morning Central European Summer Time — _Richelieu_, _Bismarck_, _Vittorio Veneto_ and _Santísima Trinidad_ will deploy over Paris, Berlin, Rome and Madrid respectively to be commissioned into the French, German, Italian and Spanish Navies. One hour later — eight o'clock AM British Summer Time — it will be _Hood_'s turn over London. _Haida_ will commission into the Canadian Forces over Hamilton in Ontario at eight o'clock Eastern Daylight Time, with _Arizona_ to come last at eight o'clock Mountain Standard Time over Phoenix." A pause. "That will be midnight Japan time tonight. I intend to sail out at two o'clock AM tomorrow morning Japan time."

"In other words, make sure your crews rack down," Captain Kerr of _Hood_ stated.

Laughter filled the room. "Oh, Naoko-san?" Hiromi then called out.

Naoko looked over from her station. "Hai, Hiromi-sama?"

"Is the special surprise prepared for the Canadians?"

A nod. "It is ready, Hiromi-sama."

"What surprise?" _Haida_'s commanding officer, Captain (Navy) Brian Gamblin, then demanded.

"Captain Gamblin, if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," Hiromi said.

More laughter filled the room…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Notes on the Canadian Army units introduced here:

The **2nd/10th Dragoons** (short-form **2/10 D**) was first formed in 1872 as the "2nd Regiment of Cavalry" to provide horse troop support to the militia in south-central Ontario. The unit was converted to artillery in 1946 as the "57th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery," was transformed into a field regiment in 1962 and then placed on the **Supplementary Order of Battle** (in other words, it exists on paper, but is not manned) in 1970. In the universe of this story, when the Avalonians began to flock to various Militia units to serve their new homeland, they learned of the 2nd/10th and decided to restore the regiment back to life as a unit of the **Royal Canadian Armoured Corps** (**RCAC**). The unit has yet to be properly reorganised on the order of battle, but will become part of **31 Canadian Brigade Group** and be headquartered in Niagara Falls.

The **British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) (RCAC)** (**BCR**) was first formed in 1883 as the "British Columbia Provisional Regiment of Garrison Artillery." The unit was expanded to two battalion size in 1896. The 2nd Battalion was soon re-rolled as an infantry unit, designated the "6th Battalion Rifles" in 1899, then made its own regiment (the "6th Regiment The Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles") the next year. After being amalgamated in 1920 with another infantry regiment, the unit came to be called "1st British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own)." The "1st" was dropped in 1930. The unit was again re-rolled into the RCAC in 1946, where it remains to this day. The unit is currently a part of the **39 Canadian Brigade Group**, with headquarters in downtown Vancouver.

The **Seaforth Highlanders of Canada** (**SEAFORTHS OF C**) was formed in 1910 and would become one of British Columbia's two Highland regiments. Like the BCR, the Seaforths are a part of 39 Brigade Group. The man Ranma spoke of, "**Smokey**," was **Sergeant Ernest Alvia ("Smokey") Smith VC, CM, OBC, CD** (1914-2005). The last living **Victoria Cross** (**VC**) winner in Canada at the time of his passing away, he, a former member of the Seaforths, was also was made a member of both the **Order of Canada** (**CM**) and the **Order of British Columbia** (**OBC**), as well as earning the **Canadian Forces Decoration** (**CD**) for serving 12 years in the military. When he died (I would make Ranma's meeting with him just before that), he was given a state funeral in Ottawa. The unit is headquartered in Vancouver, at a different armoury than where the BCRs are located.

**Le Régiment de Hull (RCAC)** (**R DE HULL**) was one of several units that was effectively established with the launch of World War One in 1914. Established originally as "le 70e Régiment (de Hull)," the unit was tasked with recruiting soldiers for service overseas. Originally an infantry regiment, the unit would be re-rolled into armour in 1946, where it remains to this day. These days, the unit serves as part of **34 Canadian Brigade Group** and is headquartered in Hull, which is today part of the city of Gatineau across the Ottawa River from Ottawa itself.

The **19th Alberta Dragoons** (**19 ALTA D**) was first established in 1908 as the "19th The Alberta Mounted Rifles," a horse-riding infantry unit based out of Edmonton. The unit would participate in both world wars and eventually become an armoured regiment. In 1965, the unit was placed on the Supplementary Order of Battle and in 2006, was administratively amalgamated with Alberta's only province-wide active armoured unit, the **South Alberta Light Horse** (**SALH**). In the universe of this story, when the recruits trying to join B Squadron of the SALH in Edmonton overwhelmed the squadron's needs, talk of reforming the 19th as a separate unit began. Like the 2nd/10th, the 19th has yet to be properly reorganized, but will become part of **41 Canadian Brigade Group** and will be headquartered in Edmonton.

The **Royal Winnipeg Rifles** (**R WIN RIF**) was first established in 1883 in the city of the same name in Manitoba. Then called the "90th Winnipeg Battalion of Rifles," the unit was made a regiment in 1900. The unit got its nickname "**Little Black Devils**" from a rebel native Canadian leader during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885; as with other rifle battalions of the day, members of the unit wore dark green (which looked black to the eyes of the rebel leader) uniforms in lieu of the standard scarlet uniform of line regiments, thus eliciting this comment: "_I know who the guys in red are…but who are those little black devils?_" That, of course, eventually inspired the unit's motto, _Hosti Acie Nominati_ ("Named By The Enemy"). The Rifles are part of **38 Canadian Brigade Group**.

**10th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery** (**10 FD REGT RCA**) was first founded as such in 1920 when field brigades (as a battalion of guns was called back then) of artillery were established across the country. The unit was composed of **18 Field Battery** in Regina and **64 Field Battery** in Yorkton when the Avalonians began to flesh out the unit to full wartime manning, thus prompting the reformation of **65 Field Battery** in Melville, **76 Field Battery** at Fort Qu'Appelle, **101 Locating Battery** at Yorkton and **113 Air Defence Battery** in Regina. The unit is headquartered in Regina and is part of 38 Brigade Group.

In real life, **36 Combat Engineer Regiment** (**36 CER**) does not exist; the recruiting numbers for **45 Field Engineer Squadron** (**45 FES**) in Sydney do not envision expansion to regimental size even with a detached troop in Halifax. In the universe of this story, the Avalonians changed that. The unit is part of **36 Canadian Brigade Group**. 45 FES was first formed in 1947. The other engineer squadrons now attached to 36 CER include **20 Field Engineer Squadron** based in Lunenburg, **30 Field Engineer Squadron** based in Halifax, **38 Engineer Field Park Squadron** based in Halifax, **63 Armoured Field Engineer Squadron** based in Sydney and **65 Field Engineer Squadron** based in Dartmouth. 20 FES, 30 FES and 38 EFPS were all squadrons that existed at one time or another in Nova Scotia; 63 AFES and 65 FES, in this unverse, are new creations.

**721 Communications Regiment** (**721 COMM REGT**) was established originally in 1904 as "12 Signalling Section." The unit helped form the signals regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division for World War Two, thus allowing it to be reformed after the war as "5 Signals Regiment" in 1954. The unit gained its designation in this story in 1970. In real life in 2012, the unit was amalgamated with two separate communications squadrons (**723 Squadron** in Halifax and **725 Squadron** in Glace Bay near Sydney) to become **36 Signal Regiment** (**36 SIG REGT**), part of 36 Brigade Group. The unit's headquarters were shifted from Charlottetown to Halifax at that time.

**37 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters** (**37 CBG HQ**) was established in 1997 from the amalgamation of the militia district formations in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. The brigade headquarters is based in Moncton in New Brunswick. Along those lines, **37 Service Battalion** (**37 SVC BN**) was created in April 2010 by the amalgamation of two former service battalions based in Saint John in New Brunswick (the former 31 Service Battalion) and Saint John's in Newfoundland (36 Service Battalion).

**33 Field Ambulance** (**33 FD AMB**) was formed as "22 Field Ambulance" after World War Two, then was amalgamated with "33 Service Battalion" in 1970. Eventually, the medical staff to the unit was broken away and transformed into "33 Medical Company" during the 1970s. The unit was renamed "33 Field Ambulance" in the 1990s and is based in Halifax.

**3 Military Police Regiment** (**3 MP REGT**) was formed in 2006 from the amalgamation of all full-time and part-time military police units across Atlantic Canada, with headquarters in Lower Sackville, a suburb of Halifax. Likewise, **3 Intelligence Company** (**3 INT COY**) was formed originally as a part of "33 Service Battalion" before being made its own unit in the 1990s. It is also in Halifax.

And **The Royal New Brunswick Regiment** (**RNBR**) is that province's resident infantry unit. At the time of this story, it was officially set up in a two-battalion format. The 1st Battalion was headquartered in Fredericton with detached companies in Saint John, Grand Falls and Edmundston. The 2nd Battalion was headquartered in Bathurst with detached companies in Newcastle and Campbellton. The regiment was formed originally in 1954 from the union of three regiments; the RNBR can trace its ancestry all the way back to 1869. In real life in 2012, the 2nd Battalion of the RNBR was broken away from the parent regiment to reform its pre-1954 ancestral unit name, **The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment** (**NS[NB]R**). As to how such would affect the 1st Battalion, that has yet to be decided as it was formed by the amalgamation of **The Carleton and York Regiment** (**C&Y REGT**) and **The New Brunswick Scottish** (**NB SCOTS**). In the universe of this story, the mass joining of Avalonian-Canadians would see the RNBR expanded to four-battalion size, thus allowing all three of the regiment's ancestral units — plus **The Saint John Fusiliers** (**SJ FUS**); this regiment amalgamated with the New Brunswick Scottish in 1946 — to be reformed as separate regiments once more.

2) The **Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus** (the name meant "Mouse") was a monstrous vehicle weighing in at **188 tonnes** that was built as a concept design in 1944, but never saw any production (and given its mass, it couldn't really do much in the way of field work). It was fitted with a 128 millimetre (5 inch) main gun and a co-axial 75 millimetre (3 inch) secondary gun in the turret. It is the largest land combat vehicle ever designed by anyone.

3) A **Type O9V** star is an incredibly bright star that is often many times larger than the Sun. An example of this particular type of star is **Sigma Orionis A** in the constellation of Orion.

4) Translations for various nations' equivalent of a navy captain (NATO officer rank code OF-5): **Capitaine de Vaisseau** — Literally "Ship-of-the-Line Captain"; **Kapitän zur See** — Literally "Captain At Sea"; **Hǎijūn Shàngxiào** — Literally "Sea Army Senior Field Officer."

5) **Spotak** and **Zeiwan** are both planets introduced in stories in _The Senior Year_. **Tahupraemiku** is my renaming of the world I called "Tofūnokoibito" in _TSY_; this would be the home planet of Lupica and Rio from the sixth _Yatsura_ movie _Always My Darling_.

6) **Sŏul** is the proper McCune-Reischauer Romanization of the city known in English as "**Seoul**."

7) **Brian Gamblin**'s official rank in the Canadian Forces is written as "**Captain (Navy)**" (**Capt [N]**), thus allowing it to be differentiated from the Army/Air Force rank of **Captain** (which has the NATO officer rank code of OF-2). In French, his rank would have the same title as noted above for **Marc Marzin**: _Capitaine de Vaisseau_ (**CapV**).


	25. Kunō's Very Bad Day

Nerima, the Miyamoto residence, sometime after dawn…

"Akane-chan, MUST you do this?"

Akane jolted on hearing that plea from her sister, and then she sighed. "Are you saying I should just sit back and wait for Kyoko to come home, Onē-chan?"

Kasumi blinked before she sighed. Akane was now dressed in a track suit with a small carry-all bag beside her. Nabiki and Shigeru were at the coffee table enjoying morning tea and breakfast. "No, no, Akane-chan. I'm not saying that. I can tell you like Kyoko-san very much. I don't blame you for wanting to make sure she's safe. But…" She took a deep breath. "Are you SURE you want to do this?"

The youngest sister paused, and then she took a deep breath. "I have to, Onē-chan. I haven't heard anything from Kyoko or anyone else from Yoshū about my being transferred there, so maybe some people on the Executive Council are still leery about the idea of a non-tōshi going to their school. I HAVE to make a good impression in that case. If I do that, I can probably try to find some way for Nabiki-nēchan to go there as well." She ignored Nabiki's dropped jaw and surprised look as she finished tying up her running shoes. "Just because I'm leaving Fūrinkan doesn't mean I want my sister to be stuck there dealing with Kunō and the rest of those morons!"

"Akane…" Nabiki breathed out.

Shigeru gave his second-oldest granddaughter a knowing look. At that moment, Kasumi tensed on sensing someone come up to the main door. "Oh, we have visitors!" she said as she moved to put on her outdoor shoes and head outside to see who had come.

A moment later, she returned with a small entourage of students, all with magatama hanging off their ears. Nabiki was quick to recognize all of them. "Come in, minna-san," she said as the group from Yoshū moved to bow to them, clapping their hands to alert the kami of the home that they had come in peace. "Tea?"

"If it is no trouble, Nabiki-san," On Tsuguta stated as everyone slipped off their shoes and moved to sit down in a row near the coffee table, thus allowing the leader of Yoshū to take his place across from Shigeru. Quickly enough, tea was prepared by Kasumi and served by Nabiki. Once he had his cup in hand, Tsuguta took a deep breath before setting it aside, and then he bowed his head. "A good morning to you, Miyamoto-dono. I am On Tsuguta, honoured with the battle name 'Enshō Honsho.' I am the president of the Executive Student Council of the Yoshū Private Academy."

"Welcome to my humble home, Tsuguta-kun," Shigeru said with a polite nod of his head. "I met your father, On Ryūai, several years ago at a conference."

"Otō-sama remembers that meeting well and he wishes you all the best, Miyamoto-dono," Tsuguta stated with a smile; his father, a tōshi who had been blessed with the battle name "Enhō Shūyō," had graduated from Yoshū twenty-six years ago. "Much that I would like to take some time to get to know you better, unfortunately and regrettably, our commitment to assisting our reborn emperor Ryūkō Kyōrei — who now lives as His Imperial Majesty's most loyal servant, the Matriarch Moroboshi Hiromi — demands we proceed back into space as quickly as possible so that we can assist in dealing with the alien barbarians who dare threaten our planet's sovereignty." A sigh. "Your youngest daughter, Akane-ojōsama, has now become the student of a senior warrior now attending our school." He ignored the bright blush crossing Akane's face on his calling her _that_. "Under those circumstances — and also taking into account what has now befallen her and her sisters thanks to what was recently revealed in the newspapers concerning the actions of her father, Tendō Sōun — we of the Executive Council met late yesterday to vote on her request to become a student of the Yoshū Academy. I am here to tell you that such a vote came down in Akane-ojōsama's favour." He waved to Kao Yoichi. "My honoured friend here was quite willing to go to her current school just before we came here and he convinced the staff there to release your granddaughter's records so she can be properly transferred to our school. Fortunately for Akane-ojōsama, whatever objections could be raised by such a transfer were not able to make themselves be heard in time."

Chuckles and laughter filled the room. The unspoken message was plain; Kunō Tatewaki, who was normally one of the first people to get to school so that he could properly prepare himself to greet his "fierce tigress" in the mornings, hadn't got there in time to intercept Yoichi before the records could be dispatched to Utsunomiya. Hopefully, the school staff would keep quiet about this long enough for any sort of reaction from the young scion of Nerima's richest family to be truly ineffective. "And whatever spies a certain fool may have sent out to keep watch over my grandchildren?" Shigeru asked.

"Currently, they're still at the Tendō residence, Ojii-sama," Ebisu Kyoko replied. "None of them have yet had the chance to report to their master about the change of family names just yet. That situation might change sometime today, though."

"I see," Shigeru stated, nodding his thanks. "So what is happening now? Akane-chan was prepared to head up to Utsunomiya to seek you out personally."

"A task force of ten star battleships of the United Nations Earth Defence Force — all of which will be manned by not just tōshi of the Seven Schools and their allied institutions, but by volunteers from the military forces of Japan, South Korea, China, America, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain — will be deploying first thing tomorrow morning for the planet Yaminokuni," Tsuguta replied. "That is located at the spin-ward edge of the stellar cluster our solar system is part of, approximately 2,500 light-years from here. It is the planet by which the so-called 'wife' of the Emperor's adopted brother, Moroboshi Ataru-dono, has been kidnapped so she can be made to answer to an old honour obligation with the First Patriarch — the emperor, in other words — of that planet. We are going there to ensure such an obligation is met; it is ultimately in response to the attack on the Moroboshi home two days ago."

"If my granddaughter goes with you, will she be safe?"

A sigh. "Ojii-sama, as we are ALL aware, nothing is ever truly safe in life. But I believe that given what has been planned now, your granddaughter — if she elects to come with us — will come back to you hale and hearty. And hopefully with some good training under her belt and no interference from those who fear her potential."

"Such as her father, much less Kunō Tatewaki," Kyoko added.

Shigeru nodded, and then he looked over. "Are you willing to do this, Akane?"

"Hell, YES!" the youngest of the sisters spat out.

Whoops and cheers filled the room. Tsuguta smiled at her show of determination, and then he blinked on seeing the concern on both Kasumi's and Nabiki's faces. Holding up a hand to calm his friends down, he then cleared his throat. "Ganryō, would you also tell our most honoured host of what else you arranged to have happen, please."

"Hai, Enshō-sama," Yoichi said with a deep bow. "Miyamoto-dono, when I went to Fūrinkan to obtain Akane-ojōsama's records, I also took the liberty of ensuring that Nabiki-ojōsama's records were also removed from the school." Ignoring Nabiki's sucked-in gasp of air and the surprised looks on the other peoples' faces, he added, "For a simple reason, of course. We know how much of a deluded moron Kunō Tatewaki is. If he learns that his 'fierce tigress' has totally escaped his grasp — and to a school full of TŌSHI, none the less! — he might go over the edge. In that case…"

"I become a potential target," Nabiki stated.

A nod. "Hai. Now, your reputation, Nabiki-san, is quite fearsome. Even we would be hesitant if we wanted to try something against you. But I can tell that you've fallen out of practice when it comes to martial arts. Can you REALLY trust Kunō's sense of 'chivalry' to fully protect you in case he totally loses it?"

Nabiki sighed. "Not really."

"Well, then, what can he do now?" Yoichi waved over to Kazaru Tagurō. "Bunshū here, when he took your dad back to his home, made sure he'd be unable to do anything for the next day or two. Who knows where his pal's run off to after Kakuto put a half-dozen arrows into his ass yesterday. So there's no way for Kunō to find out directly from anyone related to you as to where you might be."

"Does he know about your faction at Fūrinkan, Nabiki-san?" Kuruwa Hakana asked.

A shake of the head. "No, not really. He's always dealt directly with me whenever he's needed any sort of information concerning Akane," Nabiki replied. "Much that I do appreciate the concern, I doubt I'll be able to fit into Yoshū. Like Yoichi-kun here just said, I've fallen way out of practice when it comes to martial arts."

"We tōshi are not just warriors, Nabiki-san," Takai Mirumi stated. "We have amongst us strategists and planners. You have a very keen mind and a very admirably logical outlook on life. That is as valuable to us as a legion of A-rank fighters." She tried not to grin too much on seeing Nabiki's cheeks colour at her compliment.

"Besides, given what Hiromi-sama hopes we'll eventually evolve into, the chances are there than any sort of 'replay' of the events of our past-selves' lives are quite slim to nil," Tsuguta stated. "I, for one, will welcome that. Much that I am prepared to defend those I am fated to oversee and protect, I know what my 'fate' could be if things run true to course. I would prefer not to face that, thank you very much."

A nod. "Understandable. And I thank you for not only welcoming Akane into your ranks, but watching out for Nabiki as well," Shigeru stated. "I have a question."

"What is it, sir?" Tsuguta asked.

"We've often heard of the 'welcoming committees' that older tōshi tend to create for newcomers," the elderly investor stated. "Given how similar that could be to what that idiot Kunō unleashed on Akane-chan until Ranma-kun showed up…"

A hand came up to wave down the older man's concerns. "We've already taken that into account, sir," Tsuguta stated, and then he waved over to Hakana. "Hakana-san here has organized an all-female tōshi 'welcoming party' for Akane — to test her skills and make sure she can defend herself should she ever be caught alone, of course — when we head back to classes, which will, hopefully, be in a couple of days. No men will be involved. And I will state such should give your granddaughter a _proper_ challenge of her skills, seeing as how much they've been insulted by the actions of Kunō and his friends."

A smile. "I do appreciate that, sir."

"It is my pleasure, Miyamoto-dono. There is one other thing, though."

"And that is?"

Tsuguta looked at Mirumi. She nodded, and then shifted over to sit beside him, placing a small jewel box on the coffee table. Opening the top, she sat back as Akane took a look, her jaw dropping on seeing what was inside. As Shigeru, Kasumi and Nabiki all looked themselves at the dark green magatama there, the leader of Yoshū took a deep breath. "Within that lies the soul of Chén Lín, Lord Kǒngzhāng. 'Chinrin Kōshō' as he would be known here. He was one of the Seven Scholars of Jiàn'ān who tried to moderate peace as central control collapsed throughout China during the early years of the Xiàoxiàn Emperor's reign." A sigh. "He was also a close adviser of my past-self; it was he who formulated the arguments for my past-self's later war against Cáo Cāo. But, sadly, he did not reincarnate in this generation…"

"I'll do it."

Eyes locked on Akane. "You sure?" Yoichi stated.

Akane smiled. "Look how fast Ranma accepted Miiko-san."

The eyes of her siblings and her grandfather all widened as realization dawned. All the tōshi present were grinning madly as Kyoko gave her student and girlfriend a thumbs up of approval. "Oh, my! You mean…?" Kasumi breathed out before she stared at Tsuguta. "Would Hiromi-san be willing to do that, Tsuguta-san?"

"She is gladly doing this for a friend of Sōsō Mōtoku's past-self, Miyamoto no Mae," the leader of Yoshū stated, making Kasumi blush deeply again at his addressing her as "Dame Miyamoto." "And even more so, Ryūbi Gentoku is allowing one of her own subordinates from Seito to serve as the template body for that person."

Nabiki had, by then, got out a pencil and a sheet of paper to sketch out some kanji. "Chinrin Kōshō, eh…? 'Rin' doesn't have a _kun'yomi_ reading…"

"Karin."

Eyes locked on Kasumi. "Miyamoto — _née_ Tsuraneru — Karin," Akane then said, and then she nodded. "I think she'll like it."

"Nabiki, I want you and Kasumi both to go with Akane."

The sisters turned to stare at their grandfather. "Ojii-san!" Kasumi gasped.

A chuckle. "I can take care of myself for a couple of days; please, don't worry about me, child," Shigeru stated as he waved his granddaughter down. "Besides, I'm sure people in this fleet will need to learn how to properly cook. You can pass that on," he said as he stared at Kasumi. As his eldest granddaughter nodded, he added, "Also, I can taunt Sōun with the knowledge that his precious 'babies'…"

"Whom he never really tried to care for," Nabiki growled.

An understanding nod. "That his precious 'babies' have all be taken away by the 'nasty tōshi' for whatever their 'nefarious purposes,'" the investor finished. "That should be good for a few laughs. Maybe THEN, he might see some reason for a change."

"As long as his friend doesn't get in the way," Yoichi warned.

"Doubt he will," Tagurō noted.

More laughter filled the room…

* * *

Fūrinkan High School, after breakfast…

"_**SAYEST THOU WHAT?!**_"

The secretary sighed. Much that she was often annoyed at the antics of the young man now before her — and would gladly do anything to see him properly put into place once and for all — she did have her job security to worry about. Not to mention her hair; if HE came back, both would be under dire threat. "It's true, Kunō-kun," she affirmed. "Ten-…" She caught herself before saying, "Excuse me! _Miyamoto_ Akane was transferred out of this school at her personal request due to her martial arts obligations. She is now attending the Yoshū Private Academy in Utsunomiya."

"_**WHAT?! MY FIERCE TIGRESS IS GOING**_** THERE**_**?! I FORBID THIS!**_"

And under _those_ circumstances, the secretary would have normally been forced to acquiesce; if Kunō didn't get his way with any of the school's staff (even all the way up to the vice-principal), the captain of the school's kendō team would immediately threaten to contact HIM to have him return back from his sabbatical in Hawai'i to take proper charge of his school. Fortunately for her, she had a way around that this time. "Well, why weren't you here when Ganryō-san and Bunshū-san came for her records?"

Silence.

A sickly pallor came over Kunō's face. "Th-th-they were h-h-HERE…?"

A nod. "Hai. And they were not taking 'no' for an answer."

Of course, that was a flat-out lie, the secretary knew. Both of those very fine young gentlemen had been quite polite and pleasant with her when they had visited an hour before to obtain Akane's and Nabiki's student files for transfer to Utsunomiya. They also had sweetened the deal, convincing her that it would be to the benefit of the whole staff of Fūrinkan if this was allowed to happen. After all, once said records were clear of school property, there would be NOTHING that Kunō Tatewaki could do to have them recalled. His influence was considerable thanks to his family's wealth, but it only went so far; in truth, it was totally non-existent outside the boundaries of Nerima Ward. And if he tried to take it to any higher level, openly shaming him with his many past actions concerning Akane would then become a distinct possibility.

Naturally, saying THAT to his face would get her into trouble, so she kept quiet.

"Those infernal fiends…!"

The secretary nodded. "Hai, they can be that, can't they?"

Kunō jolted, and then he growled before he spun around and stormed out of the office. She watched him go, and then she relaxed as she picked up her morning cup of tea and took a sip from it. No doubt, the kendō-ka was going to try to locate Nabiki to learn what had happened to her sister so he could try to go "rescue" her.

_He should be back soon…!_ she mused to herself…

* * *

Minutes later…

"_**SAYEST THOU WHAT?!**_"

It was DEFINITELY not a good day to be Kunō Tatewaki.

"That's quite correct, Kunō-kun," the homeroom teacher of Class 2-D stated as he sipped his coffee. "Tendō Nabiki — excuse me, I meant to say _Miyamoto_ Nabiki! — was transferred out of the school this morning. Same time as her sister, I believe."

The kendō-ka shuddered as his mind tried to wrap around what he had just learned. That it was bad enough that those filthy tōshi — truly monsters that were dark, depraved and evil, bringing eternal shame unto the great heroes of the Three Kingdoms they named themselves after — had seized the sweet and pure Tendō Akane and skirted her away before he could win her love. But to also seize Tendō Nabiki…?

Why?

What was their ultimate goal in all this?

And what would happen…?

Kunō's train of thought was then interrupted by a low rumble that seemed to shake the building and windows with unrelenting power. Everyone in the classroom perked on sensing that, many instantly tensing as past earthquake drills began to make them move to protect themselves under their desks. As they considered what was happening, though, people then paused. While this _could_ be an earthquake, there was something very odd about the trembling. It was too even, too light; yes, it was shaking things, but it wasn't the sharp and hard type of shakes one would expect of a natural event. So what was…?

"OHMIGAWD! Look at THAT!"

Kunō spun around on hearing Ryonami Itsuko's voice, and then — on noting that a whole bunch of his classmates were on their feet and heading to the windows, all gaping at something — he moved to take a look himself. One look was enough.

"_**ALIENS?!**_"

"I don't think so."

He turned to gaze on Nabiki's number two girl. "What do you mean?"

"If it's an alien ship, why does it have the _Hinomaru_ painted on the hull?"

He jolted, and then turned to look once more at the long, flat cigar-shaped ship with the boxy superstructures above and below the main hull and the many globe-shaped gun turrets now floating serenely over downtown Tōkyō. Sure enough, the beautiful national flag of the Land of the Rising Sun was painted on the side of the hull just aft of amidships. The rest of the hull was painted the proper dark grey of a warship of the Maritime Self-Defence Forces, the hull classification symbol number **24** in white near the bow.

But…?

How…?

Since when did JAPAN have a STARSHIP?

"Does anyone have a set of binoculars?" he then demanded of the others in the room.

"Here!"

A set of quite fine officer's field glasses were handed to him. Taking them up to his eyes, he peered at the hull, and then swept his vision aft towards the fantail, which ended at what appeared to be a main engine exhaust unit. A flash of three small icons in white caught his attention, and then he focused to see three white hiragana symbols printed on the hull just short of the innermost point of the engine assembly.

Three symbols that spelt out the most sacred ship's name in the land.

"_Yamato_…?"

Everyone in the class turned to gape at him. "Is that the name?" Itsuko asked.

A shaky nod. "H-hai…" Kunō sputtered out as he lowered the binoculars.

On seeing his face, many of the people in the room tried not to laugh on seeing that his eyes were now silhouetted with black ink circles…

* * *

Aboard _Haida_, that moment…

"So how are you adjusting to your new body, Chūtatsu-dono?"

Tsukasame Yoiko — Shiba'i Chūtatsu — could only smile as she stretched herself against the hull of Damasu's pink-hued scout ship, which was now parked in one of the port boat bays of the starship, where smaller service shuttles attached to _Haida_'s air wing — such craft aboard the Canadian starship would be piloted by both the ship's crew of boatswains and members of a dedicated utility support squadron controlled by the wing commander of 21 Space Wing — would be docked. Dressed now in flexible slacks, a muscle shirt bearing the symbol of the Kyoshō Academy on her chest and a jean jacket, she was all smiles thanks to her legs, which no longer ended in severed stumps at mid-calf. Also, much to her delight, the golden dragon tattoos that had been on her old body's arms had transmitted over to her new body, thus allowing the pink-haired, grey-eyed sophomore master strategist to still keep in mental contact with those who directly served her. Especially the young lady seated at the steps nearby. "I'm not confident enough that I'd gladly toss myself into a Great Fighters Tournament right now, My Emperor, but I do think I'll survive this job," she said as she gazed at Hiromi. "Do you think the opposition will be bad?"

"It is hard to say," the reborn emperor stated. "As far as we can tell, after Onii-san declared that none of Hensō's race were ever to return to our planet, no one from Uru directly ever penetrated our solar system to see what was going on here." Hiromi grimaced as she remembered the one time Oni pirates based on the planet Konton tried to steal the bioroid factory within a month of its arrival in the solar system. Fortunately for the Avalonians, the presence of She Who Speaks to Dragons in Tomobiki at that time — not to mention Ataru's _**special**_ hidden talent that first made its presence known at the Battle of Morningstar Plain on Okusei — saw to it the pirates were either killed or captured for internment at the Noukiite maximum security prison-world of Hichkyech'eng. "Of course, that doesn't guarantee anything in the long term. Look what happened on Saturday when they tried to kidnap Onii-san?" A sigh. "You may be just performing a simple meet-and-greet mission with the First Patriarch. You may be sailing into a war zone. Trust your judgement and experience. Trust the judgement and experience of all those who come with you as well, Yoiko-san. Don't risk yourself or your friends, alright?"

Yoiko nodded. "Sounds simple enough…"

"Hey!"

She turned, and then grinned as Tsukasa Torusuke came up, accompanied by the Natsukimi cousins as well as Mienai and Damasu; Kamen was already aboard the ship preparing it for the mission. "Hey!" Yoiko said as she came over to embrace her boyfriend, leaning in to give him a kiss. "Nice to be able to do this again."

"Damn straight," he said as he gently rubbed her back and buttocks. "Can't wait for the chance to properly break it in. You come back safe and sound, okay?"

"Definitely," she purred before they kissed again.

A moan. "Okay! Break it up, huh?!" Makoto growled as he faked a nauseous look. "We're on a schedule here! You can screw each other silly when you get back!"

Both of them groaned before they gave him an annoyed look, which disappeared as he winked at them. "You're right, Ton. Business before pleasure," Torusuke said, and then he kissed Yoiko's forehead. "Watch your back, sweetheart."

"Hey! Remember who you're talking to here!" she scolded.

He gave her a knowing look. "WHO ended up with cut-off legs?"

She pouted at him. "You just HAD to remind me about that, didn't you?"

"What do you think?"

Both of them laughed, and then kissed again before Torusuke pulled away, moving to stand beside Hiromi as his girlfriend headed over to get Sakan Somumi (Ten'i) off her butt and aboard the ship. The Natsukimi cousins and their companions followed, and then the hatchway closed up. As the ship's thruster units began to ignite, both Hiromi and Torusuke backed away to get clear of the jet exhaust; the boat bay was open to space but protected by a force field that kept the atmosphere inside (emergency shield doors could be deployed if necessary). Atop that, there were air freshener units that were built into the walls, deck and deckhead that could recycle the dangerous gasses and ensure the deck crews remained unharmed. "What do you give their chances?" the leader of Kyoshō asked as the pink ship then surged through the force field into space.

"Actually, quite good," Hiromi stated.

He looked at her. "How so?"

She gave him a knowing look. "Most Imperial-aligned Urusians I know of think of us as 'tailless monkeys,' Mōtoku-dono," she said as she waved him out of the bay towards a nearby turbolift station so they could return to the operations room. "Ironically, that attitude also prevails — albeit without the racist edge — among most others of their kind. In their eyes, we don't have the intelligence — to say anything of the POTENTIAL — to master 'civilized' thought processes. They wouldn't think us capable of something quite like this. And if they do realize this, they might believe that the Noukiites or one of the other 'older' races may have taught such to us, which would imply that those races were now seriously looking at taking some sort of possession of Earth space, which they view as traditionally being under Urusian prerogative." As he snorted, she smirked. "And while I realize they may know of these ships…"

"The chance is there that they don't," Torusuke finished.

"Agreed. Furthermore, look how we'll approach Yaminokuni: A direct flight through _normal_ warp space to that system from here, easily sailing around all the known space hazards that exist in that particular sector of the Orion Arm. With their technology, such a voyage would take almost a _**year**_ even with the fastest ships they have in their arsenal, fitted with the best navigational sensors they can deploy. We could be there in several _hours_ even if we were going slow. Hopefully by then, your paramour would have made proper contact with the First Patriarch and given him the necessary intelligence to prepare himself and his people to receive that stealth ship."

"Not to mention provide him with another incentive to see this through."

Both of them laughed as they boarded a turbolift…

* * *

Heading towards the dark side of the Moon, minutes later…

"Is everyone secured back there?"

"We're cool, Mienai-chan," Makoto said as he tested the seat restraint he had slipped over his chest. "How soon before we warp out of here?"

"Setting course now, Makoto-kun," the Neptunian-form Avalonian stated as she tapped controls on the console before her. "We should be warping out in five minutes."

"Cargo's secure!"

Everyone turned as Kamen came up to the control room from the lower deck. Like her fellow replica bioroids, she was back in her "normal" clothes: a red-and-grey battle bikini with sash and hair chains in the colours of the Shigaten Clan. Mienai was once more in her normal kimono — though she no longer wore a princess' coronet in her ponytail — while Damasu was wearing her usual strapless purple two-piece bikini suit with high boots. Everyone else was in casual civilians save for Ataru, who was dressed in a black martial arts gi and jika-tabi boots, a plain black belt wrapped around his waist. Shikuko and Miyako were seated to both sides of him, both dressed in jeans and pullover sweaters, arm, knee and hand protectors drawn over their clothes. In the row in front of them were the people from Kyoshō, also dressed casually and possessing various arm and leg guards on their bodies (except for Natsukimi Mien, who was in her normal white sleeved qípáo with fingerless gloves holding the spools for her weighted garrottes).

"Are they both staying in their tanks, Kamen-chan?" Hari Haruka — Chōryō Bun'en — then asked as the Fukunokami-form Avalonian sat down beside Mienai.

"It's better for them that way," Kamen said as she gave the grey-eyed blond freshman a reassuring smile, though everyone was quick to see her red cheeks.

Shikuko was one of them. "Hey, Haruka! She's got a crush on you," she hissed.

Haruka jolted as Kamen's face turned pure red. "Shikuko!"

"Knock it off, you two!" Yoiko snapped. "Much that I do agree that our friends here are all quite attractive, now's not the time to think about that sort of thing!"

"Damn! I knew it!"

Damasu gazed at Makoto. "Knew what, Makoto-san?"

"We should have given Yoiko-chan here a chance to bed Torusuke before we left!"

Yoiko jolted as everyone else laughed. "_**KAKŌTON!**_"

"Yoiko-san, we're ready to begin the warp."

Yoiko blinked as people's eyes fixed on the image of the looming Moon before them. "Let's get going, Mienai! Warp us out of here!"

"Hai," the Neptunian-form Avalonian said as she tapped a control.

Instantly, the rose-coloured ship vanished in a storm of light and energy. As people on the control platform watched, the Moon disappeared as they found themselves in a tunnel of energy quite similar to what one might experience in a wormhole. "Damn!" Ataru breathed out. "Who'd ever think of something like THIS?"

"Who DID develop this way of travelling anyway?" Kuruwa Yoisuke — Kakuka Hōkō — then asked from the seat next to Damasu's as people undid their restraints and got up to walk over and gaze on the passing field of energy. Much to Yoisuke's private delight, the rose-haired Seishin-form Avalonian was quick to slip her arm around his as they stood together side-by-side behind Kamen's seat. "I'd figure that normal warping would be accepted by everyone in the galaxy once it became commonplace."

"That has been lost to history, Yoisuke-san," Mienai stated, a smile crossing her face as Makoto reached over to gently rub her shoulders. "None the less, it is far more convenient to travel to Yaminokuni this way as normal warp travel…"

"HEY!" Ataru screamed out. "WHAT THE HELL'S THAT?!"

Everyone jolted on seeing something dark right in front of them…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Chōryō Bun'en** (**Hari Haruka**) first appeared in manga episode #51. His past-self was **Zhāng Liáo** (169-222 C.E.), one of the more able generals to fight during the lead-up to the Three Kingdoms period. First gaining prominence under the service of Lǚ Bù's first foster father, **Dīng Yuán** (unknown date of birth, died 189), Zhāng would stay with the Flying General until the latter was defeated and killed at the Battle of Xiàpī. Spared by Cáo Cāo, Zhāng came under his service and would remain at the side of the Cáo Clan until well after the founding of Cáo Wèi. In this life, Haruka was a former underclassman to Ryofu Hōsen (Sebone Shikuko) who transferred to Kyoshō from Chōan Junior High School (the feeder school to Rakuyō) in 2009 and caught the interest of Shiba'i Chūtatsu (Tsukasame Yoiko); he is part of her faction there. He tends to see himself as the adopted elder brother to Ten'i (Sakan Somumi).

**Kakuka Hōkō** (**Kuruwa Yoisuke**) first appeared in episode #15. His past-self was **Guō Jiā** (170-207), who was a strategist and adviser to Cáo Cāo that stood at his side during Cáo's fights against Lǚ Bù, Yuán Shào and the **Wūhuán** tribal leader **Tàdùn** (unknown date of birth, died 207). Tragically, Guō would die of sickness the year prior to when Cáo would face off against his major opponents at the Battle of Chìbì and be decisively defeated; Cáo would later lament that if Guō was there advising him, such a defeat may not have happened. In this life, Yoisuke is the closest friend and adviser to Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke). In the manga series, Yoisuke was diagnosed with a form of cancer and was fated to die…though he would later recover.

And now my own creations:

The father to both Enshō Honsho (On Tsuguta) and Enjutsu Kōro (On Michiko) is **Enhō Shūyō** (**On Ryūai**). His past-self was **Yuán Féng** (unknown birth and death dates), who was Excellency of Works in the time of the Xiàolíing Emperor.

**Chinrin Kōshō** (**Miyamoto [**_**née**_** Tsuraneru] Karin**), as stated in this part, is the present incarnation of **Chén Lín** (unknown date of birth, died 217). He was one of the **Seven Scholars of Jiàn'ān**, who were said to be the great intellectuals of the time. Chén himself served under Great General Hé Jín in the court at Luòyáng before everything began to fell apart. Chén warned Hé to not use armed force to intimidate the Ten Attendants, a piece of advice Hé failed to heed at the cost of his life. Later coming to work for Yuán Shào, Chén came up with the rationale as to why Cáo Cāo had to be put down. Cáo — who clearly knew a good philosopher when he heard said words — made Chén one of his officials after Yuán was finally defeated and died.

2) The **Hinomaru** (literally "Circle of the Sun") is the often-used nickname for the Japanese nation flag (which is officially addressed as the **Nisshōki** [literally "Sun-Marked Flag"]). The term _Hinomaru_ actually would refer to the red sun symbol in the middle of the Japanese flag, which — by itself — serves as the official roundel (aircraft national marking) of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces.

3) The Japanese Starship _Yamato_ (second of name) is given the hull classification number **SBB-24** as she is the twenty-fourth dreadnought to be built or designed for Japan since the the launch of the _Fuso_ (which would be Dreadnought #0) in 1914. This count includes the **Tosa-class** ships of 1920 (_Tosa_ having never been completed while the second ship, _Kaga_, was completed as an aircraft carrier), the follow-on **Kii-class** ships (which were never built) and the **Number 13-class** battleships (also which were never built). The number 24 takes into account the five ships of the original **Yamato-class** super-battleships of the late 1930s, including _Yamato_ (Dreadnought #17), _Musashi_ (#18), _Shinano_ (#19), the unnamed Number 111 (which, in the universe of this story, was built to a super aircraft carrier design and named _Yonaga_ [of Peter Albano's _Seventh Carrier_ series, which will interplay with this storyline in _The Angels of the Era of Eternity_]) as #20 and the unnamed Number 797 as #21…and the **A-150 class** (or "Super Yamato") design of two ships as Dreadnoughts #22 and #23.


	26. Mikiko Plots Against Her New Sister

Aboard _Haida_, an hour after breakfast (Japan time)…

"It's good to see you three again."

"Thank you for hosting us, Hiromi-san," Kasumi said with a bow as the Miyamoto sisters stepped off the materialiser pad alongside their friends from Yoshū.

Hiromi then turned to On Tsuguta, who had just greeted Torusuke. "So what was the decision of your Executive Council, Honsho-dono?" the reborn emperor then asked.

The leader of Yoshū turned and deeply bowed to her. "My Emperor, we were more than glad to recognise what has happened between Koshaji-dono and Miyamoto Akane-ojōsama, thus we gladly welcomed her as a student at our school. The invitation is also open for Miyamoto Nabiki-ojōsama as well; we felt it would be too cruel to ask her to remain anywhere within range of a lunatic like Kunō Tatewaki while her sister was safely in Utsunomiya. We will take a direct vote concerning her when time permits."

A nod. "Excellent. Go to the operations room and speak to Elder Kělún concerning how many people from Yoshū are coming with us on this mission. I've given her and her great-granddaughter the tasking as to which ships you'll be sent to." She then gazed on the others from Utsunomiya. "As for the rest of you, go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat. Once your placements are made, you'll be contacted and dispatched off, plus be allowed to make arrangements for everyone else from Yoshū to be beamed aboard. Please remember that we're holding the official commissioning ceremonies for all these ships today, so try not to go onto the exposed decks when we're in atmosphere. We only want people who are in proper uniforms to do that."

Understanding nods all around, and then someone came up to guide them out of the room as Tsuguta followed Torusuke to the nearest turbolift to the operations room. The Miyamoto sisters remained behind. Hiromi was quick to sense the uncertainty billowing deep within their hearts. "Is there something wrong?" she asked.

Kasumi giggled. "I'm sorry, Hiromi-san, but Ojii-san insisted that all three of us go along with you on this trip." Her smile then slipped as she added, "It's another thing he's doing against Otō-san to finally snap him out of his delusions concerning the 'union of the schools' and all that. Would you need extra cooks?"

"Well, these ships do come complete with replicator units that can produce meals when needed, but we also have full galleys here as well since it might take a while for military personnel to adjust to the idea of using computers to take the place of proper cooks," the reborn emperor stated before she walked over to a wall terminal and tapped controls to draw up an internal diagram of _Haida_. "Galley Three is here; the Kitchen Troop of the 2nd/10th Dragoons' F Squadron — that's their combat service support group — is there now helping out with the members of the ship's company who are assigned to work there. Report to the acting troop warrant there. She might accept your explanation at face value as her empathy will sense out your truthfulness, but she may ask to do a quick mind-meld to review your memories of our conversation."

Kasumi nodded. "I understand. Excuse me, please."

And with that, she was off. "Where can I fit in?" Nabiki then asked.

Hiromi hummed for a moment, and then she smiled. "I'll send you to the main computer room, Nabiki-san; it's right here," she said as she indicated where that room was located, virtually at the very heart of the ship's main hull. "Right now, it's being manned by a small group of Canadian Navy personnel. Seek out Ikusawa Kyōko when you're there; she's one of the Avalonians who've been on _Haida_ since we liberated them from the Niphentaxians. Again, just like I explained to your sister, she'll accept your explanation at face value, but prepare yourself for a mind-meld just in case." Quickly sensing a flash of wariness from the middle daughter, Hiromi smiled. "It's nothing truly invasive and Kyōko-san will always respect your privacy, Nabiki-san. Once you're there, take all the chances you can to learn what we've done up here. You've got an excellent mind for details and you're naturally inclined towards logistics, so I can use you there. Anything odd or unusual you find, don't be afraid to ask questions or seek out information. You'll have carte blanche access."

Nabiki gaped. "Hiromi, that's…"

"Nabiki-san, ever since I first met you that day you were meeting with Momoe-san in Tomobiki, you've always struck me as the type of person that needs to feel in as much control over her life as she can get. You now have the chance to get that."

The other woman stared at her, and then she grinned. "Dōmo!"

And with that, she was off. "You did that to keep her out of trouble," Akane said as Hiromi gazed at her before beckoning her to follow.

"Indeed I did, Akane-san. I can understand where your sister's coming from, so I felt it best to make use of her talents and not fight them. In the meantime, we have a date with a gestation chamber in Sick Bay. This way, please."

Akane's jaw dropped. "Wait! HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!"

Hiromi laughed. "I'm empathic, Akane-san! I can sense the magatama in your pocket right now." She pointed to the area of Akane's right hip in emphasis. "If Tsuguta-san gave you that magatama, it was for the reason of restoring that poor soul back to life with you acting as her DNA template! Let's not tarry!"

The youngest of the Miyamoto sisters blinked, and then she chuckled as she ran off after the reborn emperor. They headed down the hallway to a turbolift station, and then got into the next available car. A quick ride forward soon found them at what would be called "Sick Bay Flats" on a normal Canadian warship. Through one more door later found them inside the main reception room of the ship's medical station, which was now filled with military personnel bearing the Rod of Aesculapius insignia of the Canadian Forces Medical Services, both in the dark blue Naval Combat Dress marking them as members of _Haida_'s Medical Division and in temperate woodland CADPATs for those personnel from the Army joining them on the mission (they also bearing the unit flash for 23 Field Ambulance, which had been tasked to deploy a support troop for the 2nd/10th Dragoons, even if that regiment had not been officially returned back to active service in the Militia)…as well as many Avalonian women in the two-piece martial arts gi-like uniforms they wore to symbolize their desire to volunteer as members of the Canadian Forces. Unlike the line personnel, these people wore the blood red-and-green colours of the CFMS, all with arm bands bearing the international symbol of the Red Cross declaring their position as medics. Ranks for the volunteers were defined by badges on their collars, all the same as regular Canadian Forces army soldiers. Hiromi went to a girl with a sergeant's three stripes-and-maple leaf insignia on her collars. "Sergeant Tamachi, where's Gossip-sensei?" she asked.

The girl looked over, and then she bowed. "Captain Gossip is currently in his office getting things prepared for the deployment, Director," she replied. She then gazed at Akane before smiling. "I assume your companion is about to volunteer herself for the spirit currently in the magatama in her pants pocket."

"Indeed she is."

A nod. "I understand." To Akane. "Hello," she said as she reached over to gently squeeze the youngest Miyamoto daughter's hand. "I'm Sergeant Tamachi Hiromi, detached from 23 Field Ambulance to serve as part of the Medical Troop, F Squadron, 2nd/10th Dragoons. What's your name?"

"Miyamoto Akane," Akane said as the sergeant waved her towards a side door.

"And you're okay with allowing us to use your DNA to give the sentience of the poor soul inside that magatama in your pocket new life?"

A nod. "Of course!"

"Wonderful! Let's get started!"

They headed through the door, and then stopped as their eyes focused on the still form inside one of the tanks lining one bulkhead. Said body was now virtually complete; she was now in the image of the wide-eyed girl standing next to the four senior tōshi of Seito. Blonde hair, blue-grey eyes, slightly tanned skin…!

"…sister! I'm gonna have a sister! A SISTER…!"

A gentle hand landed on the shoulder of Takadono Osami (Hōtō Shigen). "Calm down, Osami-san," Koro Sonami said as she smiled fondly at the gushing sophomore who had spent the last six months attending Kyoshō under the false name "Makomo Mikiko" and the battle name "Shōkan Shiyoku." "We're happy to have Mikiko-san back with us, but try not to get too excited about this. Mako-san said you have to be calm when she mind-melds with you to link up your mind to Mikiko-san's mind so she can get all the knowledge so she could survive in this day and age."

Osami blinked, and then she nodded in understanding. She then looked over, her eyes widening in confusion on seeing Akane standing there. "Who…?"

"What are you doing here, Akane-san?" Seki Haneko asked.

A chuckle. "The same reason your friend's here, Unchō-sempai," she said as she waved to Osami. "I was just accepted into Yoshū today since Koshaji-sensei took me on as her student in her Art, but Honsho-sempai wanted me to provide my DNA to template off of so that his past-self's old adviser, Chinrin Kōshō, could come back to life."

The Seito girls all looked surprised. "Chinrin Kōshō?" Koeru Kumomi asked before she smiled. "Well, that should make things a little more peaceful between Yoshū and Kyoshō in the long term. Mako-sensei?" she then called out.

A blonde woman in a CFMS coloured jumpsuit, also with sergeant's rank on her collars, came up to them. "I assume we have another one here," Saitō Mako mused.

A nod. "Hai. Akane-san here will be the DNA template. This one's battle name is 'Chinrin Kōshō,' affiliated with Yoshū." Kumomi then looked back. "Um…"

"Miyamoto Karin," Akane provided.

Mako smiled. "Fair enough. Let's get started."

* * *

It was a remarkably simple process. First, Mako took a hypodermic unit to gently draw some blood out of Akane's arm. Once that was done, she then proceeded to load that sample into a unit connected to a chamber with an incomplete bioroid within. Seeing that formless yet clearly female mannequin-like being draped in a protective bodysuit, Akane gaped as she compared that to the just-completed new body for one Makomo Mikiko. "Damn!"

Mako looked over. "What is it, Akane-san?"

"Were you like this once, Mako-sensei?" Akane asked as she pointed to the bioroid that would soon bear the soul of her soon-to-come sister Karin.

She looked up at the bioroid, and then she shrugged as she tapped controls to commence the templation. "A long time ago, it seems. I don't think about it myself, of course. I'm just glad that these days, I have my own life under my own control."

Akane blinked, and then she perked as the liquid inside the chamber began to bubble. Instantly, the skin turned from a milky white to the same shade of skin that Akane herself possessed. Hair began growing out of the head. At first a silvery-white, it soon morphed into the raven black that Akane also called her own. The face also changed, shifting slightly to become a perfect mirror's of Akane's own face. As the body also shifted to reflect her proper dimensions, the youngest Miyamoto daughter could only shake her head. "Wow! Who thought of this in the first place?"

"Whoever they were, Akane-san, they were truly gods."

Akane looked over as Kumomi came up to stand beside her. "Do you think so?"

"Our creators were many things. I would not use the word 'god' for them."

Both turned as Mako brought up a chair to relax herself beside the gestation machine creating Karin's new body. "What were your creators like, Mako-sensei?" Kumomi asked. "I am aware that they hailed from a star system beyond the borders of the galaxy proper and that their home sun was called 'Sen'a.' What else do you know?"

A light smile. "The planet's name is 'Sagussa;' it is the third of seven worlds in what was once a binary star system. Sen'a was a G8V class main sequence star with a red dwarf, class M3V, orbiting it closely that was called 'Eisen'a.' Three very large continents on a world the same size as Earth. The race that started Project: Avalon first began developing their civilization a hundred millennia ago. Gifted as we are now: Touch-telepathy, empathic senses, the inner eye looking into the Te'a directly. A matriarchal society, but it later became egalitarian. Up to about twenty millennia ago, they were a very peaceful society as a whole." She closed her eyes. "And then came the Age of Gisan'cha. The Age of Technology Unbounded. When they DARED to master the power of the Te'a Itself. And ultimately paid for it in a five-century civil war that slaughtered ten billion people." As the people listening to this all gasped in shock, the sergeant then breathed out. "The race finally died out ten millennia ago; they couldn't live anymore on a world that had been rendered into a radiological desert that was superheated when Eisen'a was destroyed by a sun-killer bomb and was made to add its mass to Sen'a, thus forcing the borders of the habitable zone in that solar system to move well beyond Sagussa's orbit line. But there is a new race soon to be born on that world. Whether they'll make contact with us…" A shrug. "Possibly, but I doubt it'll be soon."

"Damn…" Haru Asumi breathed out.

"How horrible!" Sonami gasped.

"True, but that should always be a reminder to all of you; never go farther than what you believe you can handle," Mako stated, and she then perked on hearing a _ding!_ from the chamber now holding the just-finished body of one Makomo Mikiko. "Ah, that one's finished! Let's get her out of there and get her woken up!"

Mako headed over to the control station beside Mikiko's chamber, and then she tapped controls to drain the fluids out. As that was done, the bioroid was allowed to drift down to land on her feet at the bottom of the chamber as hot air nozzles then opened up to dry her skin and hair off (not to mention put enough pressure on her body to keep her in place). Once that was done, Mako then had the chamber tilted onto its back before allowing the bottom end to flip open. Mikiko's body was now suspended by the air jets in mid-air as Mako then pulled an anti-gravity gurney over to allow it to rest at the opened door. Slipping on thick gloves, she then slid the top of the gurney into the tube, allowing such to rest right under Mikiko's body. Once she was fully protected from banging her head accidentally on any jutting instrument, the sergeant clicked off the nozzle units to remove the air pressure on Mikiko's body, and then gently pulled the gurney out, taking it over to a nearby diagnostic bed. She then lifted the newly-created bioroid onto the bed, shaking her head as Haneko and Kumomi moved over to assist. "Don't touch her. Her mind will instantly lock in on yours and move to bring your soul into her body. You don't want that, do you?"

Both tōshi instantly backed off, nodding rapidly as Asumi and Akane both laughed and Osami and Sonami both giggled. Once Mikiko's body was placed on the bed, Mako then reached over to a table to pull up a device about the same size as the average cell phone, and then she placed it on Mikiko's forehead. "There we go; that will activate all the basic mental programming. May I have Mikiko's magatama, please?"

Osami handed it over. Mako then gingerly affixed the earring onto Mikiko's left lower lobe. At that moment, a shocked gasp escaped the newly-completed bioroid as her eyes flew open, revealing slightly glowing orbs before they returned back to the same blue-grey eyes Osami possessed. After a moment, the newly woken Mikiko then brought her hands up to gaze at them. "What strange magic is this…?" she gasped in a more classical tone of Japanese. "Where am I? What has happened…?"

She moved to stand, but Mako gently restrained her. "Stay still, sister," the sergeant calmly stated. "You just were placed into this body and you need to catch up on some things. When were you last alive? Do you remember the year?"

A confused blink. "'Twas…the second year of Ansei…" Mikiko blinked again. "Are you a sorceress, my lady? Why do you call me 'sister'…?"

"What year was that?" Asumi asked, confusion crossing her face.

"Eighteen-fifty-five," Sonami provided as she came up to stand by the bed, smiling at the just-woken bioroid. "Ohayō, Shiyoku-san. I'm Ryūbi Gentoku."

Mikiko blinked, and then she nodded. "Gentoku-sama. How is this possible?"

"Well, it's not magic, but very high science that's not native to our land, but is offered to us by a people who care very deeply for all those such as we," Sonami stated. "Right now, this is the year 2010 as the nations of Europe and America think of it. The Twenty-second Year of Heisei as we call it; the great-great-grandson of the Kōmei Emperor now rules all of Nihon. A hundred-and-fifty-five years after your time. Did you die in the great quake that struck Edo late in the fall of that year?"

Silence as the newly-woken bioroid considered that for a moment, and then she nodded. "I believe so, Gentoku-sama. Last I remember was that I was in the Yoshiwara part of Edo when suddenly, the whole building shook violently. I blanked out…" Mikiko then smiled as she raised her hand before she lowered it. "And now I'm here."

Haneko, Asumi and Kumomi came up to stand beside their leader. "Shiyoku, would you like us to call Mōtoku down so you can see him?" the former then asked.

Quickly spotting the Reienkyo in the older woman's hand, Mikiko chuckled. "Unchō-sama. Well met again. And Ekitoku-sama and Shiryū-sama, I presume."

"You presume correctly, Shiyoku-san. Welcome back to the land of the living," Kumomi stated with a polite nod before gazing on Mako. "Mako-sensei, what happens now?"

"Well, if you'll grant us a little privacy, Osami-san and I can help her catch up to the last century and a half she's missed out on, then she can get dressed," Mako stated.

Hearing that, Osami then came up. "What do I have to do, Mako-sensei?"

The sergeant smiled. "Just be very calm."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later…

"She's up?"

Everyone perked on hearing that concerned voice, and then they turned to smile as the leader of Kyoshō came up to join them. The Seito girls and Akane were now seated on a couple of couches in the hallway beyond the doors leading into Sick Bay. "About fifteen minutes ago, Torusuke-san," Kumomi answered. "Osami-san is with Saitō-sensei right now as they're helping Mikiko-san catch up with the last century-and-a-half; her past-self was killed in the earthquake that struck Edo in the fall of 1855."

Torusuke took that in, and then he nodded. At that moment, the doors swept open and Osami walked out hand-in-hand with Mikiko, who was now dressed in a beautiful qípáo (unlike the other tōshi schools, Kyoshō didn't have a set uniform pattern for its students to wear). The hairstyle between them was also different; Osami wore hers in two stringy ponytails over her ears while Mikiko had hers in a thin braid leading from the back of her head, quite similar to the way Hayashi Ranma and Hayashi Kikuko wore their hair. Both of them were laughing at something, and then they stopped as they took note of who else was there. One look by Mikiko and then she grinned as she moved to kneel before him, her hands forming a proper salute as she bowed her head. "Mōtoku-sama!"

A smile. "Welcome back, Shiyoku," he said before leaning down to pull her back to her feet and sweep her into his embrace, which made the younger girl cry out in surprise before she smiled and allowed her arms to wrap around his neck. "You okay?"

"A little disorientated, but both Mako-sensei and my new sister here have done much to alleviate it," Mikiko stated. "To believe that we are actually aboard a ship in SPACE of all places, brought to us by true ALIENS!"

"Actually, they were created at the behest of Jun'iku and Kōgetsuei, but the actual technology is alien," Torusuke corrected her. "So, what do you think?"

Mikiko blinked. "About what, Mōtoku-sama?"

"What shall we do with her?" And with that, he thumbed Osami.

The former spy audibly gulped as Sonami gasped and both Haneko and Asumi tensed, ready to jump in to defend their schoolmate should it go that far, even if they were currently right next to _Haida_'s medical station. Watching this, Akane blinked in confusion before she gazed up at Kumomi, who seemed undisturbed, the faint hint of a knowing smile now crossing her face. With that, she herself relaxed as Mikiko turned to gaze on her genetic template for a moment before she smiled and then turned back to gaze on her leader. "Well, were this the old days, I would recommend a good horse-whipping for Onē-sama here…but since such would clearly win the disapproval of Reitei-sama, perhaps I should suggest she finish the school year at Kyoshō before she returns to Seito."

Osami blinked before her jaw dropped in shock as Torusuke hummed. "You have something else in mind, I take it," he mused as he gazed at Mikiko.

"Hai, Mōtoku-sama, I do," Mikiko then said before she turned to smile at Osami. "Given that Reitei-sama now seeks to do everything to heal the wounds of the past, perhaps we could find a way to forge ties with Nan'yō by having an omiai between Onē-sama and Shūyu Kōkin-dono. I did see his image in Onē-sama's memories and know she fancies him very much even if she has not had the pleasure to formally meet him at any of the Great Tourneys. Since neither Shōkyō nor Daikyō seem to have made their presence known in this generation despite the fact that their father is headmaster of Kyoshō, I do believe Onē-sama would clearly make a wonderful wife for Kōkin-dono."

Osami turned sheet-white. "_**MIKIKO! DON'T SAY THAT!**_"

"What about Kōkin?"

She gasped as she turned just as Mago Tsueko walked up from the direction of the main cafeteria. "Son-son-Sonsaku…!" Osami then stuttered.

Mikiko then smiled as she moved to deeply bow to Tsueko, which she returned with a nod of her head. "Greetings, Hakufu-sama! I am Shōkan Shiyoku, avowed servant of my lord Sōsō Mōtoku; in this life, I possess the birth-named 'Makomo Mikiko.' My lord and I were discussing the situation of Shigen-san here, who has been pretending to be me for the last several months while attending Kyoshō. We were considering a suitable punishment for Onē-sama's transgression against my honour and, while I was being woken by Mako-sensei, I learned of her deep attraction to your own noble cousin."

Tsueko blinked as she took that in, and then she moaned. "Oh, you mean Shigen-chan here was doing something stupid about this dumb 'fate' nonsense everyone likes to believe in, right?" As Haneko and Asumi both gaped in shock at her — watching this, Akane was quick to see approving looks on Sonami's, Kumomi's and Torusuke's faces — the young new leader of Nan'yō took a deep breath. "Damn! I'm so glad Kōtchi came back to straighten everyone around about that! Okay!" An exaggerated hum. "So you wanna date Kōkin, eh?" she then asked Osami, who was staring in disbelief at her, and then she blinked as Tsueko nodded, reaching over to wrap her arm around the other woman's shoulder as she moved to drag her down the corridor. "Okay! Here's the simple thing about Kōkin! Show boobs and his nose goes off like Old Faithful! Make sure you have an umbrella with you so you don't get blood all over you! Other than that…!"

The others all watched them go, and then everyone jolted on hearing a muffled snicker. People turned to see Sonami now on her knees, her hands covering her mouth as she squeezed her eyes closed to prevent the tears from flowing. "Gentoku-sama…?" Mikiko began before she exchanged a curious look with Haneko and Asumi.

It was too much for Seito's leader. "_**BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! OH, MIKIKO-SAN, THAT WAS PRICELESS! WHA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!**_"

"Cousin, what is it? What's so funny?"

Sonami jolted, and then she turned to see Hayashi Miiko standing there, a confused yet concerned look on her face. "Ah, Miiko, there you are," Kumomi said. "We just witnessed a rather cunning show of the genius of our returned friend here…" — She waved to Mikiko in emphasis, who was now gazing in confusion at the crimson-haired tōshi — "…in seeing to it that whatever hard feelings that might arise from our friend Hōtō Shigen pretending to be Shiyoku-san over the last while."

An eyebrow arched. "Oh, how so? And why would Sonami-san find it so amusing?"

Sonami giggled. "Because Mikiko-san here learned that Osami-san has a crush on Tsueko-san's cousin Ichiyu-san, then literally pushed her into Tsueko-san's arms when she came up asking what was going on!" she said before another bout of laughter escaped her. "Looks like there's going to be an omiai in the future for Osami-san and Ichiyu-san, especially with the way Tsueko-san jumped in to give her dating advice!" Another round of guffaws. "I hope Tsueko-san's mom's prepared to help out!"

Miiko blinked, and then she shrugged. "Well, if that is what Osami-san wants, why argue against it?" she then asked before leaning down to gaze on Akane. "How are things with you and your soon-to-come sister, Akane-san? Hiromi-sama told me that you gladly volunteered yourself to be the DNA template for Tsuguta-san's friend."

Akane smiled. "We're still waiting for her body to be finished."

"The templation started about fifteen minutes ago," Kumomi added.

Miiko hummed. "Well, if when mine and Kikuko's bodies were created was any sort of example, I think we'll be waiting for at least an hour before it would be safe to draw Karin-san's new body out of gestation." She then smiled. "Who is up for tea? There are a couple of very nice stewards up in the wardroom now who brought supplies of this lovely orange pekoe tea with them from Canada. Red Rose, it's called."

"I think taking in a good cup of tea might be perfect to calm us all down before Karin-san is allowed to breathe in her own body for the first time in a few decades," Kumomi said as she straightened herself before she offered her arm to her lover.

"Miiko?"

Miiko looked over. "What is it, Torusuke-san?"

"Where's your brother at right now?"

Miiko blinked, and then she pointed to a nearby wall console. "Press the green button there and ask the computer where Onii-sama might be. The last I saw of him, he was still with Mimōko-san and Sekitoma-sama walking around the ship."

The leader of Kyoshō nodded his thanks as the others headed off…

* * *

The observation lounge, minutes later…

"You actually watched it all happen?" Torusuke asked.

Ranma nodded. They and Mimōko were now relaxing in the lounge, all enjoying some tea and snacks thanks to a nearby replicator unit. Chìtùmǎ himself was relaxed on Ranma's shoulder, accepting offered nuts and raisins from both the once-crippled martial artist and his new girlfriend. "Yeah! He kinda woke us both up really early this morning and had us go wander around the ship as everyone was coming in to get set up for the trip to Yaminokuni," Ranma explained. "Don't feel really tired, but if we're to be in top shape for when we hit this place, we might crash later." He sipped his tea. "Really weird. Never thought I'd ever see stuff like that, even after I met Ataru and his sisters." A glance at Kyoshō's leader. "You?"

Torusuke shrugged. "I first began sensing Hiromi's ki about a month after she and her siblings came down from the bioroid factory in late March. 'Course, soon as I saw the magatama on her ear when the pictures of all of them first got out on the news and the Internet, I knew she was a tōshi, but I never really clued into who she really was until last week when a friend of mine now attending Seito told me about Sonami and her friends going over to Tomobiki to meet Hiromi." A sip of his own tea. "I guess that's when it hit me finally. I was a little scared at first." Quickly sensing Mimōko gape at him, he laughed. "C'mon, Ryomō! Don't tell me you believe all the horror stories about me!"

She blinked, and then she chuckled. "Actually, I did. And I apologize for that, Sōsō. You don't deserve it." On sensing Ranma gaze curiously at her, she smiled. "Even though we always view tōshi from places like Rakuyō and Kyoshō with suspicion, we also hear about all the good things that happen in those places." She pointed to Torusuke. "Here's the man who has worked his butt off ever since he began attending Kyoshō to make sure EVERYTHING that happens there runs to the benefit of EVERY student that attends that school! All the school clubs, all the classes, all the facilities and equipment…?" A smile. "He's the man who made it happen!" She gazed on Ranma. "Did you know Kyoshō's won the Best Private School Award in a dozen categories — scholastics, sports, school clubs, faculty, you name it! — for Kanagawa Prefecture for the past FIVE years! Here's the man who was responsible for it!"

He nodded. "Which is pretty understandable," he noted.

Torusuke blinked. "Oh?"

A nod. "Yeah. You know, all the stories that were written about Cáo Cāo have really given the guy a bum rap over the years." A snort escaped Ranma. "Here's the guy who, with his whole COUNTRY falling apart all around him, managed to get together a whole group of really good, smart people, went out and made sure that everything he could try to protect was safe, made sure all the people he was protecting could eat and live in safety…" A shrug. "And they call him a devil? I don't get it!"

"My past-self was a pretty nasty guy, Ranma," the leader of Kyoshō warned.

"And he HAD to be!" Ranma insisted. "Look who he was facing! Dǒng Zhuó, once he became Chancellor, gutted out the whole government, not that it was in good shape thanks to the eunuchs that Yuán Shào finally did away with! Dǒng had Lǚ Bù at his side, but he turned around and stabbed him in the back when things got too crazy! And after he took off on his own? Who'd trust a guy who betrayed not one but TWO foster-fathers?" He waved over to the port side of the starship. "Liú Bèi was practically running his operation out of his own saddle with just Guān Yǔ and Zhāng Fēi helping him out!" A wave to the starboard side. "There's the whole Sūn family over down in the east wanting to become the new top dogs in the whole country." A wave towards the bow. "You had Yuán Shào and the rest of the idiots thinking that their name alone would make people follow them…" A shrug. "And here you guys all are, being forced to replay all that?" He shook his head. "I'm sure glad that Hiromi came back to help you all out of it."

Torusuke nodded. "Yeah. And there's a potential danger."

Ranma and Mimōko blinked. "What do you mean?" the latter asked.

"What happens if Hiromi dies, Mimōko?"

"She's got a lot of people on her side, Torusuke," Ranma warned.

"True, especially given what her ultimate goal is for all of us," the leader of Kyoshō stated. "That's the reason I was happy to hold my flag up next to hers. But there are those who would be inclined to believe THEY have the SOLE right to influence her decisions. And that will affect ALL of us if it gets too out of hand. If you've read the _Romance_, I think you'll know exactly who I'm talking about, Ranma."

"The Ten Attendants," Mimōko stated.

"Chōjō and friends, right?" Ranma wondered.

A nod. "Yeah. In this generation, they all were two years ahead of people like Mimōko and myself," Torusuke stated. "All the Ten Attendants were girls in this round, all born barren; they can't have kids. When the Hari sisters started the Kōshi Kasshi, it was Chōjō and her friends who rallied the other tōshi to stay loyal to the Seven Schools. Because of that, when they graduated, they managed to get free of their potential fates and went on to university. They're pretty much left alone these days, but they also keep strong ties open with their old schools to keep an eye on the rest of us. So it stands to reason that they now KNOW of this call-up to help out on this trip!"

"And if they come here and try to flock around Hiromi…" Mimōko noted before her eyes widened. "Oh, shit! That's what she DOESN'T need!"

"Wait! If they can't be moms, wouldn't giving the girls Avalonian bodies make 'em happier?"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Ranma, that's BRILLIANT!" Mimōko gasped before she leaned over to kiss him, and then she got up. "C'mon, Sōsō! Let's talk to the others!"

Torusuke, after giving Ranma a nod, raced off after her out of the lounge. The wandering martial artist blinked before he turned to stare wide-eyed at Chìtùmǎ. "What did I say?"

The war horse-turned-phoenix stared at him, and then he began to shake with chirps of laughter as he nearly collapsed off his perch…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) As noted by the commanders of the brigade group in Part 26, **regiments** in the Canadian Army (and other armies built on the British tradition) are broken down into individual parts this way:

**Infantry Regiments** are broken down into **battalions**, which in turn are broken down into **companies**, they in turn broken down into **platoons**, and those broken down into **sections**. Also following this organizational format are **Health Service** units (medical and dental), **Logistics** units (transport, supply, maintenance, food services, personnel management, finances and postal), **Military Police** and **Intelligence** units.

**Cavalry Regiments** are battalion-sized groups which are broken down into **squadrons**, they in turn broken down into **troops**, which are in turn broken down into **sections**. Following this organizational format are the **Armoured** units (both tank and reconnaissance), **Engineer** units and **Signal** units. Derived from this are **Air Force** units, which start at the **squadron** (which can be a battalion in size), they then broken down into **flights**, they in turn broken down into **echelons**.

**Artillery Regiments** are battalion-sized groups which are broken down into **batteries**, they in turn broken down into **troops**, which are in turn broken down into **sections**. All artillery units (field, armoured, air defence, missile and target acquisition/locating) follow this organizational format.

2) An **armoured regiment** in the Canadian Army is normally broken down into a **regimental headquarters squadron** (RHQ) for the commanding officer and his battle staff, four **sabre squadrons** (lettered A to D) of combat tanks, one **reconnaissance squadron** (lettered E) for brigade reconnaissance duties and a **combat service support squadron** (lettered F) to handle the regiment's logistics, maintenance, personnel administration and health services needs. For a unit tasked as a **reconnaissance regiment**, there would be four reconnaissance squadrons with armoured vehicles (A to D), a remote reconnaissance squadron with UAVs and ground radar to augment the reconnaissance troops (E) and a CSS squadron (F). An armoured regiment in an **armoured brigade group** would have four tank squadrons (A to D), an anti-armour missile squadron (E) and a CSS squadron (F).

3) **Ikusawa Kyōko** is a character from _Grand Prix_ who also transitioned over to _Find Love_. She is from Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture and loves to cook.

4) **Naval Combat Dress** (or **NCDs**) are the standard work dress on Canadian warships. A dark blue uniform with a zip-up jacket and a button shirt under it, the NCDs are designed to be flame retardant. Ship's crews wear NCDs with Gore Tex boots on their feet and ship's baseball caps on their heads when outside. **CADPATs** (short for "Canadian Disruptive Pattern") are the Army's digital-pattern camouflage combat uniform. It comes in three types: Temperate Woodland (TW), Arid Region (AR) and Winter Arctic (WA). The TW version of CADPATs is considered the normal work dress for Army units in Canada.

5) Ship's companies in the Canadian Navy are broken down into **departments** run by one of the senior officers, which are in turn divided into **divisions** to handle individual tasks. The **Medical Division** on _Haida_ is a part of the **Executive Department**, controlled by the ship's second-in-command, the **Executive Officer** (XO) (in _Star Trek_, known as the **First Officer**).

6) **23 Field Ambulance** (**23 FD AMB**) is the reserve unit of the **Canadian Forces Medical Services** based in Hamilton. Formed originally at the end of World War Two as "5 Field Ambulance," the unit underwent many changes and an incorporation as part of the service battalion based in Hamilton from 1965-75, then was made a "medical company" before being designated a field ambulance in the 1990s.

7) **Tamachi Hiromi** and **Saitō Mako** are characters from _Dōkyūsei_ (literally "Classmates," known to Western audiences by the name given to the subtitled OVAs made from the series and released by AD Vision, _End of Summer_), an adult dating simulation game that started the current dating simulation game craze in Japan in 1992.

8) **Shōkan Shiyoku** (**Makomo Mikiko**) is, as stated in Part 17, the reincarnation of **Jiǎng Gàn**. Very little is known of him, though he was used by Cáo Cāo to find some way to make Zhōu Yú defect to the side of the Imperial Hàn in the wake of the Battle of Chìbì; Zhōu would later impress Jiǎng with his loyalty to Sūn Quán. According to _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Jiǎng also tried to bring Páng Tǒng onto Cáo's side, but never succeeded. Of course, in this life, Mikiko will get the best of all worlds; she has reunited with her reborn lord Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke)…and now can count her reborn best friend Hōtō Shigen (Takadono Osami) as her adopted sister. Getting Osami together with Shūyu Kōkin (Meguru Ichiyu) would just be icing on the cake.

9) A **Type G8V** star is is a yellowish star quite similar to the Sun in many ways; an example of a type G8V is **61 Ursae Majoris** in the constellation of Ursa Major. A **Type M3V** star is a red dwarf that would be seen as one of the oldest stars in existence; an example of this one is **AD Leonis** (or Gilese 388) in the constellation of Leo.

10) The word **Ansei** (literally meaning "Tranquil Government") is the _nengō_ that was applied to the period between November 1854 and March 1860. The earthquake that Mikiko is referring to is known as the **Great Ansei Earthquake** and occurred on 11 November 1855. The ruling monarch of Japan at the time was the **Kōmei Emperor** (birth-name **Osahito**) (1831-67), who ruled from 1846 unto his death. His son was the legendary **Meiji Emperor** (birth-name **Mutsuhito**) (1852-1912), whose reign saw the official ending of the Tokugawa era and the opening of Japan to the outside world.

As an aside, the _nengō_ for the reign of the current Heavenly Sovereign of Japan, **Akihito** (born 1933), is **Heisei**, literally meaning "Peace Everywhere."

11) **Yoshiwara** (literally meaning "Lucky Meadow") was the red-light district of **Edo** (the pre-Meiji name for **Tōkyō**). Originally located near the **Nihonbashi** ("Bridge of Japan") at the eastern end of the **Tōkaidō** ("East Sea Route") between Edo and Kyōto (in modern-day Chūō Ward of Tōkyō), the pleasure district was moved to a place north of **Asakusa** (in modern-day Taitō Ward) in 1656. After the old Yoshiwara burned down in the **Meireki** fire of 1657, the new pleasure district came to be known as _Shin-Yoshiwara_. To this day, Yoshiwara (now known as **Senzoku Yon-chōme**) is full of soaplands and other various façades for sexual services (prostitution was outlawed in Japan in 1958).


	27. Ranma Becomes A Nakōdo

Aboard _Haida_, the captain's cabin above the main pilotage, just before lunch (Japan time)…

"How long can we meet like this?"

"Not for too long," Torusuke said before he tapped his fist to that of Futoshi Itsuku's in a show of friendship. "Good to have you back with us, Shigi."

"Good to be back, dude," the unofficial leader of Yōshū said with a smile before he took a seat, and then he glanced around. "Before we start, I should say that I only was able to get about half of my school to come out for this gig. I'm sorry about that. Much that I hoped people would understand how righteous this thing was, too many are still too damned loyal to Ryūyō and his crew to want to do anything to help me out."

Sitting next to him, Kokoni Kichimi laughed. "Shigi, it's not that!"

"What do you mean, Tsu-chan?" Tsueko — who represented Nan'yō at this meeting with Mimōko, Oroka Shikumi and On Michiko even if the last of the group was not seen as the "official" leader of that school anymore — asked before she took a sip of spring water.

The leader of Gogun thumbed Sandi McLugh, who was relaxing by the front windows alongside Hari Sumiko, who had received friendly greetings from the other leaders when she had come in to represent the Kōshi Kasshi as a whole. "It's HER they're afraid of, Hakufu! When I texted Chōkei to tell him about what Kūkurin-sama did for Shigi, he passed it on to a friend from Yōshū. NONE of them — especially if they still back up Ryūyō — want to be ANYWHERE on these ships with her up here with us now!"

Morose chuckles from the others. "Well, if they don't want to take their proper thrashing up here, we'll just have to go see them once this is over with to teach them the error of their ways," the gaiscíoch from the Bronx said with a shrug.

Laughter filled the room. "So what are you concerned about, Torusuke?" Tadasu Suguta then asked. "You wouldn't call this meeting of us — and not inform Hiromi of this — without a damned good reason, I think. What's going on?"

"A potential concern. Did anyone contact any of the Ten Attendants when Hiromi put out the call for help on this trip?" the leader of Kyoshō asked.

Surprise crossed the other people's faces. "I didn't think of doing something like that," Uru Hokona stated from her standing position behind Suguta. "Especially when Hiromi-sama was hell-bent on getting Sumiko-sempai and the others here. We know how bad the blood is between the Kōshi Kasshi and the Attendants."

"I actually stopped myself before I called Sōsetsu," Shikumi stated. "Much that I'm sure the Emperor might agree to have the Attendants at her side, I was there in the fight between Sōsetsu and Sonchū's group." She pointed to the bandages on her face. "That's how I ended up looking like this even to today, everyone; I got caught in a backfire of magic-charged ki from Sōsetsu when she tried to blast Sonchū down."

"Um, I got a question."

Eyes locked on Tsueko, who had put her hand up. "You don't know about the Ten Attendants, I take it," Suguta said as he gazed in amusement at her.

An embarrassed chuckle. "Uh, y-yeah!"

People stared at her, and then Itsuku shook his head. "Man, girl! What the hell was your mom thinking, sending you down here to go to Nan'yō without telling you anything?!" he demanded before breathing out. "Okay, swing back to China eighteen hundred years ago! Hiromi-sama's past-self was the Emperor. But he wasn't really running the show at the time. It was ten dudes, all eunuchs, that were his closest advisers. One of them, Zhāng Ràng — 'Chōjō' as we'd call him here — actually got called 'foster father' by the Emperor himself! You dig it all so far?" At Tsueko's nod, he grinned. "Well, because the Emperor didn't keep tight reigns on these guys, they ran the whole frickin' country into the ground! And when the Emperor died, they moved in to make sure that one of his sons, Liú Biàn, got in as the new Emperor…"

Tsueko snapped her fingers. "Oh! I remember now! It was Shō-san's past-self that got rid of most of those creeps and it was Taku-san's past-self that nailed the rest and rescued the kids!" As she said that, she pointed at the leader of Yoshū, and then his counterpart from Rakuyō in emphasis, and then she blinked in confusion. "So if they're alive now, why is Sō-chin saying they're a threat to Kōtchi?"

"They can potentially BE a threat to Hiromi-san, Tsueko-san," Sonami stated.

"Ranma came up with an idea on how we can make them behave, though."

Eyes locked on Mimōko. "How can we do that, Ryomō?" Haneko asked; she, Asumi and Kumomi were standing behind their school leader. "I've heard some of the people from Seito asking each other why weren't they contacted and brought aboard immediately. Like Roshuku-san did concerning Sōsetsu, I made sure those who wanted to put in a call to Kenseki and Teikō held off since Chōkaku-sempai and her people were coming out in full-force."

"Perhaps it is time we _**did**_ heal those wounds."

Eyes locked on Sumiko. "But would it affect Hiromi's performance, Sempai?" Torusuke asked. "It's not just us we have to worry about here."

The leader of the Kōshi Kasshi smiled before sipping her tea. "Believe it or not, I actually called Yuzumi-san herself before I was beamed up here."

Silence.

"And?" Hokona prompted as the others gaped in shock at her.

"She and her group refused to come."

More silence.

"Did they say why, Sempai?" Shikumi wondered.

The reborn Taoist priest gave them a sad smile.

"Have you ever wondered what happened to the Izuku sisters?"

Still more silence.

Asumi blinked. "Who…?"

"Kashin Suikō and Kataikō," Sumiko said. "The Emperor's brother-in-law…"

"And his wife," Suguta finished for the older woman…

* * *

Near Aoga-shima, the forest outside Nanban High School, noon…

"It is done."

Hearing that, explosive breaths of relief escaped the gathering of senior tōshi now standing around Moroboshi Negako and Morokuzu Ryōko. The Dragon Jade, which now glowed brightly with the spirits of numerous souls — over _**thirty thousand**_ by Negako's count! — that had been trapped in this very forest for decades, was now in the former's hand. "Thank the gods for that!" Ki Kenshika stated for everyone else. "But what of the forest itself, Negako-sama?"

"It still is poisoned," Ryōko stated with a sad shake of her head before she turned to look up to Negako. "We will still have to burn it down totally to prevent the spirits of future tōshi from being caught up in this place, Onē-sama."

The ninjutsu grandmaster nodded. "How would you recommend we deal with that issue, Ryōko?"

The young shrine maiden hummed as she considered that question, and then she sighed. "The best solution is the Earth-Heart Fire-Geyser attack that you can perform quite easily," she stated. "The fault line that could be the energy source in this case is just to the east of us at several dozen kilometres; it's the boundary line between the western edge of the Pacific Plate and the Izu Arc section of the plate tectonic convergence boundary between that plate and the Philippine Sea Plate." She then shook her head before she looked up once more at Negako. "However, even if you try to control the blast, it could result in the creation of a volcano that would destroy Nanban High School itself, which is something we simply do NOT want!"

An approving nod. "Continue."

"Um, wait a sec'! What the hell's this shit about tectonic plates?!"

Negako gazed in veiled amusement at Kashira Emi as her own sister and her lover both moaned. "This is you not paying attention in geology class, Onē-san!" Yutako snarled as she glared at her sister. "You know the whole planet is covered in plates of rock that shift around thanks to the magma underneath, right?" At Emi's nod, the younger sister then asked, "So what happens when two plates slam together?"

A shrug. "You get earthquakes!"

"And…?" Norito Tōmi added as she stared in amusement at her lover.

Emi hummed for a minute before an "ah-hah!" look crossed her face. "Volcanoes!"

"Right! Yay! Onē-san can learn!" Yutako sarcastically stated as she threw up her hands to the heavens and everyone else laughed while Emi gave her an annoyed glare. "So if Negako-sama here unleashes an Earth-Heart Fire-Geyser — which is a MAN-MADE VOLCANO, by the way! — here, it'll wreck the whole damned school because the meeting place of two of those plates is just east of here in that big, nine-kilometre deep trench that runs along these islands!" She pointed to the east. "And that can make the volcano SO big that it could wipe the whole damned island off the map! Do we want that?"

Emi jolted, and then she shook her head. "Hell, no!" She then turned to look down at Ryōko. "Okay, kiddo! What CAN we do about this?"

A sigh. "The only other practical solution that we can use and control would be a magical force such as Fiendfyre," the young shrine maiden stated. "It's a type of flame that, when used, can become as hot as the surface of the Sun itself. It's great advantage here is that wizards trained in its use can do it without harming the school buildings whatsoever. But the downside is that Fiendfyre is considered 'dark' and is often avoided by mainstream wizards and sorcerers. And I personally doubt that any of the Ten Attendants will have dealt in that type of magic." A sigh. "Pity."

"What about normal brush-clearing fires?" another of the school leaders, Fusagu Hiraku (Yōgai), then asked. "We can do something like that."

"The magic of the forest wouldn't be destroyed, Onii-san," Ryōko warned him. "It would just allow new trees to grow in and they'll be there to capture spirits still."

"Why can't we just get a damned dragon to do this?"

Negako gazed on Emi. "Emi, repeat that, but do not make it a question."

The leader of Nanban blinked, and then she smirked as all the other people gaped in shock, exchanging looks as they wondered why they didn't think about something like that. "Let's get a damned dragon to clear this damned forest out!" she declared before stopping as something then came to her. "Oh, fuck!" she then spat out.

"What?" Kenshika demanded.

"Where the hell do we GET a dragon?" she demanded.

Yutako stared down at Ryōko. "There's one."

The young shrine maiden blushed. "Much that I appreciate the compliment, Onē-san, but I don't think Fúlóng could give me the power necessary to do this."

"What about the others who have dragons inside them?" Tōmi asked.

Ryōko hummed. "None of those who would have the power necessary to do this have any sort of real, decent control over them. That means Ryūbi-onēsan, Sonsaku-onēsan and Sōsō-oniisan. As for those like Chōun-onēsan or Ryomō-onēsan, they're not powerful enough." She then blinked. "Still, there is one more possibility…"

"Who?" Yutako demanded.

"Kashin Suikō."

Silence.

"Um, since when?" Emi demanded, and then she blinked. "Wait a sec'! She and her sister both disappeared about three years ago!" Her eyes widened. "Just before…!"

"The Attendants all graduated from high school!" Yutako finished for her sister, and then she blinked. "Wait a second! Why would _Kashin_ of all people have a _**dragon**_ inside her?!"

"I'm not aware of that, Onē-san," Ryōko answered. "But I can't deny what I've often sensed whenever I've looked in the general direction of where Chōjō-onēsan lives now in Tōkyō. And I HAVE sensed both Kashin-onēsan and her sister currently living with Chōjō-onēsan." She paused. "In fact, sometimes I've felt TWO such sources, but one…!" Her voice then trailed off. "But if Kataikō-onēsan is the other one…?"

"There is a simple solution to the matter, Ryōko."

Eyes locked on Negako. "What is that, Negako-sama?" Tōmi asked.

"Contact Haru Yuzumi directly and ask her, Tōmi."

The others exchanged looks. "But what of the fact that the Kōshi Kasshi are now involved in this whole thing with the Yaminokuni, Negako-sama?" Kenshika asked. "A couple of my people have come up and asked why we didn't contact Dankei-sempai and ask for her help." He sighed. "Didn't have the heart to tell them that because Dankei-sempai went crazy on Teienshi and his friends years ago, bringing them together…"

"Onii-san, onto _**whom**_ do we ultimately swear our oaths to?"

Eyes locked on Ryōko, who had a demure smile on her face as she gazed knowingly at the giant warrior. "It is the Emperor's Will that the Kōshi Kasshi help in the defence of our world," Yutako then solemnly declared. "Not even the Attendants would defy that."

"True," Kenshika stated. "Dankei-sempai always said it was the Attendants' ultimate dream to see Reitei-sama restored to life to take command of us all."

"Which finally happened thanks to the Moroboshi Clan," Emi stated. "Call her, Yutako!" she then said as she glared at her sister. "I don't want to leave this island behind while we're kicking alien ass with this damned forest still up!"

Yutako grinned as she pulled out her cell phone…

* * *

Aboard _Haida_, midway through lunch (Japan time)…

"Oh, my…"

A blush crossed the face of the beautiful girl now dressed in a spare track suit provided by Akane. Of course, save for the magatama now hanging off her left ear, there was no physical difference between Akane and Karin that neither Kasumi nor Nabiki could see, even down to the stylishly-cut black hair. "Onē-sama, don't be that way with me," the newest Miyamoto said as her cheeks reddened slightly, and then she nodded thanks as a smiling cook from the 2nd/10th Dragoons — Avalonian members of the Kitchen Troop wore the red-white-blue colours of the Canadian Forces Logistics Branch as their particular trade was seen as part of that service — handed her a tall milkshake that had been specially prepared for her since she had just emerged from gestation. "Much that I do appreciate Onē-sama being the DNA template for my new body, I doubt I'll be staying with you in Nerima."

"Why not?" Nabiki asked.

"I'll be attending Yoshū full-time, Onē-sama. Do you really think that either you or Akane-onēsama would attend that school until you graduate?"

"I would if I have to," Akane noted before she sipped her cup of tea. "Besides, I think I'll be training with Kyoko for a long time. I doubt she wants to take time off school to stay with me in Nerima, so I'll have to stay in Utsunomiya."

"Which should ensure that when you both become Avalonians in the future, you'll properly bond, become a couple and enjoy the rest of your VERY long lives together."

Akane nearly choked on her tea. "KARIN!"

Karin giggled. "Onē-sama, Kyoko-sama is hopelessly in love with you. I'm empathic in this body, remember? When she first saw me emerge from the cockpit, I could FEEL her mentally undress me! If you're not quick, you'll lose her for sure!"

Akane's cheeks went very red on hearing that. "Well, since Karin-chan was so nice to confirm this, I think we should try to get a proper omiai arranged between Kyoko-san and Akane-chan," Kasumi then stated. "Would you not agree, Nabiki-chan?"

"Oh, definitely, Onē-chan," Nabiki said, her eyes sparkling with mirth. "And we should do it back in Nerima, just to make sure the news gets out."

Akane's cheeks now were at the **Don't Point That at MY Planet!** stage. "Guys…!" she hissed out. "What are you two saying?!"

Nabiki smirked. "Akane, think about it. Ever since you started to defend yourself against Kunō and his idiots, there have been people at Fūrinkan who've come to believe you're a lesbian." As Akane stared in shock at her sister, the older woman shook her head. "Look, I know how you really feel about it. But not everyone is smart enough to see past first impressions. All people there see is that a very popular girl is doing everything to keep boys away from her. And when she gets ENGAGED to a very nice and honourable (if pretty rough) guy, what does she do? She denies being engaged to that person, visibly scorns any idea of EVER getting married to him and even gladly upbraids him whenever someone — like Kodachi — comes along to try to win him over for herself. What does that mean in the end?" A shrug. "I know the truth. You're trying your best to take control of your life. What do others know? Not that much."

"And doubtfully, they'll desire to learn anything more," Karin added.

"Why?" Akane asked as she gazed at her twin.

"Because people are inherently lazy, Onē-sama," Karin replied. "If it does not really concern them in the most vital matters, it won't be deeply reflected on. Yes, you are very popular at Fūrinkan. I saw that in your memories when Mako-sensei allowed our souls to briefly touch so I could learn what has transpired in the seventy years since my last incarnation walked the Earth. But save for Sayuri-san and Yuka-san — and Nabiki-onēsama, of course — very few people who go to that school truly KNOW about you. And because you've been defensive — and rightly so, I might add — about your personal space, they are afraid to learn more about you."

"Hence, the assumptions," Nabiki finished.

Akane considered that, and then she sighed. "Well, maybe it's for the best," she then admitted. "I doubt I could ever have a normal life at Fūrinkan even if I'm not engaged with Ranma anymore. Kunō won't let it go no matter how much you try to talk to him. And I would've had to put up to him for the rest of this year AND all of next year atop that before he graduated and went to university. What would've happened then?" A moan. "I'm glad we decided to get away from Tō-chan! With how spineless he's become in recent years, all Kunō'd have to do is offer enough money to him and BOOM! I'd be his fiancée in a flash!"

"That would be quite wrong," Kasumi noted.

"Akane!"

Akane turned, and then she smiled. "Hey, Kyoko!"

The others all grinned as Ebisu Kyoko came up. "We've just got our ship assignment," the ninja-trained tōshi reported. "We're all assigned now to the _Hood_, so we're going to switch over to them before she goes down to London to be formally commissioned by the Prince of Wales and his wife." As the Miyamoto sisters save Karin all gasped on hearing that, Kyoko smiled. "We'll have dress kimonos for all of you before His Royal Highness comes aboard! Eat up and let's go!"

Save for Nabiki — who would remain on _Haida_ — the Miyamoto sisters did just that. "Oh, this is so exciting!" Kasumi said.

"Indeed it is," Karin noted…

* * *

Nerima, the Tendō home, that moment…

"_**WHAT?!**_"

Miyamoto Shigeru calmly puffed his pipe. "You heard me."

A wet-faced Tendō Sōun — with his right hand now bandaged up thanks to what happened to him the previous day — was staring wide-eyed at his father-in-law. There was no sign of Saotome Genma when Shigeru had come to visit. Which was good; no doubt, the lazy fool had hightailed it into the woods to find some way to heal himself from the arrow wounds in his butt before he went forth to cause new mischief. "B-b-but wh-wh-why…?" Sōun burbled. "Wh-wh-why allow A-a-Akane-chan to g-g-go THERE?"

"Because her current teacher goes to school there, you fool!" Shigeru snapped as he glared at his son-in-law…though deep down, he was laughing at how much Sōun was twisting himself up into knots because of this. "And YOU have no LICENSE to teach her Musabetsu Kakutō, remember? You taught her things that were too dangerous and were NOT covered by your license to teach NIHON-KENPŌ, so Kyoko-san felt she had no choice but to take Akane-chan under her wing and teach her PROPERLY, which she is doing right now! Gods, boy, her friends were quick to see that Akane-chan was about to become a damned BERSERKER! Is THAT what you wanted of your daughter all this time, Sōun?"

Sōun rapidly shook his head. "But R-r-Ranma-kun w-w-would've calmed h-h-her down!" he protested. "Nothing w-w-would have g-g-gone wrong…!"

"Well, it's a pity that your friend never understood that when he deliberately BROKE HIS WORD to his parents — not to mention his WIFE'S PARENTS — when he decided to use the poor boy as a damned bargaining chip just to fill his own stomach while they were on the road!" the older man snapped. "And it's a DAMNED good thing that Ranma actually turned out to have a REAL sense of honour in the long term! I'm rather glad Chiaki-san intervened when she did; gods only know what could have happened if Jones-hakase HIMSELF came here to find out what was going on with Ranma. Could you imagine what your stupid shenanigans could have caused if the AMERICANS got involved?" A shake of the head. "Nodoka would've died because of the curses on her sword soon enough, so she would've had no real impact on Ranma's life. I doubt Ranma would've EVER accepted those stupid lies her family were made to believe, so he wouldn't have been affected, just like Hisayo and her daughters!" Another shake of the head. "Your pathetic little plan — no, GENMA'S pathetic plan — for your retirement all went up in smoke because you never learned the real lesson Happōsai was trying to teach you!"

Sōun shuddered. "He taught us NOTHING!"

"And because of that, you GOT nothing from him!" his father-in-law returned. "Your seat on the Ward Council is probably going to be lost come the next elections. What respect you might have earned is gone thanks to the truth about your martial arts mastery. Your daughters have ALL left this house feeling ASHAMED of how FAR their father's fallen because you couldn't muster any sort of energy to move your lazy ass after Kimiko died!" As Sōun awked on hearing his late wife's name, Shigeru shook his head. "And right now, you have NOTHING at all, save your warped little dreams. Grow up, Sōun. The world doesn't revolve around you and it doesn't around your friend!"

With that, he moved to leave…

…and then he blinked on seeing a blur whip past him to reform as Kunō Tatewaki, who was now bowing low before Sōun. "Tendō-sama! I, Kunō Tatewaki, have come now to offer my assistance in rescuing your fair daughter Akane from the evil clutches of the villainous tōshi of Yoshū who dared abscond with her!"

A snort. "He has no daughter named Akane, young man."

Kunō jolted, and then he spun around. "Who are you?"

"I'm Akane's grandfather."

Instantly, the kendō-ka was bowing low before Shigeru. "A great honour to meet you at last, Miyamoto-sama!" Shigeru's eyebrow arched at that, impressed by how fast the young man could recover. "I am Kunō Tatewaki, the Blue Thunder of Fūrinkan High and the one only man who is worthy of the hand of your fair and beautiful granddaughter Akane! Have you heard of the terrible crime that has just befallen her?"

Shigeru nodded. "Why, yes, I have, young man. But you're rather mistaken about the exact nature of the 'crime' that has befallen my grandchild."

Kunō looked up. "I…do not understand, sir!"

"The true 'crime,' is what was just released in this morning's newspapers," Shigeru stated as he pointed to Sōun. "The true crime is how my son-in-law here, after completely falling apart at the death of my daughter, totally and completely ABANDONED not just Akane but ALL my grandchildren to fend for themselves for almost a DECADE before they finally woke up to what was going on and left him once and for all!"

Hearing that, Sōun broke down and wailed. "_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! MY POOR CHILDREN HAVE LEFT HOME! THE SCHOOLS WILL NEVER BE JOINED! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!**_"

Shigeru flung his cane over to smash Sōun on the head, knocking him out. As the older man moved to retrieve his property, Kunō blinked as his mind tried to absorb what he had just heard from Akane's grandfather. "But, sir…wh-what of the tōshi?"

"What of them?" Shigeru asked. "Didn't you know their own supreme leader, Moroboshi Hiromi-sama, is the avowed personal servant of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor?"

Kunō's jaw hit the floor. "_**WHAT?!**_"

"Aye!" the older man sternly declared. "And because of that, my whole family is now under the protection of the Moroboshi Clan. A far HIGHER clan than yours, Kunō Tatewaki!" A snort. "Why on Earth would my granddaughter stoop herself so LOW as to marry a mere SAMURAI?" A laugh. "Why, chances are there that if she plays her cards right, she might marry a PRINCE! Or even a KING or a future PRESIDENT!" A delighted sigh escaped him. "Ah, what the future might bring! And with us about to contact other races? Who knows! Akane might marry an ALIEN PRINCE for all we know now!"

Kunō blinked before he collapsed in a dead faint as his brain overloaded from what had just been dumped on his head. Noting that, Shigeru smiled as he moved to relight his pipe, and then he smiled. "Sasuke-san?!" he called out.

A blur instantly revealed the presence of the Kunō's chief ninja retainer. "While it hurts me to see the Young Master like this, Miyamoto-sama, I will say this: Well played, sir. Well played, indeed," Sarugakure Sasuke stated with a light smile.

"Make sure that if your master does make some sort of 'deal' with Sōun that no money exchanges hands," Shigeru stated. "Much that I personally don't care for your master's attitudes towards my youngest granddaughter, I don't want to see Sōun — and especially Genma — benefit from it when they haven't earned it." He then hummed. "And speaking of which, have any of you seen where Genma went off to?"

A shake of the head. "No, sir. He staggered back here late yesterday, then took his backpack from his room and vanished totally. No doubt, he's gone off to the mountains to find some way to recuperate and think over what's happened to him."

A nod. "Make sure you keep an eye out for him."

Sasuke smiled. "Of course, sir."

* * *

Aboard _Haida_, after lunch (Japan time)…

"Hey, Hiromi!"

Hiromi perked on hearing that greeting, and then she smiled on noting that Ranma was currently accompanied by a red-feathered phoenix. "Hello, Ranma-san! I see Chìtùmǎ is still keeping your shoulder warm! Are you going over to _Bismarck_ now?"

A nod. "Yeah, I'll head over just before they take her down over Berlin to get the ship commissioned," he said. "Mimōko's already got our cabin staked out for us; it's the same cabin we were using here." A sigh. "Look, I just want to thank you for all you've done for me, Hiromi. Not just you, but Negako and Tariko, too."

The reborn emperor blinked, and then she smiled. "It was simple humanity that drove our actions, Ranma-san. There is no need to thank us for what we did." She then gazed at him. "All I can ask of you in return is that you live your life by YOUR wishes and desires, not the desires of anyone else." A chuckle. "Well, save Mimōko-san's, of course."

They both laughed. "I can do that," he then admitted before taking a deep breath. "It's gonna be pretty strange now," he then mused. "For so long, it was just Oyaji and me on the road, training and roughing it all over the place. Even if it was nice to have home-cooked meals and a warm roof over the head, I still kinda felt pretty off-kilter staying with the Tendō family. Sure, the fights were okay and challenging…" He then fell silent. "Right now, I just can't believe that only more than a week ago, that's all I ever really cared for in the end. Weird, huh?"

A sad smile. "Onē-sama was right. You WERE brainwashed into believing the martial arts were the be-all and end-all of your life. Why…?" Hiromi then shrugged before she gazed at him. "Well, I can't really answer that question for you, Ranma-san. Only you can. Or maybe Mimōko-san could answer it for you since she seems committed to you." She shook her head. "Please don't break her heart."

He smirked. "Are you crazy? Why would I do that?" he demanded before a laugh escaped him. "With the way she fights, she could probably rip my head off with just her thighs! I ain't THAT crazy!" As both of them laughed, Ranma then stared at her. "What about you, though?" he then asked as he slipped his arms into his trouser pockets. "Don't you have someone of your own? A boyfriend? A bond-mate?"

Hiromi blinked. "Well, there is one thing I do think I share with the Miyamoto sisters' father: A loyalty to a lost love. In my case, it was my second wife in my first life, the Língsī Empress; 'Kataikō' as she's known here." A sigh. "Because my soul was suspended in the magatama for all those centuries, I never experienced what all the others — even her — have experienced. Being resurrected time and time again over the many generations." She closed her eyes. "She lives in this time. She's actually my age; her real name is Izuku Mioko. She would be a second-year at Rakuyō right now, but she withdrew from school in the summer of 2007 for some strange reason. Right now, she lives with her older sister Susuko — she's Kashin Suikō — alongside the woman who was once the man I called 'foster father.' Haru Yuzumi; she's Chōjō."

He considered that for a moment. "But didn't Chōjō kill Kashin back then?"

"Hai, he did," she affirmed with a nod. "See how much things have changed? How former enemies could now become lovers after all the reincarnations?" Hiromi gazed at Ranma. "I need to build on that sort of thing to help everyone be free. To do that, I cannot do ANYTHING that could potentially lead us all down that damned dark and blood-soaked path again!" A sniff as a weak smile crossed her face. "Even if I am to be separated from one I could see myself falling in love with again, Ranma-san."

He gazed at her. "That ain't right…"

"It IS right, Ranma-san!"

"No!" he spat. "It's not right that you're not happy while everyone else IS happy!" he then explained. "Look around you! Torusuke and Yoiko are lovers; back in their first lives, it was Yoiko's past-self's family that knocked over Torusuke's family when they wanted to do it! Look at all the people trying to be friends with each other even if they're from different schools! They're all happy and they're working to make sure they STAY happy! You deserve to be happy, too!"

"**I** deserve?!" Hiromi turned to stare wide-eyed at him. "_**I deserve nothing**_, Ranma-san! What did I do back then?" A derisive snort then escaped her. "All I did was to allow everyone else to run the whole country in my name right into the ground, ruin everyone in sight, allowed the government to fall apart and millions SUFFERED because of that! And thousands — TO THIS VERY DAY — STILL suffer because of that!" She shook her head. "I know what you're doing to me, Ranma-san. I thank you for it. But please, I don't need people to try to make me happy! That they're trying to make good lives for themselves is good enough for me! That's all I want in the end! As for the future…?" A tired sigh escaped her before she reached over to gently squeeze his free shoulder. "Let it come as it will, Ranma-san. I think it'll be a much better future for us all. And you have a better future for yourself now. Please, go live it!"

With that, she turned to head back into the operations room. Ranma watched her go, and then he turned to gaze at Chìtùmǎ. "It ain't right…"

_**SHE HAS GOOD REASONS TO FEAR, YOUNG STALLION**_, the phoenix trilled at him. _**TOO MUCH STILL SWAYS ON THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF OVER THE SAME DARKNESS SHE SEEKS TO RESCUE ALL THE OTHER TŌSHI — AND THOSE LIKE THEM — FROM THAT DARKNESS!**_

He nodded. True, there was still a chance things could still fall apart after this was all over with. That was the underlying reason the senior tōshi elected as a group to keep the Ten Attendants away from this fight. Still, those ten women could be coerced into behaving themselves by the offer of giving them Avalonian bodies that weren't barren. Even more so, if most tōshi had been glad to swear allegiance to their reborn emperor even if they had never seen her fight in a Great Fighters Tournament or actually went to school alongside her, the chances were there Izuku Mioko might feel the same way towards Hiromi. If that was true, there could BE a chance that she would gladly give herself to Hiromi…!

"Looks like I gotta play _nakōdo_," he mused as he stared at Chìtùmǎ.

A chirruped laugh. _**ONE PHOENIX WITH FRIEND, GOING DOWN!**_

Ranma jolted, and then yelped as phoenix fire made him vanish from _Haida_…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Notes on the _Ikkitōsen_-based characters mentioned here:

**Chōjō** (**Haru Yuzumi**) was spoken of in the writer's notes for Part 10.

**Sōsetsu** (**Tsukasa Setsumi**) is the current incarnation of **Caó Jié** (unknown birth date, died 181 C.E.). Caó was responsible for seeing to the deaths of two officials from the imperial court at Luòyáng who were working hard to remove the Attendants' influence on the Emperor: **Dòu Wǔ** (unknown birth date, died 168) and **Chén Fán** (unknown birth date, died 168); the latter was one of Liú Hóng's personal tutors. In this life, Setsumi is a graduate of Nan'yō and is a sophomore at **Kawamura Gakuen Women's University** in Tōkyōo's Toshima Ward. Physically, she resembles **Minase Yukiko** of _Bible Black_.

An aside concerning Caó Jié: Even if he wasn't alive at the time the rest of the Ten Attendants were killed off in 189 by Yuán Shào, he was included in the list of the Attendants in _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, hence I included a future version of him here.

**Kenseki** (**Nayamu Sekimi**) is the current incarnation of **Jiǎn Shuò** (unknown birth date, died 189). Jiǎn was involved in a conspiracy to kill Hé Jìn, but was caught by the general's forces and executed. In this life, Sekimi graduated from Rakuyō two years ago and went to attend university at **Gakushūin Women's College** in Tōkyō's Shinjuku Ward near the Imperial Palace. She is physically based on **Amatsuki Jun** of _Bible Black_.

**Teikō** (**Hakaru Kōnami**) is the current incarnation of **Chéng Kuàng** (unknown birth date, died 189). Chéng was involved in the assassination of Hé Jìn and was killed by the troops of Yuán Shào as a result. In this life, Kōnami was a Rakuyō graduate and she followed Sekimi (her lover) to Gakushūin Women's College. I base Kōnami physically on **Kurimoto Maki** of _Bible Black_; save for slightly different hair colour (blue-highlighted black in lieu of grey-highlighted dark brown), Kōnami could be Setsumi's twin sister.

**Dankei** (**Wakachi Tamana**) is the current incarnation of **Duàn Guī** (unknown birth date, died 189). Duàn was one of the Attendants who was involved in the kidnapping of both Liú Biàn and Liú Xié from the palace at Luòyáng when Yuán Shào moved to eliminate them in the wake of Hé Jìn's assassination; he would be killed along with his friends by Dǒng Zhuó's troops. In this life, Tamana, who had graduated from Nanban, has gone on to **Takarazuka University**'s local campus in Shinjuku Ward of Tōkyō (yes, this is the same name as the famous all-girls' musical acting troupe; the university's main campus is in the city of the same name in Hyōgo Prefecture ten kilometres northwest of downtown Ōsaka). Tamana is physically based on **Shiraki Rika** of _Bible Black_.

Notes on the other Attendants and the Izuku sisters will come in the next part.

**Sonchū** (**Mago Minaka**) is a paternal cousin to Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko). Minaka is the current incarnation of **Sūn Zhòng**, one of the fictional Yellow Turban rebel leaders that appeared in _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_. In this life, Minaka was a sophomore at Nan'yō when she answered the call from Chōkaku (Hari Sumiko) to form the Kōshi Kasshi. Her departure from Nan'yō — taking with her nearly a hundred tōshi — badly affected morale at that school for a long time to follow. Currently, Minaka leads Team 11 of the Kasshi. As Tsueko doesn't really care about the whole "Fate of the Sacred Bead" business, she looks on Minaka as a "cool" cousin.

**Teienshi** (**Hodo Tōshiru**) is the current incarnation of **Chéng Yuǎnzhì**. Like Sūn Zhòng, Chéng Yuǎnzhì was a fictional character who appeared in the _Romance_. In this life, Tōshiru was a senior at Nanban when he answered Sumiko's call to form the Kōshi Kasshi. He was able to pull out ten tōshi from Nanban before the bikers finally made their break from the Seven Schools. His "rebellion" especially hurt Wakachi Tamana as she had a deep crush on Tōshiru; even to today, she finds it hard not to feel pain when she thinks of him.

**Yōgai** (**Fusagu Hiraku**) is the current incarnation of **Yōng Kǎi** (unknown birth date, died 225), who was the governor of **Jiànlíng Commandery**, one of the territories of Shǔ Hàn, at the time of Mèng Huò's rebellion. Yōng, who joined Mèng in revolting against Liú Bèi, was killed when Zhūgě Liàng tricked a rival tribal leader into fighting Yōng. One of the rival's servants killed Yōng in the end.

2) **Fúlóng** was the nickname that was once given to Zhūgě Liàng. It literally means "Hidden Dragon." Thus, when it was discovered that Morokuzu Ryōko had a spirit-dragon within her, it was named as such.

3) The "**Don't Point That at MY Planet!**" quote comes from one of my favourite _Ranma_ fanfic stories: _Ranma and Akane: A Love Story_ by **Eric Hallstrom** from the turn of the millennium. The quote itself is in Part 6, a little after midway down the text. Said story is chronicled at this website under the author name **Speaker-to-Dreamworlds**. Read it and mark it as a favourite; I certainly have!


	28. Hiromi Reunites With Mioko

Bunkyō Ward of Tōkyō, north of Rakuyō Senior High School, that moment…

…to appear right in the living room of a very modest home. "HEY!"

"_**WHO'S THERE?!**_"

Ranma quickly crouched in a fighting stance as a blonde, tomboyish woman appearing in her early twenties, possessing pale blue-grey eyes on a cold yet quite beautiful face, emerged from the kitchen. She was draped now in a black robe that covered her from neck to toe. A silver magatama hung off her left earring, which meant she was A-rank and thus someone to be taken very seriously. As the older woman raised her hand and summoned dark ki into it, she then stopped on seeing the phoenix perched on this handsome young warrior's shoulder. "Sekitoma-sama…?" she gasped.

Flashes of energy flared around Ranma, revealing nine other women in matching dark robes, all with silver magatama hanging off their ears and all looking ready to fight. "Filthy intruder!" one of them, a raven-haired tomboy with golden-brown eyes, snarled as she formed a pair of magical pentagrams around her hands. "How DARE…?"

"_**SŌSETSU! STOP!**_"

She jolted, and then turned to gaze at the blonde. "But Chōjō…!"

The girl to the brown-haired woman's right then sighed. "Setsumi, look at his shoulder," she said as she reached over to squeeze the other woman's shoulder, and then she pointed at the phoenix on Ranma's shoulder. "Don't you recognise Sekitoma-sama?"

All of the newcomers looked, and then they relaxed. "Who are you?" one of them, a young-looking woman with long brown hair tied in a ponytail over her right ear and grey eyes, then challenged. "Why did Sekitoma-sama bring you here?"

Ranma gave her an embarrassed look, his cheeks flushing as he reached up to scratch the top of her head. That action made most of the girls watching this slightly shiver as they considered how sexy he looked doing that. "Sorry about this, Sempai-tachi. I'm Hayashi Ranma. I'm a friend of Moroboshi Hiromi's."

That made all the women blink. "Did Hiromi-sama asked you to come see me, Ranma-kun?" the blonde tomboy ahead of him asked as she came up to gaze into his eyes.

"Um, actually, she doesn't know I'm here…!"

"_**WHAT?!**_" That was the raven-haired tomboy. "_**YOU DARE CONSPIRE AGAINST HIROMI-SAMA?! WHY, I AUGHT TO…!**_"

_WHOMP!_

"_**OW! MIRUKO?!**_"

That was the girl beside her, who had long, dark green-shaded hair and steel-blue eyes; she had whipped out what looked like a ki-mallet to smack the other girl over the head with it. "_**SETSUMI NO BAKA! CAN'T YOU SEE WHAT'S ON HIS SHOULDER?!**_"

"Hey! HEY! There's no need to do that to her!" Ranma said as he walked over to help the stunned Tsukasa Setsumi — Sōsetsu — back to her feet.

Hearing that, Setsumi blinked before she gazed at him for a moment, and then her cheeks reddened as her eyes then locked on Chìtùmǎ. "Um…s-s-sorry about that, Ranma-kun!" she sputtered out before she gave him a helpless shrug. "We're all kinda mad because we couldn't be with Hiromi-sama and the others right now…!"

He blinked. "Why not? Hiromi's looking for volunteers to help out!"

"It is because of something that has taken our attention for the last couple of years that forces us to remain away from our Emperor's side, Ranma-kun," the blonde tomboy then said as she came up to give him a friendly squeeze on the shoulder. "But first, introductions. I'm Chōjō, born as Haru Yuzumi, chief of the Ten Attendants of the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn, who lives today as Moroboshi Hiromi-sama, Matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan of Mutsu-no-Kuni. These are my sisters and fellow Attendants." With that, she proceeded to introduce them all to him. Once that was done, she then took a deep breath. "So if Hiromi-sama did not ask you to come see us, why are you here?"

A sigh. "To find Izuku Mioko."

Silence.

"Does Hiromi-sama desire Mioko to be at her side?" Koeru Chūko (Chōchū), who had been the girl who had first asked why Chìtùmǎ had brought Ranma here, wondered.

A sad sigh. "Well, I'm not sure about that. Hiromi kinda feels it ain't her right to force Mioko back into being her wife again…but she still loves her a lot." Ranma then frowned. "I owe her for helping me get back on my feet again after I got hurt, so if there's a chance…"

Yuzumi laughed. "Ranma-kun, relax! If things were going well, I believe that the instant Mioko-san knew Hiromi-sama was alive and well, she would have raced over to Tomobiki to sweep her off her feet the instant she returned to Earth in her own body and not be forced to share Ataru-kun's body with him, his twin sister and the Earth Angel." A sad look then crossed her face. "Unfortunately, there is something very wrong with Mioko. And her sister Susuko as well. We cannot — we DARE not! — allow them to be free of the magical imprisonments we were forced to place them in three years ago."

He stared at her. "What happened?"

Chūko came up to slip her arm around his. "You best see this for yourself, Ranma-kun. But be warned now: It's not going to be pretty."

He gulped…

* * *

Near Aoga-shima, the forest outside Nanban High School, that moment…

"Onē-sama, Yuzumi-onēsan's not answering her cell phone."

"Neither is Tamana-sempai, Negako-sama."

Negako hummed, her eyes fixed on a place to the north of the island. "Wait fifteen minutes, Ryōko, then try Yuzumi again," she advised.

Ryōko blinked, and then she gazed on Ki Kenshika, who shrugged in return…

* * *

Bunkyō, Haru Yuzumi's home, minutes later…

"Oh, MAN…!"

"You can sense the ki within them, can't you?" Yuzumi asked.

Ranma slowly nodded as he approached the two diagnostic beds in the basement cellar. The room itself was covered with ofuda and other blessed icons meant to keep spirits trapped in. The door had been secured both physically and magically; it had taken Yuzumi and her friends at least two minutes to undo all the enchantments so they could go inside. And that didn't count the two women now chained down on those beds. Both of them were naked, though their bodies were covered in strips of blessed parchment as well as chained down to the beds with cold iron locks that had to weigh several hundred kilograms. They certainly hadn't affected either of the girls now held down by them; both of the Izuku sisters — the elder of the pair, Susuko (Kashin Suikō), was Yuzumi's age; Mioko (Kataikō), as Hiromi had hinted, was Nabiki's age — were just RADIATING ki that would clearly make either of them a match for any of the dragon-enhanced tōshi Ranma had met to date like his own girlfriend.

And it wasn't any type of ki that Ranma had ever encountered before.

Though it WAS rather similar to Mimōko's…!

"Yeah…" he breathed out. "What happened to them?"

"We don't know," Setsumi stated as she moved to stand beside the bed holding Mioko in place. "About three years ago, just after everything between the tōshi and the Kōshi Kasshi calmed down, Susuko-san and Mioko-chan both got very sick for some reason. Then some strange ki markings appeared on both their bodies as their power levels went totally insane. They were both modestly powerful, at B-rank stage. The changes that overcame them really made themselves apparent at the Great Fighters Tournament run that summer as a way of bringing everyone back together after the war with the Kōshi Kasshi nearly tore us all apart; they both cleaned house of all challengers, even us. And they both nearly massacred the whole Nanban delegation. Most likely because they had sensed Kentei's spirit controlling them and they wanted him gone."

"We had no choice but to suppress them and lock them down in here to make sure they wouldn't hurt anyone else," Yuzumi added. "We combined our powers to make all the tōshi forget what happened and never question what befell Susuko and Mioko. Ever since that time, we've been researching ways of purging this strange ki from their bodies, but we haven't found anything that could really help us give them their lives back." She lowered her eyes as she reached over to gently touch Susuko's face. "We had hoped that with Hiromi-sama having finally gained her own life, we could find some way to present Mioko and Susuko to her so she could have her court with her, but…"

Ranma gazed at Yuzumi, and then down to the sleeping Susuko. "You love her."

A nod. "Hai. Amazing, isn't it? In our first lives, I helped kill him, just like Marcus Junius Brutus teamed with the others to take down Gaius Julius Caesar. Yet in this life, I fell hopelessly in love with her when we first began attending Rakuyō." A chuckle. "Took me two years to win her over to me. And then _this_ happened…!"

A pained sob escaped her as she slumped down beside her beloved's bed. As Chūko immediately went over to comfort her, Ranma could only shake his head before he gazed at Chìtùmǎ for a moment. A hum escaped him as he considered what to do, and then he nodded. "You think you can loan me a feather, pal?" he then asked the phoenix.

The phoenix blinked, and then he cooed as he wiggled his tail for a moment. Soon enough, a feather drifted down into Ranma's hand. "What are you doing?" Setsumi asked as he moved over to Kimi Miruko (Kōran) to allow the phoenix to shift over to her shoulder.

"Gonna try something," he said. "The ki I'm feeling from them's almost the same as what I feel from Mimōko. Now that I'm thinking about it, Hiromi's ki is weird, too. Not just because she's an Avalonian; there's something else. But it's more similar to Chìtùmǎ's than Mimōko's. What type of markings appeared on their bodies?"

"As you can see now under the bindings, it seems to be some sort of dragon, but a type we're not familiar with," Natsu Atsuko (Kakin) then said as she moved to stand beside Setsumi as Ranma hovered over Mioko's unmoving face. "Why would you think a phoenix…?"

Her voice then trailed off as eyes locked on the now cooing bird on Miruko's shoulder. "Oh, gods! We're a bunch of idiots!" Chūko moaned.

"Nah, you just haven't had the chance to make use of a phoenix until now," he noted before waving the tip of the glowing feather over Mioko's face. "Mioko-chan…" he gently prodded. "Wake up! Your husband wants to see you…"

Her eyes then snapped open, both orbs blazing bright white. "_**HUSBAND?!**_"

Everyone cried out as all the chains and enchanted parchments covering her body suddenly burst into flames before they vanished in a flash of energy. A second later, Mioko surged to her feet to glare intently into Ranma's eyes, her own eyes slowly reverting to their normal grey-brown as she seemed to form a pair of round-lens reading glasses out of nowhere to perch before her eyes. "_**WHERE — IS — MY — HUSBAND?!**_" she snarled a word at a time as she leaned right into his face before the fires in her eyes finally faded and a confused look crossed her face. "Eh? Who are you? Where…?"

Ranma blushed as he tried to avert his eyes away from Mioko's well-shaped body, which was framed by deep turquoise hair down to past her waist, held partially down by a hair band tied behind her neck. She was quick to notice this, and then she looked down before her cheeks turned deep red. "Um…wh-where are my clothes…?" she demanded as she moved to cover herself.

"Sorry about that, Mioko-san," he apologized.

The Attendants all were gaping in shock at this…

* * *

Near Aoga-shima, the forest outside Nanban High School, that moment…

"Ryōko?"

"Hai, Onē-sama?"

Negako's eyes were narrowed. "Try to call Yuzumi now."

"Hai," the young shrine maiden said as she picked up her cell phone and dialled.

A moment later, the other end answered, "Moshi-moshi, Haru Yuzumi here."

"Onē-san? It's Morokuzu Ryōko."

"Ah, Ryōko-chan! Why are you calling?"

"Is everything alright with you?" Ryōko then asked as the Nanban students around her all breathed out in relief. "We've been trying to contact you for some time now."

A chuckle. "I was in the midst of doing some deep scrying; my cell phone's enchanted to not ring when I'm doing that. Is something wrong?"

"Um, are either Susuko-onēsan or Mioko-onēsan available to come down to Nanban High School so we can burn out the forest north of the school itself?"

Silence.

"How did you learn about _them_, child?" Yuzumi demanded.

Ryōko giggled. "Onē-san, it was quite easy for me to sense out."

A laugh. "Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. But I…" A pause as a muffled conversation echoed in the background, and then Yuzumi came back. "Here's Susuko."

A second later, another voice called out, "Kashin."

"Kashin-sama, it's Shokatsuryō Kōmei," Ryōko stated. "We need your help."

"Talk."

The shrine maiden quickly explained the situation. After a couple of minutes, the reborn last Great General of the Imperial Hàn could only moan. "You mean to say that if any of us finally died, our souls would've been absorbed by the trees in this damned forest? And that was all ultimately under _Kentei_'s control?!"

"Hai," Ryōko replied, nodding.

A snarl. "Wait a minute! We'll be right down there!"

The line then clicked off. "Eh?!" Ryōko breathed out as she looked at the phone.

"What happened?" Kashira Emi demanded.

That was answered in a flash of bright phoenix fire as a group of thirteen people then appeared close to where Negako was now standing. All the Nanban people and Ryōko gaped in shock on seeing the Ten Attendants, as well as the reborn Língsī Empress and her reborn elder brother, the last Dà Jiāngjūn of the Hàn, not to mention the new boyfriend of one of Nan'yō's "Four Divas." As whoops of delight escaped many of the people there, Negako turned as Ranma came up to her, with Chìtùmǎ back on his shoulder. "You've learned some things, have you not?" she asked.

A nod. "What type of dragon could have affected them?" he wondered.

The grandmaster looked over at the Izuku sisters as they were in the midst of greeting the Kashira sisters and the other senior Nanban leaders. Her eyes then narrowed before an eyebrow arched. "Interesting. Once we deal with this forest, you should take Mioko immediately to see Hiromi, Ranma. If they desire, I can assist Yuzumi with Susuko. Have Mioko go with Hiromi to Yaminokuni; suggest to Hiromi that Susuko take charge of the remaining starships of the Earth Defence Force here."

He looked at her. "You recognize it?"

She smiled. "You have a memory, Ranma. I suggest you use it."

With that, she headed off back towards the large castle-like edifice that now housed Nanban High School. Ranma watched her go, blinking in confusion at her cryptic words, and then he hummed as he turned to stare once more at Susuko and Mioko, both of whom were now being briefed by Ryōko on what was going on with the forest. He then hummed as he recalled what he had seen of their bodies before they had been given new clothes by the Attendants. The long, snake-like dragon markings that covered their backs, arms and legs, even reaching around the sides of their ribs to brush against their breasts and hips; _had_ he seen them before? Where exactly did he…?

His eyes then widened as it hit him. "Oh, man…!"

"Ranma-kun?"

He jolted, and then he turned to stare into Izuku Susuko's deep brown eyes, the twenty-something reborn great general seemed to have teleported right over to gaze directly into his eyes. "Ah! S-s-sorry about that, S-sempai!" he sputtered out as Chìtùmǎ chortled with laughter before he fluttered over to land on Ryōko's shoulder, which made the young shrine maiden blush. "I just r-realized where I saw those tattoos on your body!"

Susuko gaped as Mioko's head snapped over. "_**WHERE?!**_" both cried out.

Ranma ducked, and then he took a deep breath. "On the image of an alien warrior that Negako, Hiromi, Tariko and their brother Ataru all know from Noukiios," he said. "Her name is Kyech; she's the one that broke up Ataru's wedding with Hensō six months ago that started this thing for them. She was touched by a _Noukiite_ dragon back in her first life three thousand years ago! And if I'm not off base, both of you got touched by one of them three years ago!"

Ryōko blinked. "You mean the Dragonspeaker, Onii-san?"

Susuko stared down at her. "You know about this, kid?"

"Hai! They're tōshi, just like us! I even met my own counterpart on that world! And she told me about the Dragonspeaker; that woman is none other than that world's version of _**Ryofu Hōsen**_!" Ryōko then breathed out. "Alright, we don't have time to explain this now since we'll be leaving for Yaminokuni soon! We need to burn this forest down right away before we go back up to the _Haida_! Once we're there, we'll contact the Noukiites and I'll get Nap'i to come visit us to confirm this; I don't think they've gone back to Tengsei yet!" She then gazed on Susuko and Mioko, who both looked quite confused at what she just said. "I'll explain later, alright!"

Both of them nodded…

* * *

Aboard _Haida_, after the end of school (Japan time)…

"So things on those ships are going well," Hiromi mused.

"We'll have the ship moved over Canada in the next four hours to prepare for the ceremony in Hamilton, Hiromi-sama," Takanashi Naoko stated from her station near the front of the bridge. The commissioning ceremonies for four of the five European-based starships had just ended, with the ceremony for H.M.S. _Hood_ in the skies over London now underway. "By then, we'll have all the uniforms synthesized for those who will be needed to appear for the raising of the Ensign. We also have your kimono ready for when you present yourself to the Queen."

The reborn emperor nodded. It was by sheer luck this operation was happening with the _de jure_ head-of-state of the Dominion of Canada currently in the midst of her latest tour of that vast country. And just right after the International Fleet Review done in Halifax the previous Tuesday. _Pity we couldn't have presented_ Haida _to the Navy at that time; it would have been quite impressive to see her floating over the ships of the Canadian Atlantic Fleet and all the others in Bedford Basin_, she mused to herself before perking as the doors leading to the turbolift opened and a familiar presence marched onto the bridge. "What are you doing here, Mimōko-san?"

"Sorry to bother you, Hiromi-san, but have you seen Ranma anywhere?" Mimōko asked as she came up to stand beside the director's chair, which she would soon vacate for the proper captain of _Haida_ after said ship was properly commissioned at sunset (Japan time) over Hamilton in Ontario, where her namesake — the last of the World War Two-era Tribal-class destroyers — was now tied alongside one of the piers in honoured retirement. "Last time I saw him was early this morning," she added.

A shake of the head. "Last I talked to him was just after lunch; he was going to go over to _Bismarck_ to be with you and the others from Nan'yō."

Mimōko blinked. "Well, he didn't come over; I was able to come here just before _Bismarck_ went down to Berlin. I wonder if Chìtùmǎ is…"

The turbolift doors then opened again. "Hey, Mimōko!"

Mimōko looked back, and then she sighed. "THERE you are, Ranma! What…?"

Her voice then caught in her throat as a familiar face then appeared.

"My husband."

Hiromi's breath caught in her throat as she turned to look. "Mioko…"

Smiling contently, Izuku Mioko walked onto the bridge and placed herself before Hiromi's station. She was now dressed in a proper Rakuyō Senior High School burgundy uniform complete with standard plaid skirt, though she wore a white turtleneck sweater under the jacket in lieu of the standard button shirt and tie, plus she had thigh-highs on her legs that went almost all the way to her crotch. All noise on the bridge fell silent — save for the station controls beeping and chirping — as people turned to watch this surprising scene. Hiromi remained rooted in her chair as Mioko stepped up to the small platform around it before she moved to sit on her reborn husband's leg, and then tilted herself to gaze intently into the other woman's eyes before she smiled and leaned in.

Hiromi's eyes nearly popped out of her skull as the softness of that kiss swamped her, and then she moaned as she collapsed into a dead faint. Mioko yelped, and then she stared wide-eyed at Hiromi for a moment before she giggled. "Ooops!"

"Ranma…"

Ranma chuckled as he sensed Mimōko's eyes lock on him. "It's a long story."

The Nan'yō senior could only moan…

* * *

An hour later…

"So who exactly is this…Hucheng-ch'ekyunghechha?" Mioko demanded.

Nap'i giggled. The former great strategist of K'uongno had immediately beamed over to _Haida_ from her governor's flagship when Ryōko had called her. "Well, age-wise, she is a peer of the Lord Nengmek'i himself, Lady Mioko," she said as she gazed sympathetically at her. "That would make her over three thousand years old. As ch'uokyek come, she is rather quite misunderstood."

"How misunderstood?" Susuko, who was standing behind Mioko — now seated beside the bed holding the still-passed out Hiromi in Sick Bay — then asked.

"Well, her name, directly translated, means 'Leaper of Hills and Valleys,'" Nap'i stated. "That's our euphemism for being totally insane." Quickly sensing the confused looks on the faces of all the people there, she then pointed to the central ridge on her forehead. "Hill." She then pointed to the small depression between that ridge and the one next over. "Valley."

A small chorus of "Oh!s" then escaped the other people there. "So why would this being wish to do unto us as this Nengmek'i fellow did to the Lady K'ekhech?" Mioko then asked. "I've missed three years of school because of this; Onē-chan couldn't even contemplate going to university or starting a life with Yuzumi-onēchan because of this!"

Nap'i shrugged. "I really wish I could answer that question, Lady Mioko. The Great Sky Lady Hucheng-ch'ekyunghechha is, despite her reputation, quite a mystery to not just we humanoids on Noukiios, but most of the ch'uokyek, even Lord Nengmek'i himself. Still, there is a solution for this problem concerning your self-control."

"What would that be?" Mimōko asked.

"They would both have to become Avalonians, Mimōko. The sooner, the better."

She turned to gaze on her own counterpart from Noukiios, who had — along with the wives of Lum and her friends — remained on _Haida_ awaiting their chance to get to Yaminokuni to make sure a certain marriage ceremony happened. "Why, Kuhu?"

"Because their bodies — despite their being in quite superb physical condition due to their being warriors — will not be able to fully take the power gifted to them by Hucheng-ch'ekyunghechha, Mimōko," Kuhu explained. "The power of the feathers given to them by the Fire Lord Chìtùmǎ — not to mention the use of their powers to burn down this forest Ryōko was concerned about — would allow them to regain some sense of control over themselves, but that is a very temporary measure. Kyech is _Noukiite_…and in her first life, she was BARELY able to keep control of that power when she made use of it to pursue her own goals during the early stages of the Tri-Kingdoms era. Her becoming an Avalonian in this life, while it magnified her power enormously, DID give her the sense of control she needed to use it properly." She then gazed on the Izuku sisters. "Both of you, however, are _Terrans_. And while there are those amongst you — Mimōko and Ryōko here being two of them — who could adopt to the power of a _Terran_ dragon…!"

"A _Noukiite_ dragon is a whole different kettle of fish," Susuko then finished. "Different planets, different ecosystems, different histories and mythologies…!"

"Lady Nut'yek, how long would such a transition take?" Mioko asked.

"Once a blood sample is obtained, it's done in an hour," Kuhu stated.

The reborn empress then sighed as she stood. "All right. I will not become a monster when I intend to give myself, body and soul, to my beloved. After all she was forced to endure while all of us were forced to be born, live and die again and again over the generations and the centuries, she does not deserve same. In two hours, we have to be fully prepared to receive Her Majesty the Queen aboard this ship as she officially grants her commission to _Haida_ as a warship in Her Royal Navy of Canada. I intend to stand at my beloved's side when that happens. Is there anything that would require Hiromi's attention between now and the time this procedure is completed?"

Cologne, who had made her way to Sick Bay when she had sensed the two powerful alien dragon-touched tōshi come aboard _Haida_, shook her head. "The ship can pretty much run herself, Majesty. Everyone knows what to do. Once the news of your return — and what forced you and your sister to be separated from the other tōshi, to say anything of the Emperor herself, in the first place — gets out to the others, it will bring much cheer to everyone, especially given how much the Ten Attendants have had to sacrifice themselves and their careers on both yours and your sister's behalf. You go ahead and deal with your problem, dear. It will do your mate's soul much good to have you at her side finally when she is presented to the whole world as the one who now guides the United Nations Earth Defence Force into taking up arms on behalf of humanity, both Terran and Avalonian."

Mioko nodded. "Lady Elder, you have Our Leave to make the pronouncement to all those in the fleet. Please convey my personal regrets to all the school leaders for surprising Hiromi like this; I know they were quite fearful of this matter."

A deep bow. "I will do so, Majesty."

* * *

Ninety minutes later…

"My head…!"

"Are you alright, my husband?"

Hiromi's eyes then flew wide open before she turned to see a familiar face lying at her side. Quickly realising she was in the flag officer's cabin she had set aside as her own in the aft upper superstructure of _Haida_ on Deck A12, she then blinked before turning to face the other woman. "Mioko…?" she asked before her eyes trailed down, they widening on seeing the black markings all over the other woman's body. "Oh, no…!"

"Fortunately, this new body I was given seems to be able to hold the gift the Insane One forced on me all those years ago much better than my old body could," the reborn empress stated before she shifted over to press herself close to Hiromi.

Hiromi blinked several times before she moaned. "Hucheng-ch'ekyunghechha?"

"Hai. Both Onē-chan and I."

Hiromi stared at her. "And where is she right now?"

"No doubt, someplace private, giving Yuzumi-onēchan a good tonsil-cleaning."

"Then why…?"

A smile. "My husband, do you think than in all the years and centuries I have lived in all my lives, I could conceive of giving myself to someone else other than you?" she asked as she moved to force Hiromi down on the pillow while she shifted herself to lean against her side. "I couldn't. A few times, I tried, but it just felt awful. Even giving myself once to Tōtaku, another time to Sōsō and yet another time still to Ryūbi." A shake of the head. "They were nothing compared to you."

"I was no man…"

"You were a child of your age and upbringing. As was I," Mioko gently cut her off. "As you are now and as I am now. You were made to see what happened because of your first life's actions and inaction. And when you did gain your new life, what did you do? You didn't demand ANYTHING of ANYONE! You in fact dedicated your spare time to finding ways of freeing us all from the fate of the magatama!" She leaned in to kiss her cheek. "And somehow, my dearest one, I knew — deep somewhere in my soul — that you would come back to me. And that you would know these things and that when you DID come back, you would help us all fully escape the fate of the magatama."

"But I can still fail…"

"You won't."

Silence fell as Hiromi considered that, and then she smiled as she leaned over to kiss Mioko on her lips. "We have some decisions to make, then."

"Such as?" she wondered.

"Which one of us will bring Arami-chan back to life?"

Mioko blinked. "Is that what we'll call our child? What if a child is a man?"

"Dearest, we are both women," Hiromi stated. "The laws of parthenogenesis are quite explicit about this: If both parents are of the same sex, the child will also be of the same sex. Our children will always be girls." She then gave Mioko a curious look. "Unless you might desire to ask a good man to be a surrogate father?"

Mioko awked, and then she growled as her eyes seemed to flare with the frightening power now within her. "There is only one person that will share my bed and give me children, my husband. And that is the person I'm looking at right this very moment. And you will not be allowed consorts THIS time, Husband! I will NOT share you!"

Hiromi hummed. "Well, I'm glad that we've got that straightened around." She then kissed Mioko passionately before she gazed knowingly at her. "And much that I am now very tempted to ravage you silly and make you scream to the heavens, beloved, I don't fancy the idea of presenting myself before a queen smelling of sex."

A sigh. "Life was simpler in Luòyáng, wasn't it?"

"I think it's a lot simpler now."

"Oh?! Why?"

"Because I don't have to decide which lover I will have for the evening!"

Mioko gasped, and then she growled. "Why, you…!"

Hiromi laughed as Mioko grabbed pillows and began swatting her…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Notes on the _Ikkitōsen_-based characters noted of here that haven't been introduced yet:

**Kōran** (**Kimi Miruko**) is the reincarnation of **Hóu Lǎn** (unknown date of birth, died 189 C.E.). He was one of the Attendants who kidnapped Liú Biàn and Liú Xié alongside Duàn Guī. In this life, Miruko graduated from Yōshū and currently attends Kawamura Gakuen Women's University alongside Tsukasa Setsumi; they are lovers. Physically, Miruko is based on **Itō Mika** of _Bible Black_.

**Chōchū** (**Koeru Chūko**) is the reincarnation of **Zhào Zhōng** (unknown date of birth, died 189). He was one of the Attendants who fell to Yuán Shào's troops after Hé Jìn was assassinated. In this life, Chūko, who graduated from Gogun, is a sophomore at **Kantō Gakuen University** in Ōta, Gunma Prefecture. She physically resembles **Imari Kurumi** of _Bible Black_.

**Kakin** (**Natsu Atsuko**) is the reincarnation of **Xià Yùn** (unknown date of birth, died 189). He also was killed by Yuán Shào's troops. In this life, Atsuko, after graduating from Yōshū, went on to attend **Ryūtsū Keizai University** in Ryūgasaki, Ibaraki Prefecture. She physically looks like **Nonogusa Miyuki** of _Bible Black_.

And the two Attendants who didn't get speaking parts here:

**Kakushō** (**Kuruwa Kachiko**) is the reincarnation of **Guō Shèng** (unknown date of birth, died 189). He also died at the hands of Yuán Shào's troops in Luòyáng. In her current life, Kachiko, who graduated from Kyoshō, went on to pursue post-secondary education at **Sagami Women's University** in Sagamihara, Kagoshima Prefecture. She physically resembles **Murai Ayumi** of _Bible Black_.

**Fūsho** (**Sakai Satoiko**) is the reincarnation of **Fēng Xǔ** (unknown date of birth, died 184). Like Caó Jié, Fēng — though he was counted as one of the Ten Attendants in _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ — died earlier than his fellow Attendants…and ironically, he was killed out of the belief that he was actually allied to the _Yellow Turbans_ of all people! In this life, Satoiko was the most sympathetic of the Attendants to the goals of the Kōshi Kasshi…though she still resented the Hari sisters for not actually helping their brother and sister tōshi try to escape their fates. Another Kyoshō alumnus, Satoiko went on to attend **Japan Women's University** at their campus in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. She directly resembles **Seki Kaori** of _Bible Black_.

Finally, the Izuku sisters:

**Kashin Suikō** (**Izuku Susuko**) is, as been noted several times in the story text, the reincarnation of **Hé Jìn** (unknown birth date, died 189), who was the last **Dà Jiāngjūn** (literally "Great Army General") of the Latter Hàn Dynasty. He was catapulted into commanding the Imperial troops to counter the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184, thus allowing him to catapult other members of his family to prominence. That set him up to have him run head-long into the Ten Attendants, who feared his family's ascendancy in the Imperial Court (especially with Hé's sister now the Empress Consort). That would eventually lead to Hé being killed by the Attendants in the wake of the death of Liú Hóng. In this life, Susuko was almost on the verge of graduating from Rakuyō before the touch of an alien dragon on her blood and soul forced her lover — the woman who, in her first life, killed Susuko's past-self — to entrap her for three years.

And **Kataikō** (**Izuku Mioko**) is the reincarnation of Hé Jìn's younger sister, the **Língsī Empress of Hàn** (unknown birth date, died 189), the second official wife of the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn and mother to Liú Biàn. She became one of Liú Hóng's concubines well before their son's birth in 176 and was promoted to Empress Consort in 180. She survived the death of her husband by only a few months; after her brother and the Ten Attendants were all killed, she found herself at the mercy of Dǒng Zhuó. He had her poisoned near the end of the year, with her son dying the next year, thus allowing Liú Xié to become Emperor. In this life, Mioko had just passed the entrance exams for Rakuyō when the gift of an alien dragon in her blood overcame her. As an aside, the Língsī Empress' real name has been lost to history, so I gave her the name **Hé Xìxīng** (the given name means "beautiful prosperity," using the characters 美興). The "xīng" part of the name actually comes from the given name of the Empress' mother, so the chances of her possessing a name quite like this one are pretty good.

Also note that like the Attendants, I based the Izuku sisters' physical looks on characters from _Bible Black_. Susuko resembles **Saki** (no family name given), while Mioko resembles **Mochida Junko**.

2) The temporary "cure" Ranma uses to help Susuko and Mioko get back on their feet and get control over their powers is based on the normal spiritual balance between the dragon and the phoenix in Chinese cosmology.

3) Note that the word **Jiāngjūn** ("army general") uses the same characters — 將軍 — that go into the Japanese term **Shōgun**.

4) The **International Fleet Review** hosted by the Canadian Armed Forces to celebrate the centennial of the founding of the **Royal Canadian Navy** in 1910 was held on 29 June 2010 in Halifax Harbour; the ships present there were inspected by Her Majesty, **Queen Elizabeth II**. The counterpart to that for the Canadian Pacific Fleet in Esquimalt Harbour was held on 12 June 2010; the ships present there were inspected by Her Excellency, the then-Governor-General of Canada, **Michaëlle Jean** (born 1957).

5) The spirit-dragons (**Ch'uokyek**) on Noukiios are always given the ceremonial titles "Sky Lord" or "Sky Lady" when their names are spoken directly. Noukiite spirit-phoenixes (**K'ekseuk**) are addressed, of course, by the ceremonial titles "Fire Lord" or "Fire Lady."


	29. The Thunderbird of the Stars

Meanwhile, on a planet at the edge of the Orion Arm…

Delighted, relieved laughter filled the air.

People turned as they watched a certain man in a black gi slowly rise up, an amused chuckle escaping him as he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Um, you okay?" Rupa — who had raced down to the landing by the spaceport when he had been told that Carla's private ship had suffered a mid-warp collision with an unknown scout-class ship as she was returning home to Muzlim Madiina — then asked.

Ataru perked, and then he turned to stare at the handsome fellow in his dark robes before he nodded. "I was just feeling a little mental flash from my sister Hiromi." He then smiled at the young prince of the Dark Kingdom. "You must be Rupa. Sorry to drop in on you like this. I hope the wedding hasn't been crashed yet."

Rupa blinked. "Um, no, not yet! But what ARE you doing here?"

"Actually, if I may, Ataru-kun, I can explain it to him."

Ataru looked over as Tsukasame Yoiko picked herself up from the stretcher she had been laid out on. Around him, all the others who had been caught on the two ships when they had collided before crashing through the warp barrier at Muzlim Madiina's spaceport were slowly reviving; there were no visible injuries that Ataru could see and Rupa, naturally, was caring for a beautiful young Yaminokuni lady that most likely was Carla herself, which would make this much easier. "Go for it, Yoiko-chan."

She nodded before standing up, walking over, and then going to her knee, giving Rupa a proper fist-in-palm salute as she bowed her head to him. "Greetings, Your Highness. I am Tsukasame Yoiko, blessed with the battle name 'Shiba'i Chūtatsu,' emissary of the Matriarch Moroboshi Hiromi of the Clan Moroboshi of Japan on Earth." She ignored the people around them as they began to whisper excitedly on realizing that one of the Terrans who had just come to Yaminokuni was one of the few sentient beings whom She Who Speaks to Dragons actually called "friend." "I come here with my friends and the Matriarch's brother to bring you as well as your most noble father and your noble sibling warning of a dire threat against you by the Imperial elements of the planet Uru and the fragmented elements of the so-called 'Church of Lum.' As we speak, a cloak-capable warship is now somewhere loose in this galaxy, hoping to interfere in the affairs of other people, including yours. We hope to draw it out to destroy it…but at the same time, we wish to ensure the honour-debt between the Clan Redet of Uru and your own family is properly repaid. In marriage."

Rupa blinked, and then he smiled before standing up. "These people are the honoured guests of the First Patriarch!" he then declared to the guards around them. "See to it they are taken to the Palace, given a chance to wash up and eat, get them clean clothes and have them go to the main meeting hall so the Lady Yoiko may present Matriarch Hiromi's message to my great-grandfather! Also have shipwrights look over both ships to ensure they are repaired and made space-worthy! Move now!"

"Right away, Master Rupa!" the chief guard said before people headed off.

"One thing, Your Highness."

He looked at Yoiko. "What?"

"There is cargo aboard our ship," Yoiko advised him. "Two tanks, each bearing a templated Avalonian bioroid body. Both of them were shaped to be DNA replicas of Redet Lum. One is prepared to be the wife of your sibling, but the other body has no soul within her. We had that body prepared to be Redet Hensō's replacement body." She shook her head. "You do NOT want to have the tanks opened up. I'm sure they survived the collision, but you don't want to have an _accident_ along the way, do you?"

Rupa blinked, and then he nodded…

* * *

H.M.C.S. _Haida_, cruising over the Pacific Ocean (Japan time: two hours before sunset)…

"There! It is done."

"What is done, Sato-okāsan?"

Hearing that title applied to her, Haru Yuzumi blinked before her cheeks turned a very bright cherry shade. "Did Hiromi-sama just call me…?!" she eeped.

"She did," Izuku Susuko said with a knowing smirk.

Silence.

"_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!**_" the leader of the Attendants then wailed as showers of tears deluged Susuko, Hiromi and Mioko. "_**SHE CALLED ME 'SATO-OKĀSAN!' I'M SO HAPPY! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'M SO HAPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY…!**_"

Hiromi moaned. "_**CHŌJŌ-DONO! ENOUGH!**_" she then barked out, which made Yuzumi bolt to attention. "_**YOU'RE A GROWN WOMAN! ACT YOUR AGE FOR PITY'S SAKE!**_"

Standing beside her ranting lover, Mioko smirked. "Oh, don't be so harsh with her, Husband!" she then scolded. "She's been like this since she first came under the influence of the magatama! They all have been!" She waved to the other Attendants, who had all gathered in the small meeting room beside Hiromi's personal quarters. "Leave them be and let them be happy, for Fate's sake!"

Hiromi blinked, and then she sighed. "I can't believe how much things have changed with all of you," she stated as she shook her head. "Well…" A knock echoed from the doorway. "Enter!" the reborn emperor called out.

The door opened, revealing Takanashi Naoko. "Hiromi-sama, the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Defence are aboard and wish to speak to you," she announced.

"Send them in, Naoko-san."

"Hai."

Naoko stepped aside, allowing two men — one in his early fifties, the other in his mid-forties — to step in. Both were in business suits. "Director Moroboshi," the Prime Minister of Canada said with a grin as he offered his hand to the Director of the Earth Defence Force. The veteran parliamentarian from Calgary then perked on noting that his current host had quite the crowd visiting him right now. "Sorry to interrupt."

"Oh, pay it no mind," Hiromi said with a smile as she took his hand into hers, and then she gazed on the Izuku sisters. "Dearest, Sister-in-Law, my friends, may I present the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Her Majesty's most excellent Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada and representative of Her Majesty's subjects within the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada in Parliament Assembled for the riding of Calgary Southwest…and his good friend and fellow parliamentarian, the Honourable Peter MacKay, Her Majesty's Minister of National Defence and representative of Her Majesty's subjects in the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada in Parliament Assembled for the riding of Central Nova." She then grinned on seeing both men madly blush at the exaggerated terms she used to describe their current positions in the Canadian government.

"No need for THAT level of formality, Madame Director!" MacKay then sputtered.

Laughter filled the room, and then Hiromi did the introductions for all of her sister tōshi. Everyone then moved to take seats around the meeting table in the room. "So you finally have your inner court with you," the Canadian leader then noted.

Hiromi's eyebrow arched. "You know?"

"The Minister of Magical Affairs briefed us both on the nature of 'resurrected warriors' such as yourself and your friends as soon as you came back to Earth from your sojourn on Okusei," MacKay then explained. He then gazed on Yuzumi, who had taken her place beside Susuko to Hiromi's left. "As a matter of fact, Mistress Haru, you and your fellow Attendants possess quite incredible reputations amongst the magicals of the various regional Magical Associations in Japan for your innovate spell research."

Yuzumi smiled. "You are courteous to us, Master Peter."

MacKay blushed. "Will you be going on the trip to Yaminokuni?" the Prime Minister then asked. "We know of this rivalry between yourselves and the Kōshi Kasshi group."

A sigh. "We'll be staying here and helping guard Earth against possible follow-on attacks by the Urusians just in case the intelligence from the Lady Lum's noble adopted sister is incomplete and there might be more Imperial forces out there moving to strike against us," Yuzuko stated. "While the commanders of Her Imperial Majesty's forces based on the planet Kaisei will be accompanying Hiromi-sama to Yaminokuni as their wives were two of the victims of the Imperials' delightful 'ally' from Phentax Two, the commander of forces from Tengsei will remain in system and take charge of the massed forces at the asteroid belt. The remaining starships of the Earth Defence Forces will be a reserve force to the combined Expeditionary Forces of the Left, Centre and Right."

"You already discussed this with Tachp'uch-san and Tap'uch-san?" Hiromi asked.

A bow of her head. "Hai, Majesty. I apologize for not informing you of this earlier."

The reborn emperor sighed. "Pay it no mind, Chōjō-dono. I was busy with…other affairs." As Susuko and the other Attendants all laughed and Mioko blushed, she then focused on the Canadian defence minister. "Master Peter, a query if I may ask it: Within the fighting forces of the Canadian Army now aboard the ships of the Task Force, there were concerns expressed by some of Master Knight Wayne's subordinates as to the unofficial status of both the 2nd/10th Dragoons and the 19th Alberta Dragoons. I realize that both of those regiments are currently seen as being on the Supplementary Order of Battle. And this doesn't mention the fact that the 2nd/10th is actually rolled as the 57th Field Regiment of Her Majesty's Royal Artillery of Canada."

"Well, that's been changed as of today," MacKay stated. "General Devlin has received the Ministerial Organization Orders for both units to be restored to the Land Forces Reserve as fighting elements of their local brigade groups. With the 2nd/10th being re-rolled into the Armoured Corps, of course. The Canadian Forces Organization Orders for both units will be prepared by Admiral Rouleau's staff before the end of today."

Hiromi nodded. "Suikō-dono."

Susuko tensed. "Hai?"

"I will ask you to raise your flag on the _Fëdor F. Ušakóv_ while we're off to deal with that miscreant Ōgi and his friends," the reborn emperor stated. "When the proper commissioning orders for the 2nd/10th and the 19th are issued from Ottawa, have then transmitted to _Haida_ and _Paekbŏm_. It will bring cheer to both Master Knight Luke's and Master Knight Dennis' soldiers to know that they are 'official' once again."

A bow of the head. "It will be done, My Emperor."

"Once they return back to Earth, their regimental guidons and camp flags will be presented to them; the Governor-General will gladly do the ceremonies for both units at the new Chippawa Armoury in Niagara Falls for the 2nd/10th and the new Connaught Armoury in Edmonton for the 19th. They will be the first units in the Militia to be re-organized into full wartime manning format with six squadrons each, based across their assigned areas of recruitment," the Canadian defence minister added. "I'm glad to also say that the 2nd/10th will be finally getting battle honours on their guidon."

The tōshi all looked surprised. "They don't have battle honours?" Mioko asked.

"Not officially, Miss Izuku," MacKay answered. "Ever since its creation in 1872, the 2nd/10th and its former separate units always had its personnel dispatched to other units as re-enforcements. The regiment's only been mobilized once for operational service back in World War Two as a home-defence unit; it was never deployed overseas as an element of the Canadian Army Service Force to fight with First Canadian Army. But ever since the Avalonians living in Niagara have expressed interest in restoring that unit to service, research was done on the history of those units that ultimately were perpetuated by the 2nd/10th. All the way back to the War of 1812 to be exact."

Hiromi nodded. "Ah, yes! The bicentennial of that war is coming up in two years. How will the 2nd/10th be officially honoured for their predecessors' service to the Crown?"

"The battle honours will be 'Queenston' and 'Niagara.' An overall theatre honour of 'Defence of Canada 1812-1815' will also be awarded."

"Minister, are there other units in the Canadian Army that could also be so honoured for service in that war?" Kuruwa Kachiko — Kakushō — then asked.

"That's being looked at right now, Miss Kuruwa," the Prime Minister stated.

The others nodded. "Where exactly is Her Majesty at this time?" Hiromi asked.

"The Queen and her husband are currently getting ready to board the _Welland_ at Area Support Unit Toronto for the flight up to join _Haida_. We'll be beaming down to meet with them just as the _Haida_ comes into the atmosphere over Lake Ontario."

Everyone nodded; the _Welland_ was the official name for one of _Haida_'s four large executive transport shuttles — officially designated the CSV-194 Star Flare — having been named for the second captain to command the original _Haida_ in the Second World War, the late Rear-Admiral Robert Welland. "That will be in another hour, Hiromi-sama," Naoko — who had remained by the door after the politicians came in to visit Hiromi — added.

Hiromi nodded. "Very well, then. Naoko-san, be a dear and get my PADD, please."

"Hai."

With that, the Terran-form Avalonian headed into the reborn emperor's personal quarters. She soon returned with a dataPADD in hand, handing it over to Hiromi. Tapping controls on the device — which looked like a normal flat-screen computer monitor without any stand or other device to hold it vertical — she then smiled before turning to pass it down via Susuko. "After you all visited the ship back in April, Tsukihana-kun, Ayami-chan, Michiko-san and I got together to brainstorm a little gift we wish to give to the Royal Canadian Navy on the centennial of its founding this year. Take a look."

The defence minister nodded his thanks as Sakai Satoiko — Fūsho — passed the dataPADD over to him. He then gazed on the image there. "Oh, my God…!"

He then passed it on to his current party leader. "Nice," the Prime Minister stated.

"Do you believe the honourable member of the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada in Parliament Assembled for the riding of the loyal counties of Stormont and Dundas and the loyal townships of the southern part of the County of Glengarry can raise _another_ private member's bill concerning this?" Hiromi asked as her eyes sparkled in mirth.

Both visiting politicians grinned. As members of the Conservative Party of Canada, they saw themselves as followers of the right-leaning agenda that had been espoused by Stephen Harper's famous predecessor as Prime Minister, the late John Diefenbaker. A man who — when he was the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from the time of the 1963 defeat at the hands of Lester Pearson's Liberal Party to when "the Chief" (as Diefenbaker was often called) himself resigned as party leader three years later — had fought hard against the changing of traditional symbols and ways of thinking when it came to Canada. And while both Harper and MacKay did accept certain things that had been introduced in the Pearson and Trudeau years, there were many symbolic changes they had wanted to pass through despite their party's not having a clear majority of seats within the House of Commons at this time.

The Prime Minister then nodded. "It can be done," he declared.

"Wonderful," Hiromi stated. "Naoko-san?"

Naoko perked. "Hai?"

"Inform Urara-san and Miwa-san that the package is to be prepared."

A nod. "Hai."

* * *

The operations room…

"Um…Miss Moroboshi?"

Negako — who, despite her still showing a façade of total calm and tranquillity to all the other personnel in the main operational control space of the Canadian starship, found it QUITE disquieting to be FLYING on a starship KILOMETRES over the open OCEAN of all places — opened her eyes to gaze on the woman standing nearby. "Yes, Michelle?"

Lieutenant (Navy) Michelle Anderson — who had often cursed both her parents for saddling her with _three_ given names when most other girls in the English-speaking part of Canada normally got _two_! — took a deep breath. At least she was able to persuade the ninjutsu grandmaster who was currently occupying the flag officer's chair at the aft end of the main operations table to address her by her preferred given name in lieu of her first name, Elaine. "We'll be passing over the Queen Charlotte Islands in about five minutes," she stated. "The course corrections and speed you ordered to be executed are already in the navigational computers and are being done as we speak." She — the MARS officer from Peterborough northeast of Toronto was officially assigned as _Haida_'s Navigation Officer, having just been transferred to the Dominion's first starship from H.M.C.S. _Preserver_, which had been Brian Gamblin's prior command before being assigned as _Haida_'s first commanding officer a month ago — then took a deep breath. "Um, ma'am…" she began, trying not to show how nervous she was in the presence of Moroboshi Negako. A woman who — as Michelle and her fellow officers in _Haida_'s first draft of personnel had been briefed by a member of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service before they beamed up to the ship almost a day before — was said to be so skilled in the martial arts that she could literally EAT all of Joint Task Force Two for breakfast without breaking a sweat…and could possibly given Major Dean Raeburn a run for her money. "Can I ask you a question?"

Negako tried to not look annoyed. "Ask."

"Why are we doing this?"

A pair of almost black eyes gazed at her; Negako was quick to sense what the officer wanted to know. "What is this ship's name?"

Michelle blinked, and then she shrugged. "_Haida_."

"And said name implies what?"

"It's the name of the most successful warship in the Navy's history," one of the naval combat systems engineers who had been assigned to _Haida_, Lieutenant (Navy) Sally Carpenter, then stated from her position by the main gun controls.

Negako nodded. "That is correct, Sarah. What _else_ does the name imply?"

Both officers looked confused. Standing to Negako's right, one of the naval combat information operators monitoring the ship's track on the main operations board then smiled. "Could I answer for them, Miss Negako?" Master Seaman Kelley Saunders asked.

"Proceed, Kelley."

Kelley gazed on the two lieutenants. "The original _Haida_ was a _**Tribal**_-class destroyer. The Queen Charlotte Islands — 'Haida Gwaii' as the islands are known in the Haida language — is their homeland. The provincial government in Victoria officially allowed the islands to be re-named that last month. Since this ship is named for them…"

"They have to be involved in the commissioning of this ship," the junior-most MARS officer aboard _Haida_ now, Sub-Lieutenant Carol Moore, added. As Michelle and Sally nodded in understanding — both now looking a little sheepish at not drawing up the obvious connection between their new place of work and the First Nation that resided in the northern archipelago off the coast of British Columbia; both women had, during the early years of their careers, been assigned to frigates based in Esquimalt and had often sailed around the Queen Charlotte Islands on either exercise or sovereignty patrols — the young Saskatoon native then gazed on Negako. "Would they be upset for not being invited to the ceremony in Hamilton?"

"I have spoken to several elders of the Haida after they first learned of their nation's new namesake concerning the spiritual implications of this ship's entry into the Canadian Forces as an active combat unit, Carol," the grandmaster stated as she gazed on the large ball of crystal in her right hand. "They had magical and metahuman precognitives who constantly advise them of potential future events. They were warned ahead of time that _Haida_'s commissioning might be hastened due to operational necessities. They are willing to wait until this matter concerning Hensō is resolved before a proper blessing ceremony by their mystics can be arranged in the skies over their home islands." Negako gazed at the main communications station at the aft end of the operations room. "Nathan, have you prepared to see the Haida flag raised on the foremast?" she asked.

Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan Cotter was the ship's Chief Yeoman of Signals, the senior naval communicator aboard _Haida_. A native of Calgary, he had been tickled pink to hold off on his retirement when Brian Gamblin had asked him to become the senior member of his trade aboard a _**starship**_ of all things; like his current commanding officer, he had put in well over thirty years in the Navy. "Aye, ma'am. Lucky thing the flags on this ship are coated with flexible transparent aluminium so they can fly up in space as well as survive being flown when we're going supersonic in an atmosphere."

"Splendid."

"Um, ma'am?"

"Yes, Carol?"

"What is that thing?" Carol Moore asked as she pointed at the Dragon Jade.

"This will, hopefully, allow Naoko and her sisters aboard this ship to become far more human than they already are," the grandmaster explained as she placed the ancient crystal now charged with over thirty thousand souls on a small pillow that Ki Tsukihana had provided for her. "Oh, Eugene," she then called out. "Ensure the ship's outer lights are activated as soon as we fly past the southern tip of Gwaii Haanas. The Haida wish to view their starship and it is still well before dawn in this part of the world."

The ship's chief boatswain's mate, Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Eugene Bennett — another old salt of the same generation as Brian Gamblin and Nathan Cotter — perked before he gazed over in confusion from his place beside Cotter's post at the elder sister to his new supra-national top boss. "'Gwaii Haanas,' ma'am?" he asked.

Carol moaned. "Moresby Island, Chief!" she snapped. "Answer her question!"

Bennett jerked — in exaggeration, Negako was amused to note; the experienced boatswain was simply too professional a seaman to not try to upset the proper military decorum that was seen to be required and needed in this situation — before he nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Miss Moroboshi, Chief Cotter already has the matter in hand and the lights will go on as soon as the ship gets to an altitude of 2000 metres above sea level."

"Splendid."

As Negako concentrated her attention on the Dragon Jade, Bennett exchanged a crafty look with Cotter, who smirked in turn as he tapped a control to turn on all the floodlights lining _Haida_'s outer hull from her twinned bowsprits to just forward of her main engine exhausts. While it was always proper to obey the orders of superior officers, it was often nice to make sure the wet-nosed kids — Carol Moore did not look much older than Eugene Bennett's oldest _**grandson**_! — getting their commissions after four years at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston had the right stuff to GIVE those orders…!

* * *

The village of Haida (a.k.a. Old Massett), on the north shore of Graham Island (the northern island of Haida Gwaii), thirty minutes later (local time: Ninety minutes before dawn)…

"_**LOOK!**_"

As hundreds of eyes turned up to the night sky to gaze upon the great star craft passing overhead, a past-middle aged man could only smile as he noted the lit-up red flag on the high foremast of his nation's namesake ship, that embossed with the white twin-headed thunderbird insignia encased in a totem ring. "Beautiful…"

"She knows He will come to our ship, Elder Father."

The President of the Haida Nation perked on hearing the words from the beautiful woman who had come up to join him before the lodge house where the council ruling the People of the Thunderbird always gathered. Like all the others who came to Haida Gwaii before the coming of spring this year to seek a new home and freedom amongst the People — thus propelling the total numbers of the Haida to well over TWENTY times what had lived on the former Queen Charlotte Islands at the start of the year! — Janice Russ gladly called herself "Avalonian-Haida" in lieu of "Avalonian-Canadian" or the quite clumsy-sounding "Avalonian-native Canadian" as the white people had first tried to call them.

The Haida had gladly welcomed the Angels of the Stars as their new spirit-kin when they were finally freed by the Great Firebird of the Hàn, the Daughter of the Mother of Life, the Avatar of the Herald of the Final Darkness and the Great Mother of the Avalonians' blood home world of Sagussa…not to mention their powerful allies from the World of the Ten Great Tribes and the World of the Sixteen Warrior Chiefs. As they turned to gaze up at the cigar-shaped craft now gracefully soaring over the seat of the Council of the Haida Nation, the President nodded. "She has always been wise, the Daughter of the Mother of Life," he said as he recalled all the words his mystical advisers had said concerning Moroboshi Negako. "Even if she has next to no patience concerning the way normal people live our lives. It's no wonder she preferred the company of the Steel Angels and the Protector of All Life than other people."

"Other people could not _**see**_ what the Thoughtmistress-prime sees, Elder Father," Janice stated as cheers and whoops for joy echoed from the crowds nearby as _Haida_ began to bank slowly to starboard so as to avoid entering American airspace over the southern islands of the Alaska Panhandle before she would climb back up into orbit and make the final hop for Lake Ontario and her rendezvous with the Great Mother of Albion herself over the enclosed harbour at the western end of the lowest of the Great Lakes. "Major Raeburn could do it. All the Steel Angels could do it as well. Is it no wonder that she would prefer to be with those who can view the totality of the Te'a as much as she?"

He nodded. "It is…"

"Look, Guujaaw!"

The President tensed, and then he looked…

…before he gaped. "Oh, my…!"

* * *

Aboard the _Haida_, in the forward observation lounge…

"Great-grandmother…?"

Cologne chuckled. "You sense Him, don't you?"

Shampoo blinked, her ki senses — which weren't as developed as the elder warrior's, but were still sensitive enough to pick up WHATEVER it was now slowly orbiting the Canadian starship as it flew over Haida Gwaii — nearly overloading. "What IS that…?"

"The Thunderbird."

Both Nǚjiézú perked on hearing that voice, and then they turned to see the woman who had pretty much won the heart of Shampoo's would-have-been husband standing at the top of the stairs leading down into the main hull. "The Thunderbird, Sebone-guìjiě?"

"He Who Makes the Heavens Storm, Shānpú," Mimōko stated as she gazed out the window into the dark night surrounding the Canadian starship in the skies over Haida Gwaii. "The Herald of the Gods. The Bringer of Food to the People. The Master of Lightning. The Gatherer of Rain." A sigh. "As powerful as any spirit-dragon, He is. That Negako-sama would actually welcome such a being's blessings unto this ship…"

"Indeed, my dear child," Cologne stated as she narrowed her eyes, focusing her ki sight on Him as He slowly orbited the namesake of His Children of Haida Gwaii, sensing the power built from the metal magic of a dead world thousands of light-years from Earth…and clearly approving of what _Haida_ was intended to be used for. "Like you tōshi, we of the Nǚjiézú have had several bad encounters with the Daughter of the Immortal Master over the years and centuries. We too fear such a being, even now. But to believe that under all that cold logic and ruthless rationality which drives everything Moroboshi Negako does in her life these days…that she gladly does THIS as well…"

"Will the Haida want their ship to come visit them, Hiibā-chan?"

Cologne turned, and then she nodded as Ranma came up to stand beside his new girlfriend; due to the whole matter with the Izuku sisters, neither Ranma nor Mimōko had got the chance to beam over to the _Bismarck_ to join the other fighters from Nan'yō. "They will, Ranma. Do make sure that you remind the Emperor of that once this whole matter with Queen Victoria's great-great-granddaughter is finished."

He nodded. "I'll remember that."

"What are you guys sensing, Ran-chan?"

Everyone smiled as Kuonji Ukyō — who herself had elected to stay on _Haida_ to finish her okonomiyaki lessons to her many eager students before moving on to _Bismarck_ to present those lessons to the Germans and the Avalonian-Germans now working aboard that vessel — came over to join them. "You remember what I told you about the Haōryū, U-chan?" Mimōko said as her ki enhanced eyes picked up the Thunderbird's movements as He orbited the _Haida_'s bow, His eyes focusing on the warriors watching Him.

The chef from Kansai nodded. "Yeah. You got one stuck in your eye a couple years ago. Everyone thinks Fu-chan has one in her, too. Why, Mō-chan?"

"You can't see Him right now, but there's Someone out there now whose power can easily match that of either Sonsaku, Sōsō or Ryūbi," Mimōko stated. "And when it comes to a being like Him, there's only one piece of advice you have to remember."

"What's that?" Shampoo asked.

The Nan'yō senior smirked. "_**Never — get — Him — MAD!**_"

"Wise words," Ranma noted…

* * *

Hearing the words of the young stallion of the Land of the Wa and his future wife — possessed by one of the Great Dragons of the Three Kingdoms of the Land of the Hàn — the Thunderbird could only chuckle in amusement before he focused his attention on the bright and ancient firebird that was currently resting in the beautiful botanical gardens located in the aft part of the main hull of the ship now bearing the name of the natives of Haida Gwaii. Quickly sensing Chìtùmǎ awaken on sensing the elder spirit's attention fall his way, the Thunderbird then called out, _**PROTECT YOUR RIDERS AND ALL THEIR KIN, RED HARE. THEY ARE WISE EVEN FOR ONES SO YOUNG.**_

_**YOU GRANT THEM YOUR BLESSINGS, OH STORM-BRINGER OF THE HEAVENS?**_ the former war horse then asked with proper respect in his voice.

A raucous laugh echoed through the skies. _**WHAT DO YOU THINK?**_

And with that, the Thunderbird soared away as _Haida_ climbed high into the sky over the waters of the Dixon Entrance, turning east as she once more embraced the stars…

* * *

Hamilton, Ontario (southwest of Toronto), on the Queen Elizabeth Way south of the Burlington Bay James N. Allen Skyway (Japan time: an hour before sunset)…

"Hey! What's going on?! Why's the traffic stopped?!"

For Paul Merritt, it was turning out to be a lousy Monday morning.

A native of Port Colborne on the Lake Erie shore of the Niagara peninsula, Paul was a division manager for Manulife Financial, an international insurance company whose global headquarters were located in Ontario's capital city, just northeast of the financial district on Bay Street downtown. While he had worked long and hard to get to his current position, he had not let go of his small city roots. That — added to the skyrocketing costs of living in Toronto or its immediate suburbs — had made taking ownership of his own home in Port Colborne quite an easy decision to make.

Even if it normally meant an average of two hours on the highways travelling to work.

And another two hours travelling back home every night.

Recently, though, things had changed. With the arrival of the Space Angels — as many people worldwide called the bioroid race known more properly as the "Avalonians" — transportation infrastructure throughout Ontario had undergone a massive upgrade. With the GO Transit system now extending bus and train lines to Saint Catharines and linking up to the newly-formed Niagara Light Rapid Transit network that had taken over old railway lines that once criss-crossed the peninsula, it was now quite easy for workers in outlying towns and cities like Port Colborne to be whisked to their places of work in the greater Toronto area in under an hour with just two route transfers at Saint Catharines and Burlington. Even better for independent people like Paul who loved their cars — in his case, a sturdy Chrysler Jeep Compass compact sport utility vehicle — the Avalonians had brought with them very high technology that had spelt the effective end of the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine and had made the global warming doomsayers jump for joy…

…and in the spirit of economic fair play that still stunned the senior insurance agent at times, ensured the automobile manufacturers and the oil producers could still turn a profit: His Compass ran on highly-efficient hydrogen fuel cells driving an electric motor that gave him excellent mileage, wiped out any sort of carbon emission footprint he had once made before the car was cheaply rebuilt back in April…and saved him a considerable amount of cash that normally went into fill-ups at a gas station on one of the service roads bordering the Queen Elizabeth Way — one of the world's first expressways, which connected Toronto with America via the Peace Bridge over the Niagara River between Buffalo in New York state and Fort Erie in Ontario — between Saint Catharines and Hamilton. For a man who still valued his travelling independence — as did many Canadians even now — Paul was glad to be able to help contribute to the end of threatening climate change…and still enjoy a wonderful ride to and from work with music from EZ Rock 105.7 FM.

But now…

_Maybe I should have listened to Mom about taking the train_, Paul mused to himself before he tensed on seeing someone walk alongside the divide between the Toronto-bound and Niagara-bound lanes of the QEW; Paul had got into the far left lane as soon as he passed the Centennial Parkway exit to take advantage of the higher speeds there and cut down his travel time to beat the rush into Toronto. Looking at the person — a woman, he was quick to see — he noted the evergreen-shaded combat uniform she was wearing. _Soldier? What the hell…?_ he wondered as he moved to roll down his window as she approached. "Excuse me!" he called out. "What's going on here?!"

She tensed on seeing him, and then walked over, slinging her rifle over her shoulder. He was quick to spot her scarlet beret and the black brassard wrapped around her left upper arm, that itself marked with a white **MILITARY POLICE MILITAIRE** at the lower end. As soon as she got up close, he was quick to spot the unit designation flash on her epaulette slip-on: **2 MP REGT**. Her name tag read **CARSTAIRS** and she had no rank insignia on her, which marked her as a private. "Good morning, sir," she said, saluting.

"Good morning," Paul said with a nod. "Is there something going on?"

Private Helen Carstairs smiled at him. "I take it you haven't seen the news."

A blink. "What news?"

She turned to gaze out towards Lake Ontario; Paul's car was stopped just short of Exit 93 onto Eastport Drive, which connected onto Beach Boulevard running along the spine of Burlington Beach, the sandy peninsula that enclosed off Hamilton Harbour from Lake Ontario…and, when the wind conditions over the Skyway were too risky, where traffic from the QEW was diverted onto so people could cross the lift bridge over the Burlington Canal that allowed ships to enter and leave the harbour. "That."

Paul blinked, and then he put his car into park — traffic on the QEW was stopped in the Toronto-bound lanes and totally absent on the Niagara-bound lanes; he had noticed same as soon as he passed Centennial Parkway — before shutting down the engine and stepping out of his vehicle. He was quick to see other soldiers — like Helen, they were in CADPATs with rifles slung on their shoulders, scarlet berets on their head and the brassards of the Canadian Forces Military Police on their left arms — raced down the other side of the barrier to form a security line at five-metre intervals, they accompanied by both patrol cars of the Ontario Provincial Police and military vehicles of several types, including some ambulances. _No doubt preparing in case some idiot doesn't see the traffic jam in time before causing a rear-end collision_, the insurance executive mused to himself with a smirk as he closed his car door and locked it. "So what's going on?"

"You can head onto the bridge to see _Haida_ if you want, sir," Helen helpfully added. "We're helping the local police make sure there are no attempted robberies."

Paul perked. "_Haida_?" he asked, barely recognizing the name.

Wasn't that some warship somewhere…?

She nodded towards the Skyway. "Go look."

Quickly sensing other people putting their cars into park and shutting down their motors, Paul turned to watch as a slowly-increasing stream of drivers and passengers began to make their way towards the apex of the twin-span link between Hamilton and neighbouring Burlington on the northern side of the lake. Reaching into his jacket pocket to feel the comforting contours of his Apple iPhone 3GS — unlike many of his co-workers, he _**hated**_ the various models of the BlackBerry — he then picked up the pace as he moved to join the growing crowd now ascending onto the Skyway.

"C'mon, Grandpa! We're almost there now!"

Paul stopped, turning to look right…

…and then he blinked on seeing an elderly man in the standard dark blue blazer jacket of the Royal Canadian Legion — complete with dark blue Legion beret and a row of medals on his left chest — being escorted between the cars by a smiling high school girl in more trendy modern clothing. As the executive took that in, the quiet hum of an electric vehicle made him turn as a van painted military green came to a stop on the inner passing lane of the Niagara-bound lanes. The driver's door opened to reveal a smiling woman in black Navy work dress step out. "Excuse me!" she politely but loudly called out, looking right at the elderly veteran. "Leading Seaman White?!"

The elderly man stopped, turning left as the sailor — Paul was quick to see that there was some sort of military crest over the woman's name tag, which read **RICHARDSON** — hopped over the safety barrier and came up to him. "Yes?"

The young sailor came to a stop and gave him a perfect salute. "Sir, Ordinary Seaman Yvonne Richardson, Her Majesty's Canadian Ship _Star_," she said as she introduced herself. "If you wish, we can take you in the van and get you up to the apex of the Skyway over the Canal so you can see the new _Haida_ come in. Your shipmates are there."

The veteran blinked, and then he straightened himself, saluting back in a more British-like style; the arm was swung out in lieu of being raised straight up as Yvonne had done and the hand was positioned with the palm facing forward in lieu of down. Gazing at this curious sight, Paul would swear to anyone he spoke to after this that the elderly gentleman seemed to swell with pride. "Harry White," the retired sailor then declared. "Leading Torpedoman, H.M.C.S. _Haida_, 1943 to 1945."

Yvonne smiled politely as this old sailor deserved all the respect he was given. "Let's get you up there, sir." She then gazed on the veteran's granddaughter. "We'll make sure he makes it up there safe and sound."

"Can we walk up on the other side?" she asked. "How soon will _Haida_ be here?"

"Another twenty-five minutes," the young sailor said. "And yes, you can."

With that, White was helped over the barrier and allowed to step into the van before Yvonne got back into the driver's seat to take the van back up the roadway. Paul watched them go, and then he turned back to the elder sailor's granddaughter. "What's going on? Why are they stopping traffic for the commissioning of a new warship?"

"Not a new warship!" a middle-aged housewife then heckled from nearby. "A _**starship**_!"

The insurance executive gaped as many of the crowd around him began to laugh…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Sato-okāsan** — Foster Mother (in her first life, Hiromi always called Yuzumi's past-self "foster father"); **Haida Gwaii** — Literally "Islands of the People"; **Haōryū** — Literally "Conquering Dragon" (also called **Shōryū** or "Dragon Lord"); **GO Transit** — Literally "Government of Ontario Transit," this is the mass transit bus and rail system that is meant to help connect Toronto to all its suburbs.

2) The houses of the Parliament of Canada are NOT formally addressed with the terms Hiromi used when she met with Prime Minister Harper and Minister MacKay. Hiromi used a variation of the proper term used in Great Britain to address the **House of Lords** (formally, **The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled**). Along with that, Canadian citizens — even if the Queen is the Dominion's head of state — are NOT properly referred to as "Her Majesty's subjects;" that phrase is used only in Britain.

3) The **Ministry of Magical Affairs** is the Canadian equivalent of the British **Ministry of Magic** in the _Harry Potter_ universe; this is the title I used for the Canadian ministry in my _Icemaidens_ series. Of course, the **Magical Associations** in Japan are the regional governing authorities over the magicals in that land as they appear in _Mahō Sensei Negima_.

4) To officially change the status of any unit in the Canadian Armed Forces, two things must be done. First, a **Ministerial Organization Order** (**MOO**) must be issued by the Minister of National Defence giving a general indication as to what is to happen to a unit in question (i.e. to be formed [for Navy ships, commissioned], re-rolled to a different type of service, disbanded totally [for Navy ships, decommissioned], reduced to nil manning strength and placed on the Supplementary Order of Battle or allowed to come back to active service again). To correspond with this, any unit that has any sort of administrative affiliation with the affected unit must receive their own MOO to mark what changes have been done.

Once that is done, a **Canadian Forces Organization Order** (**CFOO**) is then issued by the **Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff** (the operational second-in-command of the Canadian military) which properly defines what the unit will do, how it would be manned, what equipment it will have and where it will be based. Once that is done, the official ceremonies marking the change to the unit in question can be carried out. Again, as above, a CFOO is prepared for each of the affiliated units to mark how the changes affect those units.

5) The Russian Federation Starship _Fëdor F. Ušakóv_ (technically first of name; there have been three ships named _Admiral Ušakóv_ in the history of both the Russian and Soviet Navies, the current version being the lead ship of the Kirov-class nuclear-powered missile battlecruisers built in the 1970s) is named in honour after the most famous admiral in the history of the Russian Navy. **Fëdor Fëdorovič Ušakóv** (1745-1817) fought in two wars against the Ottoman Empire (the first from 1768-74 and the second from 1787-92), was engaged in a total of **forty-three** naval battles…and he never lost a SINGLE SHIP! Because of his success, the Russian Orthodox Church officially declared him the patron saint of the Russian Navy.

6) A military unit's **battle honours** are the actual notations on the ceremonial colours and recorded within the unit's official history concerning a battle where a significant element of the unit in question was actively engaged in combat. Concerning this, the 2nd/10th Dragoons — as they existed from 1872 to 1970 in all the unit's many different incarnations — were never given any. However, to mark the bicentennial of the **War of 1812** between Great Britain and the United States (which was fought mostly on Canadian soil when it came to land battles), those Canadian units whose ancestral forces were active during that struggle are in the process of getting such honours bestowed onto them.

In the case of the 2nd/10th, the honours indicated by Minister MacKay marks the participation of the **Niagara Light Dragoons** of 1812 and the **Troop of Provincial Dragoons (Niagara Frontier Guides)** of 1813-15 — both raised in the Niagara peninsula — in the Battle of **Queenston Heights** (a British victory on 13 October 1812 after the Americans launched their first invasion of future Canadian territory) and the **Niagara Campaign** of 1813-14, which covers the following engagements:

The Battle of **Stoney Creek** (a British victory on 6 June 1813),  
The Battle of **Beaver Dams** (a British victory on 24 June 1814, one guaranteed by advanced intelligence provided thanks to **Laura Secord** [1775-1868], who overheard American officers discuss their mission),  
The Battle of **Chippawa** (a British defeat on 5 July 1814),  
The Battle of **Lundy's Lane** (a stalemate and one of the bloodiest battles in the war, fought on 25 July 1814),  
The Siege of **Fort Erie** (where the Americans successfully repelled British attempts at taking the fort between 4 August and 21 September 1814), and  
The Battle of **Cook's Mills** (a strategic British victory fought on 19 October 1814).

At the end of this particular campaign, the American forces in Upper Canada withdrew back into New York state.

In addition to battle honours, a **theatre honour** is often given to indicate what overall campaign a particular unit was involved in. In the case of the 2nd/10th here — since their predecessors were involved in the defence of what was then called **Upper Canada** (modern-day southern Ontario) — the theatre honour "**Defence of Canada**" with the active service dates of both the Light Dragoons and Frontier Guides is awarded.

7) Rear-Admiral **Robert P. Welland** (1918-2010) commanded the original H.M.C.S. _Haida_ from December 1944 to September 1945. He would later command one of _Haida_'s sisterships in the Korean War, helped establish the modern-day naval officers training centre in Esquimalt (H.M.C.S. _Venture_) and would eventually top out as Vice-Chief of the Navy in 1964, retiring two years later.

8) The matter concerning Prime Minister Harper's and Minister MacKay's fellow parliamentarian from the riding of **Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry** (in the far east of Ontario on the border with Québec) will be explained in the next part.

9) The Canadian Navy rank of **Lieutenant (Navy)** (short-form **Lt[N]**) is written as such so as to prevent confusion with the Army/Air Force rank of **Lieutenant** (**Lt**). A Navy lieutenant has the NATO officer's rank code of OF-2. An Army or Air Force lieutenant has the rank code of OF-1, which actually matches the Navy rank of **Sub-Lieutenant** (**SLt**).

9) H.M.C.S. _Preserver_ (pendant **AOR-510**) is the Protecteur-class fleet replenishment oiler that supports the Canadian Atlantic Fleet. She is currently based at Halifax in Nova Scotia.

10) **Joint Task Force Two** (**JTF2**) is Canada's answer to Britain's Special Air Service or America's Delta Force or SEAL Team Six. They are currently based outside of Ottawa.

11) The **Tribal-class destroyers** (of which the first H.M.C.S. _Haida_ was one) was a class of 27 fast escort destroyers that were designed in the 1930s and served in both World War Two and the Korean War as elements of the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. Of those 27 ships, 13 were sunk in action, 13 were eventually retired and scrapped…leaving only _Haida_ as the last of her kind. These days, the original _Haida_ is docked at Pier 9 in Hamilton.

The H.M.C.S. _Haida_ (**SBB-215**) depicted in this story would be the second ship of the name. As she inherits the traditions and honours of the original _Haida_, she has the right to bear the following battle honours:

**Arctic, 1943-1945  
English Channel, 1944  
Normandy, 1944  
Biscay, 1944  
Korea, 1952-1953**

12) Canadian Navy trade notes:

A **Maritime Surface and Sub-Surface** (**MARS**) officer is one of the operational directors of a warship. They are the supervisors of all the ship's company that are not dedicated to technical support or logistics support. The captain of a Canadian warship is always a MARS officer.

A **Naval Combat Systems Engineer** (**NCS ENG**) officer is one of the technical directors who are in charge of maintenance of all combat systems such as weapons, communications and sensors.

A **Naval Combat Information Operator** (**NCI OP**) is one of the people who help a warship's command team in detecting, analyzing and responding to all sensor input data that flows in from radars and other detection equipment. They help in matters concerning navigation, anti-aircraft defence, anti-warship defence and anti-submarine defence.

A **Naval Communicator** (**NAV COMM**) is one of the people who run a warship's many communications systems such as voice, radio-teletype, data communications and visual (signal flag and signal lamp) to ensure that the warship's command team can stay in contact with other ships and shore installations. The senior NAV COMM on any Canadian warship is always referred to as the **Chief Yeoman of Signals**.

And, of course, a **Boatswain** (**BOSN**) is a professional sailor. Having the widest amount of chores on a warship, BOSNs handle the operations and maintenance of everything from cargo and personnel handling equipment to the ship's boats, anchors, docking cables, lifesaving gear, rope work, husbandry issues (painting and rigging), ceremonial duties and coordinating watch-keeping duties at sea and at shore. The senior BOSN on any warship is referred to as the **Chief Boatswain's Mate** (nicknamed the "**Buffer**").

As an aside, Harry White's old trade of **torpedoman** is now part and parcel of the modern Navy trade of **Weapons Engineering Technicians** (**W ENG TECH**), which is a new catch-all "jack of all trades" uniting all the weapon, sensor, radar, sonar and communications technicians in one occupation. While in real life, the W ENG TECH trade didn't officially go into effect until 2012, the Avalonians' arrival on Earth forced people in charge of Navy trade structure to introduce this trade a year early.

13) While in traditional Sagussan society, the **Elder Mother** (in Sagussan, _Ashi'cha_) was the senior spiritual leader of a commune, the position of **Elder Father** (_Amon'cha_) came out as society became more egalitarian.

14) The term "**World of the Ten Great Tribes**" is a reference to **Noukiios** (from the Ten Orders, the ten super-castes that divide the people of that world socially). "**World of the Sixteen Warrior Chiefs**" refers to **Yehisril** (first properly introduced in _The Senior Year_ story "Ancient Ties"), which indicates the sixteen crown princes who lead the separate principalities of that world; on Yehisril, it is the crown princes who hold true power and not the nominal head of state (the Lord Protector).

15) Yes, the **Steel Angels** mentioned here are the girls from _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_. How Negako interacted with them will be explained in Part 52.

As an aside, Major **Deannette Antonia "Dean" Raeburn** is a character I mention from time to time in my stories; I recently brought her out in the story _The Thunderbolt's Tears_ and she will also appear as a guest star in this story.

16) The **Thunderbird** is a common legend for many of the First Nations of Canada as well as their counterparts in the United States. How Mimōko described him when she spoke to Cologne and Shampoo does cover many of the stories that surround such a being. In effect, the Thunderbird (whether as a single god or multiple supernatural beings depending on how people view them) is a darker version of a phoenix.

17) **EZ Rock 105.7 FM** (call letters **CHRE-FM**), transmitting out of Saint Catharines, is one of a brand of adult contemporary music stations owned currently by **Rogers Communications**. The station has always been one of my favourite music stations. The "Z" in "EZ Rock" is pronounced in the American style as "zee," not the Canadian "zed" pronunciation, which allows "EZ" to sound like the word "easy."

18) Helen Carstairs' home unit is **2 Military Police Regiment**, the Canadian Forces Military Police's primary Army support group in the province of Ontario. 2 MP REGT is currently headquartered in Toronto. The unit has both full-time and part-time members; organizations like this are referred to as **Total Force** units.

19) The **Ontario Provincial Police** (**OPP**) is Ontario's primary civilian policing agency, which has jurisdiction over all parts of the province outside major cities, towns and regional municipalities. As part of their duties, the OPP has jurisdiction over all provincial highways such as the **Queen Elizabeth Way** (**QEW**) connecting Toronto with Fort Erie at the southeast corner of the Niagara peninsula.

20) The **Royal Canadian Legion** is Canada's national veterans organization.

21) H.M.C.S. _Star_ is the Naval Reserve Division based in Hamilton in Ontario. The **Naval Reserve Divisions** (**NRDs**) serve the Canadian Navy much like Militia regiments serve the Canadian Army; they will provide extra manning for full-time units requiring extra personnel, give aid to the civilian power when requested (as Yvonne Richardson is doing in this part) and serve as training and recruiting units in times of national mobilization. _Star_'s headquarters building is located next to Pier 9 in Hamilton where the original _Haida_ currently rests in honoured retirement.


	30. The Commissioning of HMCS Haida

Hamilton, Pier 9 next to H.M.C.S. _Star_ (Japan time: A half-hour before sunset)…

"This is Heather Hiscox and you're watching CBC News Network," the morning news anchor stated as she gazed on the camera, reading her opening speech scrolling down on the teleprompter screen nearby. "Reporting to you from Pier 9 in Hamilton, Ontario next to the retired destroyer H.M.C.S. _Haida_, we are about to broadcast a special addition to the Royal Tour of Her Majesty the Queen and her husband, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. Now floating a thousand metres over the waters of the harbour just passing the Burlington Bay Bridge is the newest warship of the Canadian Navy, which is to be commissioned today by the Queen. In the centennial year of the founding of the Navy in 1910, this is truly an auspicious new beginning for Canada's naval service.

"In a scene that has replayed over the past thirteen hours from Tōkyō and Sŏul to Běijīng to Berlin, Rome, Paris and Madrid and then to London, eight of the fifty star battleships created by a pair of remarkable young people from Japan after they fled being kidnapped by one of our then-unknown galactic neighbours two years ago have come down from their orbits over Earth to be officially welcomed into the naval services of Japan, South Korea, China, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Great Britain.

"Now, it is Canada's turn to welcome her starship — named in tribute to the legendary destroyer moored in honoured retirement here at Pier Nine in Hamilton as a National Historic Site — officially into the Canadian Navy. To be commanded by experienced submariner Captain Brian Gamblin, a thirty-three year veteran who has commanded every class of ship in the Navy to date, the new H.M.C.S. _Haida_ will also serve as the flagship of the United Nations Earth Defence Force, directed by Miss Moroboshi Hiromi, the adopted sister of a remarkable man who — a year ago — was asked to shoulder a burden no human being could ever dream of dealing with: Being asked to defend a world against alien invasion.

"Joining me today at our open air studio at the end of Pier Nine is Moroboshi Hiromi's and Moroboshi Ataru's twin sister, Moroboshi Tariko. She is accompanied right now by her girlfriend, Miss Hayashi Kanami…as well Miss Hakaru Ayami and Mister Ki Tsukihana, the two young former kidnap victims of the Ipraedies Empire who rose to their own great challenge to gift Earth with its first fleet of faster than light-capable starships to defend the planet against future alien incursions. Such as what happened on Saturday afternoon at the Moroboshi home in the Tōkyō suburb of Tomobiki.

"Tariko, could you tell us what happened?"

Tariko smiled as she turned to face her host. "Well, Heather, with hindsight being 20/20, we should have really expected something sooner or later…"

* * *

_Haida_, the main pilotage…

"Your sister is going to curse you for forcing her to face the hounds of the media, My Emperor," Miiko stated as she gazed out the port windows of the pilotage down towards the Hamilton waterfront, her eyes picking up the small mass of haze grey alongside one dock. Even if she didn't have the true experience her brother had when it came to picking up distance targets with her ki senses, she could lock in on her own sister's aura — that joined along with the aura of Hiromi's sister — near the old destroyer in whose spiritual shadow the Canadian starship had just sailed into.

"She actually _**volunteered**_ for that task, Kunrō-dono," Hiromi stated with amusement as she squeezed Mioko's hand. The imperial couple of the tōshi had been joined on the bridge by the reborn emperor's new aide-de-camp and her own lover (the Seito delegation was aboard the _Arizona_, now preparing to descend on the capital of her namesake state for her own commissioning in the presence of President Barack Obama). Also with them was the leader of Nanban High School (whose students were now aboard _Haida_ for the trip to Yaminokuni), her sister and her lover. Nearby were Mioko's sister and most of the Attendants, who were enjoying pleasant conversation with the leader of the Kōshi Kasshi and her siblings (Team 1 of the group was aboard) as well. Also there were _Haida_'s coxswain — the senior non-commissioned member of the ship's company — who was another old veteran of the Navy, Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Jacques Beaulieu, an electrical technician who had last served as coxswain of H.M.C.S. _Halifax_ and had served with Gamblin when both were on the old destroyer H.M.C.S. _Saguenay_ in the 1980s. "Which I am glad for. Captain Gamblin couldn't spare any of his personnel to meet with Hiscox-sensei near this ship's noble namesake. Naoko-san and her sisters simply aren't ready to deal with the outside world…and I _**dare**_ not unleash Onē-sama on the media."

Laughter filled the bridge, and then people tensed as Tsukasa Setsumi came onto the bridge, stopping to give Hiromi the civilian salute of old China: With bowed head, she held the right hand with palm down to the deck before her, the left hand right under the right and positioned in mirror to the other appendage. "Hiromi-sama, I apologize for disturbing you, but the Lord Air Knight Louis reports that this ship's shuttlecraft is now preparing to commence landing procedures on the main flight deck with Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke aboard. Master Voyager Brian requests your most august presence to await Her Majesty's arrival."

A nod. "Come, my friends. To the flight deck."

With that, everyone headed to the turbolift station to board a car to drop down into the main hull, head aft to just below the hangar deck for the Star Flares, then ascend up into open air; fortunately for the health of the ship's crew and all the visitors aboard, Hamilton's once-notoriously dirty skies had been cleaned up significantly with the help of Avalonian technology and _Haida_ had environmental life-support fields she could raise up around her to create a normal clean atmosphere around the hull to permit things like outside paintwork without the need of environmental suits. Within a minute, the group arrived at the front end of the hangar deck, stepping out into an open space that was currently empty of the four large executive shuttles carried by _Haida_ when she deployed into space. Awaiting her there was a dapper-dressed Air Force lieutenant colonel in Number 1 dress, pilot's wings and a single row of medals on his left breast. "Madame Director," he said after giving her a perfect salute.

Hiromi responded with her own hand salute. "Colonel Lagrange. How fare the noble Flying Elks these days? How are they adjusting to their new steeds?"

The commanding officer of 448 (Elk) Space Utility and Support Squadron — which had been reformed from personnel assigned to the Aerospace Engineering and Test Establishment in Cold Lake when it was re-established as a flying squadron a month before — blushed on hearing the reborn emperor address his unit by its new nickname. "We're doing fine," the former chief test pilot at AETE said as he waved the crowd from the turbolift aft to the open flight deck, where the current draft of active and reserve military personnel was now formed up to await the Queen's arrival. "We're doing a lot better than the Porcupines and the Bluenosers are doing," Louis Lagrange added. "But please, ma'am…don't tell the others I said that about them. They are trying."

"What's so different about your squadron?" Susuko asked.

A confidant grin crossed the former test pilot's face. "We're trained to try out new things all the time, Miss Izuku. Dealing with new situations is a constant with all of us. The folks in 433 and 434 are all fighter pilots with some years under their belt after they got clear of operational training in Cold Lake; all they've flown since that time is the Hornet. While I admit the Starfire is a pretty user-friendly aircraft, it still takes a lot to get used to. Especially once you get them into space."

"I believe Tsukihana-kun's planned gift to your fellow knights of the sky will brighten their spirits up," Hiromi said. "Especially those based in Bagotville and Cold Lake."

Lagrange gave her a curious look. Two months ago, after a visit with the Chief of the Air Staff — the professional head of the Canadian Air Force — in Ottawa, Tsukihana began work on a new Earth-based deep space superiority fighter similar to the long-range craft flown by Aruka Ran's late would-be boyfriend. As to what it would be called and how it would look like, no one had any idea…but the "Little Genius" had vowed the gift would be one that anyone could appreciate. "Is this sort of gift like what you're about to give to the Navy today, Director?" he then asked.

Hiromi chuckled; Tsukihana had told her all the details, but had vowed her to secrecy over the matter. "Be assured, good sir, you will not have to wait for the centennial of the founding of the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2020 to have your own service's pride and true emotional independence restored to it," she vowed. "You will like it."

He nodded at that, and then he turned to salute his wing commander, Colonel Mark Sullivan. After pleasantries were exchanged with Hiromi's party, everyone stepped onto the open flight deck. Amassed there were the three hundred sailors and other service personnel directly assigned to _Haida_ in the first draft, the hundred-and-fifty personnel assigned to 21 Space Wing and her three operational squadrons and the fifty reserve personnel from the 2nd/10th Dragoons. Also present was the band of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, a militia infantry unit based in Saint Catharines, the largest city of the Niagara peninsula located on the shore of Lake Ontario and northwest of the 2nd/10th's new home city of Niagara Falls; the band had been called out to perform music for the Queen's short visit aboard _Haida_, but would not deploy to Yaminokuni. The commanding officers of the units in question — including Louis Lagrange's fellow squadron commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Phillipe Jefford of 433e (Porcupine) Escadron Tactique de Chasse d'Espace and Lieutenant Colonel Will Fowler of 434 (Bluenose) Space Tactical Fighter Squadron; not to mention the 2nd/10th's first commanding officer in four decades, Lieutenant Colonel Luke Salmon — saluted Hiromi as she came up, the reborn emperor responding with her own salute. "Gentlemen, are we ready to make Her Majesty most welcome aboard Her newest warship?"

"That we are, ma'am," Brian Gamblin nodded with a smile.

With that, everyone moved to take their positions. As ship's captain and effective formation commander of the Canadian Contingent of the Earth Defence Force — no flag officer had been assigned to this duty — Gamblin assumed his place at the centre of the hollow square formed at the forward end of the flight deck. _Haida_'s crew formed the box's spine, with the Air Force personnel to port and the Army personnel to starboard; this was in marked contrast to normal orders of precedence, which would have the Navy personnel on the right, followed by the Army people and then the Air Force personnel, but given the numbers in question and given who belonged where, the book had been tossed aside for this particular event. The squadron standards for 433 and 434 Squadrons were held up by flag parties…though out of respect to the fact that _Haida_ was not officially commissioned into the Navy, the standards were currently cased in leather protective bags; 448 Squadron had never been given a standard in its short existence as a flying squadron in the Air Force. As CPO1 Beaulieu and his counterparts in the other units did a quick inspection of the troops to ensure all was well and everyone looked sharp and proper for the Queen, a voice then rang out over the ship's intercom system, "Hiromi-sama, the _Welland_ is on final approach."

Hiromi perked, her eyes picking out the soaring spacecraft now gliding over the Burlington Bay Skyway towards _Haida_. "I see her, Naoko-san. Thank you."

* * *

Pier 9…

"Right now, one of the CSV-194 Star Flare executive transport shuttles — which also serve as large troop transports in situations when _Haida_'s materialiser systems cannot beam down soldiers to a planet — is approaching the _Haida_. This particular shuttle is named the _Welland_, in tribute to the original _Haida_'s second commanding officer, Bob Welland, who passed away earlier this year," the CBC news anchor declared as cameras — both on the ground and in helicopters orbiting nearby — filmed the Star Flare's approach to her home ship. "It should be noted that _Haida_'s three other Star Flares are busy picking up supplies from depots across Canada to bring up to the ship before she departs Earth for the planet Yaminokuni. As was announced by the United Nations when the Japanese Starship _Yamato_ and the Republic of Korea Starship _Paekbŏm_ were commissioned thirteen hours ago — at eight o'clock in the morning local time in Japan and Korea — the mission of the Task Force is to deploy to Yaminokuni to ensure that Moroboshi Ataru's would-be wife, Redet Hensō, will be made to marry the crown prince of that world to answer a twelve decade-old honour obligation incurred by Hensō's great-grandfather, General Redet Traveller, with the current First Patriarch of Yaminokuni, Elder Upa." To Ayami. "Ayami, what exactly will happen now once the Queen comes aboard _Haida_? Her son, the Prince of Wales, was the one who officially welcomed _Haida_'s sistership _Hood_ into the Royal Navy just five hours ago in the skies over downtown London. How does one officially commission a _starship_?"

"Well, the commissioning ceremonies for the ships now assigned to the Task Force were worked out three months ago by the senior ceremonial directors of their home nations' armed forces," Ayami explained. "As you can see now, only the National Flag of Canada — and the United Nations flag — are flying from _Haida_'s mainmast and foremast." To viewers across Canada, a picture was then shown of the starship, the flags in question flying high at the top ends of both main sensor vane clusters over the upper forward and aft superstructures. "Once the Queen comes aboard, of course, Her Standard will be raised to fly to starboard of the United Nations flag, along with the Union Jack and the Governor General's flag to port. Hiromi will then prompt Susuko to give the Queen the 'Commissioning Tablet,' which is a special dataPADD that will be linked…"

* * *

_Haida_…

"Ship's Company…!"

"Twenty-One Wing…!"

"Second/Tenth Dragoons…!"

"ROYAL SALUTE, _**PRESENT…ARMS!**_"

As massed boatswain calls shrilled the still over the flight deck, the Queen — who had just stepped off the forward boarding ramp of the _Welland_ along with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh (in the uniform of a full admiral in the Canadian Navy), and her vice-regal representative to the Dominion, Governor General Michaëlle Jean (in her modified version of an admiral's uniform in the Canadian Navy) — paused as the band struck up her honours music, _God Save The Queen_. As the Duke and Jean saluted back, everyone paused as the first verse of the British royal anthem was played out, and then everyone relaxed. Once that was done, both Gamblin and Sullivan — as the senior officers present aboard _Haida_ to receive the commissioning party — marched up side-by-side to stop before their monarch, saluting them with their drawn sabres.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," Gamblin — as the elder of the two officers — declared. "Welcome aboard _Haida_. The ship's company, the personnel of 21 Space Wing and the personnel of the 2nd/10th Dragoons await your inspection."

"We are pleased to be aboard, Captain," the Queen stated formally. "Please."

With that, both officers inward-turned — one NEVER presented his back to the Queen — and then they paused as the monarch walked past them before they fell in to both sides to escort her to the members of 21 Space Wing assembled on the deck today; they would be the first party inspected. Before said inspection began, Gamblin ordered everyone to shoulder arms, and then order arms to allow everyone to place their C7A2 rifles on the deck beside their right feet. Once that was done, Colonel Lagrange — as senior squadron commander of 21 Wing — came up to greet the Queen as the band launched into an upbeat medley while the inspection of the assembled crews began.

As this was done, the _Welland_ silently rose into the sky and moved to a hovering position off her mothership's starboard side to await the Queen's departure…

* * *

Pier 9…

"Right now, the Queen is inspecting the combined honour guard of 21 Space Wing, the newest fighting wing of the Canadian Air Force and the formation officially tasked to provide Air Force support to the _Haida_," Heather Hiscox continued. "Currently, there are three of a planned eight squadrons now officially established as part of 21 Wing. The pilots of the first squadron, 448 Squadron from Cold Lake, fly the Star Flares as a starship utility support unit. The pilots of the other two squadrons — 433 Squadron from Bagotville and 434 Squadron from Halifax — will form two of the _Haida_'s five planned space fighter squadrons, flying the CSF-196 Starfire ship-launched tactical space fighter. Tsukihana, looking at _Haida_'s port side right now, it's quite obvious to see the _Battlestar Galactica_ influence in her design. Why didn't you exactly follow that concept and create special booms positioned outside the ship's main hull to house her fighter complement? Did you know about the re-imaged series that first came out in 2003? In that series, the booms can actually retract into the hull when _Galactica_ went faster than light."

Tsukihana shrugged. "Well, ultimately, I didn't want to be seen as 'stealing' ideas from television shows even though I was inspired by a lot of them, from Japan as well as America." He then impishly grinned. "Though I will admit that Mister Larson (who created the original television series) and Mister Moore and Mister Rymer (who created the new series) were all tickled pink that I had put their ideas to use on the Type One ships." He turned to point to a place under _Haida_'s main flight deck, about midway down the hull. "As you can see there, there is a landing bay — there's one on the starboard side, of course — for the fighters when they are done their missions. Like surface aircraft carriers, they run the length of the hull to forward portals just in case a fighter has to 'bolt' and try to land again." He pointed to the "exit" portals on the hull just ahead of the ship's pendant number **215**, and then waved to Ayami. "She designed the life-saving and damage control equipment to ensure that never happens."

"So effectively, _Haida_ is both a battleship and an aircraft carrier?"

"Essentially yes," Ayami answered. "And while her pendant number right now is 'SBB-215,' there is talk on modifying the pendant number to read 'SBBV-215' — and the same to be used elsewhere — to incorporate the 'V' code for naval fixed-wing aircraft."

"The aircraft carrier hull classification code 'CV' actually meant 'Cruiser, Aircraft Carrying' when it was first devised by the Americans in the 1920s," Tsukihana added.

* * *

The Burlington Bay Skyway, that moment…

"Damn!"

Leading Torpedoman (retired) Harry White perked, and then he turned away from gazing on the great spaceship named in honour of his old destroyer to stare at the business executive who — after getting the chance to watch the new _Haida_ pass over the Skyway a half-hour before — made the long walk up the steep ramp of the great bridge to stand with the small crowd of veterans at the apex of the span over the Burlington Canal. "What is it, son?" he asked, noting that Paul Merritt was staring at his iPhone.

"A _**battleship**_ AND an _**aircraft carrier**_?! All in ONE SHIP?!" the Manulife executive wondered; he had been listening to the CBC News live feed through his phone's earpieces.

Standing next to her grandfather, Gina Clinton laughed. "A real _**battlestar**_!"

"Yeah. Just like _Battlestar Galactica_," Paul added.

"'Battlestar?' What the heck's that?" White asked as he stared at her.

The younger woman laughed…

* * *

_Haida_…

The Queen was now making her way to the small podium erected in the hollow square of sailors, soldiers and air personnel on the flight deck. As both the Duke of Edinburgh and Governor General Jean assumed their places on the deck to either side of their monarch, Captain Gamblin and Colonel Sullivan marched up to stand before the Queen, saluting her with their swords. By this time, all the troops had been allowed to stand at ease, and then relax. "Your Majesty, thank you for taking your time to visit us today," the captain of _Haida_ stated after returning his sword to the ready position.

"It was my pleasure, Captain," the monarch stated as she focused on the crowned gold dolphins on the left chest of Gamblin's jacket over his medals. "A little different than commanding a submarine?" she then asked with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.

"I believe that submariners will be the best ones to command starships, ma'am."

"How so?" the Duke asked as the Governor General chuckled.

"We're trained to think in three dimensions, sir," Gamblin stated with a smile.

The Queen laughed. "What do you say to that, Dear?" she asked her husband.

The Duke — who was a qualified pilot in both the Royal Air Force and the British Army Air Corps — hummed. "Well, since they haven't had an aircraft carrier here in Canada since 1970, I think it would be strange to see someone like Colonel Sullivan here take command of a ship." He gazed at the commander of 21 Wing. "Would you be interested?"

"No, sir!" Sullivan stated. "I've leave driving ships to the people qualified to drive them!" And with that, he flashed a wink at Gamblin.

Gamblin laughed. "Sacrilege!" the Duke instantly declared as the Queen smirked; for those nations that DID have aircraft carriers serving their navies, it was the _**law**_ that the captain HAD to be a qualified navy pilot. "Still, there is hope," he mused.

"How so?" the Governor General asked.

"Don't you know? They are talking of reforming the Air Cavalry Corps here, Michaëlle."

"Is the Major coming back to command the Saskatchewans?" the Queen wondered.

"The CDS — as General Deschamps told me when I was made wing commander — is trying to get into contact with the Major now," Sullivan stated. "But it is hard."

"Yes. Which _planet_ is that woman on now?" the Queen asked. More laughter, and then the monarch took a breath. "It's time," she said before calling out, "Lady Hiromi?!"

"Hai!"

With that, Hiromi and her party — who had waited off to one side as the Queen inspected the troops — came out to join everyone by the podium…

* * *

Pier 9…

"We're now watching as Tariko's sister, Moroboshi Hiromi, makes her way to join the Queen at the podium. Accompany her is Miss Izuku Susuko, a former graduate of Rakuyō Senior High School in Tōkyō, who was declared the Deputy Director of the volunteer elements of the Earth Defence Force two hours ago," the CBC news anchor then stated. "Tariko, what can you tell me about your sister's friends with her now?"

"Well, it's pretty complicated," Tariko warned…

* * *

_Haida_…

As the Attendants, the Izuku sisters, the Hari siblings, the Kashira siblings and Emi's lover, Miiko and Koeru Kumomi all gave the Queen either the civilian hand-over-hand salute or the military fist-in-palm salute, Hiromi deeply bowed to the monarch, her hands clasped together in a bow of respect. "Your Most Divine Majesty," the reborn emperor called out. "On behalf of the ladies of Avalon now aboard this great vessel, we humble warriors greet you and welcome you aboard _Haida_. May Your Most Just Reign over Your Vast Dominions be long, peaceful and fruitful for all Your Subjects."

The Queen smiled; having met Hiromi almost two days after the younger woman had finally come down from the bioroid factory in late March, she was aware of how classical the reborn emperor's speech could be. "We thank you, Lady Hiromi. We see that you have been rejoined by many of your sister tōshi, including all of your closest advisers from your court in Luòyáng. Would you care to introduce your lovely companions to Us, please?"

Hiromi smiled as she waved each of the others up to stand beside her as she introduced them by real name, battle name and the name and style-name of their past-selves. Save for Susuko — who was in a formal man's kimono with hakama trousers, a beautiful Chinese jiàn sheathed in a scabbard of dragons and tigers tied to her left side — everyone were in furisode-pattern kimonos for this occasion…which on Kashira Yutako looked odd given the patch she wore over her right eye. Susuko also had a dataPADD — the Commissioning Tablet, the Queen knew — in her right hand. Once that was done, the Queen took a deep breath. "Well met to you all, ladies. Now, Lady Hiromi, Our Son was more than willing to explain the simplicity of this ceremony to Us, though We find it still quite baffling given that this is a starship we're on, not a surface warship."

Another nod. "Of course, Your Majesty."

Captain Gamblin stood to attention. "Ship's company!"

"Twenty-One Wing!" Colonel Sullivan called out after snapping to attention.

"Second/Tenth Dragoons!" Colonel Salmon called off to one side after doing the same.

"_**ATTEN-…TION!**_" all three officers barked as one.

As the troops snapped to attention, the commanding officers waited a pause, and then ordered everyone to shoulder arms. Once that was done and everyone was standing ready for the next part of the ceremony, Hiromi then barked out, "Suikō-dono!"

Susuko snapped to attention. "Hai?!"

"Present Her Majesty with the Commissioning Tablet!"

"Hai!"

With that, Susuko walked up and presented the dataPADD to the Queen with both hands, bowing her head as she did so. The Queen took the tablet with a nod of thanks, and then she waited for the mini-computer to sense out her DNA (recorded sometime before back in London) before it flashed a picture of her Canadian Royal Standard, along with the greeting **WELCOME ABOARD, YOUR MAJESTY. PLEASE PRESS THE GREEN ICON TO BEGIN.**

Said icon was pressed, and then the ship's computer spoke out, that rich male voice — the Queen herself would hear that voice in English; others would hear it in their primary native language — echoing all over them, "_Welcome aboard this ship, Your Majesty. Do you acknowledge this starship, pendant number SBB-215, christened_ Haida_, as a commissioned warship in Your Most Loyal Armed Forces of Canada?_"

"We do," the Queen replied.

"_Acknowledged. Be it proclaimed by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty that on this day at this time, 0829 hours Eastern Daylight Savings Time on Monday, the Fifth of July in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand-and-Ten, and in the Fifty-Ninth Year of Her Reign, that this starship, pendant number SBB-215, is hereby officially commissioned as Her Majesty's Canadian Starship_ Haida_. May Eternity bless her and all who serve aboard her for as long as she retains the Queen's Commission. God Save the Queen!_"

"Her Majesty's Canadian Starship _Haida_!" Captain Gamblin then barked out, glad now to be saying that instead of the more neutral "ship's company" warning phrase; this also would warn the Army and Air Force personnel that the command also involved them. "Royal Salute to the Ship's Commissioning, _**PRESENT…ARMS!**_"

The boatswains piped the still as the amassed sailors, soldiers and air personnel snapped their rifles to the present, their right feet being stamped behind their left at a 45 degree angle. As _Haida_'s thin white commissioning pennant with the red maple leaf at the hoist was raised to the top of the foremast, the band played the second verse, the second refrain and the chorus to the tribute song _In A Class of Her Own_, prepared for Parks Canada (the official government custodians of the original _Haida_) for a video on the destroyer later released to the public; as it had been planned from the start that the new _Haida_ would be commissioned in the skies over Hamilton near where her namesake lay berthed in honoured retirement, all the military bands currently based in Ontario — Regular and Reserve alike — had practised on the song.

As the song picked up, a mass chorus of female voices then echoed over the flight deck:

_The years went by and she lay still  
But threats still remained.  
People cried out to save her greatness,  
Her greatness and her name. _

_She stands tall honouring all who died  
So we could be free.  
No sacrifice never too great  
Lest we forget the Tribals' legacy! _

_We came from the East,  
We came from the West,  
Brothers in arms,  
(Brothers in arms…)  
Proud sailors one and all! _

_Twenty-seven Tribals set out to sea.  
Thirteen sunk. Thirteen gone.  
Only_ Haida _lives on!  
She's in a class of her own!  
In a class of her own!_

Cheers then echoed from all around Hamilton Harbour…

* * *

Pier 9…

"And it's now official," Heather Hiscox declared. "As of 8:29 this morning Eastern Daylight Savings Time on the fifth of June, 2010, Canada _**officially**_ entered deep space alongside eight other nations across Earth. In just over two hours, the last ship of the task force — United States Starship _Arizona_ — will be commissioned by President Barack Obama in the skies over the Capitol Building of her namesake state in Phoenix." She turned to Moroboshi Tariko. "Tariko, a lot of people have wondered this when it came to the Type One ships: WHY did Hiromi make _Haida_ her flagship? Why not _Yamato_ or perhaps _Zhèng Hé_ given that as a tōshi, she views China as her spiritual home?"

"Well, that's not true in one aspect," Tariko stated. "Ever since her soul was pulled out of Ataru's head when we were given our lives back on Okusei in January, she's never really seen her home as anywhere else but Japan. Yes, when she was Liú Hóng eighteen centuries ago, her home was in China. But today, here and now, she lives in Tomobiki."

"So why _Haida_?"

Tariko smiled. "Well, I believe Canadians would appreciate the irony of this," she said. "If Hiromi made _Yamato_ her flagship, then it would upset the Chinese, the Koreans, the Vietnamese, the Thai, the Burmese, the Malaysians and the Indonesians. Most likely the Australians as well. All of them have Type One ships assigned to their armed forces. We didn't want that. If _Zhèng Hé_ was chosen, it might have upset the Americans and everyone else who don't like the Chinese. If _Paekbŏm_ was chosen, it would upset the Japanese and probably the Chinese. If _Arizona_ was the one…"

"It would upset all those who don't like Americans," the news anchor stated.

A nod. "Yes. In effect, _Haida_ won out. Who DOESN'T like the Canadians?!"

Laughter echoed over the pier for a moment. "So what's the big surprise that Prime Minister Harper stated Hiromi plans to give to the Canadian Navy?" Heather then asked as she waved up to the starship in the skies over the Harbour. "Isn't _**that**_ enough?!"

More laughter. "Well, given that the honourable member of Parliament for the riding of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, Mister Guy Lauzon, introduced a private member's bill one month ago to bring back the Executive Curl to officer's rank insignia in the Navy, we decided that another little part of Navy history — with some modifications to reflect some modern realities — should be brought back as well," Ayami explained. "If you watch the _Haida_ now, you'll understand that in a few minutes."

Everyone turned to look…

* * *

_Haida_…

By now, the sailors, soldiers and air personnel had been allowed to return to shoulder arms, then went to order arms. As the Queen relaxed herself, she then noted a new message flashing on the Commissioning Tablet before her. **A GIFT FOR THE CANADIAN NAVY ON THE CENTENNIAL OF THEIR FOUNDING, YOUR MAJESTY**, the message said. **PRIME MINISTER HARPER AND MINISTER MacKAY ARE AWARE OF THIS; MISTER LAUZON WILL PREPARE A PRIVATE MEMBER'S BILL CONCERNING THIS ISSUE SOON ENOUGH. IT IS NOT OFFENSIVE; TSUKIHANA, AYAMI, MICHIKO AND I THOUGHT THIS ONE OUT **_**VERY**_** CAREFULLY. PLEASE PRESS THE WHITE ICON.**

She then gazed at Hiromi, who was giving her a knowing look. Knowing there was really no offensive bone in that woman's body given how much she — not to mention the bright young pair who had actually designed these ships and saw them built at that alien dockyard — had carefully thought things out when they selected names for these ships before they finally came to Earth, the Queen tapped the icon, and then turned to face the aft end of the ship. As Captain Gamblin then barked orders to return everyone to shoulder arms, the line of boatswains led by CPO1 Beaulieu — who had marched away from _Welland_ after the Queen came aboard to form a line at the aft end of the flight deck — raised their calls to their lips to pipe the still.

On seeing that, Gamblin then barked out, "Her Majesty's Canadian Starship _Haida_…to the Ensign, _**PRESENT…ARMS!**_"

The rifles were slapped to the present. After that, both Colonel Lagrange and Colonel Salmon ordered their troops to snap their eyes aft with an "Eyes Left!" or "Eyes Right!" to ensure everyone could see what was to come next. Once done, the shrill tone of the still echoed over _Haida_ from a half-dozen calls as something in a wrapped package was raised up a wire running alongside the tall sensor vane between the main engine exhaust ports that now served as the starship's ensign staff. As the band played _O Canada_, everyone was quick to see the red and white fabric displayed in the package, bracing themselves to wait for the unveiling of the flag that would serve as _Haida_'s ensign when flying in atmosphere.

The package reached the top of the wire…and then, with a quick yank, was unlocked to reveal a Canadian flag. But THIS flag — to the total shock of all the military personnel seeing this now — actually formed the first quarter of a great white flag that was embossed with a thin blue Saint George's Cross, virtually in the same proportions as one would have seen on the White Ensign flown on Canadian warships and shore stations before the Maple Leaf flag was made official in 1965.

A true _Canadian White Ensign_.

"Oh, my God…!"

That, the Queen was quick to note with some amusement, was Captain Gamblin. A glance behind her showed that the submariner was trying not to gape in shock at Hiromi, who had a delightful smile on her face on sensing the surprised reactions at this show of respect to Canada's century of naval history, especially the hard fighting done on the Atlantic by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Before she could say anything more, the band quickly struck up _Heart of Oak_, the official march-past of the Navy. As voices instantly rose in song — including that of the Duke of Edinburgh, who had served on many ships during that war — she then nodded.

"Well done, Hiromi. I do think they like it," she whispered.

Hiromi nodded. "I do try to please," she whispered back.

The Queen chuckled…

* * *

The Skyway…

"My God…!"

"It's beautiful…!"

"Why a _blue_ cross, Grandpa?!"

Harry White smiled as he gazed at his granddaughter as many of his old shipmates brought out cameras and camera phones to take detailed pictures of _Haida_ flying her new White Ensign. "Well, when they formed their navy after they got their independence in 1947, the Indians elected to use a slightly different shade of red in their ensign, plus added the three lions from their national crest in the centre of their cross. The South Africans, when they brought out their new flag back in the 1990s when they did away with apartheid, put a _**green**_ cross on their ensign. The Australians and the New Zealanders just use a British white ensign with the stars they normally put on their national flags instead of a cross; blue stars for the Aussies and red stars for the Kiwis." He waved to _Haida_. "It still is a red-white-and-blue flag, just like the old ensign we flew on our _Haida_. But it has the Maple Leaf Flag to mark it as Canadian…and a dark blue cross to mark that she's a Navy ship even if she's going into space."

"I don't think people would like a **Black** Ensign," Paul Merritt added.

Wry chuckles escaped the crowd around them as several of the veterans began to joke about having a _**pirate**_ flag flying on the new ship. Noting that, Gina Clinton shrugged. "Yeah, you got a point. But it kinda looks like the _Finnish_ flag from a distance!"

White looked, and then shook his head. "Oh, God, no…!"

* * *

Pier 9…

"Now THAT is a present!" the CBC news anchor noted.

Ayami and Tsukihana were beaming; given the acrimony that rocked Canada in the 1960s when it came time to introduce a new flag — the infamous "Great Canadian Flag Debate" — that the new White Ensign seemed to be accepted with the crowd of sailors and veterans at the edge of the pier nearby and aboard the old _Haida_ off to their left made it all worth it. "Well, we wanted to make something that honours both the past and the present," the former said. "Hiromi did meet with Prime Minister Harper and Minister MacKay prior to our coming here and she warned them this was coming. Since they didn't raise any sort of objections over it, we decided it was best to unveil it now."

"But what of the Navy Jack?" Heather then asked as she waved to the new _Haida_, which was now sporting the official flag of Maritime Command at her "jack staff" (a small sensor vane located at the forward end of the main hull between the two sensor probe booms that made the starship's bow resemble the front end of an Earth Defence Directorate starfighter from the early 1980s television series _Buck Rogers in the 24th Century_). "Will the Jack be retired with the new White Ensign in service?"

"Well, that's for everyone in Ottawa to decide," Tsukihana explained. "We made the White Ensign as a suggestion to serve as the official naval flag for ships at sea and in space. As to how the Navy Jack will be used in conjunction with that, that's for others to decide. We wanted to honour both the past and the present of the Canadian Navy. That design…" — he waved to the new ensign — "…does, in our eyes, honour that."

Everyone else nodded. "And speaking of which, I think it's high time we get back aboard and prepare to blast off onto space," Tariko warned.

"Come back safe," the CBC news anchor then said.

"Oh, we intend to," Kanami noted with a smirk…

* * *

_Haida_…

"You will be careful out there, won't you?"

Hiromi sighed before she gazed up in amusement at the Duke of Edinburgh. The _Welland_ was now back on the flight deck, ready to take the Royal Couple and the Governor General back to Toronto so that the Queen would then be able to continue with the last day of her tour…which would ironically take her to nearby Waterloo so she could visit the main offices of Research In Motion, the company that created the BlackBerry series of smart phones. "I don't intend to get us into a war, Your Highness," the reborn emperor of the Hàn stated. "I intend to **prevent** a war from happening, both now and in the immediate future. While I'm not fully sure as to how people beyond this solar system feel about us breaking out into space at this time, I'm sure that — like many Urusians such as the fools that instigated the Tag Race in the first place — they will not welcome it."

The veteran of World War Two — he had served on battleships, destroyers and even in the engine room of a troopship across the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean — nodded in understanding. He hadn't been in active service since his wife's ascension to the Throne, but he still kept very much up to date with military matters. And while the Tag Race held in the summer of 2009 in Tomobiki had thrown defence planners across the planet into a wild panic, the fact that Hensō — who was the adopted daughter of a major military leader on Uru — seemed not to care for anything more than spending her life with her "husband" had caused masses sighs of relief from Tōkyō to Washington to Moscow to Běijīng and elsewhere. But it still didn't dismiss the possibility that there were hostile alien races out there who wouldn't like nothing better to do than to seize the Avalonians' technology and put it to use for themselves. Which would involve Earth in one way or another; there were already hundreds of millions of bioroids living on Earth now…with nearly two _**billion**_ of them still residing on their large factory ship and the hundreds of seized former Niphentaxian vessels and space stations in orbit over Earth.

And given that the Urusians' chief ally had once ENSLAVED the Avalonians…!

"You won't stray anywhere close to the Phentax system, will you?" he asked.

A shake of the head. "No. From here, we'll skirt the frontier of Gominanite, Kōmori and Seifukusu space to an area close to the Den'sha system, then climb close to the galactic barrier and proceed parallel to that to the edge of the Orion Arm where Yaminokuni is. Space along the projected route is not claimed by anyone in particular…and since we'll be moving quite fast, we hopefully won't be spotted by someone who might wish us ill."

Hearing that, the Duke nodded. "Well, do be careful," he said as he saluted her. "With your permission, Madame Director, my wife and I will be off."

Hiromi grinned as she returned his salute. "Live well, Your Highness. We must have tea sometime soon," she said as she bowed her head to him.

He laughed before turning to rejoin his wife, who was parting now from Captain Gamblin. As soon as the Royal Couple and the Governor General boarded the _Welland_, everyone backed away from the shuttle as she rose into the sky, and then banked to the north and east to head back towards Toronto. As the other flags came down from the foremast — the National Flag of Canada on the mainmast had been lowered at the same time the new White Ensign had been broken open on the ensign staff — Hiromi took a deep breath before she turned as Gamblin came up to join her. "Your orders, Madame Director?" he asked.

She sighed. "We have work to do, Captain. Let's be about it."

A nod. "Aye-aye, ma'am."

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Heather Hiscox** (born 1965) has been the host of the morning edition of _CBC News Now_ since it was re-branded from its old title _CBC News: Morning_ in 2009; she was also one of the anchors of the older show. An Ontario native from Owen Sound, she has worked in both radio and television since 1987.

2) An **Electrical Technician** (short-form **E TECH**) is one of a Canadian warship's in-house team of professional electricians. They are responsible for the operation and distribution of electrical power throughout the ship. They also assist in maintaining the electrical and electronic equipment associated with the ship's power generation, engineering systems and propulsion systems.

3) Canadian Navy ship notes:

H.M.C.S. _Halifax_ (pendant **FFH-330**) is the lead ship of her class of helicopter-carrying patrol frigates. First launched in 1988 and commissioned in 1992, she is currently based in her namesake city of Halifax.

H.M.C.S. _Saguenay_ (originally **DDE-206**, later **DDH-206**) was the second of seven Saint Laurent-class destroyer escorts. I served on this ship between 1987-88. Launched in 1953 and commissioned in 1956 as a steam destroyer escort for convoy work, she was converted in 1965 to carry a Sikorski CH-124A Sea King helicopter for anti-submarine work. She was finally decommissioned in 1990 and sunk as a diving park off the coast of Lunenburg in Nova Scotia in 1994, where she rests today.

4) **Number 1 Dress** (also known as **Ceremonial Dress**) for the Canadian Forces is the standard issue dress uniform (usually referred to as the **Number 3 Dress** or **Service Dress**) with ceremonial accoutrements such as swords (or bayonets) with scabbards, white web belts, gloves, etc. Full ribbon medals are normally worn with the Number 1 (in lieu of undress ribbons).

5) Notes on 21 Space Wing's current squadrons:

**448 (Elk) Space Utility and Support Squadron** (**448 SUSS**) was first formed as the Royal Canadian Air Force's primary test and experimental squadron in 1967, based at **Cold Lake** in northeast Alberta close to the Saskatchewan border. The squadron was disbanded four years later when its functions were taken over by the **Aerospace Engineering and Test Establishment** (**AETE**).

**433e (Porcupine) Escadron Tactique de Chasse d'Espace** (**433e ETCE**) was first formed in 1943 as a heavy bomber squadron and a fighting element of **No. 6 Group RCAF**, the primary Air Force contribution to the campaign against Nazi Germany. Disbanded in 1945 at war's end, 433 was reformed in 1954 at Cold Lake as an all-weather fighter squadron. Moved to North Bay, they were disbanded again in 1961, then reformed as a tactical fighter squadron in **Bagotville** in Québec near Chicoutimi in 1968; here was when the squadron was officially made a French language unit. The squadron was last disbanded in 2005.

**434 (Bluenose) Space Tactical Fighter Squadron** (**434 STFS**) was, like 433 Squadron, formed as a bomber unit in 1943, serving in Britain until 1945, when it was disbanded. Reformed in 1953 in **Zweibrücken** in West Germany near the French border, 434 was a fighter squadron until it was stood down in 1967. Reformed again the next year, the squadron served as the operational training unit for the Canadair CF-116 — the Canadian-built version of the Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter — at Cold Lake, then became a front-line squadron, shifting to Bagotville in 1982, then to **Chatham** in northeast New Brunswick three years later. Transformed into a composite squadron in 1992, the squadron was shifted once more to **Shearwater** in Nova Scotia (outside Halifax), where it served until its last disbandment in 2000.

Note that in the Canadian Air Force, all squadron numbers are always said as individual numbers, i.e. "Four-Three-Three," "Four-Three-Four" or "Four-Four-Eight."

All squadrons are also nicknamed either by the central symbol on the squadron crest or by a home city.

6) The **Lincoln and Welland Regiment** (**LINC WELD R**) is the Niagara peninsula's primary reserve infantry unit. Headquartered in Saint Catharines, it was the unit I served in as an **administration clerk** (these days amalgamated as part of the trade known as **Resource Management Support Clerk** [**RMS CLK**], who are the people who handle all clerical and financial issues) for most of 1985 before I went into full-time service. The unit was first formed in 1863 as the "Lincoln Battalion of Infantry" and has recently won the battle honour "Detroit" for the participation of the old Lincoln Militia in the capture of **Detroit** on 16 August 1812. It also was awarded the battle honours "Queenston" (for the Battle of **Queenston Heights** on 13 October 1812) and "Niagara" (for participating in the **Niagara Campaign** in 1814 as described in the previous part's notes), plus the theatre honour "Defence of Canada 1812-15."

In real life, the unit was a part of **31 Canadian Brigade Group** until it was made part of **32 Canadian Brigade Group** in 2012.

7) All Canadian military aircraft model number codes start with "**C**" to represent Canada. The "**S**" used on the codes in this part would be the code for a spaceship, though it could also represent an anti-submarine warfare craft (though the Canadian Forces does not use the "S" code in real life). "**V**" indicates a craft capable of vertical take-off and landing that is NOT a helicopter like the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport (helicopters are marked with "**H**" like "UH-60" for the Sikorsky Blackhawk or CH-124A for the Sikorski Sea King). And "**F**" naturally indicates a fighter aircraft. Thus, the **Star Flare** is given the model code **CSV-194** (meaning "Canadian Space VTOL aircraft, Model 194")…and the **Starfire** is given the model code **CSF-196** (meaning "Canadian Space Fighter, Model 196").

Note also that Canadian military aircraft have a five-to-six digit **serial number** that is the official registry of the individual aircraft in question. All Canadian serials have the model number as the first three digits of the serial number, with the individual aircraft number as the following two or three digits. For example, the _Welland_ is given the serial number **19401** as there are only four CSV-194s in service in the Canadian Forces. Any Starfire on _Haida_ would be coded like this: **196149** (there are 200 CSF-196s on _Haida_ as well as about 40 additional craft at Cold Lake for pilot transition training). The aircraft serial number always appears on the tail fin of any aircraft. The last three numbers of the serial will appear on the aircraft nose, the upper starboard wing surface opposite the national roundel on the upper port wing and the lower port wing surface opposite the national roundel on the lower starboard wing. _Welland_'s nose short serial number would read **401** and be painted on the hull right under the cockpit windows.

8) Even though he is ranked as an admiral of the fleet in the Royal Navy, **Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh** (born 1921) only bears the honorary rank of **Admiral** (**Adm**) in the Canadian Navy as the Canadian service has never required the equal of an American five-star rank admiral for its operational commander. Likewise for the Canadian Army and Air Force, the Duke bears the honorary rank of **General** (**Gen**), which bears the NATO officers rank code OF-9.

9) The **Governor General of Canada**, which serves as the Sovereign's vice-regal representative and _de facto_ head of state for the Dominion, wears a modified version of the Canadian Forces' uniform that displays a unique rank insignia. On the shoulders, the epaulettes bear a gold version of the Governor General's personal heraldic symbol (a crowned lion holding up a maple leaf in the paw), which is derived from the crest of the Canadian Coat of Arms. A wide stripe shaded in service colours (Navy black, Army green, Air Force blue) bordered in gold on the cuff of each sleeve bears the same insignia, flanked on both sides by wreathes of laurel; the stripe is as wide as the thick gold stripe of a general's sleeve insignia.

10) The **Colt Canada C7A2** rifle is the standard assault rifle of the Canadian military. It is patterned after the American M16 rifle, though in the A2 format, the iron carrying handle/rear sight aperture was taken off to allow special optics to be added onto the weapon. The weapon was first introduced in the late 1980s.

11) The **Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry** (**RCCAC**) — which is my own invention; this does not exist in real life — is the Canadian Army's tactical air forces. In the universe of this story, the Corps was disbanded thanks to Unification in 1968 and the full take-over of piloting duties by what eventually became Air Command. Its senior regiment, the **10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment of Canada (Air)** (**10 SASK CAV R**), was Major Raeburn's home regiment before she formed a team of "specialized warfare" (military metahuman) specialists she called the **War Hawks**. Notes on the RCCAC and its composite regiments are contained in the story _The Air Cavalry Regiments of Canada_, posted at the FictionPress website. Specific notes on the Saskatchewan Cavalrymen can be found in Part Three of that particular story.

12) The "**CDS**" is the **Chief of the Defence Staff**. Ranked as a general or admiral, he is the professional military head of the Canadian Armed Forces.

13) The **Executive Curl** (also known as "Elliot's Eye") is the circular loop that goes into the top stripe of the officer's rank insignia for those people serving in navies influenced by the British tradition. Once part of the rank system of the Royal Canadian Navy, the executive curl was taken away at Unification in 1968, but was restored to Naval officer's rank insignia in Canada in the summer of 2010, just in time for the International Fleet Reviews done at both Esquimalt and afterward at Halifax. The man who proposed this to happen was **Guy Lauzon** (born 1944), the Member of Parliament for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry in southeast Ontario.

14) Concerning what was said in the narrative near the end of this part, the **Great Canadian Flag Debate** was the massive public and political discussion that rocked the Dominion during 1964 as the government decided what sort of national flag would replace the Canadian Red Ensign (which technically was **not** an official flag, though it had served as the _de facto_ national flag in one form or another since Confederation in 1867). The Debate was a bitter affair that lasted about six months, only coming to an end when the Liberals under Prime Minister **Lester B. Pearson** (1987-1972) used closure to force matters to a vote in the House of Commons on 15 December of that year, thus permitting the Queen to officially declare the Maple Leaf Flag the official national flag of Canada by Royal Proclamation on 28 January 1965, said flag being unveiled on 15 February that year.

15) The **Canadian Forces Naval Jack** is a white flag with the National Flag of Canada in the canton and the central symbol of Maritime Command (a fouled anchor under a naval crown, that embossed with a flying eagle) in blue in the fly. The Jack officially came into service in 1968. This flag also serves as the command flag of the **Chief of the Maritime Staff** (**CMS**), the professional head of the Navy. It serves as well as the branch flag of the **Naval Operations Branch** (**NAVOPS**) of the Forces, the administrative service branch for all "hard sea" trades in the military.

16) **Gomiana** (demonym **Gomianite**) is Earth's and Neptune's closest neighbour to the galactic "south" (course 180 from the centre of the galaxy) and a member state of the Galactic Federation of Planet-States. It was mentioned from time to time in _The Senior Year_. It orbits the star **Tau Ceti** at about five light-years' range from Earth.


	31. An Attack on USS Arizona

On Yaminokuni, in the Great Palace in Muzlim Madiina…

"Welcome, my friends! Welcome, all of you! Please sit! Do sit!"

"We thank you, Your Excellency, for your gracious welcome to we mere humble warriors," Yoiko stated as she and Ataru took places in the centre of the room before the throne holding Upa. The visitors from Earth — after awakening near the shores of the city's spaceport a half-day before — had been given the chance to rest up and relax in guest quarters at the Palace before being presented by a grinning Rupa to his great-grandfather. As the crown prince of Yaminokuni and his disguised sister took their places to either side of Upa, a smiling Carla — who had suffered some burns, but was now bandaged up — relaxed to one side of the room and the remaining people from Earth took seats behind Yoiko and Ataru.

Gazing on the Terrans, the aged patriarch grinned. While he was not fully aware of what had been going on in that particular star system recently, he knew the Noukiites had moved to shield it from further Urusian or other Federation incursions in the wake of the "Revelation in Onishuto" (as the local cluster's news media called the failed marriage between Moroboshi Ataru and Redet Hensō). Of course, even if their power was seen as on the wane, the Seifukusu were still quite formidable in their own way, so their lack of reaction to this clearly indicated the Imperial Houses were more than content at Noukiios' more open action concerning Earth. And while the government of Emperor Schwartz of Ipraedos were still screaming out propaganda about the "evil Noukiites" who had drawn a line around Earth, the true leaders of that world weren't stupid; the presence of the Princess Dragons of the Tri-Kingdoms so close to that star system would guarantee that an attempted invasion would turn into a bloody rout. The Zephyrites, more a religious force than a political one, were also quite content with the current state of affairs. As for the two other great powers of the local cluster — the Confederation of Vos (still mired in a long civil war, though said war would probably not continue another year) and the Royal Kingdoms of Yehisril (who had gladly jumped in when the Noukiites freed the Avalonians out of simple general principle; their loathing of chattel slavery was well-known) — they would take a cautious but quite hopeful "wait and see" approach as to how the Terrans of Earth would accept the Avalonians joining them as galactic partners for the future.

And now this…

"Do try the tea," Upa then bade as servants got to work. "It's a nice blend, mixed with dried samples some of our more common fungal fruits. It's quite safe for your races, by the way." He then smiled at Ataru. "We also have some fresh _eta_ powder imported straight from Okusei, Patriarch Moroboshi. I know you spent two months there in the company of the Lady K'ekhech as you worked to free your sisters' souls from your mind, so it might be an actual reminder of a very good time."

Ataru smirked, though he did take a teaspoon of that powder before he passed it on to Makoto. "To quote a very famous author from my planet, Your Excellency, _It was the best of times, it was the worst of times_. On that planet alongside someone who was blessed with the power of the Gods Themselves, I went through the heartbreak of losing Hensō, rediscovered love with Kyech, and then went through heartbreak yet again when she made it clear she didn't want a 'norm' like me as a potential husband. At the same time, I realized the true power I commanded thanks to Onē-san's presence in my mind." His eyes narrowed. "You've read the accounts of Morningstar Plain, I believe."

A grave nod. "A most dreadful affair, indeed. Even if the Lady K'ekhech could claim the vast majority of the 64,000 bandits slain that day, you completely destroyed your reputation as a ladies' man in that battle, replacing it with that of a fearsome warrior that has within his own soul the power to command the earth itself to heave." As all the tōshi gaped in shock and awe at Ataru, Upa sighed. "Enough of that. I doubt you wish to reflect on such a dark time. In the meantime, my great-grandson has told me a most interesting story about the reason you have all come here, not to mention bearing a most interesting gift for us."

"With your permission, sir, I'd like Yoiko here to explain it," Ataru said.

Upa nodded. Yoiko took a deep breath. "Your Excellency, Your Highnesses, Lady Carla, people of the most noble Kingdom of Yaminokuni," she stated. "We came as emissaries of not just the Matriarch Moroboshi Hiromi, Lord Ataru's beloved sister and leader of her clan. We also came as emissaries for all the people of Earth and New Avalon, who are united now and alone, facing a vast galaxy that is full of great wonders. And unfortunately, full of great threats. One of them made itself known nearly three days ago our time when a most vile attack was launched against the Moroboshi family home on Earth. It was done via the Central Warp Chamber of Triton, which was in violation of many treaties concerning the use of that device. It was originally started by three very concerned friends who wanted to see their friend safe and happy. Those three people are with us now." She indicated Mienai, Damasu and Kamen, all of whom bowed to Upa. "However, their actions were grossly taken advantage of by the Imperial Round faction of Uru and the surviving leaders of the so-called 'Church of Lum' from Phentax Two in hopes of retaliating against Moroboshi Ataru and his family against his decision to declare all natives of Uru _persona non grata_ as well as his sister Negako's support in freeing the Avalonians from slavery under the Niphentaxians.

"That attack, as you may now know, was stopped by the hand of Ataru's twin sister Tariko, who stood at the very entrance of the warp gate connecting Tomobiki with Kōri City on Triton, a Lawgiver in hand and a full magazine in the pistol grip. She was accompanied by Hayashi Kanami, Tariko's new girlfriend, a martial artist of great skill and potential. Between them both, they cut down over six hundred of the attackers, badly wounding most of the remainder and ensuring the Warp Chamber was damaged enough so that it could not be used for some weeks to come. In the wake of this event, the current monarch of Neptune was deposed and a Regent installed in his place. Most of the leaders of the Imperial Round on Uru were terminated with extreme prejudice on the direct orders of President Hozan Lana. But in doing that, Captain Redet Negau, adopted sister of the Lady Lum, discovered something ominous. And that's why we're here."

"You said it was a stealth ship," Rupa stated. "I never thought the Oni would build such a thing, even if the Ipraedies have made all their ships cloak-capable."

"It's a prototype," Yoiko stated. "Size is about the same as the average heavy star cruiser. We don't know how many are aboard at this time, but most of them are Avalonians, provided no doubt by Ōgi himself in his own mad support to see his 'living goddess' enthroned as Uru's new Empress. As to where it is, we can't say. But what we CAN do is try to bring it out into the open to fight and stop it."

"You believe it will come here," Upa stated.

"A very great possibility," Yoiko affirmed with a nod. "We propose to take advantage of that fact and draw this ship and those in command of it into a trap of our own setting. While we don't, of course, like the idea of putting a large number of innocent civilians in harm's way, we do believe that the people in control of this ship — as we just did — would warp directly into Muzlim Madiina to try to attack you head-on when you least expect it. That ship WOULD fit into the spaceport here."

"Do you have the schematics?"

Yoiko handed a PADD over with both hands. Gazing at the image there, Upa then scowled, his eyes running over its statistics and performance values. "A nasty machine," he mused before handing the PADD to Rupa. "And it **_would_** fit through the Airport warp gate."

"Damn!" Rupa hissed out. "We can't close the Airport gate against _**this**_."

"What is your proposal, Lady Yoiko?" Ika asked.

"Quite simple," Yoiko stated. "As we speak, a fleet of ten star battleships, all manned by volunteers, will deploy from Earth to Yaminokuni using _normal_ space travel. Once they're here — and with your permission, First Patriarch — they will land the equivalent of a Noukiite Imperial cavalry regiment battle group to set up defensive firing positions around Muzlim Madiina. Along with that will come a portable shield generator system that will cover the city. What we propose to happen is that we lure the stealth ship through the city's spaceport. We provoke the people in charge of this lot in a way to make them come fast and hard. Once they blast through, we throw up the shield to protect the city, and then turn 380 heavy anti-ship guns we'd deploy on ground around the city on it. A few shots with annihilation warheads will convince the people in charge to climb for the heavens…where our battleships will be waiting for them on the other side of the particle cover protecting your world from the light of your home sun." A smirk. "We beam off the Avalonians — the technology we have will help us do that with great ease — and give them one choice to surrender. They do, we turn them over to you for due processing. They don't, the black flag is raised, we hull the ship into a wreck and give that to you as a war prize."

The natives all gaped at the Terran-turned-Avalonian's words. "A most courteous gift from your Matriarch and your people, Lady Yoiko," Upa stated.

"And while you're doing that, Ojii-san, you can see your great-grandchild married to a version of Lum that will be much more agreeable to you than Hensō."

Eyes locked on Ataru. "What do you mean?" Ika asked, her eyes brightening.

He smiled at her. "When we captured Mienai, Damasu and Kamen, we discovered that Lady Zōju's curse on Lum was still active and, no doubt, locked still on her old body, which Hensō now uses as her own. As long as that curse remains active, Lum will never have her justice; neither will her friends." He then thumbed behind him, in the general direction of Muzlim Madiina Airport. "Aboard Damasu's ship as we speak, there are two Avalonian bioroid clone replicas of Lum. One is totally complete and has been gifted with Lum's full memories, but conditioned in such a way so that she could accept marriage to yourself, Your Highness. The other bioroid is not programmed save for the basics; it's just an empty shell. We hope to use that to allow Hensō's soul to shift over so she can finally escape the curse that caused her and Lum such trouble. And with that…"

"The curse is forever gone," Carla finished.

"Hai."

Upa hummed. "Well, I DID want Rupa to marry her…"

"Ojii-sama, with all due respect, that would hurt your elder great-grandson badly," Yoiko then stated as a knowing smile crossed her face while she gazed at him. "It is quite obvious to me that he loves the Lady Carla dearly."

"And it's also quite obvious that Prince Ika is quite willing to do this," Ataru added as he waved to Ika. "Are you willing to break his heart?"

Upa considered that, and then he looked over to Ika. "Are you sure…?"

"Great-grandpa, let it happen between them at their own time," Ika said as she gazed knowingly at a still-blushing Rupa and Carla. "Right now, we need to do this, not just for Yaminokuni, but for Earth and New Avalon, too." She then made a face. "Besides, do you want to have your wishes influenced by the likes of _Ōgi_?!"

Upa winced. "Of course not!" He then laughed. "Fine! Let it be so!"

Cheers filled the room. As soon as the applause settled down, Yoiko then cleared her throat. "What I propose, sir, is to wait until the Task Force from Earth is here and the troops landed before you send out a broadcast to Uru telling the Lady Lum's father that his daughter will be married at a specific time. That, I believe, will be monitored by the stealth ship. Once they're on their way, we can deal with it fast and quick, then see your great-grandchild married right then and there."

"But if we hold off on the marriage until Lum's fat pig of an old man comes here, we can do something even more," Ataru stated. "Lum herself will be on Hiromi's flagship; she wants to come here and see this matter properly resolved." The others in the room were quick to sense the growing disgust in his voice. "And once Invader hears it from 'Hensō's' own mouth that he made such a mistake five years ago…"

"It would destroy the man," Upa breathed out.

"Hai! Atop that, a person I care for — no, TWO people I care for! — will have their justice at last!" Ataru then gazed at Rupa. "Surely, sir, after learning of how badly Lum's life was wrecked because of that curse — and ESPECIALLY because of how easily _Ōgi_ sweet-talked his way out of having his people's dirty little secret exposed to the whole galaxy at large! — you can agree she NEEDS that justice!"

Rupa firmly nodded. "I do."

"Okay, then!" Makoto stated as he slammed his fist into his other hand. "What say we get the omiai under way and introduce the Prince to his new princess!"

Laughter filled the room…

* * *

The Moon's orbit, at Lagrange Point Four (Japan time: Two hours before midnight)…

"I don't like this."

People perked on hearing the voice of the senior officer in the detachment of the Aerospace Engineering and Test Establishment assigned to International Space Factory Sethlans, one of five hundred-and-six such units seized by the Avalonians four months ago. This factory — which had been given the name of the Etruscan god of the forge — was assigned to provide second-line technical support to several nations, Canada being one. Once permitted, detachments of all the units of the Department of National Defence's Material Group — of which AETE was one key component — and Defence Research and Development Canada were sent to Station Sethlans to help produce and test all the new and interesting toys the Canadian Armed Forces would have to adopt quickly to remain a key element of the defence of the planet now that the Space Angels had been so kind to _**give**_ them that chance!

"What seems to be the problem, Dan?" Jeanne Charlier, the Elder Mother of the Avalonians who worked hand-in-hand with the personnel from AETE, asked.

Lieutenant Colonel Dan Cooper sighed as he crossed his arms. A fighter pilot who had flown CF-104 Starfighters and CF-188 Hornets since he got his wings in Moose Jaw twenty-five years before, he had been posted to every fighter squadron in Air Command and Canadian Forces Europe — save for the inevitable down-times when he had to do staff courses and got his master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Toronto — before he was assigned to AETE after he served as the last commanding officer of 441 (Silver Fox) Tactical Fighter Squadron at Cold Lake until it was stood down four years ago. He was then assigned by AETE's top brass to become one of the group's senior test pilots, which was pretty exciting in its own way, but didn't produce the same thrill of being involved in aerial combat (Cooper was a veteran of the First Persian Gulf War and operations over the former Yugoslavia).

Three months ago, that had changed dramatically.

And even though being involved in making the CSF-196 Starfire the best fighter possible for the pilots currently and soon to be assigned to 21 Space Wing, Cooper had got involved in something else. Something he had been sworn to secrecy on — even to his own superior officers! — by a kid young enough to be his _**grandson**_ of all things!

But when said kid was responsible for creating starships like H.M.C.S. _Haida_…!

"It's **_too_** quiet," Cooper stated.

Jeanne blinked. "What do you mean?" She knew that the former commander of 441 Squadron had been monitoring news feeds from the CBC News Network, CNN and BBC World concerning the commissioning of the first ten ships of the Earth Defence Force since H.M.S. _Hood_ was welcomed into the Royal Navy over London; as Station Sethlans was run on what used to be called "Greenwich Mean Time," he had been up for several hours.

"No major bad reaction to the commissioning of those ships," Cooper explained. "Save for that big pile-up on the Kyŏngbu Expressway south of Sŏul when _Paekbŏm_ came down." It was that incident — which, thanks to the fast work of Korean police and military forces, hadn't resulted in fatalities — that had prompted a traffic shutdown in the other cities where commissioning ceremonies were being held. "But there has to be something…"

"You're still living a little too damned close to the edge, Dan," the chief of mission and AETE detachment director here at Station Sethlans, a retired aerospace engineering colonel named Scott Werny, noted.

"Sir, we've heard of some fringe radical groups around the world who don't like the idea of our charging out into space like this," Cooper replied; as Werny had been a full four-stripe colonel when he pulled the pin, the test pilot always addressed him as if he was still in uniform. "Yes, it's stupid — especially after what the Urusians pulled last summer, not to mention what the Noukiites discovered in Tomobiki back in February when Jeanne and her sisters moved shop here — but that's part of being human."

The older man nodded. While the Avalonians had gone out of their way to make themselves feel welcome on Earth, there were the naysayers. That often shocked many across the planet; despite the big events that caught the attention of the media during March of 2010 — the earthquake that struck Chile in late February (where Avalonian-Chileans had volunteered to help with rescue efforts straight off evacuation ships and the bioroid factory!) as well as other natural disasters, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the never-ending mess concerning Israel and the Palestinians, the child sex abuse scandals rocking the Roman Catholic Church — the BIG news story of the month were in-depth reports on what had happened to the Avalonians over the last century. Reports that included quite graphic pictures and lurid descriptions concerning the level of abuse many bioroids had suffered at the hands of their former "masters."

The result of that was a massive worldwide show of sympathy for the Avalonians as they sought to make their own destiny as a free people. Hand-in-hand with that was the open doors policy initiated by every country to welcome the Space Angels. Naturally, the Avalonians were happy to do their best to become part of their new home nations and cultures…even going so far as to adopt local dress standards even in quite conservative countries such as Saudi Arabia; there, Cooper had heard from a friend from the Royal Saudi Air Force he had met during the build up to the First Gulf War, Avalonian-Saudis were more than happy to wear the comforting _ḥijāb_ after years of often being forced to parade around naked or in revealing swimwear to be pawed at and molested by horny boys.

And while there had been expressed concerns about welcoming a race of functionally _bisexual_ women who were Vulcan-like _**telepaths**_ of all things amongst Terrans, the Avalonians had naturally gone out of their way to quell such concerns. While the laws concerning the regulation of the use of psionic powers had yet to be even _**imagined**_ by jurists and legal experts, the fact that an Avalonian could sense evil intentions with their empathy had resulted in a noticeable down-turn of terrorist attacks in both Iraq and Afghanistan, which made the jobs of security forces a lot easier. Avalonians were passionate when it came to protecting children; those of Jeanne's sisters who moved to places in Africa like Sierra Leone where the use of child soldiers had been rampant had been brutal to those who would force innocents to fight for their lives for things they didn't understand. Along with that was the reaction of Avalonians in the Middle East to the concept of honour-killing innocent teenage girls for just being teenagers, trying to understand their own maturing bodies when their native culture didn't give them any avenues to explore their sexuality safely.

Still, there **_were_** the xenophobes.

Having appeared the previous summer after the "world oil-theft" incident, people like these were — for the most part — driven by the religious belief that humans were the ONLY true race in the universe and that the Urusians were devils that had to be destroyed immediately…a belief that was supported by the fact that Hensō, her cousin Jariten and her former fiancé Rei had HORNS on their heads! Of course, given the smart decision made by the Men In Black to restrict the presence of the Urusians and their allies to Tomobiki, most xenophobes had no way to properly express their desires; the Japanese authorities were always on the lookout for such things.

Of course, the discovery of hundreds of Niphentaxians agents in Tomobiki and elsewhere in February — to say anything of the discovery of an _**annihilation bomb**_ buried under the Tomobiki Ginza of all places, one with a FIVE HUNDRED MEGATON explosive capacity! — had been a red flag to the xenophobic bulls wishing for any chance to kill an alien "devil." And while the Avalonians who came to Earth shortly after that looked for the most part to be as human as any Terran, there were older bioroids who had been fashioned after their pointy-eared ex-masters; the current President of Avalon, Otako Meinyak, was one of them. After several attempted attacks on alien-form Avalonians across America and elsewhere — attacks that hadn't killed anyone; again, Avalonian psionic powers came into play there — the alien-forms had, for the most part, returned to the bioroid factory and places like Station Sethlans to live their lives in safety.

And now…

"You think they might attack _Arizona_?" Jeanne asked.

Cooper nodded. "It's a possibility. If I was Tom Kazanski, I'd have mounted a standing CAP of Starfires visibly armed to the teeth around _Arizona_ to make it quite apparent than any attack on that ship would not be allowed. If that ship was crippled and crashed on the surface…!"

The Avalonian-Canadian metaphysics engineer winced. All the ships of the Earth Defence Force had anti-matter in highly reinforced containment tubes deep within the aft part of the main hull; it was the energy produced by the controlled collision between molecules of anti-hydrogen and their positive counterparts in the core that allowed ships like _Arizona_ to fly faster than light. But even if the technology that rendered the presence of anti-matter on the starship had more redundancy than Fort Knox had defences to protect its gold, there WAS the chance that such containment fields could be dropped.

The annihilation bomb that had been in Tomobiki had only about five _pounds_ of anti-matter inside it…which was enough that — if it was detonated — would have turned the whole Kantō basin into a radioactive bay of the Pacific Ocean.

Ships like _Arizona_ carried TEN TONNES of the stuff.

If THAT went off…!

* * *

U.S.S. _Arizona_, in orbit over Phoenix, that moment…

"My God…it's beautiful."

"It's a pity that Mister Hadden never lived to see this."

Hearing that voice from the main entrance to the bridge, Professor Eleanor Arroway could only smile as she looked out the port windows at the beautiful landscape of the southwest states well two hundred kilometres below _Arizona_'s keel. In a short while, the first battleship built for the United States Navy in over sixty years would descend from the heavens and assume parking orbit over the State Capitol in Phoenix. Once there, one of her V-94S Star Flares — named _McDonald_ after the old _Arizona_'s first captain — would fly under the designation "Navy One" from Luke Air Force Base west of downtown to bring the President aboard for the commissioning ceremony; once Barack Obama arrived, the starship herself would switch call-signs from "Sandy Oak" to "Navy One." As the _Arizona_ would have to head into space right away to join the other Task Force ships, the actual administrative turn-over of the starship from the private ownership of Hakaru Ayami and Ki Tsukihana of Japan to the government of the United States had been done three hours before, with Moroboshi Negako — having beamed over temporarily from _Haida_ — signing the transfer papers on her legal charges' behalf in the wardroom, the Secretary of the Navy accepting the starship on behalf of the American people.

"Yeah, it's a pity," Eleanor's boyfriend, Palmer Joss, mused as he stood beside her to gaze out into space. "He would have loved to meet the Avalonians and walk on this ship. Even if it was built to fight against God's other creatures."

Eleanor grinned. She first met Palmer years before when she had worked at the Arecibo Observatory forty kilometres west of San Juan on Puerto Rico. They had enjoyed a brief relationship before she had got a new job at the Very Large Array radio telescope site off U.S. Highway 60 in New Mexico southwest of Albuquerque; the SETI scientist had been able to see her place of work through the "Big Eyes" computer-enhanced ship-mounted binoculars in the signal bay off to the bridge's port side a few minutes ago, helped by one of _Arizona_'s Avalonian crew, Ginger Allen. And while she wasn't anywhere close to being as spiritual as her lover, Eleanor never allowed religion to get in the way of their relationship. "Humans have gone to war against each other for millennia, Palmer," she told him. "The Avalonians' creators destroyed themselves in a five-century war that killed ten billion. The Urusians launched their 'invasion' last summer to prevent the Ipraedies from invading us…"

"And yes, both Ayami and Tsukihana were two of the many who were kidnapped by the Ipraedies to prepare for such an invasion," he replied. "I know, Ellie. I know." He gave her hand a warm squeeze. "That it is _necessary_ still doesn't make it _**right**_."

She nodded. "I'm sure Mister Hadden would agree with you."

He smiled. Solomon R. Hadden was a reclusive billionaire who had long been a public supporter of SETI research; he was the one who rescued Eleanor and her co-workers when the National Science Foundation moved to cut off government funding for SETI research to the Arecibo site, helping her shift to the Very Large Array five years ago to continue her work. Sadly, Hadden passed away from cancer months before the Tag Race in Tomobiki; fortunately for Eleanor and her friends, he committed funds in his will to ensure SETI research would continue. When the Avalonians came eight months later, they threw their full technical support behind the SETI operation in New Mexico and elsewhere, explaining their actions with this: "There's a lot of real estate out there. Even WE don't know who owns it all!"

THAT had made Eleanor laugh…

"What?"

She perked, and then gazed on Palmer; he had probably seen her grin. "Remembering what Anne said when her crew came to the Array to help modify all the gear," she said.

He nodded. "Sort of like what your father once told you."

"Yeah. 'I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us…seems like an awful waste of space,'" she quoted her late father Ted.

"And it turns out…"

"It's awfully **_crowded_** out there," she finished…

…and then she blinked as the horizon seemed to tilt left. "What…?"

A whistle echoed over the bridge. "Now hear this! Now hear this!" a male voice then spoke over the intercom. "All ship's systems, assume posture for atmospheric insertion. I say again, all ship's systems, assume posture for atmospheric insertion. All hands, prepare for the reception of the President's party. I say again, all hands, prepare for the reception of the President's party in one hour…"

The scientist and the philosopher exchanged looks, and then smiled as they moved to stand near the front of the bridge to watch _Arizona_'s descent…

* * *

The Very Large Array (eighty kilometres west of Socorro, New Mexico), fifty minutes later…

"Why are you doing this, Anne?"

"Do you want Ellie or her boyfriend to be hurt?" Anne Obst, the senior Avalonian-American currently working at the Very Large Array — which had been expanded from the original 27 individual radio-telescope units to 54, each augmented with hypersensitive equipment that could (it was claimed) pick up the whisper of a mosquito from the edge of the solar system itself! — on the Plains of San Agustin, replied. "You know there's been talk to find some way to dismantle the ships those kids made, not to mention destroy everything we brought here from the Phentax system. With the President about to go aboard the _Arizona_, it makes the ship a perfect target."

Her co-workers — and Eleanor Arroway's friends — Geoffrey Fisher and Willie Martini both nodded. Devoted SETI researchers for years, both men had been literally tickled pink when the Urusians visited Earth a year before…and viewed the Avalonians coming _en masse_ to Earth months later as the greatest thing to happen to humanity since the invention of the wheel! And while an overwhelming majority of Americans supported the integration of Avalonians into their society — especially since, if plans to settle thirty new colony planets to Earth's galactic "west" and "south" went through, the United States would get one planet to itself (to be named "Columbia"), plus a share of another with Mexico and some of the Caribbean nations — there were the loons and idiots out there who looked on the bioroids as the Devil's creation and would do anything to drive the beautiful women off Earth by any means possible.

That most of those people were religious zealots didn't surprise either Fisher or Willie…and it sure as hell humiliated people like Palmer Joss, who — despite being an evangelical philosopher — viewed Avalonian-Americans like Anne Obst as lost children of God who needed the support of their Terran counterparts to help remove the emotional shackles of their past and evolve as God intended them to evolve. And if such benefited Terrans as well, that was God's plan for His children of Earth. "After all," Palmer had confessed to Larry King two months before, "If God did NOT intend our new friends to come to Earth, it would NOT have happened."

"Anything?" Fisher asked.

"Nothing other than the AWACS from Tinker and the F-16s flying out of Luke," Anne said as she played with the dataPADD before her, her eyes scanning the graphic showing the two hundred kilometre-wide no-fly zone centred on _Arizona_, which had just welcomed the President and his party aboard. Due to overcast skies over the capital of the Grand Canyon State that swept in just as _Arizona_ had arrived in the skies over Phoenix, the actual commissioning ceremony had been quickly shifted into the hangar bay; even if the American starship had multiple redundant deflector shield systems that could keep out a simple thing like rain, the Pentagon brass — who, like their counterparts elsewhere, were still trying to assimilate the incredible technology the Avalonians had given to them on a proverbial silver platter — decided it was better to be safe than sorry and got their Commander-in-Chief under cover.

Considering that, both SETI scientists shook their heads. The Canadians, when they commissioned _Haida_ just two hours ago, hadn't closed down all airspace around Hamilton when Queen Elizabeth went aboard; all they did was sent out an emergency Notice to Aviators to avoid the airspace over Hamilton Harbour and points east and north of it for the period between 7:00 and 10:00 in the morning local time. The other countries sending personnel to Yaminokuni today — even the Chinese and the South Koreans — had done the same thing. Yet what did Washington ordain? A two hundred kilometre-wide _**kill bubble**_ around America's first starship, vowing to shoot down ANYONE who DARED get close to _Arizona_, and then put a whole air armada up around the ship. And while the memories of 9/11 were still fresh in people's minds, there was something called "overkill!" And yeah, their boss WAS aboard…

"Wait!"

Both men tensed. "What?" Willie demanded.

"Got something approaching from the east," Anne said as she played with the controls, slewing Telescope #33 over to scan an area over the city of Globe, just at the edge of the no-fly zone east of Phoenix. "Single aircraft, moving on course 279, altitude 2150 metres over MSL, speed 550 kilometres per hour," she added. "Key in Warbook."

"Got it!" Fisher said as he tapped controls on a nearby unit to bring up the "warbook," which was a master sensor list of all aircraft types, including known spaceship types. "Keying into Thirty-three right now." A pause, and then he blinked. "It's a Learjet Forty."

"Going to life-scans," Anne said as she played with her own controls. "Dana, call up to the AWACS and tell them what we found. See if they spotted it."

"Right!" one of the other new girls working here, Dana David, called back…

* * *

_Arizona_…

"_Welcome aboard this ship, Mister President_," the on-board computer called out over the hangar deck after the President had taken his place on the podium and tapped the Commissioning Tablet, presented to him by _Arizona_'s chief engineering officer, Commander Kevin Lorrah, at the beckoning of Captain Tom Kazanski. "_Do you acknowledge this starship, hull classification symbol SBB-72, christened_ Arizona_, as a commissioned warship in the Navy of the United States of America?_"

"I do," the former senator from the state of Illinois replied.

"_Acknowledged. As proclaimed by the Honourable Barack H. Obama, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in him by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that on this day at this time, 0809 hours Mountain Standard Time on Monday, the Fifth of July in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand-and-Ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the Two Hundred-and-Thirty-fifth, this starship, hull classification symbol SBB-72, is officially commissioned as United States Starship_ Arizona_. May Eternity bless her and all who serve aboard her for as long as she retains her commission._"

The civilians within the hangar deck cheered that declaration. "United States Starship _Arizona_," Kazanski barked out. "To the ship's commissioning, _**PRESENT…ARMS!**_"

* * *

The Very Large Array…

"Life scans show two people aboard, plus a lot of cargo…" Anne said.

"Anne, Eagle Nine reports they can't detect the Learjet!" Dana warned.

"What?!" Fisher cried out. "That's impossible! Those birds have…!"

"Ammonium nitrate…?!"

Everyone turned to Anne. "What?" Willie asked.

"There's ammonium nitrate on that plane! At least a half a tonne of the stuff!" Anne declared. "Not to mention a quarter tonne of liquid nitromethane and another quarter tonne of ammonium nitrate/fuel oil! Why in Lyna's name…?!"

"Oh, fuck me…!"

Eyes snapped over to Willie. "What?!" Fisher demanded.

"That's the same stuff Tim McVeigh used to blow up that building in Oklahoma City back in '95!" the other SETI scientist warned. "That thing's a flying BOMB!"

Everyone paused, and then Dana tapped controls on her dataPADD. "VLA Socorro to Eagle Nine! We're detecting a homemade bomb on the Learjet that we just spotted! Say again, we're detecting a homemade bomb on the jet!" Back to Anna. "Where is it now, Anna?!"

"It just entered the no-fly zone! If it maintains course, it'll fly right into _Arizona_'s starboard side! Estimated time of interception nine minutes!"

Dana nodded as she repeated that to the AWACS…

* * *

Sixty kilometres north of Phoenix at ten thousand metres ASL…

"Copy that, Socorro! We're moving to track now!" Chief Master Sergeant Don Engle, currently aboard a Boeing E-3H Sentry manned by personnel from the 964th "Phoenix" Airborne Air Control Squadron out of Tinker, replied back as he played with controls. Nearby, one of the junior airmen was shouting out the alarm to all other stations on their operating frequency. "C'mon, baby! Lock in on that sucker there!" he hissed out.

"You got him?" the officer beside him, Captain Paula Van Vilken, demanded.

A shake of the head. "No, ma'am! There's…!" He then tapped controls to run a combat diagnostic on his machine. The result made him gape. "Oh, shit!"

The captain spotted what he had seen. "We're being jammed! Major!"

The flight operations commander, Major Sam Connors, nodded before he tapped a control. "Navy One, this is Eagle Nine! Socorro just spotted a flying kamikaze coming your way! We can't lock in on him with our sensors! Get that ship climbing up! Jedi Leader, this is Eagle Nine! You copy the signal from Socorro?!"

"Roger that, Eagle Nine," the commanding officer of the 69th "Werewolves" Fighter Squadron, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Sorrel, called back from his F-16. "Socorro, this is Jedi Leader! Can you try to track us in on the bogey?!"

"Locking scans with Eagle Nine now, Colonel," Anne Obst declared.

"Eagle Nine, this is Arrow Six. Do you copy?"

Connors perked. That was an unknown call sign. "This is Eagle Nine. Who's this?"

"Eagle Nine, this is a special test flight from Alpha-Echo-Tango-Echo Detachment Sethlans," the strange man's voice replied. "I am flying an experimental fighter armed with six space-capable, concussion warhead-type AMRAAMs. I have target lock on the bogey and I can do a TOT shot with my missiles. Given what Socorro just detected and your problems, this bogey's probably got some ground sensor ECM support to keep you and your tactical fighter support from the Temple blind and Navy One open for attack."

Connors nodded. The phonetic code was easy to translate, especially with the detachment name given: The Canadians' Aerospace Engineering and Test Establishment, based out of Cold Lake in Alberta; as a member of the 552nd Air Control Wing, he and his squadron-mates had gone there to participate in Maple Flag exercises. As he considered that, he shook his head. Whoever "Arrow Six" was, he had called in on the combat frequency for this operation — a frequency that couldn't be hacked by outside sources as it was transmitted over the HyperNet, the Avalonians' trans-warp capable, self-contained version of the Internet — so he **_had_** to be legitimate! Even if it wasn't exactly by the book, he'd get details later; with his aircraft's sensors now blind to whatever the SETI boys in New Mexico just picked up, there was no way to track the F-16s in to try to do a visual verification before engagement could begin. With the bogey's current speed, he had less than eight minutes to decide.

He tapped his radio control. "Arrow Six, you are clear to engage."

He could sense the smile in the Canadian pilot's voice. "Roger that, Eagle Nine." A pause, and then he coolly called out, "AMRAAM with one…Fox Three!" A five-second pause, and then, "AMRAAM with five…Fox Three!"

"Got missile tracks!" Chief Master Sergeant Engle called out. "Also got Arrow Six's transponder unit! He's…" He then gaped in awe. "Jesus H. Christ! He's diving right on the bogey's position according to Socorro! Altitude fifty-five…!"

"Wait!" Anne called over from New Mexico. "Life signs just vanished!"

"_**WHAT?!**_" everyone on the Sentry cried out…

* * *

Inside the main hull of _Arizona_…

Deep within the central hull, showers of energy appeared inside two of the two dozen containment cells located in the part of the _Arizona_ set aside for her organic master-at-arms team. Standing before one of the cells was Laura Allen, one of the American starship's "plank-owner" crew, a Lawgiver pistol in hand. As the materialiser effect faded, two haggard-looking men in plain clothes — who had been beamed aboard with their bodies in sitting positions — collapsed to the deck, their heads hitting the hard metal sharply. As they cried out in pain and surprise, Laura gazed to port as a figure in solid black from neck to toe approached. "Negako-sama, the prisoners are secured."

"I can see that, Laura," Negako stated before tapping the communicator fixed to the left flap of her gi tunic. "Jinseiko, were the others captured?"

"Affirmative, Negako-sama," the voice of the chief of the Kuromoroboshi ninjas, Fusegu Jinseiko, replied. "We captured two disguised Ipraedies Information Service agents with the members of Busey-san's _group_…" — Negako was quick to sense the derision in the other woman's voice on her saying that — "…that were hidden in Papago Park with the equipment they used to jam the American aircraft."

"Turn them over to the custody of the personnel from the 855th Military Police Company," Negako then instructed. "Michael, are you overhearing this?"

"Yes, Negako," an effeminate man's voice answered back. "We'll take custody of the two Ipraedies agents. They must have been long-term insertion observers."

"You will explain things to the local authorities, of course."

"Of course."

"Very well, then." To Laura. "Transport these two to Jinseiko's position."

The blonde, hazel-eyed woman nodded, lightly smiling. "Of course, Negako-sama."

As she turned to key controls to activate the materialiser, Negako walked off…

* * *

The hangar deck…

"Ma'am, would you like to give the first orders?" Tom Kazanski asked with a smile.

The sponsor of the _Arizona_ — the granddaughter of one of the many of the American starship's ill-fated namesake who had died on that beautiful Sunday morning sixty-nine years before at Pearl Harbour — took a deep breath. "Officers and crew of the United States Starship _Arizona_…" She grinned. "_**MAN OUR SHIP AND BRING HER TO LIFE!**_"

The assembled ship's company then snapped to attention. "_**AYE-AYE, MA'AM!**_" they chanted out as one before doing a right face, and then they smartly marched off to the hatches leading into the ship; as a _starship_ could not dock alongside a pier at a _surface naval base_, it was decided to modify the traditional first order given on the commissioning of a United States Navy warship by having the crew "man" _Arizona_ by entering her hull from the flight and/or hangar decks. As the civilians watching this all cheered the sailors and marines on, a distant boom echoed from somewhere off the starship's starboard side.

"Fireworks?!" the President's youngest daughter then asked.

The chief of the Secret Service's Presidential Detail shook her head. "No, ma'am," she declared as she moved to walk out onto the open flight deck to gaze to the east…

…and then she hummed before keying her lapel mike. "Eagle Nine, this is Solomon Prime," she called out. "We heard an explosion down here. Can you confirm?"

"Solomon Prime, this is Eagle Nine," a voice from the E-3 now soaring over _Arizona_ called back. "Confirm the explosion. A bogey entered the no-fly zone and had to be shot down." As Andrea Price gasped in shock, a wry chuckle echoed over the link. "We got jammed by someone on the ground…but the SETI people from New Mexico had one of their telescopes keeping an eye on things and they picked it up. A Canadian fighter from Sethlans came down and destroyed the bandit with AMRAAMs. No other bogey in sight and the jamming is down now. We're still trying to figure out what happened."

"Eagle Nine, Solomon Prime, this is Black Meteor Six," a young woman's voice then cut in, speaking with a noticeable Japanese accent. "I confirm the capture of potential terrorists trying to destroy or damage Navy One. We'll be turning them over to the Desert Warriors in five minutes. The MIBs had to get involved in this, too."

Hearing that, the Secret Service agent paled. She knew what the code "MIB" meant…though relations between the United States Secret Service and the United Nations Special Committee on Alien Activities were actually quite cordial. "Aliens?!"

"Ipraedies Information Service long-term observation agents, Andrea," a toneless voice then called out from nearby, making Andrea turn as Moroboshi Negako approached her. "They no doubt supplied this ship's would-be attackers with electronic countermeasures equipment to ensure the Learjet that was detected by Eleanor Arroway's co-workers at the Very Large Array could strike home without interference from the Fighting Falcons now in patrol over Phoenix and her neighbouring municipalities."

"Holy _Christ_!" Sam Connors called down from the Sentry.

Andrea nodded. "We should have had your sister do a detailed scan of the planet's surface once she and her friends brought those ships here," a voice then declared from nearby, making Negako and Andrea turn as the President came up, accompanied by Tom Kazanski.

"Mister President, we should try to get you to a place of safety…" Andrea began.

"Andrea."

She jolted on hearing Negako's voice. "Ma'am…?"

"There is no need to panic," the ninjutsu grandmaster stated. "The issue is resolved and those who would have struck this ship down are now in custody. _Arizona_ will be departing for Yaminokuni within the next thirty minutes, thus leave the range of any other group that might wish to carry out a follow-on attack." To the President. "Barack, I will arrange with Izuku Susuko to use the other Type One starships to commence a full scan of the planet as you just proposed to locate any other long-term infiltration agents from other planets here, and then have them captured and turned over to Zachariah's people to have them processed and deported if required."

"Fair enough," the President said with a nod.

"Who shot down the bogey?" Kazanski asked.

"Daniel Cooper," Negako answered.

The veteran F-14A Tomcat pilot — still addressed respectfully as "Mister Iceman" in the Western fighter pilot community even if he had been denied flight status two years ago due to the onset of arthritis — gaped. "_**DAN COOPER?!**_ I…!" A whistle. "Damn!"

"You know him, Captain?" Andrea asked.

"Lieutenant colonel in the Canadian Air Force, Ms. Price; he's assigned to Sethlans as part of the Aerospace Engineering and Test Establishment contingent from Cold Lake," Kazanski answered. "Outside Maverick, Coop's the only man who could out-dogfight me."

"Coop was here?!"

Everyone turned as _Arizona_'s executive officer, Captain Ronald "Slider" Kerner, came up to join them. "Yeah, Ron," Kazanski answered before he gazed on Negako. "So what the hell was Dan flying, anyway? All the Starfires at Sethlans are disarmed."

Negako lightly smiled. "The Arrows are not, Thomas."

And with that, she headed off. The Americans watched her go, and then the President gazed in curiosity at the captain of America's first starship. "'Arrow?'"

Kazanski blinked…and then his eyes widened. "Damn…!"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Eta** — Noukiite red chilli pepper; **Ḥijāb** — Seen as possessing the wider meaning of "modesty," "privacy" and "morality," this is the traditional veil covering the head and neck worn by Muslim women (normally when in the presence of non-related men); **CAP** — Acronym for "Combat Air Patrol," a standing flight of fighters to protect a ground base or aircraft carrier; **SETI** — Pronounced "Seh-tee," this is the acronym for "Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence," the process of using various forms of scientific technology to detect signs of alien life beyond the solar system; **AWACS** — Literally "Airborne Warning And Control System" and pronounced "Ay-whacks," this is the U.S. Air Force's mobile "eye in the sky" aircraft which directs all aircraft detection and operations in a designated zone; **dataPADD** — Short for "database Personal Archival Display Device," this is the Avalonian equivalent of a laptop computer with real-time links to various mainframes via the **HyperNet** (the Avalonian hyper-warp version of the Internet); **MSL** — Mean Sea Level, the base level for all altitude measurements; **AMRAAM** — Literally "Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile" and pronounced "Am-ram," this is the designation of the Raytheon AIM-120 medium-range active radar-homing air-to-air missile; **TOT** — Literally "Time on Target," where all weapons systems (this is normally applied to ground artillery systems) strike the target at the same time; **ECM** — Electronic Countermeasures.

2) The **Aerospace Engineering and Test Establishment** (**AETE**) is the Canadian Air Force's primary aviation equipment testing unit. First formed in 1971 by the amalgamation of the aviation evaluation and testing establishments of the pre-Unification services (one of them being 448 [Elk] Test Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force [the squadron was introduced in the previous part]), AETE is an element of the **Materiel Group**, the Canadian Forces command responsible for all equipment and other materiel procurement, testing and distribution to the operational forces.

3) Often working hand-in-hand with the Materiel Group is **Defence Research and Development Canada** (**DRDC**), which is the scientific and technological research and development arm of the Department of National Defence. Things like the CADPAT camouflage clothing pattern was created by DRDC.

4) **Dan Cooper** is a fictional comic book character that first appeared in 1957…but in _Tintin Magazine_ in BELGIUM of all places! Created by **Albert Weinberg** (1922-2011), Cooper — a squadron leader in the Royal Canadian Air Force (and later a major in the unified Canadian Armed Forces in stories that came out after 1968) — was often depicted as a test pilot trying out all sorts of interesting toys, including spaceships that took him to the moons of Mars (in the wake of the voyage of a certain teen reporter and his friends to the Moon as depicted in a two-part series produced by the famous **Hergé** [1907-83] that came out around the same time Dan Cooper made his appearance in _Tintin Magazine_). Sadly, unlike the adventures of Tintin, the adventures of Dan Cooper have never been translated into English.

5) The **CF-104 Starfighter** is the Canadair version of the infamous "Widow-maker," the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, that served with the RCAF and Air Command from 1962-87. It was replaced by the **McDonnell-Douglas CF-188** ("CF-188" is the official designation for the F/A-18 Hornet; note that the aircraft type name is NOT official in Canada as such names have to be easily written in both English and French), which serves the Air Force to this day.

6) **Canadian Forces Europe** (**CFE**) was the administrative command in charge of all Canadian Forces units and personnel based in Europe between 1968-94. Personnel assigned to CFE were, for the most part, based at **Canadian Forces Base Lahr** at the western edge of the city of the same name in the German state of Baden-Württemberg near the shores of the Rhine River (where most of the Army troops were based) and **Canadian Forces Base Baden-Söllingen** located 40 kilometres north-by-east from Lahr on the shores of the Rhine just west of Baden-Baden (this is where the Air Force personnel were mostly based). After the Canadian withdrawal from Europe in the wake of the end of the Cold War, the land where CFB Lahr and CFB Baden-Söllingen stood was returned to the German government and eventually transformed into civilian airports (**Flughaven Schwartzwald Lahr** ["Black Forest Airport Lahr"] and **Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden** ["Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport"] respectively).

7) **441 (Silver Fox) Tactical Fighter Squadron** (**441 TFS**) was originally formed as "125 (Fighter) Squadron RCAF" in 1942; the squadron was re-numbered on deployment to England two years later. The squadron served in Europe until the end of the war, then was disbanded. Reformed as a fighter squadron in 1951 at **Saint-Hubert** (outside Montréal), the Silver Foxes were deployed to Europe as part of Canada's contribution to NATO air defence, serving at various bases until 1986, when they were repatriated to Canada and based at Cold Lake until disbandment.

8) **Greenwich Mean Time** was the mean solar time as was seen at the Royal Observatory in the London borough of Greenwich until 1972, when **Coordinated Universal Time** (**UTC**) was introduced. To the military forces of the English-speaking world, GMT is known as **Zulu time**. These days, GMT is the same as **Western European Time** (the standard time in the British Isles, Portugal and Iceland in Europe) during winter months; the British Isles and Portugal also practice daylight savings time, but Iceland does not.

9) The **Kyŏngbu Expressway** (also known as **Expressway #1**) is the main freeway connecting four of the major cities of South Korea (Sŏul, Taejŏn, Taegu and Pusan).

10) **Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway**, **Palmer Joss**, **Solomon R. Hadden** and Eleanor's co-workers **Geoffrey Fisher** (the given name is my creation) and **Willie Martini** (family name my creation) are characters from _Contact_, the 1985 novel written by the late **Carl Sagan** (1934-96). Most of the events surrounding these characters are based on the 1997 film derived from the novel starring Jodie Foster as Ellie Arroway (such as Ellie and her friends working at the Very Large Array — renamed the **Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array** on 31 March 2012 — on the Plateau of San Agustin in New Mexico). Also derived from the film was Palmer's interview with CNN's **Larry King** (born 1933); in the movie, that was depicted at the start of the film when the Message was received from Vega.

11) Due to the vast numbers and diversity of model types, the American armed forces employ a wide range of designation codes for its aerospace vehicles. The big problem with introducing spacecraft into American inventory is that the "**S**" code is often associated these days with dedicated anti-submarine warfare aircraft such as the S-3 Viking. To get around that when the Star Flare and the Starfire were introduced as part of _Arizona_'s air wing, the model numbers were given the "**S**" code as part of the **series** element of a model type (which comes AFTER the actual model number) so as to not have any confusion between a spaceship and an anti-submarine warfare aircraft. Hence, we have **V-94S** for the **Star Flare** (literally "VTOL aircraft, Model 94, Space-capable") and **F-96S** for the **Starfire** (literally "Fighter, Model 96, Space-capable"). No doubt in the universe of this story, the Pentagon might have to re-think the use of the "S" code; in Canada, anti-submarine aircraft are normally designated by the code "**CP**" ("Canadian Patrol aircraft") such as the CP-140 Aurora…or "**CH**" ("Canadian Helicopter") such as the CH-148 Cyclone.

12) For those who may not remember, the **Oklahoma City bombing** directly provoked by **Timothy McVeigh** (1968-2001) occurred on 19 April 1995. This attack killed 168 people (including 19 children below school age), wounded more than 680 and was seen as the largest terrorist attack on American soil until the **11 September 2001** attacks on New York City and Washington.

13) The **Boeing E-3 Sentry** is the primary AWACS system in service with the United States Air Force. In real life, the E-3 is currently at the "G" variant. The "H" variant mentioned here is an E-3G modified with Avalonian technology to give the operators much wider and more detailed scanning capabilities…though as demonstrated here, the system can be spoofed if chance allows it.

14) American military unit details:

**964th Airborne Air Control Squadron** (**964 AACS**), nicknamed "Phoenix," was first formed as an antisubmarine patrol squadron in 1942. The squadron switched over to become a bomber training squadron two years later and served stateside until the end of World War Two. The squadron was reactivated in 1955 as a long range reconnaissance squadron, and then converted over to airborne early warning operations in 1963. The squadron began flying the E-3 in 1977. From 1955, the Phoenixes have been a flying element of the **552nd Air Control Wing** (**552 ACW**), based out of **Tinker Air Force Base** in the southeastern suburbs of the capital city of Oklahoma.

**69th Fighter Squadron** (**64 FS**), nicknamed "Werewolves," was first form as a pursuit fighter training squadron in 1941. Converted to an active squadron two years later, the 69th was deployed to the Pacific Theatre of Operations, flying the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt until being inactivated in 1946. Reformed for service in the Korean War in 1952, the squadron switched to jets and served in the Land of the Morning Calm until 1958 and its second inactivation. The Werewolves came back in 1969 as a training unit for the F-104 Starfighter at **Luke Air Force Base** outside Phoenix in Arizona, the squadron continued that mission until inactivated a third time in 1983. The squadron was reformed later that year in Georgia, transitioning to the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and remained an operational squadron until its fourth inactivation in 2001. The squadron was reformed a fifth time as a U.S. Air Force Reserve fighter training squadron at Luke AFB in February 2010.

**855th Military Police Company** (**855 MP COY**), nicknamed "Desert Warriors," is an element of the **Arizona Army National Guard** (**AZ ARNG**), the state-controlled land reserve forces of the Grand Canyon State. The company is based in Phoenix. Formed originally as an infantry battalion in 1933, the unit was converted to military police in 1967. The unit served in World War Two (Pacific theatre), the First Gulf War (Operation: Desert Shield/Storm) and in the Second Gulf War (Operation: Iraqi Freedom) since 2003.

15) The **Maple Flag** exercises are the Canadian take-off on the U.S. Air Force's **Red Flag** advanced aerial combat training exercise concept which has been run at **Nellis Air Force Base** near Las Vegas in Nevada since 1975 and at **Eielson Air Force Base** southeast of Fairbanks in Alaska since 1976. The Maple Flag exercises, first run in 1978 and done every year (Red Flag is run several times a year), is a very popular international gathering given the presence of the vast **Cold Lake Air Weapons Range** north of Cold Lake itself. The Air Weapons Range, which measures 11,700 square kilometres and straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, is the primary reason CFB Cold Lake exists; the local environment is quite similar to the boreal forests of Europe and provided a perfect training area clear of urban territory for the RCAF and allied air forces.

16) The **Fox** (from the NATO phonetic letter for "F," meaning "fire") brevity codes used by Air Force pilots in the Western world indicates what sort of weapon is being used on a target. **Fox One** indicates an attack by a missile that has semi-active radar guidance like the AIM-7 Sparrow. **Fox Two** indicates missiles with heat-seeking warheads like the AIM-9 Sidewinder. **Fox Three** indicates missiles with active radar guidance like the AIM-120. And while **Fox Four** could be used to indicate the use of on-board machine guns, the more common practice these days is to shout "**Guns! Guns! Guns!**"

17) The **Master-at-Arms** (**MA**) rating in the United States Navy is the trade that is concerned with law enforcement operations and the maintenance of good order and discipline aboard Navy ships and at shore installations both within the territory of the United States and in other countries.

18) The **Kuromoroboshi** (literally "black shooting star") troupe of ninjutsu-ka are the personal bodyguards and servants of the Matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan; I created them for _The Senior Year_ as the equivalents of the Mendō Clan **Kuromegane** ("black glasses") bodyguards. In the universe of this story, the Kuromoroboshi are Negako's immediate subordinates. Their leader is **Fusegu Jinseiko**, who first appeared in the _TSY_ story "Tag Race Mark Three."

19) Fans of _Men In Black II_ might recognize the "Michael" reference.

20) **Andrea Price**, of course, is from the Jack Ryan novel series by **Tom Clancy** (born 1947). She first appeared in _Debt of Honour_.


	32. The Children of the Dragon Jade

Aboard _Haida_, now midway between the Earth and the Moon (Japan time: Tuesday 6 July, one hour after midnight)…

"_**ONĒ-CHAN! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SURPRISE!**_"

Hiromi ducked that wild scream echoing from the aft door leading into the operations room of the Canadian starship from a very upset, huffing and puffing Ki Tsukihana, and then she gave the younger man a knowing look. "So the good Master Air Knight Daniel was to _**ignore**_ his basic instincts and just SIT there on Station Sethlans while such a cowardly attack was carried out on President Obama, Tsukihana-kun?" she asked.

Tsukihana jerked, and then he marched over to stand beside her. "Onē-chan, there are two SQUADRONS of Starfires at Cold Lake to allow the pilots of 410 Squadron and 419 Squadron a chance to try them out on their own time! The Americans have two squadrons of them at Fallon in Nevada, which is just northwest of Phoenix! All Cooper-chūsa had to do…!"

"Son, don't worry about it."

Both tōshi gazed on a smiling Brian Gamblin, who was relaxing in the captain's chair at the forward end of the operations room table. As the people inside the space tried to smother their grins at the argument that just broke out when news that a _Canadian_ air force pilot had just shot down a kamikaze aircraft that was aiming to destroy _Arizona_ and kill the _**American President**_ came in, the captain of _Haida_ sat back in his chair. "I've heard of Dan Cooper. The man often makes the senior Air Force brass want to pull their hair out of their heads at time when he does things like this, but he's never been wrong. Besides, the Air Force deserves a nice present of its own, just like we got."

"But it was meant as a SURPRISE, Gamblin-taisa!" Tsukihana moaned out. "Besides, the model hasn't been fully tested out in combat conditions in either space or atmosphere. Yes, the design looked promising when it came out in the late 1950s, but…"

Roaring laughter echoed over the dataPADD in front of Hiromi. "Kid, I've been taking test flights on all the birds we've got at Sethlans ever since you went back in time to retrieve them from the Avro plant in Malton to get Jeanne and her friends to rebuild them all and finish the ones that weren't completed and ready to go by Black Friday," Dan Cooper said from the cockpit of the aircraft he had flown down from the space factory unit at Lagrange Point Four to destroy the Learjet that had been picked up by the SETI team in New Mexico making a suicide run on _Arizona_. Right now, said aircraft — whose image was displayed on the main operations room screen — was hovering close to the Canadian starship's bridge. Seeing THAT had driven all the people on the Canadian starship — especially all the Air Force personnel — insane, which had alerted Tsukihana (then busy in his personal laboratory in the upper midships section of the main hull) that something was up. "We can start doing full trials on them now."

"Your opinion on this matter, Deschamps-chūjo?" Hiromi asked.

The Chief of the Air Staff and commander of Air Command — who had come aboard with the Chief of the Defence Staff and the other two environmental commanders right after the Queen had departed — was shaking his head. On seeing THAT image on the view screen, the former CF-104 Starfighter and CC-130 Hercules pilot looked as if Christmas had come early. The other Air Force personnel in the operations room at the time — including Mark Sullivan — had nearly broke down and cried; the cancellation of THAT project in the winter of 1959 had torn a great wound in the Canadian aerospace industry even if the financial logic that drove that action made every sense in the world.

To believe that a little kid from JAPAN of all places knew of the _**Avro CF-105 Arrow**_!

Which would now become the _**Bombardier CSF-105 Arrow**_.

Thinking about that, André Deschamps turned to walk over and stand beside a still-huffing Tsukihana. "Um…you actually WENT BACK IN TIME to STEAL the actual planes from the tarmac at Malton?! Not to mention the incomplete ones _**inside**_ the Avro plant?!" he asked as he leaned down to gaze into the young inventor's eyes.

"Well, no, I didn't STEAL them!" Tsukihana said.

Everyone gazed in surprise at him.

"I SAVED them!" he stated, which made all everyone smirk. "Gods! Who's crazy idea was it to SCRAP those planes?! They were in perfect flying shape! Even if they decided to dismantle all the hulls from RL207 upward, they would have had enough spare parts to use the other planes as test beds for everything they might have wanted to try out!"

"So what exactly did the wreckers actually scrap, Mister Ki?!" Sullivan asked.

Tsukihana shrugged. "You'd be amazed at what a _replicator_ can do, Sullivan-taisa."

Everyone gaped, and then laughter filled the room. Despite the clear illegality of that act — not to mention the ethical questions of taking a starship BACK IN TIME to do something like THAT! — no one was going to make note of it to higher authority; the emotional debate over the whole Avro Arrow issue was as rampant in Canada in the year 2010 as it had been back in 1959 when the Progressive Conservative government of John Diefenbaker had effectively ripped the heart out of the Canadian aerospace industry and eventually saw thousands of skilled workers move to America and Britain. Atop that, as he was Japanese by birth, Tsukihana was a believer in Shintō; in his eyes, the Arrows that had been built in the 1950s had _kami_ in them. Thus, saving them from the wrecker's torches so they could properly serve their nation was simply the right and proper thing to do. "Well, despite the noble Arrow being unveiled earlier than planned, she does appear to show as much promise as a space interceptor as she did as an atmospheric interceptor," Hiromi mused; the original plan was to unveil the CSF-105 either on 20 February 2011 (the fifty-second anniversary of the cancellation of the original Arrow project) or 1 April 2011 (the eighty-seventh anniversary of the bestowing of the "royal" title to the Royal Canadian Air Force by King George V). "Dan-san, I think a flight to your compatriots' base in Alberta is now called for; it'll give all of Her Majesty's most noble Air Force of Canada cheer given the Navy's main role in Canada's contribution to the Task Force. I'm sure you can deal with things from there."

Cooper chuckled. "General?"

"Go on ahead, Colonel," the chief of Canada's air force called out.

A laugh. "Wonderful!" the former commanding officer of 441 Squadron exhaled. "I haven't had a double-double ever since I got sent into space! They opened a new Timmies out on the Kingsway west of the base, so I can get one before heading back!"

As people laughed, the communications link was closed…just as the aft door into the operations room opened to reveal the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, a dataPADD in hand. "So what's going on, André?" the veteran Navy vice admiral then asked.

Deschamps shook his head. "Normal Dan Cooper stuff, Denis."

Denis Rouleau blinked, and then he chuckled. Even if he was a Navy man, the nominal military second-in-command of the Canadian Forces had heard of some of the antics Dan Cooper pulled from time to time. And even if the fighter pilot now assigned to AETE's group on Station Sethlans had always been _right_ when he had to make a quick judgement call, the senior brass in Ottawa feared the day he would be _**wrong**_. "Right." He then handed the dataPADD to Hiromi. "Here you are, Madame Director. Messages sent up by the Chief of Programme. Should make some folks aboard here and _Paekbŏm_ happy."

Hiromi gazed at it, and then looked up. "Wouldn't you prefer to deliver this?"

A glance at one of the digital clocks nearby. "Well, given that you did plan to sail out in about an hour, the sooner we're off the ship so you could get underway, the better," he noted as he gave the reborn emperor a knowing look.

A sigh. "Hai, that is true. Very well, then. Kei-san?"

A smiling girl with light blue eyes and long rose-pink hair done up in high buns at the back of her head — who had been detailed by Takanashi Naoko to escort the senior Canadian officers around — perked. "Hai, Hiromi-sama?" Arimori Kei asked.

"Would you please escort our honoured guests to the hangar deck so they can board the _DeWolf_ and return to the surface?" Hiromi then asked. "Contact Tomomi-san to ensure General Natynczyk, Admiral McFadden and General Devlin are also escorted there."

"Hai, Hiromi-sama." To Rouleau and Deschamps. "This way, please."

"Admiral off the deck!" the boatswain mate of the watch — his post was located at the forward end of the room close to the captain's chair — called out.

"Carry on!" the VCDS called out as he and the CAS walked out of the room in Kei's wake.

Once the two three-leaf flag officers were gone, people got back to work. Hiromi scanned over the message on the screen there, and then she sighed. "Kunrō-dono?"

Miiko — who was standing off to Hiromi's right, being assisted in her duties by Yamanoue Yuri — perked before gazing at the reborn emperor. "My Emperor?"

"The status of our brothers and sisters now aboard the Task Force ships?"

A sigh. "Well, if I understand this accursed contraption correctly, all of our brother and sister tōshi are now secure in their cabins on the ships and resting up." As the younger military personnel fought back the urge to laugh at the frustration Ranma's sister was showing towards using a dataPADD — while the older personnel like Brian Gamblin were giving her sympathetic looks; noting that, Hiromi thought she heard CPO2 Nathan Cotter mutter, "I'm glad SOMEONE her age feels that way!" — she then sighed. "Mōkaku-dono's people are here aboard the _Haida_ as you know. Our noble cousin's warriors are on _Arizona_. Mōtoku-dono's people are on _Yamato_. _Zhèng Hé_ has our friends from Rakuyō. The Nan'yō delegation are on _Bismarck_. _Richelieu_ is carrying the Gogun group, with the Yōshū group on _Veneto_, the Yoshū group on _Hood_ and the Kōshi Kasshi — as well as some people from the junior high schools — split between the _Paekbŏm_ and the _Trinidad_."

"And the Dominion's noble reserve soldiers, Lady Knight Belinda?"

Captain Belinda Vance — standing opposite from where Miiko was — blushed on being called **_that_**. A native of Channel-Port aux Basques at the southwest corner of the Rock, she was an infantry officer from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment now serving as the operational planning staff officer at 37 Canadian Brigade Group headquarters in Moncton while she pursued graduate studies at l'Université de Moncton; she was fluently bilingual. "Colonel Bell's complements, Madame Director, and he begs to report that all remaining personnel were taken aboard all the ships in the lull between _Zhèng Hé_'s commissioning and the time _Bismarck_, _Richelieu_, _Veneto_ and _Trinidad_ were commissioned," she then declared, falling back on the ritual language of the old school she had been exposed to when she saw the Ronald Maxwell movie _Gettysburg_ on DVD some years before. "The colonel and his staff — along with the signal squadron from 721 Regiment — are on _Veneto_; he will come back aboard _Haida_ when we arrive at Yaminokuni to supervisor the deployment to the planet before his own headquarters is set up there. _Haida_ has the 2nd/10th Dragoons aboard. _Arizona_ is carrying the British Columbia Regiment. _Paekbŏm_ now has all of the 19th Dragoons aboard. _Richelieu_, of course, is carrying le Régiment de Hull. The Winnipeg Rifles are aboard _Bismarck_. The 10th Field Regiment is on _Hood_. The _Trinidad_ is carrying 36 CER. _Zhèng Hé_ has 37 Service Battalion. And 33 Field Ambulance and the detachments from 3 MP Regiment and 3 Intelligence Company are all aboard _Yamato_."

"What of national ground troop forces?" Gamblin asked.

A sigh. "Only the Americans, the Chinese and the British managed to get any sort of marine forces onto their ships that were meant to actually be assigned to those ships, sir," she answered. "_Arizona_ has a company stood up for 72 MEU; they got a detached company from 1st Recon Battalion at Camp Pendleton assigned to help out. _Hood_ has two companies of 41 Commando; they have both a detached company from 40 Commando and a troop from the SBS to help out. And _Zhèng Hé_ is carrying a company and a special operations force platoon from their 3rd Marine Brigade." A shake of the head. "All other ships have detached personnel from units assigned elsewhere."

"Hopefully, we won't need them," Hiromi said as she stood up, picking up the dataPADD Admiral Rouseau had left behind. "Captain Gamblin, please signal all the other ships. I desire us to depart at 2:10 Japan time. Yuri-san, signal Colonel Salmon. Please ask him to assemble the members of his noble regiment on the port flight deck."

Eyes locked on clocks; the time in Tōkyō was 1:16 AM. "Aye, ma'am," Gamblin said.

* * *

Sick Bay…

"So how many tōshi _mei'na_ are within this device, Negako-sama?"

"Thirty-one thousand, seven hundred and thirty-eight. This will not only allow all the volunteer crews on all the starships to be augmented, but also all the Avalonians now serving in the Canadian Forces now aboard this ship with many more to spare for future personnel if it is deemed as required," Negako state as she placed the Dragon Jade on a work table next to a diagnostic bed in one of the isolation wards in _Haida_'s medical station. The grandmaster — after returning from _Arizona_ and the issue with whoever it was that had planned to destroy the American starship — had come here immediately, finding Naoko working with Sasamoto Narumi and the third of the ship's "plank owners" planning to be a medical technician, Wakabayashi Ayu, packing away supplies. "If you desire, Naoko, I will assist in allowing one soul to be downloaded into your mind, and then repeat the procedure with Narumi and Ayu so you all can experience this directly, thus proceed to augment the others as opportunity presents itself."

Naoko nodded. "Please proceed, Negako-sama."

Negako waved Naoko to a nearby diagnostic bed. As Narumi took her place beside the bed to monitor her shipmate's vital signs and Ayu moved to stand beside her, the ninjutsu grandmaster moved to balance the Jade gently in the middle of the would-be medical technician's forehead. Once there, Negako concentrated as she allowed a small amount of ki to surge through her body, lance through the Jade itself to snare one of the souls within, and then allow it to press through the surface of the crystal and right into Naoko's own brain thanks to the ultra-sensitivity of the nerves embedded in her skin. She gasped in shock on feeling that surge into her mind, and then she seemed to relax as her eyes fluttered, memories — jumbled and without any clear references as to whose memories they might have been — filling her brain cells as they merged with her own young conscience (the girl had only been truly "alive" for just four months, ever since she and her sisters had been found by Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami; her whole world having been confined to the _Haida_ since that time) to become something more.

"Negako-sama," Ayu then called out.

Negako looked to where the raven-haired, turquoise-eyed tomboy was currently pointing, her eyebrow arching as she took in what was now happening to Naoko. "Interesting."

"How is that earring currently forming on Naoko's lobulus auriculae?" Narumi asked.

"No doubt, that is being formed thanks to free-floating fragments of mesonium that were absorbed into the Lóngyù when the soul was downloaded into it, augmented with the mesonium compounds that form the basis of the regenerative enzymes in Naoko's blood stream. Naturally, given that Naoko is a 'newborn' tōshi, the earring will be green. Only with greater experience will the earring colour change." A hum. "Ah. Take note of this: The first true difference between Naoko and a normal tōshi."

Both Ayu and Narumi nodded. "The earring is presently in the form of a stylized maple leaf of the same proportions that are used on the central field of the National Flag of Canada," the former explained. "This indicates her present affiliation with the Dominion of Canada and her future desire to become a member of the Armed Forces of Canada." She hummed. "As Narumi and I are scheduled to ensure the same type of training as Naoko will, no doubt when our own earrings form on the download of the _mei'na_ fated to merge with our souls, it will be formed in the same format." She then blinked as she noted something else. "Negako-sama, a Staff of Aesculapius insignia has also appeared on Naoko's earring. It exactly matches the proper trade insignia for a medical technician in the Forces. This is truly fascinating."

"Indeed it is," Negako said with a smile as the fluttering of Naoko's eyes came to a stop, and then she took a deep breath. "Are you well, Naoko?"

A deep sigh escaped her. "That was a _rush_…!" she breathed out as Negako removed the Dragon Jade from her skin. "Oh, Lyna's Soul! That was incredible!"

Negako blinked, and then her smile widened. "You have become a true Avalonian now, Naoko," she declared. "You have just sworn an oath to Lyna."

The green-haired bioroid blinked, and then she laughed. "Yeah, I did!" she said before her eyes then locked on Narumi. "Narumi-chan, it's your turn!"

Narumi blinked, though she did not resist as Naoko got up from the bed so she could move to push her down on the neighbouring bed. The latter then held out her hand, which was then filled with the Dragon Jade. "Arigatō, Negako-sama," she said before she placed the device on the red-haired girl's forehead, and then she concentrated.

As Ayu patiently waited, Narumi jerked as a soul was then surged into her mind, and then she shuddered for a moment as that soul merged fully with her own. As that happened, Naoko, Ayu and Negako gazed on her left ear. Sure enough, another earring — shaped like a maple leaf, shaded jade green, with the Staff of Aesculapius insignia on it — appeared on the other girl's left earlobe. After the download finished, Narumi moaned. "Oh, man…!" she breathed out as Naoko lifted the Jade off the other woman's forehead, and then she grinned. "You were right, Naoko! That WAS a rush!"

"I trust you ladies can continue this process from here," Negako stated.

Naoko and Narumi nodded. "Of course!" Naoko declared as Narumi got up, and then moved to help Ayu take her place on the examination table.

"Excellent. Since I have no desire to travel to another world at this time, I will return now to Earth. Naoko, Narumi, I do not believe Hiromi will be pleased if you proceed at such a rate that operations on this ship — or any of the other ships engaged in the Task Force — were disrupted. Proceed with caution."

Both women nodded. "Sure thing, Negako-sama," Narumi said.

With that, the grandmaster turned to leave, and then she stopped before she gazed over her shoulder at the younger bioroids. "One other thing."

They blinked. "What is it, Negako-sama?" Naoko asked.

"When you make contact with Arami's soul, proceed with EXTREME caution."

And with that, she walked out of the room, leaving behind two very confused young women and a patiently-waiting third. After a minute, Narumi and Naoko stared at each other. "What in Eternity's Name did Negako-sama mean by that?" the former then asked.

A shrug. "I can't say," the latter mused as she moved to get Ayu's soul augmented…

* * *

The port flight deck…

Like the battlestar _Galactica_ in both the original and the re-imaged television series, _Haida_ was equipped with launch bays on each side of her hull for her two hundred CSF-196 Starfires, all connected to support bays that served very much as a hangar deck would on an aircraft carrier sailing the high seas. Those were located in a long bulge that extended over half the starship's length, sticking out at least thirty metres from the edge of the main hull, thus allowing a long landing deck to be fitted between two rows of twenty launch tubes. Both ends of the landing deck could be sealed off with airtight armoured doors (which were erected when the ship was in warp or manoeuvring at high impulse speed) and pressure force fields (when in normal space) to ensure the atmosphere could be contained when weary pilots came in to land their fighters after a mission. The landing deck could be subdivided into individual compartments with force fields in case the armoured doors failed and atmosphere threatened to vent into space.

Once having landed aboard its home ship — _Haida_ used tractor beams in lieu of cable arresting gear to stop a Starfire from "bolting" out the front end of the landing deck; if such failed, external tractor arrays could then be used to pull a fighter in — each CSF-196 would be wheeled to parking spaces built into the main hull connecting to lifts that would return the planes to the hangar decks for maintenance work, re-arming and re-launching. In cases where the launch bays were damaged or inoperative, the front end of the landing deck could serve as a launch deck, complete with tractor catapults that could propel a Starfire right into space if a "fast launch" was required. But under normal circumstances, if fighters had to launch from the forward end of the flight deck, a Starfire's impulse drive could send it flying without assistance.

_Haida_'s ten "boat bays" — where twenty wingless, smaller versions of the Star Flare known as the CSV-197 Space Dhow were stored, launched and retrieved — were located along the lower curve of the main hull below the flight deck bulges.

Currently, the personnel of the 2nd/10th Dragoons were gathered by squadron midway down from the forward end of the launch deck. Gazing at the large mass of people before him — almost all save forty-two being women — Lieutenant Colonel Luke Salmon could only smile and nod in silent pride at how fast his new unit had come in under four months. A former member of the Royal Canadian Dragoons out of Petawawa with eighteen years experience in the military after graduating from the Royal Military College, he had been an executive assistant to the Chief of Land Staff in Ottawa when nearly two million Avalonian-Canadians had come to Earth back in March…with thousands of those flocking right away to give recruiting officers nightmares for weeks to come.

Fortunately, for the sanity of many, people in Ottawa realized this was a VERY good thing to come down the pike and elected to give the Forces a clear go-ahead to remove the recruiting ceilings from reserve units, thus allowing them to welcome new personnel as quickly as they could be processed. By the end of March, all existing Navy Reserve, Militia and Air Reserve units from Saint John's to Victoria achieved wartime manning strength…yet, much to the shock of the people at NDHQ, _**they simply kept on coming**_! And while this fact might have made the bean-counters at the Ministry of Finance panic due to personnel costs, some smart fellow somewhere proposed something that — with a respectful nod to Canadian military history during the VERY lean years of the 1920s and 1930s — could get around the financial issues until such time as new tax money could be funnelled into DND's coffers from Canada's newest citizens and their willingness to literally PAY their way into their new homeland with contributions of both precious metals and high technology that made the gold wealth stored at Fort Knox look like chump change in comparison: "Class D" service for the reserves, which meant that people who wanted to serve but couldn't be paid could still serve.

Thanks to Avalonian support groups set up across the Dominion, any problems concerning possible personal pocket money issues were resolved ahead of time.

As a native of Niagara Falls, Luke Salmon had been selected to take command of a provisional armoured regiment in the eastern part of 31 Canadian Brigade Group's recruiting zone when the number of prospective new personnel indicated that forming such a unit seemed the right thing to do. Thanks to the Avalonians' love of the "Rule of Four" concept (four primary fighting elements in a higher unit or formation) versus the standard "Rule of Three" that governed the Canadian Army these days, the infantry battalions based in the area — the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) from Hamilton, the Lincoln and Welland Regiment from Niagara and the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada from Kitchener — was seen as needing an armoured regiment to support them. With the brigade group's armoured units — the 1st Hussars from London and the Windsor Regiment (RCAC) from Essex County — being detailed to work with other infantry units (as well as being geographically too far away), it was decided to bring back the 2nd/10th Dragoons.

Of course, certain things had to happen first.

Fortunately, just after the Queen visited _Haida_, Peter MacKay came to visit with the new Ministerial Organizational Order that revoked the orders from 1970 that put the 57th Field Regiment RCA (2nd/10th Dragoons) into the Supplementary Order of Battle…not to mention the 1946 orders that re-rolled the 2nd/10th into the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery in the first place. With that, the 2nd/10th was back to being an armoured regiment as part of 31 Canadian Brigade Group. Even better, the Minister bore a letter from the Canadian Heraldic Authority in Ottawa, containing the official designs for the regiment's new hat badge, collar dogs and camp flag; when they had paraded on the flight deck, all of Salmon's subordinates wore the basic Armoured Corps badges. With that also came a letter from the chairman of the Directorate of History and Heritage's Battle Honours Committee, declaring that the 2nd/10th was eligible to be honoured for its ancestral units' service in the War of 1812. THAT made Salmon cry; his grandfather had served with the original 2nd/10th in World War Two and had hated it when the unit had been denied the chance to fight in Europe, to say anything of it being made an artillery unit after the war. Sadly, Sergeant Kent Salmon hadn't lived to see the day his regiment would be reborn as it had once been formed; he had passed away in 1974.

But if he WAS here…

"My dear Master Knight Luke."

He tensed on hearing that polite voice from starboard, and then he turned as Moroboshi Hiromi approached from a turbolift station. As he saluted her, Chief Warrant Officer Hugh Patterson — the 2nd/10th's regimental sergeant-major, the senior non-commissioned member of the unit — quickly barked the unit to attention; sadly, save for Captain Stan Gossip (the regiment's temporary chief medical officer), no officers had yet to be assigned to the new regiment, so the squadron and troop commanders were Avalonian-Canadian "brevet officers" in jumpsuits and black Tilley hats. Noting that even the youngest Avalonian-Canadian servicewoman — all of those who planned to become armoured soldiers in the 2nd/10th were dressed in dark blue two-piece jumpsuits with red trim and their regiment's new hat badge insignia on their left breast; those personnel who served in other branches of the Forces wore their own branch colours on their jumpsuits — were properly snapping to attention, the reborn emperor paused and bowed respectfully to them, giving them the military hand salute from old China. Salmon was quick to note that after the Queen's visit, Hiromi had changed into civilian clothes — blue jeans, Tomobiki High Jackrabbits T-shirt, jean jacket, running shoes — before going in to check in with everyone on the bridge.

Also with her at this time, Salmon noted, was Hiromi's girlfriend, Izuku Mioko, who was dressed the same way save for a split-side jean skirt that went down to just above her knees. While he hadn't been briefed in detail on the tōshi of the Seven Battle Schools of Kantō — like all true professional soldiers, Luke Salmon _**loathed**_ the idea of allowing CIVILIANS to waltz into a potential firefight, especially TEENAGERS! — he could sense that the brainy-looking teen beside the Earth Defence Force's boss was no pushover; she could probably scare the hell out of people Salmon knew who worked for Joint Task Force Two.

So why…?

Hiromi straightened herself. "I trust I'm not interrupting something," she said.

Salmon shook his head. "No, ma'am. Minister MacKay was here with the MOO for the regiment, not to mention the letter from Rideau Hall concerning the badge designs and the letter from the Battle Honours Committee. We were about to rack down for the night and get some sleep before we'd have to worry about heading into the ship's holds to manoeuvre those huge tanks onto the cargo materialiser to beam down to the planet."

"How soon will we get there, Madame Director?" CWO Patterson asked.

"Right now, we should reach Yaminokuni at about nine o'clock Japan time; over seven hours from now," Hiromi replied. "Once we arrive, we'll have to wait to get permission to land the tanks on the ground around Muzlim Madiina, so that'll probably take a couple more hours." She drew out her cell phone — a BlackBerry, Salmon was quick to see — to gaze on the screen. "Given what time it was in your part of Canada when Her Majesty was aboard, it should be about eight o'clock in the evening." She gazed on everyone else as she slipped her phone away. "I trust you can all adjust?"

"_**YES, MA'AM!**_" everyone cheered.

Laughter then echoed through the flight deck. "There! We're merry!" Hiromi said as Mioko smiled. "Anyhow, I bear good news for you all from the noble Lord Sea General Denis Rouleau, who was so kind as to pass on a very important message for you to me!" As sucked-in breaths were heard from many lips, she drew the dataPADD she had slipped into a cargo pocket under the left flap of her jacket and flicked it on. Gazing at it for a moment, she then presented the device to Salmon with both hands. "For you."

He took it, and then he gazed at the message there. A second later, he then turned to face the others in his unit. "It's the Organization Order for us," he declared before gazing at RSM Patterson. "Stand everyone at ease, RSM."

"Yes, sir!"

Once everyone had relaxed themselves, Salmon read the message. As he did so, Hiromi and Mioko were quick to sense the delight and pride — yes, even from the several dozen normal Canadians in their CADPATs off to the reborn emperor's and empress' left at one end of Regimental Headquarters Squadron — filling the hearts of all those forming the first generation of the 2nd/10th Dragoons in four decades. Even the people wearing the eye-catching menagerie of colours in F (Support) Squadron — the red-blue-and-gold of the logistics personnel, the dark red-and-green of the Canadian Forces Medical Services people detached from 23 Field Ambulance and the dark blue-gold-red-and-sky blue of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers — were listening raptly to this.

As the members of each of the regiment's squadrons began to cheer as Salmon read out the notes in the message authorizing their formal creation and base of operations, Hiromi reached over to gently squeeze Mioko's hand…

* * *

The upper aft superstructure…

"So they accepted it?"

"Yeah, Shinobu, they did," Tariko stated as she relaxed in the living space for a cabin that normally was set aside for the staff of a flag officer when such people stayed on _Haida_. Kanami was busy rubbing the other girl's shoulders as she faced the dataPADD before her, which now displayed an image of Miyake Shinobu, Inu Chigaiko, Fujinami Ryūnosuke, not to mention Seiryōkuteki Tanoshii and the girlfriends of the other core members of Lum's Stormtroopers; the girls had been invited to the Mendō mansion by Mendō Shūtarō's sister Ryōko to celebrate _Yamato_'s commissioning into the Self-Defence Forces and the official unveiling of the United Nations Earth Defence Force.

"As we left Hamilton, Hiromi had Naoko-chan transport care packages to all Navy units across the country so they'll be prepared. Prime Minister Harper promised he'll get the same representative who pushed to get the executive curl back onto Navy officers' rank insignia to introduce a new private member's bill to support the new White Ensign as a naval war flag. Once it passes, that gives the Queen all the clearance she needs to release a new Royal Proclamation concerning it being adopted as the new war flag for Canada." Tariko then sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "Well, that's enough about the Great Canadian Flag _Non_-Debate. How are things back home?"

"Onsen-sensei and all the teachers at school are hoping you'll all keep up with your schoolwork," Chigaiko warned, and then she turned to smile at Tariko's new girlfriend. "Oh, Kanami-chan, are you coming to our school?" she then asked.

"Right now, I'm not worried about that, Chigaiko-chan," Ranma's twin warned. "With what's going on right now with Ranma and all the crap Genma and Nodoka forced on him, there's been no time to think about what school we'll be going to." As Tariko's classmates and friends all nodded, she added, "Obaba might want one of us to stay with her over in Taitō since Ranma might go to Nan'yō with Mimōko and Miiko-chan might go to Seito to be with all her friends there. It might be both Kikuko-chan and me."

More nods. "How soon will you be back?" Shinobu asked.

"If it all goes well, by late Wednesday," Tariko then mused before she rapped her knuckles on the table next to the dataPADD. "Knock on wood." As people laughed, she added, "We'll leave as soon as the final volunteers get aboard and Susuko-san transfers to the _Ušakóv_ to take control of the parts of the Earth Defence Force staying behind."

Everyone nodded; the Russian Federation Starship _Fëdor F. Ušakóv_ was that nation's primary element in the Earth Defence Force as well as sector flagship for the Central Eurasian Division of the fleet (as _Haida_ served for the North Pacific Division and _Bismarck_ served for the Western European Division). "Bet everyone'll get moving right now to get their troops and sailors aboard the ships," Ryūnosuke noted.

"By the sounds of it, Ryū-chan, that's happening now," Tariko noted with a smirk. "Right after _Yamato_ flew down to Tōkyō to be commissioned into the Self-Defence Forces, Hiromi started getting calls from a half-dozen chiefs of the defence staff worldwide to make formal arrangements for their countries' ships as soon as we get back home."

"You get back home safe and sound, okay?" Shinobu pleaded.

A nod. "Hai…!"

The communication was soon ended, and then both girls breathed out in relief. "We're moving out in a bit," Kanami said as she gazed on the clock mounted on one bulkhead; the time there was set to Japan Standard Time and read 1:42 AM.

"You sure you don't want to call your grandma?" Tariko asked as they got up and moved to sit down on a nearby couch; the quarters were designed to house five people comfortably in individual rooms connected to a common living space with a small kitchenette for the times people didn't want to head to a wardroom or galley.

A shake of the head. "Called her before we came back up here after everything went crazy at your place," Ranma's twin admitted as she leaned over to rest her head on the shoulder of Ataru's twin, both then gazing out the view port into cislunar space. The distant lights of spacedocks and space factory satellites didn't totally take away from the beautiful pattern of stars that surrounded Earth. "Warned her that this might be happening and said I was going to help out. She was worried but she understood." A smirk. "If what Akane and the others told me just before they headed over to _Hood_ was true, their father's twisting himself into knots over his precious babies being in the embrace of the 'evil tōshi of Yoshū.'" As Tariko laughed, Kanami tilted her head up to gaze into the other woman's dark brown eyes. "As for Oyaji and Ofukuro…"

"They can take care of themselves," Ataru's twin finished for her new girlfriend, and then she leaned up to gently kiss Kanami's forehead. "Your mom should be okay. I know about Tsueko-chan's mom. She's a little boy-crazy and loves chasing after younger boys, but she's got a good head on her shoulder. As for Genma…"

A shake of the head. "He won't give up."

"Well, he'll have no one there for him when he needs it. That's his choice."

"Tariko?"

"Yeah?"

"What's love?"

"What type of love?"

"What Ranma feels for Mimōko?"

A chuckle. "That's a tough one, Kanami," she then stated. "Now, I'm no expert on the subject, but I can say this." A sigh. "It's more than friendship, like what you feel for Ukyō-chan or this Ryōga character you told me about. It's like what Shampoo and Kikuko feel for each other…or how Miiko and Kumomi feel for each other. You're there for the one you love when she needs you. You back off when she wants to be alone…but only in times you know she can handle being alone. You don't back away when she's vulnerable even if she doesn't realize herself that she's vulnerable. Get it so far?"

A nod. "It's respect."

"That's part of it." Tariko sighed. "I…never really sat back and thought about what love is. Even after I got free of Ataru's head. Yeah, I dated Shinobu for quite a bit; when we were all in one head before Hensō came, Shinobu was our girlfriend and I cared for her a lot." A smirk. "And even with all the problems we had with her, there were times when we found ourselves wondering if we could love Hensō." A snort. "Except Onē-san, of course; she's not really into that sort of thing." A smirk. "Save for her feelings for a girl name Shichinohe Kaga. She's one of the Steel Angels."

Kanami perked. "What are they?"

"Oh, that's a story…"

* * *

The regulating office…

"How do you feel, Misaki?"

A noisy exhale of relief escaped the pretty girl with the freckles across her face, who was now seated in the office that had now been taken over by both the ship's coxswain and one of three military policemen that had been assigned to _Haida_'s first draft of sailors. Also present were Wakabayashi Ayu and Takanashi Naoko, not to mention the senior resource management support clerk assigned to the ship's office. "Oh, wow!" Mikami Misaki breathed out before she rubbed her forehead of shaggy brown hair; as she had yet to join the Canadian Forces formally, her hair was still styled in the twin French braids that her video game namesake possessed. "That was something else!"

"Look at her ear, Anne," Warrant Officer Don Glas, _Haida_'s senior military police serviceman — and by old Royal Canadian Navy tradition, the Regulating Petty Officer; he was the man in charge of monitoring service discipline amongst the ranks aboard ship as well as helping in the setup of the ship's watch system (though as an Air Force man, Glas would leave that part of his job to the experts) — then said, pointing.

Petty Officer 1st Class Anne Stoltz, the senior clerk aboard _Haida_, looked…and then she compared the earring that just formed on Misaki's left lobe from the ones now hanging off Naoko's and Ayu's ears; before she could have left Sick Bay to help her sisters go "wake everyone up," Narumi had been detailed off by the small medical team that had come aboard _Haida_ to help with further securing stores in Sick Bay. The green maple leaf-shaped pendant now hanging off Misaki's ear lobe now possessed the writing quill in the ink bottle insignia of the elder woman's trade on it. "Damn! Even with the RMS clerk badge on it?!" Stoltz then stated. "How on Earth…?"

"We don't know, Anne," Naoko admitted as her cheeks reddened in shame. "Negako-sama said that part of the meson that went into the earring comes from our blood…and the other part comes from the Dragon Jade." She held up the device in question for the others to see. "As to how it reproduces so fast…!" A shake of the head.

"The souls wish to live again. The Earth Angel allowed all the souls within the Jade to get that chance. Through you and the others aboard this ship — and all those on this ship's sisterships soon to follow — they will have that chance."

All three senior servicemen turned…

…and then blinked on seeing a third-year high school student in plain black robes gazing in amusement at them through the open door leading into the office. A-rank as her silver magatama stated, she had straight reddish-brown hair that went to her waist and dark lavender eyes. She had a shakujō in one hand. In her other was a dataPADD. "You're a priest," PO1 Stoltz was quick to note.

"I am contemplating taking such vows," the newcomer said as she handed the PADD over to the chief clerk. "The list of all of Nanban who came aboard, as you requested."

"Thank you, Miss…"

"Wan Miwaka, also known as 'Daremo.'"

Silence.

"You named yourself 'Nobody?'" CPO1 Jacques Beaulieu then asked.

Miwaka blinked, and then she chuckled. "Oh, the ship's translator fields." She then relaxed herself. "Actually, my battle name is 'Ōbijaku.' But I would rather prefer to not let that out amongst my fellow tōshi. I have reasons for that, sir."

The senior Navy serviceman blinked. He was experienced enough in reading other people's facial expressions and demeanour to sense that whatever was making Miwaka keep silent about things was causing her a lot of pain. "Do you need the chaplain, Miss?"

She gaped in surprise at that offer, and then she sighed. "No, good sir. If all goes as I hope it will go, I shall no longer have to be 'Daremo' to my friends before the end of this week. In the meantime, I'll leave you all be."

With that, she glanced briefly at the Dragon Jade in Ayu's hand before heading aft for the turbolift station and a quick trip to the guest quarters currently being used by everyone from Nanban High School. Beaulieu, Glas and Stoltz watched her go, and then the latter turned to face her friends. "What on Earth was _that_ about?!"

"Wáng Měiruò."

Eyes locked on Misaki. "What was that, Misaki-chan?" Naoko asked.

"That's what Miwaka-onēsama's battle name would be read in Mandarin, Naoko-chan. I think," the prospective resource management support clerk then explained. "'Wan' is the family name for all those in Japan who are descent from Korea and whose family name there would be pronounced as 'Wang.' That's the word for 'king.' And 'Měiruò' would be the Mandarin way of saying 'Miwaka;' it could mean 'beautiful similarity.'"

"Is that the name of a known tōshi?" Ayu then asked.

Stoltz blinked before she tapped controls on the dataPADD that had just been given to her by the Nanban senior. A moment later, the image of the person who had just visited came up to her. Tracing her finger over the kanji characters 王美若 and then calling up the DATABASE SEARCH function, she waited for a moment, and then blinked. "Well, according to this — and this was noted by the Director herself — Wáng Měiruò was actually a former consort of the Director's in her first life back in China. This woman was also the mother of the Director's second son who survived childhood; he later became the last Hàn Emperor." She shook her head. "Damn! Does she want her back?"

"Could she be a threat to Hiromi-onēsama?!" Misaki asked, her eyes wide with fear.

Naoko shook her head. "She didn't feel that way to me, Misaki-chan."

"Girls, keep an eye on it," Beaulieu then warned as he focused on the two would-be medical technicians. "Much that we know that this is something the tōshi have all dreamt of — if what Miss Kashira and her friends told us about how they always viewed 'Reitei-sama' over the years — this is a distraction she really doesn't need at this time."

Both Naoko and Ayu nodded. "We understand," they chanted, and then they gazed on each other. "Let's go take care of Asuka-chan and Yūko-chan, Ayu-chan," the former said.

"Hai!"

"Please excuse us!" both then said with bows to the coxswain, and then they left.

The three Canadian Forces senior non-commissioned members watched them go, and then they exchanged amused looks and smiles. "You think this was what it was like on the old _Yamato_ when she went off on Operation: Ten-gō, Chief?" Glas asked.

"Maybe," Beaulieu said with a chuckle as he turned back to his computer…

* * *

The forward observation lounge, minutes later…

_Oh, my son…!_

A lone figure in black stood in the middle of the empty space to gaze on the deep vast blackness now surrounding the Canadian starship. As her heart beat fast, the woman known to the histories of the final decades of the Latter Hàn Dynasty and the rise of the Three Kingdoms simply as the "Consort Wáng" — "Ōbijin" in Japanese — could only shake her head as she tried not to panic over what she just sensed about the Dragon Jade and the thousands of souls still trapped within its layered crystals.

_What are you trying to do…?!_

Sitting down, the would-be Sōtō Zen monastic from Nanban drew out her prayer beads.

_To risk harming_ him_…and with Hiromi and Mioko soon to know about_ him_…!_

As she took a deep breath, Miwaka then reached into her robes to pull out a beautiful heart-shaped pendant, one that could be flipped open to allow her to gaze on the image inside. The image of a man who seemed willing to do all to see the dream of the soul that had known life long ago under the name "Wáng Měiruò" to finally come true.

But now…

_Is this what you had in mind when you vowed you'd help me, Susugame-sempai…?!_

Wiping her eyes of tears, Miwaka then sat down and began to pray…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Canadian squadron notes:

**410 (Cougar) Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron** (**410 TF[OT]S**) is the final place where trainee fighter pilots go to learn their trade before being deployed to an operational front-line unit. Showcased in the Discovery Channel Canada miniseries _Jetstream_ in 2008, 410 Squadron was first formed in 1941 as a night fighter squadron in Britain, serving in Europe until the war's end. Disbanded after the way, the squadron was reformed as an air defence fighter squadron in 1946 at Saint-Hubert, later going to serve in Europe until 1961, when it returned to Canada and flew in homeland defence until 1964. The squadron was reformed in its present format in 1968 at Bagotville, moving to Cold Lake in 1982 when it converted from the McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo to the McDonnell Douglas CF-188 Hornet.

**419 (Moose) Tactical Fighter Training Squadron** (**419 TFTS**) is the place fighter pilots go to learn their trade BEFORE heading across the Cold Lake flight line to attend the year-long course with 410 Squadron. First formed as a bomber unit in 1941, the squadron served in Britain until war's end. Reformed in 1955 as a part of Canada's commitment to Germany, the squadron would remain in Europe until disbandment in 1962. The squadron was reformed as a fighter training squadron for the Canadair CF-116 Freedom Fighter (the Canadian version of the Northrop F-5) in 1975, being disbanded twenty years later. The current version of the squadron was stood up in 2000, flying the BAE Systems CT-155 Hawk.

2) Translations: **Chūsa** — Navy commander, Army lieutenant colonel, Air Force wing commander; **Taisa** — Navy captain, Army colonel, Air Force group captain; **Chūjo** — Navy vice admiral, Army lieutenant general, Air Force air marshal; **The Rock** — Popular nickname for the Island of Newfoundland; **CER** — Combat Engineer Regiment; **MP** — Military Police; **Lobulus Auriculae** — One's earlobe; **NDHQ** — National Defence Headquarters, the Canadian version of the Pentagon on the Rideau Canal southeast of Parliament Hill in Ottawa; **Cislunar** — Within the orbit of the Moon; **Shakujō** — Monk's staff.

3) **Malton** is a part of the city of **Mississauga** west of Toronto. It was at Malton Airport (now **Toronto Lester B. Pearson International Airport**) that Canadian aviation history was made when the **Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow** — the first interceptor fighter designed to fly at a level speed of Mach 2 — was built and took its first test flight on 25 March 1958. Perhaps one of the most advanced machines in its day, the Arrow proved simply to be too expensive due to the horrendous costs of research and development, thus forcing the project to be cancelled on 20 February 1959 ("Black Friday" as it was called). Unlike other such machines that were cancelled, the Arrow aircraft built then to date (hull serial numbers RL201-RL205, plus the almost complete RL206 and several more in various states of construction) were scrapped on site; all that remains of this incredible project was the nose of RL206, several wing sections and one of the Orenda PS.13 Iroquois that were designed to power this machine.

4) The **CC-130** is the Canadian designation for the Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transport.

5) **Arimori Kei** is a character from _Grand Prix_ that made it to _Find Love_. She is from Ikoma in Nara Prefecture due east of Ōsaka, she is a lover of costume play (in Japanese, _kosupure_) and karaoke. The "Tomomi" mentioned when Kei is introduced is **Yoshino Tomomi**, another _Grand Prix_ girl who made it to _Find Love_. She is from Kita-Hiroshima on Hokkaidō near Sapporo and loves swimming and reading. The two girls mentioned by Naoko near the end of this part are **Iwasaki Asuka** and **Sakura Yūko**, who are both also _Grand Prix_ characters. In the series, Asuka is from Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture; she loves to take pictures…while Yūko is from Yokohama in Kanagawa; she's a lover of sports who likes volleyball and swimming.

6) The Star Flare shuttle _DeWolf_ is named after Vice Admiral **Henry "Harry" DeWolf** (1903-2000), who was the first captain of H.M.C.S. _Haida_ from her commissioning in August 1943 to the following September. He served on a trawler and an escort destroyer before he took command of _Haida_, then after the war commanded Canada's first two true aircraft carriers, H.M.C. Ships _Warrior_ and _Magnificent_. His career topped off in 1956 when he became Chief of Naval Staff, serving there for four years before he finally retired from the military.

7) Canadian Army unit notes:

The **Royal Newfoundland Regiment** (**R NFLD R**) is Newfoundland's resident infantry regiment. Welcomed into the Canadian Army in 1949 when the province entered Confederation, it perpetuates infantry units that have been formed on the Rock since 1795, including the original "Royal Newfoundland Regiment" of the Dominion of Newfoundland that fought in World War One. In 1974, the regiment was split into two battalions, **1st Battalion** (**1 R NFLD R**) based in Saint John's and **2nd Battalion** (**2 R NFLD R**) based in Corner Brook (north of Channel-Port aux Basques). Both battalions of the regiment are fighting elements of 37 Canadian Brigade Group.

The **Royal Canadian Dragoons** (**RCD**) is Canada's senior full-time armoured regiment. Based now in Petawawa, the regiment was first founded in 1883 as the "Cavalry School Corps." The regiment is a fighting element of 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group.

And the units of 31 Canadian Brigade Group mentioned here who will become sister regiments of the reformed **2nd/10th Dragoons**:

The **Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)** (**RHLI**) is Hamilton's senior infantry regiment. Formed first in 1862, the regiment was one of the units to participate in the tragic **Dieppe Raid** (Operation: Jubilee) on 19 August 1942.

The **Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)** (**ASH OF C**) is Hamilton's resident Highland infantry regiment. The unit was first formed in 1903.

The **Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada** (**RHF OF C**) is the local infantry unit of Waterloo Region northwest of Hamilton. Recently given the "Royal" title, the regiment was formed in 1866.

The **1st Hussars** (**1 H**) is the resident armoured unit of the city of London in southwest Ontario. It was first formed in 1872, the same year as the 2nd/10th Dragoons.

The **Windsor Regiment (RCAC)** (**WINDSOR R**) is the resident armoured unit of the city of Windsor, just across the Detroit River from Detroit in Michigan. Formed in 1936 as one of Canada's first tank regiments, the unit has no battle honours.

8) **L'Université de Moncton**, located in the city of the same name in the southeast corner of New Brunswick (which is Canada's only officially bilingual province), was founded in 1963 from the merger of three French-speaking colleges to serve the needs of Acadian post-secondary students in the Maritime Provinces.

9) Other nations' military notes:

A **Marine Expeditionary Unit** (**MEU**) is the smallest combined independent ground-and-air combat force that can be deployed by the **United States Marine Corps**. An MEU (pronounced "myuu") is composed of an infantry battalion with a tank platoon and artillery platoon, plus attached composite helicopter squadron with transport and attack machines, plus a logistics group for support. **1st Reconnaissance Battalion** (**1 Recon Bn**) is the ground reconnaissance force of the 1st Marine Division.

A **Commando** in the British **Royal Marines** is a battalion-sized force trained in amphibious warfare and other special operations to support the Royal Navy. **41 Commando RM** was an actual unit that was formed in 1943 to serve in World War Two, disbanded at the end of the war, reformed for the Korean War (but only served a year before being disbanded again), then reformed the last time in 1960 to serve in places like Northern Ireland, being disbanded the last time in 1981.

The **Special Boat Service** (**SBS**) is the Royal Navy's special warfare force. Drawing mostly from the ranks of the Royal Marines, the SBS is now a partner in the British special forces community with its more famous near-namesake, the **Special Air Service** (**SAS**) of the British Army.

10) **Wakabayashi Ayu** is a character from _Dōsōkai_ (known more popularly as "Class Reunion"), an adult dating simulation game released by F&C Company for the SegaSaturn and later the Sega DreamCast that would also transmit over to a pair of OVA series released in the late 1990s.

11) **Lyna** is, of course, the spiritual patron of modern Sagussa…and, by extension, the Avalonians. She made an "appearance," per se, in _The Senior Year_ story "Great Father Ataru Stage One: Renewal." Having lived approximately 14,000 years ago, Lyna was the clone "daughter" of a famous scientist on Sagussa who was a very popular idol; it was the discovery of her true nature — and her subsequent death — that triggered the Sagussan War of Clone Rights.

12) Reserve service in the Canadian Forces in real life is classified this way: **Class A** service is the standard once-a-week evening parade and weekend part-time work at the local armouries; **Class B** service is non-operational full-time work; and **Class C** service is operational full-time service (which can include overseas service).

13) In Canada, personnel who are NOT commissioned officers are referred to as **Non-Commissioned Members** (**NCMs**), though they can be referred to as "Non-Commissioned Officers" (usually if one is a sergeant/petty officer 2nd class or above) per older traditions. A Canadian serviceman is NEVER to be referred to as being "enlisted" in the Armed Forces.

14) The **Electrical and Mechanical Engineers** (**EME**) are the Canadian Army's resident weapons and equipment maintainers. In the 2nd/10th Dragoons, the members of the EME form the regiment's Maintenance Troop in F Squadron; other units will have similar organizations supporting them.

15) **Misaki** is a character from the first _True Love Story_ series of games, released by ASCII for the PlayStation gaming consoles between 1996 and 2003 (one version of the series came out as a three-part OVA series in 2003). She was never given a family name in _TLS_ as she is meant to serve as the player character's sister; the family name given here is my creation.

16) **Operation: Ten-gō** was the last voyage of the Japanese battleship _Yamato_, meant to act as a kamikaze run on Okinawa to help stave off the American invasion of the island in the early spring of 1945. The battleship departed Tokuyama near Hiroshima on 6 April of that year, being caught by massed carrier aircraft forces a day later just southeast of Kyūshū. In just a little over three hours, _Yamato_ was at the bottom of the ocean in two pieces, having suffered over two thousand dead.

17) As I did with the Língsī Empress of Hàn when I brought her into this life as Izuku Mioko, I devised the real name for the **Consort Wáng** (unknown birth, possibly died in 181 C.E.), living today as **Ōbijaku** (**Wan Miwaka**). As noted in the text above, the Consort Wáng was the true mother of the Xiàoxiàn Emperor of Hàn. In her first life, Miwaka was afraid of Mioko's past-self, thus she took drugs to try to induce an abortion when she was pregnant with Liú Xié. Unfortunately for the Consort Wáng, the Língsī Empress did have her poisoned to death sometime after Liú Xié was born.

Like Mioko, Miwaka is physically based on a character from _Bible Black_; in Miwaka's case, she directly resembles **Takashiro Hiroko**.

As an aside, I got the **Daremo** ("Nobody") nickname for Miwaka from the character of **Brett Wallace** from the _Ninja Master_ series of action adventure novels written by Wade Barker in the 1980s. I was introduced to the series by a former co-worker from the **1st Canadian Division Headquarters and Signal Regiment** (**1 CDHSR**) in Kingston when I was posted there from 1990-91 before I finally got out of the Forces and went to university. Just to note, the regiment was re-designated **Canadian Forces Joint Signal Regiment** (**CFJSR**) in 2000 (at the same time its parent headquarters unit, 1st Canadian Division Headquarters, was transformed into Canadian Forces Joint Headquarters as noted in Part 11) and remains as such to this day. CFJSR is currently assigned to provide communications and information services to deployed field commanders on overseas operations. Note that with the reformation of 1 CDN DIV HQ in 2010, CFJSR was not converted back to serve as the central division signal regiment, though one of the regiment's squadrons is given the task of operational support to the division headquarters.


	33. Nabiki Meets Kyōko

Air Force One, approaching Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake (Japan time: ninety minutes after midnight)…

"Cold Lake Tower, this is Air Force One, we are on final approach to Runway Thirty-one-Right."

"Air Force One, Cold Lake Tower, we have you on final approach. Winds are from the northwest at twelve knots and you are clear to land."

"Roger that."

With that, the modified Boeing 2747S Starliner — named the VC-50S in United States Air Force service — gently came down on the longest of the three runways that serviced Canada's busiest tactical fighter base. As the President and his family gazed outside the viewing ports from their cabin at the nose of the double-deck version of the cancelled Boeing 2707 supersonic transport whose development had been stopped in 1971 before production could begin, they were quick to see the beautiful white aircraft with its black and neon red trim parked amongst the grey CF-188s based here as part of 410 Squadron and its sister operational unit, 409 (Nighthawk) Tactical Fighter Squadron. "There it is," the chief executive said as he pointed at the rebuilt Arrow Mark II prototype once known by its old hull code of RL206. "The Avro Arrow. I wonder who'll get the support contract for that craft; Avro Canada went out of business years ago."

"Most likely, it'll be Bombardier, Mister President," the Air Force officer seated nearby explained as the Starliner began its roll out and the air brakes were applied. Major Joe Nichols was currently the backup pilot for Air Force One; he had qualified originally on F-15 Eagles before he was reassigned to the Presidential Airlift Group of 89th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Andrews to be a pilot to the newest executive transport of the Air Force…and the service's first ever space-capable transport aircraft. He was also a friend of Dan Cooper's; the two had met in Italy during the various wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. "When Avro Canada was shut down in 1962, its assets were taken over by its parent British company, Hawker Siddeley Canada. That was bought out by Bombardier in 2001. Most likely, Bombardier will be asked…"

"Dad! Look! It's Canada One!"

The President looked…and then he grinned on seeing the beautiful sister aircraft to Air Force One in its white-and-red livery parked nearby. Known in Canada as the CSC-157, the aircraft now identified as "Canada One" had been gifted to the government of the Dominion the same day the new Air Force One had been presented to the government of the United States. And by the same people, of course: Grateful Avalonians who had been allowed to migrate to America or Canada to start up new lives after years and decades of inhumane slavery that made all the stories of forced servitude practised on Earth seem quite trite in comparison. "Well, I'm glad Michaëlle's here as well."

The others in the cabin smiled. Thanks to the quick work of the Arizona Army National Guard, the Men In Black and the Kuromoroboshi ninjas answering to Moroboshi Negako, the cause of the attempted kamikaze attack on _Arizona_ not more than an hour before had been quickly deduced and worked out. It would still require some in-depth research from all the agencies that would get involved in this before it could be properly presented to a judge and a jury, but the reasons alone for the attack were clear.

Led by a man named Joseph Busey, a fringe radical evangelical sect had come to believe that humanity's acceptance of the Avalonians amongst them was a guaranteed trip to hell for all mankind, so it had to be stopped…even at the potential risk of a _global holocaust_ by allowing _**ten tonnes**_ of anti-matter to go off over the city of Phoenix. Given the President's presence aboard _Arizona_, Busey and his friends would be remanded into federal custody soon enough, then put on trial in front of one of the United States district courts — most likely the District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego — for multiple felony counts on both the federal and state level. The least of which being an attempted assassination of the President.

As for the alien involvement…

_That has to be kept under wraps for a bit_, the President mused as the pilot guided Air Force One off the runway and towards the area where Canada One was parked. As he got up and moved to button his jacket and his wife made sure their daughters were alright, Andrea Price opened the door to the cabin to escort him out. By then, the Starliner was already moving to assume its parking space at the boarding ramp, which led onto bare concrete as this trip to Cold Lake had had been set on in just fifteen minutes of calls between Air Force One, Washington and Ottawa. As soon as Air Force One was stopped parallel to Canada One and the front port hatchway opened, Secret Service agents — augmented with Avalonian-American special agents trained to use their empathy and telepathy to help augment the normal parts of the Presidential Detail and ensure any threat to "Solomon" (the President's USSS call-sign) was detected before an attack could be launched — got out and made their way into positions, several of them joining up with plain-clothed Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers and Canadian Air Force sky marshals who had come with the Governor General from Ottawa.

"It's all clear, sir," Andrea then informed her principal.

The President nodded as he stopped at the threshold of Air Force One. A band nearby then struck up the combined medleys of _Ruffles and Flourishes_ and _Hail to the Chief_, the official honours music for the American head of state. Pausing to salute with hand over heart as the guard detail went to present arms, he waited for the music to stop before descending down to greet the smiling Governor General of Canada.

"So how was _Arizona_?" Michaëlle Jean then asked.

"Just as impressive as she was when I first toured her back in March," Barack Obama answered before waving to his wife Michelle and their daughters Malia and Sasha.

Greetings were exchanged — which were punctuated by Sasha's cry of "BeaverTails!" after the Governor General handed her and her sister bags of hot pastry fresh from the ByWard Market in downtown Ottawa that the President had visited the previous year (transported to Cold Lake via materialiser beam relayed from Ottawa to one of the near-orbital space stations and then down to Alberta) — and then a quick inspection of the 4 Wing honour guard hastily drawn up for the President's arrival was done. Soon enough, the two heads of state were loaded into the Canadian leader's limousine — brought over from Ottawa — and then made its way off the flight line. As the vehicle — escorted by utility vehicles manned by 1 Military Police Squadron's 11 Flight — headed towards the main gate, the President smiled. "So where is this crazy pilot of yours anyway?"

"Currently enjoying his first cup of Tim Hortons coffee in three months," the Governor General answered, which made the American First Family all laugh. "They don't have a restaurant on Sethlans, so all he could drink was the replicated coffee."

"That's not filling," the First Lady noted.

Both of her daughters made "Eeew!" sounds on hearing that, which made their parents and their host laugh. "So hopefully after this, the corporate offices in Hamilton will correct that issue," the Governor General added. "Much that taking a new fighter out for a test flight is proper, actually going to another airport to get _coffee_…!"

More laughter. "I read the DIA's file on Colonel Cooper," the President said as the limousine passed through the main gates onto Alberta Highway 897 (known locally as the Kingsway), the secondary road that passed through CFB Cold Lake from its namesake town to the east to the shores of the lake from which the base and town both got their names far to the north. Turning left, the limousine then headed down almost parallel to Runway 31-Right. Lining the fence bordering the property were hundreds of onlookers — cordoned off by both Canadian troops in CADPATs and Avalonian-Canadian volunteers in red-and-white jumpsuits marking their wanting to be parts of the Canadian Forces' in-house policing and security formation — gazing both at the Arrow parked on the flight line as well as the two visiting Starliners in their national livery. "He's quite the maverick. Almost has a sixth sense when it comes to sensing problems about to occur. It's uncanny."

"He's not magical according to the Ministry of Magical Affairs," the Governor General said as the limousine approached a large parking lot on the east side of the Kingsway, that punctured by a fair-sized square red brick building, a familiar gold-and-brown oval sign on a tall post by the entrance. "I don't know if he's a metahuman…"

"Dad! Look!"

Hearing his eldest daughter's gasp, the President looked…and then he blinked on seeing what appeared to be a Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport aircraft — but with tilting _jet engines_ at the end of the wings and not turboprops with helicopter-sized rotors — literally PARKED at the back of the property and watched over by a couple of Avalonians in jumpsuits, they coloured the sky blue and gold of the Air Force. "What the…?"

The Governor General laughed. "Oh, that must be one of the Dynajets assigned to one of the provisional Air Reserve squadrons based here," she stated as the limousine pulled into the parking lot. As the escorting vehicles all stopped close to one of the entrance to allow the mixture of RCMP, CFMP and USSS agents to step out and look around, the driver guided the limousine near to the ramp by the door. "You know about them, Major?"

"Bombardier CSV-131," Joe Nichols — now seated beside Andrea Price and the Governor General's current aide-de-camp from Air Command, Captain Stanley Volkes — answered. "Space-capable version of the V-22. Bombardier is discussing American building rights with Bell-Boeing about it."

One of the RCMP protective officers who had rode in the limousine disembarked from the shotgun seat, and then came over to open the door, allowing Andrea to get out first. After a quick check around, she leaned in to beckon everyone else out. Everyone got out and found themselves greeted by the restaurant manager before they were escorted inside. "This is normally the meeting establishment for 122 and 163 Squadrons since they don't have proper offices on the base property itself, Mister President," Corrine Watson then explained as she waved over to one corner of the room. "The aircrew for the Dynajet parked out back are from 122 Squadron; they'll be the reserve combat support squadron for 4 Wing from now on. They're meeting with Colonel Cooper right now."

"Thank you, Ms. Watson," the President said as he and the Governor General walked over.

By then, the three people in flight suits were up. "Madame Governor General. Mister President," Dan Cooper said with a smile and his hand extended. After he had greeted the Governor General, he shook the President's hand. "Welcome to Cold Lake, sir."

"Colonel Cooper," the President said as seats were brought up to allow him and his host to sit. "Captain Kazanski speaks incredibly highly of your flying skills."

"Well, Ice has it over me with a couple years' experience; he graduated from Annapolis in 1980 and got his wings in 'Eighty-two. I didn't get out of RMC until 1983 and didn't get my wings until 'Eighty-five; I was part of the last Starfighter training serial to go through before we put that rocket finally to bed and adopted the Electric Bug instead," Cooper explained as the First Lady came over with cups of coffee for her husband and their host. "I met Tom at Miramar when I was selected to be part of a crew to go down to California to practice with the Hornet against the boys at TOPGUN. We did some practice runs against each other, him in a Tomcat and me in my Hornet."

"You beat him every time, he tells me."

A nod. "He's a perfect flier — a real machine at the stick — but sometimes, he gets too rigid. I'm more like his TOPGUN classmate Pete Mitchell. Do your job…"

"But trust your instincts as well," the Governor General finished.

"Yes, ma'am."

"So how does she fly?" the President asked.

A grin. "Incredibly good, Mister President. We have a squadron of twenty up on Sethlans right now — ten of them actually salvaged from Malton thanks to a time trip back to 1959 the Little Genius took with _Haida_; the rest of them were all built on Sethlans in a month — that could form a new squadron with just the right calls to the right people. People in Mirabel are already gearing up for production support."

"I think it'll be approved _**this**_…" the Governor General mused.

"_**THERE THEY GO!**_"

Everyone turned on hearing that shout from one of the patrons…

…to gaze on a television screen hanging from the roof over one side of the counter. As a hush fell over the people inside the restaurant, they watched as the images from deep space — as transmitted from the bioroid factory — played out…

* * *

_Haida_, now passing the Moon's orbit, minutes before…

"Captain to Radio One."

"Radio One, Takiguchi here."

Brian Gamblin took a deep breath. It was time. "Miss Takiguchi, signal all ships. We are proceeding on Phase One of the deployment in one minute, mark."

"Aye-aye, sir!" Takiguchi Shōko was one of the prospective naval communicators now aboard the Canadian starship. "Signal gone out now. Confirming messages answering."

Hearing that, the experienced submariner blinked. Odd. Shōko sounded a little TOO enthusiastic. "How's she doing down there, Yeoman?" he then asked.

A chuckle. "We got an Energizer bunny here, Captain," CPO2 Nathan Cotter replied from the ship's main communications room, located in a different section of the forward superstructure. "Can't wait to get her and the rest of the crew over to Esquimalt to teach them the tricks of the trade. Though after a while…"

"They'll be teaching us," Gamblin finished for his senior signalman.

"Aye, sir!"

Gamblin nodded. "Officer of the Watch. Take her into warp."

"Aye, sir!" Michelle Anderson said as she tapped a control at her station, located in the middle of the operations room. "Ops to Pilotage."

"Pilotage, Nishino here. I have the helm."

"Main engines are on line. Revolutions 45 on both main drive, half ahead. Steer course 177 mark 169," the navigation officer ordered. "Take us into warp, Risa."

"Aye, ma'am!" Nishino Risa was one of the ship's prospective boatswains; she also wished to become a ship's diver…though how that latter service would work on a starship, people had yet to figure out. "Starboard ten, elevators up five, coming to bearing 177 mark 169. Revolutions 45 on both main engines, half-ahead both."

_Haida_ turned to starboard and began to slowly climb away from the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun as the two massive ramjet exhausts at her aft end glowed to life. At the same moment, the intake valves for the ship's main drive at the bow opened to allow a warp field to form around her…and with that, the Canadian starship disappeared in a shower of bright blue Čerenkov radiation, leaping away from her home solar system for the first time in four months. Within seconds, nine other ships followed…

* * *

Nerima, the Tendō home, that moment…

"_**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! MY BABIES! MY BABIES ARE GONE! MY BABIES ARE GONE! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THE SCHOOLS WILL NEVER BE JOINED…!**_"

Hearing his best friend's wail from the open door into the living room, Saotome Genma — who was still bruised and hurt from the arrow strikes that tōshi had unleashed on him Sunday evening — could only shake his head. _Ye gods! I thought it was just a temporary thing!_ the "master" of the "Saotome-ryū" mused to himself before he moved to stealthily exit from the property; he was currently protected from Sōun's own senses with the Umisen-ken null-ki cloak. _If he can't help me get the boy back…!_

He then stopped before shaking his head. Ranma had vanished from the hospital on Friday, sent somewhere — Genma suspected it was to one of those starships the Moroboshi bitch controlled up in orbit, but he had no confirmation of same…much less any idea as to _which_ of those ships he could go look for his disobedient son — beyond his grasp, with those damned aliens all around him. And while he could try to go to Tomobiki to beat the answers out of the bitch's parents, Happōsai — to say anything of the Black Death herself — were there and they probably wouldn't take too kindly to that.

And now with Akane and most likely Nabiki off to space with the tōshi of Yoshū…!

It was over.

He had NOTHING now.

No heir to guide into the proper path…

No son to be there for his long-suffering father…

No potential daughter-in-law to keep said son in line…

No future grandchildren to pass on the Art and distract said son from deviating…

Hell, no beautiful wife to sleep with whenever he needed that sort of relief…!

And now no friend to play go with or a warm home to have over his head.

It had all been taken away from him.

Over TEN YEARS of work on the road…

_**Wasted!**_

Never mind all the stupid lies about who was a master of what…

What the hell was he supposed to do NOW?!

The boy was missing.

Akane refused to acknowledge her father's desires.

Nabiki and Kasumi were supporting their sister all the way.

Sōun was now a useless wreck.

That pathetic pig Hibiki couldn't be used to provoke the boy anymore.

Nodoka had vowed to enforce the seppuku contract if he tried to return home.

That whore Kureru Haeko was at her side to protect his wife from him.

Happōsai had washed his hands of his students forever.

And thanks to his senile mother, EVERYONE in Japan had been turned against him!

How…?

"Saotome-sama?"

He then tensed on hearing that whispered voice, and then he turned. "Sasuke?"

"My mistress requests your presence at her home," the voice of the elderly ninja echoed from nearby. "Your wounds can be treated there. Please come with me."

Hearing that, Genma — who had been surprised to note that Sasuke had sensed him even through his ki cloak — found himself grinning.

Well, well, well…

HERE was opportunity…!

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home…

"You sensed it, did you not?"

Happōsai smirked before he took the offered cup of tea from Kotatsuneko — the large cat-ghost who normally resided now in the guest house south of the main house had brought out his favourite low table to the lawn between the two standing houses of the property so everyone could enjoy a late night cup of tea and watch the stars — before he gazed off to the east. "Genma thinks he's capable of hiding himself from me using his Umisen-ken skills. I figured out all the manoeuvres long ago from the copy of the instructions he put into Nodoka's katana. He just visited his friend…"

"Who is still too distraught over his daughters leaving home to be of any assistance in any future attempt at trying to regain any influence over Ranma," Negako finished. Along with the two grandmasters and Kotatsuneko, Sakurambō Sakura and her maternal uncle Hayao — "Cherry" to his friends — had come by to visit and enjoy some tea…though none of them partook of the small bowl of Noukiite red pepper powder that Negako used to spice up her own drink. "You have done all that you can do, Happy. Leave them be. When Ranma returns back, he can be informed of what is happening and plan accordingly."

The Shintō shrine maiden — who also volunteered as one of the two school nurses at Tomobiki High School, much to the concern of some of the elderly residents of town — and the elderly Jōdo-shū monk (who also studied Shugen-dō when he got the chance) shook their heads; they had heard about the young man Moroboshi Tariko had met over a week ago at Nerima General Hospital and were not impressed by what they had learned about his father. "The Cat Fist, the Touched Soul, _Jusenkyō_…!" Sakura hissed out. "What was this man trying to do?! Turn his son into a mental vegetable?!"

"Most likely," Happōsai said as he gently breathed in the herbal solution Negako had prepared for his pipe. "He never really sat back and thought about what was happening to him when I was training him. Never really took a step back to think about it. Since I did have my own mastery in the Tensei-ryū from Master Hosan, he believed that whatever he did under my charge wouldn't have consequences as the Tensei-ryū had the sanction of the Son of Heaven." A shake of the head. "I know what I did wrong. I'll have to answer for it one way or another. But Genma — much less Sōun — never thought about that." A sigh. "And now it's all finally coming back home to roost. And they just don't know what to do about it."

"Too modern for their sensibilities," Cherry noted.

"If they ever possessed any," Negako mused.

Happōsai laughed before he gazed into space. "Damn! I haven't seen such clean skies over Tōkyō in years. What the hell's been happening here since I've been gone?"

"The Avalonians, of course," Sakura answered. "Many of them flocked to industries all over the planet, introduced new emission control systems to cut down the air pollution and water pollution produced, then went on a massive tree-planting spree. Some of them have even set up air cleansing stations in high mountains to bring in the dirty air, run it through filters, then expel it back as clean air. Others are working on ways to restore the ozone layer in the atmosphere by pumping fresh ozone into the sky. It will take years to correct all the mess we humans have made, but soon…"

"Earth will be restored to a healthier level of sustainability for life," Negako finished for the other woman. "Hopefully soon, the Seifukusu will see reason and allow humanity — both Terran and Avalonian — to migrate to new worlds to live."

"What do you mean?" Happōsai asked.

"It is like this…"

* * *

_Haida_, now between Tau Ceti and van Maanen's Star, a half-hour later…

"So you found it quite easy to guide the ship out?"

"Somewhat easy," Michelle said as she and Hiromi walked out of the operations room, heading over to the turbolift station to proceed for some tea in the wardroom before they would return to their cabins for some needed rest; Sub-Lieutenant Carol Moore currently had the watch. "Just have to remember to think in THREE dimensions instead of two. And remember that galactic 'north' is always towards the centre of the galaxy." As both women chuckled, the car arrived and they stepped inside. "We're sailing with such a short crew. At least we have a good number of bridge watchkeepers even if we're missing the primary positions like the executive officer!"

"Wardroom Flats," Hiromi called out to the car's controlling unit, and then she relaxed as the car dropped three decks; given _Haida_'s size in comparison to normal ships, the Navy personnel aboard were more than grateful that there were turbolifts on this ship even if there were also emergency accommodation ladders if they were required. "Captain Gamblin told me when he lamented that fact that he would ask the current commandant of the Fleet School in Halifax to come aboard as his executive officer."

Michelle perked, and then she nodded as the car arrived at the deck that led to the main officer's lounge. "Commander Choquette?! He was my course commander at _Venture_; he's been chomping at the bit to get back to sea again for years." A nod. "He'll do it."

Both laughed as they stepped into the wardroom…and then they stopped. "Naoko-san?" Hiromi then called out. "What on Earth are you doing with Chiemi-…?"

She was instantly hushed by Wakabayashi Ayu. "Don't break her concentration, Onē-sama!" the raven-haired would-be medical technician whispered.

Hiromi blinked, surprised that Ayu had just addressed her with the term for "elder sister" in lieu of the basic "-sama" honorific…and then she tensed on feeling SOMETHING surge out of Takanashi Naoko to enter Nozoe Chiemi's head. Looking over, she then gaped on seeing the softly-glowing Dragon Jade in the green-haired woman's hand…and then she gaped as tiny sparkles of light seemed to flow OUT of Chiemi's skin to coalesce around the lower end of her left earlobe, that soon forming a green maple leaf pendant hanging off a gold band. As the would-be steward seemed to shudder for a moment, Naoko sighed. "Okay, she's the last one," she declared before turning to gaze on Hiromi. "Onē-sama!" she cried out with delight.

As the reborn emperor tried to equate this gushing girl before her now with the curt yet polite woman she had dealt with since Naoko had first been woken four months ago, several of the junior officers from the ship's crew, plus pilots and other air officers from 21 Wing, all gathered around the slowly-recovering Chiemi. "That is SO freaky to watch!" Lt(N) Sally Carpenter said as she and one of the pilots assigned to 434 Squadron, Captain Jessica "Slipstream" Miller, helped her back to her feet. "You okay, Chiemi?"

A moan escaped the would-be steward. "Just a tad dizzy, Sally-san," she responded before she turned, and then she gaped. "Ah, Onē-sama! Michelle-san! Do you want some cake?!" A delighted smile then crossed her face. "I just made a new batch!"

Many of the officers broke out laughing. "Trust me on this one, Michelle," Jessica warned. "You eat the cake, you're putting on AT LEAST ten pounds!"

More laughter. "Naoko-chan, what on Earth are you doing?!" Hiromi then demanded as she gazed on Naoko. "Who on Earth taught you to do THAT to people like Chiemi-chan?!"

"Negako-sama did, Onē-sama," Naoko answered as she tensed up, sensing annoyance in the older woman's heart concerning this matter. "You complained all along about our lack of empathy or emotions ever since we were first awoken four months ago, so when Negako-sama showed Narumi-chan, Ayu-chan and I how to do this, we started augmenting everyone's _mei'na_!"

"How many?" Hiromi asked.

"Well, we did the RMS clerks first, then the people in the main computer room like Kyōko-chan, then went down to deal with the supply technicians — we got to Risa-chan and Shōko-chan too! — then the cooks, and now we just finished with the stewards," Naoko explained. "We were going to deal with the boatswains next, then the engineering personnel, then the combat systems engineers, and then move on to the combat department. We should be done in an hour or so."

"Hold off on that, Miss Takanashi."

Everyone looked over to the middle-aged lieutenant commander seated at one table enjoying his supper. The ship's acting chief engineer — it was intended to put a full commander in such a position — Wayne Andrews was also the acting executive officer thanks to this mission being set on before such an officer could be appointed as Brian Gamblin's operational and administrative second-in-command. Andrews didn't mind; marine systems engineers such as he never got to do any operational work whatsoever…and by the time they reached his rank, people in his trade were on their last posting to a ship. "But don't you want to have all the people under you act more human, sir?" Ayu then asked.

"Of course I do. But right now, we're on a SEVERELY undermanned ship heading into a potential battle zone," Andrews stated. "Yes, you girls know how to run this ship like you know the backs of your hands. But is what you're doing to the others safe?"

"There is little to concern yourself with, Lord Master Shipwright."

Hiromi turned as the acting chief engineer blushed on being called by such a classy title. "Shukuyū-dono. How currently fare the others from Nanban?" she asked.

Norito Tōmi gave her reborn emperor a hand salute. "We are resting and preparing to deal with the foe that awaits us, My Emperor," she declared before nodding her thanks as one of the other stewards, Asano Mirei, handed her some tea in a disposable cup. "We've been sensing the rebirth of the unfortunates who haunted the forest north of our school since the Earth Angel showed the Lady Naoko and her sisters how to allow them to live again. There is nought to fear, Majesty. In fact, I believe that by giving our new sisters their hearts, such will do us all well in this mission, not to mention the future."

"What about the earrings, Madame Director?" the senior naval combat systems engineer now aboard, Lieutenant Commander Romaine Xavier, wondered. "That's not allowed here."

Humming as she considered that, Naoko reached up to her ear…

…and then blinked as Hiromi caught her hand in time. "Don't, Naoko-chan!"

Naoko blinked in confusion. "Onē-sama…?"

The reborn emperor smiled. "I just remembered my first day free of Onii-san's mind back on Okusei," she stated. "I couldn't take my earring off; the mystic bonds between the soul of my old self and my current self needed time to properly forge. Onē-sama had to stop me at least four times from removing the earring to prevent me from passing out; it was a most disquieting situation." To Naoko. "To remove your earring now will cause you much discomfort and I need you on your feet, Naoko-chan." She then stared at the two naval engineers. "Much that I loudly applaud your concern for your future shipmates' welfare, good gentlemen — not to mention your concern for safety, Lord Master Shipwright Romaine — but it will do the young ones much better to give them as much in the way of life experience as we can. The Dragon Jade obviously seems to allow that to happen."

"What of when they join up?" Michelle wondered. "The earrings ARE quite big."

"Fret not about that, Lady Michelle," Hiromi said. "This state of affairs only lasts a day and there will probably be some time before we will have to clear the decks and prepare to deal with our potential enemies." To Andrews. "I propose this, Master Wayne: Allow Naoko-chan and the others to augment the souls of those of their sisters now off watch, and then do the rest when they go off watch themselves. Is that more than acceptable to you?"

Andrews nodded. "I can live with that."

"And once they are able to take their earrings off, they wear them as pendants around their necks under their shirts. Does this meet your expectations, Master Romaine?"

Xavier smiled. "I've no problems there, ma'am."

A clap of the hands. "Wonderful! In the meantime — as this is rather late for me — I intend to get some sleep in my beloved's arms tonight." Hiromi winked. "And I mean that with no intended insult to those with life-mates out there. Good evening, all."

Laughter filled the wardroom as she walked out, followed by Tōmi. "They seem more comfortable with us than I first expected, Hiromi-sama," the latter mused as they headed for the turbolift station so they could return to their current living quarters. "I know that most military personnel these days would balk at the idea of TEENAGERS actually accompany them on a potential combat mission. Why is that? Do you know?"

"It was originally because of my 'experience,' so to speak, with the Urusians, Tōmi-san," the reborn emperor stated as she called up a car for them. "As news of the tōshi then got out, people in Canada — and elsewhere — began to realise that we are certainly NOT normal teenagers by any sense of the imagination. The Canadians' experience with the good Grandmaster Lady Deannette Raeburn — who, as you know, was a major in one of their fighting air cavalry regiments in the last world war — and other metahumans like her helped us there."

The car then arrived and then both stepped inside. Calling out for the mess deck where the senior Nanban warriors were currently quartered, Tōmi then sipped her tea. "Do you really think we'll succeed in this, Hiromi-sama? It IS beyond our experience."

"Aye, that is true…but I will say this and I would desire you to tell those of Nanban who are afraid these words: I would trust any of YOU — regardless of your past histories or what your past-selves did in those dark days back in China — more than any other person beyond my immediate family in matters such as this."

Tōmi gaped, and then her eyes teared. "You are too kind to us, Majesty…"

"I am an emperor of nothing, Shukuyū-dono," Hiromi gently chided.

A shake of the head as the car arrived at a station on deck 12. "Never to us, My Emperor," the reborn wife of the overlord of the Nánmán whispered.

And with that, she headed off. Hiromi watched her go, and then she sighed. "Deck A12, starboard side," she then declared as she crossed her arms.

The doors swept closed…

* * *

Near the main computer room in the centre of the ship's hull…

Miyamoto Nabiki's eyes opened.

Sitting up in her private cabin — which was one of twelve individual suites set aside for the junior ranks of the planned Command Systems Maintenance Division of the Ship's Systems Engineering Department; each of the quarters were equipped with a private bathroom with shower, plus a nice bed and a study area complete with computer linked to the ship's mainframe — she called out "Lights!" to turn on the deckhead lamps, and then she moaned. "Damn! Was staring too much at that computer screen…" she muttered under her breath.

But it had been an incredibly informative experience.

While it couldn't be turned to instant profit — Nabiki DID understand what the stakes were really like here; she wasn't THAT obsessed with money as many of her peers often believed of her — it was still something that was now more valuable to her than jade.

She had a finger on the pulse of the _**greatest single power on Earth itself**_.

THAT was something that many others would _**kill**_ to possess.

And to believe that Moroboshi Hiromi just HANDED her that chance!

Nabiki then perked as she remembered the reborn emperor's words in the materialiser room earlier: _Nabiki-san, ever since I first met you that day you were meeting with Momoe-san in Tomobiki, you've always struck me as the type of person that needs to feel in as much control over her life as she can get. You now have the chance to get that._

"Damn, Hiromi. You sure were right about that," the middle Miyamoto daughter said to herself as she got up and stretched herself…

…and then she tensed on hearing her laptop chime. "Yes?" she said after tapping the control on the device's touch-screen to answer the incoming message.

"You finally got some sleep?" a voice then teased.

"Hey, Onē-chan!" Nabiki said as she adjusted her nightshirt. "How are things on _Hood_?"

"Well, the very nice chefs under Captain Kerr are teaching me ALL sorts of English dishes I just can't WAIT to try out as soon as we're back home," Kasumi said from her cabin aboard the British starship; the other Miyamoto sisters were quartered with the tōshi from Yoshū. As Nabiki laughed, her sister then added, "Karin-chan is busy writing up all sorts of naughty things on a pad of paper just in case Hiromi-san wishes to ask her to write a formal challenge letter to these awful people that enslaved the Avalonians and caused Lum-san so much trouble all those years ago."

"Understatement of the century, Onē-chan. What about Akane?"

"Right now, I suspect that she's asleep in Kyoko-san's arms. Bruised beyond belief…and happier than I've seen her since Ranma-kun came to the house for the first time and Akane assumed she was a girl," Kasumi noted. "Many of Tsuguta-kun's friends are already saying she may be the equivalent of C-rank amongst tōshi. That's high up, I think."

"It's getting there, Onē-chan. Most of the real heavy hitters don't start making waves until they get to B-rank stage. Anyhow, you better get some sleep. We'll be over Yaminokuni in a few hours and people'll need to be awake."

"What about you?" Kasumi asked.

"I'll probably crash out again in an hour or so. Got tired looking at all the things Hiromi-san allowed me to see and I needed some shut-eye."

"Well, don't overdo it."

"Hai! Hai!"

The link was soon cut, and then Nabiki put on a pair of slippers before heading out into the nice communal living space between the dozen cabins. _I wonder how the Canadians are going to adjust from serving on tiny surface ships with shared mess decks to serving on something like this. This ship makes the_ Queen Mary 2 _look like a tramp steamer!_ she mused to herself before she turned…and then she stopped. "Um, guys…"

Four heads turned her way from the circle of couches close to the multi-purpose entertainment unit. "Oh, Nabiki-san! Did we wake you up?" Ikusawa Kyōko asked.

Nabiki chuckled. "No, Kyōko! But if you…!"

It hit her.

"What's wrong with you guys?!" she then gasped.

The four women assigned to the ship's central computer space — atop Kyōko, there were three other girls patterned after characters from the same adult video game and visual novel from the latter years of the previous decade: Fujiki Sayuri, Koizumi Hitomi and Takahashi Ayumi — all tensed before they laughed. "Well, if you took a look anywhere else other than our perfect bodies…" — here, the four nude women all snickered — "…you might have noticed something we just got when you were asleep," Ayumi said with a cute Kyūshū accent that reminded Nabiki of Takanashi Naoko's in a way.

Nabiki blinked, and then she gaped. "You got earrings!" she said as she walked over to gaze closely at the maple leaf-shaped pendant hanging off Ayumi's left ear; the grey-eyed girl normally fashioned her long strawberry blonde hair away from those ears. "Crystal looks like a tōshi's magatama…hey! What's this badge here?!"

"That's the trade badge of a military policeman," Sayuri explained as Nabiki gently felt the crossed duelling pistols etched into the earring. "Both Kyōko and I are prospective naval communicators and Hitomi wants to be a naval combat information operator. When the earrings formed, the trade badges for our selected occupations appeared on them."

"Which will stay with all of us…unless, of course, some of us get sucked off to go to _Venture_ to become officers," Hitomi mused with a lilting Chūkyō accent to her voice as she stood up, nearly hypnotizing Nabiki with her shapely buttocks as she headed over to a nearby table to pick up a Navy mug. "What's your choice of morning drink, Nabiki-san? Coffee? Tea? Something a little stronger, maybe?"

Nabiki blinked. "Huh…?"

Her current hosts stared at her, and then Kyōko got up to stand before her, making the middle Miyamoto daughter's cheeks turn a bright red as her eyes focused on the beautiful woman's quite ample "talent." "Nabiki!" Kyōko then called out. "Hey!"

Nabiki gasped, and then she shook her head. "Um…did you say something, Kyōko?"

Silence fell, and then Sayuri chuckled. "Oh, my…"

"What?" Ayumi asked.

"Methinks — to quote our dear Hiromi-onēsama — Nabiki-san is discovering something about herself right now," the girl with the tomboyish-short slate grey hair and the stormy grey eyes then stated as an amused smile crossed her face. "Ne?"

Hitomi smirked. "Oh, definitely!" she then declared as her chestnut brown eyes twinkled with mirth, and then she moved to prepare some tea.

"Oh, stop that, Hitomi!" Kyōko then snarled. "You're embarrassing her! Have you no shame?!"

"I don't know if we were programmed for it, Kyōko," Hitomi answered with the _Dragnet_ Joe Friday-tone of voice she had used when Nabiki had first met her. "I will require time to meditate to see if that particular emotion is programmed in me."

Hearing THAT, Nabiki shrieked out with laughter, nearly collapsing to the deck as guffaws escaped her. "Now she's no longer so serious," Satomi then said as she sipped her drink, and then she blinked on hearing a doorbell chime. "Yes?!"

"Is everything okay in there, girls?!" a woman's voice called out.

"Nabiki-san just woke up and found out what happened to us, Joan!" Ayumi called back. "Hitomi just told her a joke and it got her the right way!"

A snort. "Alright! But if you do come out from there, PLEASE have some clothes on!"

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai!" all the girls chimed as one.

As fading footsteps announced the departure of Petty Officer 1st Class Joan Mercer — the senior intelligence operator assigned to _Haida_ and the division petty officer for the Command Systems Maintenance Division — back to the nearby computer room, Nabiki picked herself off from the deck. "Are they aware you're all just in your birthday suits here?"

"They are," Sayuri answered as the middle Miyamoto daughter sat down, and then accepted the tea cup from Hitomi. "No offence to your beliefs, Nabiki-san, but wearing pyjamas really doesn't feel right to any of us. We've tried them on before…" A shake of the head.

"Because you're all touch-psychics, right?"

Nods. "Hai," Kyōko said as she sat down beside Nabiki, sipping her own tea. "But unlike Vulcans in _Star Trek_, we most often derive _**pleasure**_ from allowing our minds to touch other people's minds. To feel the beauty of other souls…" A sigh. "When I felt the Dragon Jade placed on my head and Naoko-chan forced one of the souls inside it into my own mind to augment my own soul, the sensation of _**all**_ those souls inside that thing…"

"I actually had an orgasm when that happened," Sayuri confessed.

"No way!" Hitomi gasped. "I thought I was the only one!"

"Me, too," Ayumi then admitted.

The four girls exchanged looks, and then they laughed.

"You guys are so lucky."

Eyes locked on Nabiki. "You could become like us if you wanted to," Kyōko then said.

The lone Terran in the room blinked…and then she sighed. "Why would you offer that to me, Kyōko?" Nabiki then asked. "You don't know me…"

"So what?" Hitomi asked as the others gazed on her. "You're a nice girl despite your trust issue problems. Hiromi-onēsama likes you. Joan and the guys in the computer room think you're as smart as a whip. You're a shoe-in to join the Earth Defence Force's civilian side when things really start picking up in a few years. So why shouldn't we offer you the chance to become a Terran-turned-Avalonian? It's only being polite!"

Silence.

Nabiki just _**stared**_ at them. Never — at least as far as she could presently recall — had ANYONE expressed such positive opinions towards her so _openly_ and so _willingly_. Yes, there were those who complemented her for her intelligence…but most of those were teachers and were simply doing their jobs. Those who valued her money-making skills — her friends back at Fūrinkan High, for example — mostly cared for what they could get out of it themselves. And because of her "Ice Queen" reputation — not to mention the standard beliefs many people in society had when it came to girls who "put out" so easily — those she might actually like to pursue romantically wouldn't see her as anything more than what girls like Ikusawa Kyōko, Fujiki Sayuri, Koizumi Hitomi and Takahashi Ayumi had been not more than an hour ago or so.

An emotionless robot.

"You're _not_ a machine, Nabiki."

Nabiki jolted…and then she realized that Kyōko had placed a hand on her exposed leg. At first horrified on remembering that the amethyst-eyed beauty with the long azure-blue hair was able to sense her very THOUGHTS when she touched her, she then relaxed herself as the actual words that Kyōko had said to her came back. She then sighed as she reached over to gently grasp Kyōko's hand in her own, pulling it away from her leg…but not letting it go, the other Terran-form Avalonians in the room were quick to notice.

They could sense their sister's growing attraction for their guest…and their guest's acceptance of her in return.

"Are you okay, Kyōko?" Sayuri asked.

"I'm fine," Kyōko automatically answered.

A little _too_ quickly, the others noted as they exchanged knowing smiles…

* * *

Soon enough, the entertainment system was turned on and allowed to tap into the ship's rather large store of music files. Sayuri — who was manning the system — selected one of the records from the famous Canadian balladeer Gordon Lightfoot from the mid-1970s, _Old Dan's Records_. By the time the end of the first song, _Farewell to Annabel_, had played out, Sayuri and Ayumi were tenderly kissing away with each other, their hands roaming over the other person's body into intimate places. Hitomi herself had simply closed her eyes from the floor show nearby, crossing her legs on the couch as she relaxed and seemed to meditate. That left a blushing Nabiki and an amused Kyōko seated nearby, still holding the other woman's hand as they tried not to stare too much at Sayuri and Ayumi going at it.

As the album continued to play, Nabiki — who could HEAR her heart thumping loud in her ears — then tensed as she felt Kyōko's oh-so-velvet soft hair brush her neck as the slight weight of the other woman's head fell on her shoulder. Gazing down at the other girl, Nabiki blinked as she took a moment to consider that, and then she sighed.

_This can't be happening to_ **me**_…!_

She then tensed slightly as she remembered who — and WHAT! — she was now in physical contact with. Another quick glance at Kyōko revealed closed eyes and a content look on the would-be naval communicator's face. "Kyōko…?" she then whispered, which made the other woman's eyes open. "Do you want to go to bed?"

Kyōko blinked, and then she sighed with contentment. "Hai…"

With that, Nabiki moved to stand, and then she helped the other woman up. Both then headed off — hand-in-hand still — into the former's bedroom. Watching this out of one open eye, Hitomi could only smirk with delight before relaxing herself.

_She gets a bond-mate right at the 'get-up-and-go.' Lucky girl!_ the azure-haired tomboy then mused to herself as she mentally ran through all the images of all the other Avalonians currently aboard _Haida_. _Now who will be my bond-mate, I wonder… _

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The **Boeing 2707** was that company's proposal for a supersonic transport (SST) when interest in these types of machines became widespread in the 1960s. As stated in the text, the development costs and lack of a clear market for such an aircraft forced its cancellation in 1971. The **Boeing 2747S Starliner** introduced here is a two-deck version of the 2707 designed to operate in space as well as atmosphere. It would resemble the final model of the 2707 (similar to the **Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde** that was developed at the same time in physical looks; the 2707 possessed a delta wing mounting two engines per side and a single rudder fin) that was produced before the project's cancellation.

The military versions of the Starliner, the **VC-50S** (in American usage) and the **CSC-157** (in Canadian usage), are equipped with luxury suites for VIP passengers (such as the American First Family, the Royal Family, the Canadian Governor General and family, the Canadian Prime Minister and family), several smaller cabins for government aides, a passenger compartment for the press and security personnel, plus a full military communications facility in the upper deck.

2) **Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake** — home base to **4 Wing** of 1 Canadian Air Division — is Canada's main tactical fighter base west of Ontario. It was constructed near the lake bearing the same name on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border 200 kilometres east-northeast of Edmonton and 250 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon in the early 1950s to give the Royal Canadian Air Force a fighter base and training zone well clear of urban areas and could simulate the environment that might be encountered in Europe. As stated in the notes to the previous part, the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range is an 11,700 square kilometre block of land north of CFB Cold Lake that straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, providing an unpopulated flying sector for warplane pilots to practice their craft at any time of the year.

Assigned now to 4 Wing is **409 (Nighthawk) Tactical Fighter Squadron** (short-form **409 TFS**), Canada's western zone tactical fighter unit. First formed in 1941 in England as a night fighter squadron, the Nighthawks served there until war's end, and then were disbanded. Reformed in 1954 at **Comox** on Vancouver Island, 409 Squadron flew the Avro CF-100 Canuck and the McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo in home defence roles until 1984, when it converted to the CF-188 Hornet and was deployed to Baden-Söllingen until it was disbanded in 1991. The squadron was reformed in 2006 with the amalgamation of 416 (Lynx) and 441 (Silver Fox) Tactical Fighter Squadrons, it being assigned to 4 Wing at that time.

In the universe of this story, 409, 410 and 419 Squadrons were joined at Cold Lake by two new Air Reserve squadrons manned by Avalonian-Canadians, both taking their squadron numbers from World War Two home service units of the RCAF. **122 (Orca) Space Combat Support Squadron** (**122 SCSS**) was formed to augment **417 "City of Windsor" Combat Support Squadron** (**417 CSS**) in all forms of base operations support, including local search and rescue operations. The original 122 Squadron was a composite squadron based out of **Patricia Bay Airport** (now Victoria International Airport) on Vancouver Island for the period 1942-45. **163 (Hurricane) Space Transport Squadron** (**163 STS**) was formed to provide local cargo and passenger transport support between Canada and any space facility such as Station Sethlans. The original 163 Squadron was a home defence fighter squadron formed at **Sea Island Airport** (now Vancouver International Airport) and served there from 1943-44.

As an aside, the **Bombardier CSV-131 Dynajet** is named in partial tribute to the **Canadair CL-84 Dynavert** (military designation **CX-131**), an experimental tilt-wing V/STOL design that operated from 1965-74, but never went into production due to the end of the Vietnam War; at the time, Canadair was a subsidiary of General Dynamics and the American armed forces were interested in a V/STOL-type aircraft…an interest that would eventually find expression years later in the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey.

3) The **89th Airlift Wing** (**89 AW**) is the primary flying formation based at **Joint Base Andrews** (formerly Andrews Air Force Base) outside Washington D.C. The **Presidential Airlift Group** (**PAG**), which is never numbered, is the actual operations force that makes use of the aircraft always designated **Air Force One** whenever the Commander in Chief is aboard.

4) **Joseph Busey** (the family name is my creation) is the religious fanatic that destroyed the first Machine at Cape Canaveral in the movie adoption of _Contact_.

5) **BeaverTails** are a type of pastry first perfected thanks to a family recipe used by Grant and Pam Hooker in their first food stand restaurant under the name in **Kilaloe** (pronounced "Kill-a-loo") in Renfrew County west-northwest of Ottawa in 1978. This confection became famous in 2009 when President Barack Obama — in his first visit to Canada after taking office — visted the **ByWard Market** east of Parliament Hill to purchase a BeaverTail before flying back to Washington.

6) **1 Military Police Squadron** (**1 MP Sqn**) is the Canadian Air Force's resident military police unit patrolling the bases in western Canada. The squadron is headquartered in Winnipeg. **11 Military Police Flight** (**11 MP Flt**) is the sub-unit of the squadron assigned to Cold Lake.

7) Translations: **USSS** — United States Secret Service, the American federal police agency responsible for financial crimes and providing protective services to VIPs such as the President; **DIA** — Defence Intelligence Agency, the American armed forces' in-house intelligence group; **RCMP** — Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada's national and federal police agency; **CFMP** — Canadian Forces Military Police, the Forces' in-house policing agency; **RMC** — The Royal Military College of Canada, located in Kingston in Ontario (this is the Canadian Forces' primary officer training academy and military university); **Electric Bug** — Nickname for the F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet.

8) **TOPGUN** was the nickname applied to the courses run by the **Navy Fighter Weapons School** when it was based at **Naval Air Station Miramar** outside San Diego in California (the base was known — as fans of the 1986 movie starring Tom Cruise will remember — as **Fightertown U.S.A.**) from 1969-96. At that point, NAS Miramar was transferred to the control of the Marine Corps and TOPGUN was shifted to **NAS Fallon** in Nevada 80 kilometres east of Reno. Here, the TOPGUN program was incorporated into the **Naval Strike and Air Warfare Centre** (**NSAWC**, pronounced "En-sock"), which also incorporated the **Naval Strike Warfare Centre** (nicknamed "STRIKE 'U'") at Fallon and another migrant from Miramar, the **Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School** (nicknamed "TOPDOME").

9) **Takiguchi Shōko**, **Nishino Risa**, **Asano Mirei**, **Fujiki Sayuri** and **Koizumi Hitomi** are all _Grand Prix_ characters; Hitomi would eventually be also used in _Find Love_ as well. Shōko is from Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture south of Tōkyō; she is an athlete who also loves sweets. Risa is from Kamakura in Kanagawa (just south of Yokohama); she is also an athlete who loves to snowboard and surf. Mirei is also a Yokohama girl; she loves to play tennis. Sayuri hails from Urawa Ward in Saitama (of the same prefecture) north of Tōkyō; she is a figure skater who is a big lover of heavy metal music (in the concept art for _Grand Prix_, she is depicted in white-and-black face similar to what **Gene Simmons** of KISS wears when playing for that band). And Hitomi hails from Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture (part of the **Chūkyō** ["Central Capital"] region of Japan); she is a big lover of dancing and arcade games.

10) Galactic directions used in this story are based on the _Star Trek_ concept of a certain number of degrees off the galactic core with a degree count off the horizontal plane of the galactic disk (the "mark [number]" concept). **Course 000 mark 000** ("galactic north" or "core-ward") is directly towards the centre of the galaxy. **Course 090** is to the "galactic east" (or "out-spin") from Earth. **Course 180** is directly towards the edge of the galaxy or "galactic south" ("spinward"). And **Course 270** is directly to the "galactic west" (or "in-spin") from Earth. The "out-spin" and "in-spin" come from the phrases "away from galactic spin" and "into galactic spin," acknowledging the rotation of the Milky Way galaxy.

As for the vertical tilt away from the galactic plane, **Mark 090** is "galactic up" (in the angle of the galactic core's north pole as viewed from Earth), **Mark 180** is "galactic back" (the opposite of Mark 000). And **Mark 270** is "galactic down" (in the same direction as the galactic core's south pole).

As an aside, steering a starship is similar to how rigid airships like the German passenger airship _Hindenburg_ (built 1936, destroyed by fire on 6 May 1937 at Lakehurst in New Jersey) were steered in the old days. The **rudder** turns the ship left or right. The **elevator** tilts the ship up or down. The maximum turn of the rudder and elevator wheels is forty-five degrees to prevent any wear and tear on the ship's hull at high speeds, especially when the vessel is inside some sort of gravity well.

11) **Čerenkov radiation** is produced when a charged particle of energy such as an electron passes through a medium at faster than the phase rate of light in said medium (in the near-vacuum of space, it would be about 299,792,458 metres per second [186,322.22 miles per second] or Warp One on the _Star Trek_ speed scale). This form of radiation was discovered by Russian scientist **Pavel A. Čerenkov** (1904-90); for this discovery, he won the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physics.

12) **Kotatsuneko** is a _Yatsura_ semi-regular; he first appeared in the manga story "Two-Story Ghost Story" (manga episode #111). **Sakura** and **Cherry** are, of course, regulars in _Yatsura_. Their family name, as I mentioned before, was chosen by me from Cherry's monastic name.

As an aside, Shintō is a religion that emphasizes spiritual cleanliness; this is the reason that **burakumin** (literally "village people;" these were the people whose ancestors dealt with "dirty" trades [meat butchers, undertakers, tanners, etc] in the Edo period) are frowned on so much in Japan even now (and this has provided an interesting sub-sect of _Ranma_ fan fiction stories over the years). Yet in _Yatsura_, Sakura is depicted as a school nurse, which would be a big no-no in proper Shintō practice as she also serves as a **miko** ("shrine maiden"). This is the reason I have it that at Tomobiki High School, there are TWO nurses; the other nurse is **Chikamatsu Fusae** (this is the name I give to the unnamed nurse from the manga story "A Flying Start" [manga episode #33]).

I also always believed Cherry was a monk of the **Jōdo-shū** ("Pure Land School") element of Japanese Buddhism. However, it was recently revealed in the Wikipedia article for _Yatsura_ that Cherry is actually an adherent of **Shugen-dō** (literally "the Way of Spiritual Power through Discipline"), which is a native Japanese Buddhist sect that strives to seek oneness with the _Kami_ (the divine spirits of Shintō). To that end, I compromised; Cherry originally studied as an itinerant in Jōdo-shū, but also studied Shugen-dō to further enhance his spiritual understanding.

13) H.M.C.S. _Venture_ (known these days as **_Venture_****, the Naval Officers Training Centre**) in Esquimalt is the main training school for MARS (Maritime Surface and Sub-Surface) officers in the Canadian Navy. The basic course for naval operations officers is a year long.

14) Canadian Forces trade notes:

A **Steward** (**STWD**) is responsible primarily for the provision of hospitality services within the Navy. A steward's duties are varied and range from food and beverage services to financial management and administration. Because of this, stewards are the only members of the **Canadian Forces Logistics Branch** (the military's combat service support teams) who, by tradition, wear the Navy uniform; most other trades in the Logistics Branch are part of the "Purple Trades" (so called because they are allowed to wear whatever uniform they choose; the name comes from the combination of sky blue, green and navy blue to make purple). Despite this, stewards would also serve as part of passenger transport squadrons such as **412 (Falcon) Transport Squadron** (**412 TS**) in Ottawa and **437 (Husky) Transport Squadron** (**437 TS**) out of **Trenton** east of Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario.

A **Supply Technician** (**SUP TECH**) is responsible for ensuring that all of the supplies and services necessary for Canadian Forces operations are available when and where they are required. Personnel working in this trade handle a variety of items such as food, fuel, heavy machinery, spare parts, stationery and clothing.

A **Cook** (no short-form required) is self-explanatory, of course; these are the people who run a ship's galleys and field kitchens for forces deployed in the field as well as base kitchens in garrison.

A **Marine Systems Engineer** (**MS ENG**) officer is responsible for the readiness, operation and maintenance of propulsion and ancillary systems, power generation and distribution, auxiliary systems, and other ship's systems. In effect, they handle all engineering tasks concerning everything but a warship's weapons or affiliated systems (which are the province of naval combat systems engineer officers).

A **Military Police** (**MP**) serviceman — as the trade name implies — serve as a peace and security officer within the Canadian military. Canadian Forces military police servicemen and officers ARE classified as Peace Officers in the _Criminal Code of Canada_ (the law that tables all criminal offences and procedures within the Dominion). This means that people like Don Glas have the ability to enforce Acts of Parliament (the effective supreme laws of Canada) within their jurisdictional areas (which include all objects and property controlled by the Department of National Defence as well as all persons subject to the Code of Service Discipline [the code of conduct in the Canadian Forces]).

An **Intelligence Operator** (**INT OP**) is responsible for the collection, processing, analysis and provision of military intelligence in support of operations, planning and decision-making at all levels of command within the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence.

15) Fans of the North American dubbed version of _Sailor Moon_ released by DIC Entertainment in the early 1990s should recognize the "talent" joke; for those needing a reminder, watch episode #50 of the DIC dubbed series (which was episode #56 of the original Japanese series).

16) **Gordon Lightfoot** (born 1938) is one of Canada's most famous folk-rock/country singers; many see him as Canada's most famous singer-songwriter and the country's answer to Bob Dylan. He was the man who wrote the 1976 ballad _Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald_ in tribute to the sinking of the Great Lakes iron ore freighter of the same name on 10 November 1975 at the entrance of Lake Superior's Whitefish Bay with the loss of all hands (this is how I first learned of him). He is also known for the romping 1974 song _Sundown_ (which is said to have been inspired by his brief affair with **Cathy Smith** [born 1947], the woman who gave the late **John Belushi** [1949-82] the fatal dose of heroin and cocaine that killed him) and the 1967 historical ballad _Canadian Railroad Trilogy_ (which has often been mistaken as the Canadian **_national anthem_**!) for the CBC Network in celebration to the Dominion's centennial. _Old Dan's Records_, released in 1972, was Lightfoot's third studio album released under the Reprise label of Warner Brothers and his ninth album overall.


	34. The Last Grasp of the Dragon Jade

Near 61 Ursae Majoris, the forward observation lounge aboard H.M.S. _Hood_ (Japan time: Three hours after midnight)…

"Oh! Didn't realize you were here, ma'am."

Hearing that voice from the stairs leading into the main hull of the British starship, Miyamoto Karin turned to gaze on a flustered leading seaman — if she recalled the actual meaning of the single-anchor rank insignia sewn into the epaulette slip-ons on the man's shoulders correctly — and then she turned back to gaze at the passing stars. "I heard from the Lady Leilani that this part of the ship could be visited even when the vessel is going faster than light," Akane's adopted twin sister stated. "Do you wish me to leave, sir?"

A shake of the head. "No, ma'am. From what we've all learned from the Avalonians that were put aboard this ship when she was brought to Earth from Den'sha, the hull's tighter than a drum no matter what speed we're going at." He then perked. "Oh, just to warn you: As soon as we get to Chi Ceti in about thirty minutes, we'll drop from warp for a half-hour to do a course correction, then go back into warp. Just in case…"

"Excellent."

He perked. "Excuse me?"

"I will need to board the _Haida_ at that time." Karin then turned to gaze on the man nearby. "That is still permitted, is it not?"

He blinked, and then nodded. "Yes, ma'am. We'll be practicing some 'materialiser jackstays' between the ships as we swing around the Chi Ceti system to get onto the next course for warp speed. As I said, it'll be about a half-hour. I'll mention it to the Buffer." He then paused. "Um, you're one of the girls who just joined Yoshū, right?"

"Miyamoto Karin," Karin introduced herself. "My battle name is 'Chinrin Kōshō.'"

A nod. "Right, ma'am. Excuse me, please."

And with that, he stepped out of the lounge. Watching him go, Karin sighed before she turned to gaze off to starboard forward to look up on the distant light she knew was _Haida_. Much to her surprise — even in this mad and twisted place in space beyond what could be seen as "normal" to any self-respecting martial artist; even if she had received a copy of all of Akane's knowledge thanks to their shared mind-meld on her awakening in her new body, Karin knew she was _**nowhere**_ close to standing up to anyone in a Great Fighters Tournament — she found it quite easy to sense the beacon of power on the Canadian starship that marked the presence of Moroboshi Hiromi. And no — at least to Karin's senses, enhanced as they were by the Te'a — that bright power wasn't anywhere eclipsed by the alien dragon power possessed by Hiromi's reborn wife, Izuku Mioko.

_Why do you deny what you really are, My Emperor?_ Akane's adopted twin wondered before she turned back to her notepad, now scribbled with dozens of kanji and kana characters marking all of her attempts at finding the right turn of phrase she could use in case the reborn emperor of the Latter Hàn demanded an official written declaration of war on the alien slime that dared tried to kidnap her noble brother not two days ago. _Do you not sense what you have become? Do you not realize how easily it was to turn the great dragons such as Mōtoku-dono and Hakufu-dono to your side? Yes, winning Gentoku-dono to your side was understandable given the family bond between you, but to win the loyalty of both the Fire Dragon of the North and the Water Dragon of the East as well?! Even force mad Chūei-dono to bow to your wishes and bring peace between the Seven Schools?! Do you not realise what you have become…?!_

"Are you alright, Karin-chan?"

Karin perked, and then she gazed on Ebisu Kyoko, who had just walked into the lounge. "Ah, Kyoko-san," she said before turning back to gaze ahead at the distant dot of light marking _Bismarck_'s position in the two-file convoy of Earth ships making their way to the galactic southern edge of the Orion Spiral Arm. "Still nothing…"

Kyoko chuckled. "Karin-chan, you've only been 'back' for not even a full day," she chided as she sat down beside the reborn Poet of Dùshì Ford. "You can't expect to make use of your writing skills right now. Give yourself a little time."

"The Emperor has need of my services, Kyoko-san."

Hearing that, the ninja-trained tōshi from Utsunomiya nodded in understanding. Her own willingness to go to Nerima to protect the-then crippled Saotome Ranma after he had met Moroboshi Tariko a little over a week ago had been reasoned the very same way; even if the reborn emperor had not verbally asked for such assistance, she had needed same and it was only right to give such service to Hiromi-sama. "What do you hope to say?" she then asked as she moved to sit beside Karin. "You don't know the audience in this case. Back at Dùshì Ford, you understood what to write; you knew Cáo Cāo from his time serving under Hé Jìn against the Yellow Turbans. You don't know the Oni or the Niphentaxians."

"And that is why I must meet with the Lady Lum."

Kyoko perked, and then she nodded…

* * *

Within a half hour, the ten ships of the Task Force had come out of warp close to the outer world of the twin stars known as Chi Ceti to Terran astronomers. A binary pair composed of an F-type white star and a G-type yellow star — both of which were about the same size as the Sun itself — the Chi Ceti system was an outpost of the Kingdom of Kōmoros, a Galactic Federation state whose current monarch was the so-called "Prince of the Underworld." The colony planet orbiting second from Chi Ceti B was known across the local cluster as Kawahorus. While the actual flight path of the Earth Defence Force ships wouldn't take them anywhere close to the inner edge of the Oort cloud that encased the system — which was, per accepted intergalactic conventions, the outer limits of claimed space for whatever race inhabited said solar system — the presence of such large warships skirting between Kōmori and Seifukusu space was going to alert someone sooner or later.

Fortunately for the blood pressure of Brian Gamblin and the other starship captains, the presence of a small contingent of Noukiite fleet officers led by two expeditionary force commanders would lend a lot of weight towards keeping things peaceful between Kōmoros and Earth.

Even more, in the wake of the "Revelation of Onishuto," two of Lum's old middle school classmates from Kōmoros had gone to Okusei to learn the truth of what had happened.

There, they had learned quite a bit…

* * *

_Haida_, the main bridge…

"So you're forcing that replica of yours to get married to Rupa, huh?"

"Not exactly, Prim-u. Rupa really wants the girl that's been chasing him since he was a kid. But his 'brother'…" — Here, Lum made air quotes with her fingers — "…is interested. But given what we just discovered about Hensō and the others…"

Prim nodded as she gazed on Lum, who was now relaxing in the centre chair on the empty bridge with the Oni-turned-Avalonian's wife at her side. A lovely redhead with green eyes, she possessed the horn buds, tapered ears and shoulder-mounted bat-like wings common to females of her race, Prim was the daughter and heiress to the headship of one of the major clans on Kōmoros; this was the reason she was engaged to marry the Prince of the Underworld in the first place. She was currently signalling the Canadian starship from the Royal Palace in Kōmoros' capital city of Tetsugon. "Bad?"

"Bad and then some," Lum replied. "Hiromi-yu convinced me to have a replica of myself with all my memories copied over to give Ika-hi a version of me that could love her and see this whole business between my family and Patriarch Upa's family resolved once and for all. Darling took her — and a new body for Hensō — to Yaminokuni with some of Hiromi-yu's friends. We haven't heard from them yet, but given the distance…"

"And wanting to _**not**_ be overheard," Prim cut in.

"Tcha…!"

A nod. "I hear you. You won't hear a peep out of us. We got the message from Kōri City about what Oyuki's cousin had to do." A shake of her head. "Fates! How simple could all that have been?! Kyech is known to NEVER lie about ANYTHING! And Nassur, Cinba, Dakejinzō and Lady Zōju all back it up! Why in the Dark's Name…?"

"Two words, Prim-hi: Appease Ōgi."

That was a scowling Kuhu. Hearing that from the reborn great strategist of Hichp'u, Prim then laughed. "Aye! I hear you, Kuhu-hi!" She then looked curious. "So how are the Terrans adjusting to the nice toys those two kids made from the Maidens' tech?"

"Like fish to fresh water," Kuhu explained. "Young Master Tsukihana and Young Mistress Ayami were wise to make these ships as user-friendly as they could. All the Terrans really had to do was adjust from thinking in two dimensions to thinking in three." She raised two fingers of her left hand in emphasis, and then brought up her thumb. "There's very little that Tachp'uch's and Tap'uch's people have to teach them."

"Which makes Ran-u and Oyuki-yu happy," Lum added. "More snuggle time with the wives."

Prim laughed. "Lucky them!"

The main doors to the bridge then opened. "A very good morning to you, Lady Prim," a familiar voice echoed from behind Lum and her wife. "How are you this fine day?"

"Hey, Hiromi!" Prim called back. "How are things with your family?"

"They are well. Onii-san and Onē-san are in new relationships now, he with two of my sister tōshi who were lovers before they met and she with the sister of a new friend of ours," Hiromi — who was in a yukata — replied. "Onē-sama is also seeking…!"

A gargled croak echoed from somewhere off to Prim's left. "He's there?" Lum asked.

Prim sighed. "I had to chain him down to prevent him from blasting a warp hole to your ship to see you," she lamented as she glanced down at her constrained fiancé.

Hearing that, the three women on _Haida_'s bridge all exhaled in annoyance. "I see he is still nothing more than the witless, love-struck dullard I remember from Hensō's so-called 'engagement party' when we all first met…to say anything of when he blasted his way into the Okusei Academy and Kyech-san had to scold him for his rudeness!" Hiromi said.

"_**HOW?!**_"

That was the gasping Prince of the Underworld, who had surged up into the camera's viewpoint. His body was wrapped heavily with chains of what looked like some sort of carbonized neutronium. "How what, Your Highness?" Hiromi calmly asked.

"How can you DENY my wishing to see Lum…?!"

_WHAM!_

"Idiot!" Prim snarled. "She's MARRIED, remember?!"

As the Prince moaned after the large ki mallet — Negako had taught his fiancée that particular trick on Okusei — was smashed down on his helmet, Hiromi smirked. "When I saw that the planned course to Yaminokuni would take us past the solar systems claimed by your noble kingdom — knowing that my good friend Lum would be aboard with her wife to see her just vengeance against her witless sire complete — I suspected you'd try that!" As the Prince stared blankly at the reborn emperor of the Hàn, Hiromi's smile turned lethal. "So I arranged to have ALL the ships of this task force magically shielded against your warping capabilities! Even more so, thanks to Onē-sama…!"

A wailing shriek. "_**IS SHE THERE?!**_"

Kuhu and Lum giggled on seeing the panic on the Prince's face. Which was quite understandable. Kōmori culture and tradition forbade anyone — even aliens — from addressing the incumbent crown prince of the kingdom by birth name, save for the immediate relatives. Of course, the Noukiites — having quite a tradition-bound society themselves — were more than happy to acknowledge such beliefs; even if she had been upset at him, the Dragonspeaker still did address him as "Your Highness."

Moroboshi Negako — who, thanks to her Taoist-influenced viewpoint on life, addressed all by given name except for the Emperor of Japan — didn't care for that sort of thing.

And she backed up her "appalling disrespect" with a shiatsu strike to the Prince's body that temporarily shut down his self-warping abilities for a DAY!

To a Kōmori male, to NOT be able to self-warp anywhere was the same as stripping an Oni of his/her horn buds to eliminate one's ability to fly!

In the eyes of the Prince of the Underworld, meeting the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū was an experience he was NOT interested in repeating.

"No, she is not!" Hiromi snarled. "But Onē-sama IS on good speaking terms with every deity on Earth!" She leaned over to gaze intently into the Prince's goggle-covered eyes. "Including — as He would be addressed on Kōmoros — the _**Dark Hunter**_!"

The Prince howled like a pretty girl caught naked in front of a horny boy, and then he passed out on the floor by Prim's feet. She — who hadn't reacted so badly to Hiromi's use of that phrase, which was the name of one of the darkest gods in the Kōmori pantheon — blinked before she winked. "You, Hiromi, are simply evil at times," she teased.

"Of course. Is it not obvious?"

Lum and Kuhu both broke out in laughter…

* * *

Minutes later…

"Madame Director, we should be ready to proceed on Phase Two of the deployment in five minutes," Sub-Lieutenant Carol Moore announced as Hiromi stepped into the operations room, Kuhu and Lum following her. "All personnel transfers are complete."

"Splendid, Lady Carol," the reborn emperor stated as she gazed on the main plotting table, it now showing a graphic of the next step of the Task Force's journey, which will take them on a "south-southeast" direction towards the star known to Terrans as Castor or Alpha Geminorum, an A-type star that was almost three times the size of Sol. Said star system was claimed by members of a shape-shifting centaur-humanoid race called the Innouma. They were known to the Moroboshi siblings; it was a man from that world, Uni, who had been declared "engaged" to Hensō at the "engagement party" held by Redet Invader on Uru three months prior to Ataru meeting Elle for the first time in ten years. Like Prim and the Prince of the Underworld, Uni and his wife Diana had learned the truth about Lum and Hensō thanks to the "Revelation," then travelled to Okusei to meet the real lady. Fortunately for the Task Force, the Innouma were a quiet and private people who normally dealt with the other worlds of the Galactic Federation at arm's length. "As soon as you feel it ready to proceed back into warp, go ahead."

"Yes, ma'am," Carol said with a nod.

"Onē-sama!"

Hiromi turned as Naoko came up to her. "Hai, Naoko-chan, what is it?"

"It's all done," the green-haired would-be medical technician proudly declared, holding up the Dragon Jade. "Everyone on the ship has had their souls augmented."

The reborn emperor beamed. "Oh, splendid!" The ship's watch system — which had been set to Japan Standard Time as the Avalonians aboard _Haida_ had worked to that time zone since they were first woken — had shifted from the middle watch to the morning watch a few minutes ago, signalled by the ringing of the ship's bell on the bridge. No doubt, Naoko had skirted the imposition Wayne Andrews put on her a couple hours ago back in the wardroom by getting the last girls just as they were being relieved of their duties.

Ah, well…

"I'd like to go to one of the other ships to have them taken care of," Naoko added.

"Well, that will have to wait when we swing around Innouma's home star, Naoko-chan," Hiromi then advised. "That won't be for another ninety minutes. What say you go to bed right now and allow either Ayu-chan or Narumi-chan to handle the next ship?"

Naoko stopped, and then she nodded. Hiromi was quick to sense her disappointment at not being allowed to proceed on ahead to have her sisters "awoken" as expeditiously as possible. "Naoko-chan, please! As I told you back in the wardroom, I need you on your feet," Hiromi gently scolded. "You can't be that way if you're half-asleep."

Naoko blinked, and then she nodded in understanding. "Hai. Excuse me, please…"

And with that, she walked out of the room. "Eager, isn't she?" Lum asked as she and her wife followed the reborn emperor through the aft doors.

"Do you blame her?" Hiromi wondered in return.

They laughed…and then they blinked on noting someone awaiting them in the hall aft of the operations room. "Excuse me for disturbing you, Hiromi-sama," Miyamoto Karin said as she gave the old civilian hand-over-hand salute to the reborn emperor.

"Karin-san. What's wrong? Shouldn't you be on _Hood_ right now?" Hiromi asked.

"Kasumi-onēsama is aware I'm here. I told her that I would come here to look in on Nabiki-onēsama since she remained aboard this vessel when we transferred over to the _Hood_ before she was commissioned by the Prince of Wales," Karin stated before she focused on Lum. "Actually, I have also come here to speak to you, Lum-san."

The Oni warlord's daughter and current university graduate student blinked. "Me?"

"Hai," Akane's sister said as she gave Hiromi a knowing look.

The reborn emperor blinked before she smiled as she remembered what Karin's first life had been like…and what Chén Lín had done before the Battle of Dùshì Ford when he had served under the command of Yuán Shào up to the final defeat of Yuán's army at the Battle of Guāndù in the year 200 C.E. "Kōshō-dono," she then declared, making Karin stiffen to attention. "You have my leave to compose the proper letters of challenge to our foes. Listen to all Lum-san and Nut'yek-dono have to tell you about the uncivilized swine we face, then make them so mad that they'll charges the Gates of Heaven themselves to avenge their humiliation and wounded pride! Your past-self did it at Dùshì Ford and won the admiration of Mōtoku-dono's past-self even if Honsho-dono's past-self was defeated in that campaign!"

Her smirk turned lethal. "Do it again, Karin-san."

Karin blinked, and then she nodded. "_**HAI!**_"

Lum and Kuhu blinked, and then they exchanged confused looks…

* * *

Near Sick Bay, minutes later…

"You shouldn't be surprised, Naoko. We were going at a pretty good clip."

Naoko blinked as she slipped off her shirt and tossed it into the dirty clothes hamper built into the bulkhead next to her bed; the ship had automated laundering systems that would clean and refresh the naval combat dress for use the next time. Fortunately for all of _Haida_'s Avalonian crew, they had been issued five pairs of work uniforms — complete with jackets emblazoned with the ship's crest, plus Gore Tex boots for their feet and baseball caps for their heads; as they weren't actually military servicewomen, they couldn't wear berets — to use while they lived on the Canadian starship. And like all the other Avalonians now aboard the ship, Naoko and her sister would-be medics didn't bother whatsoever with the various types of foundation clothes a sympathetic supply technician from 25 Canadian Forces Supply Depot at Montréal had passed on to them. "Yeah, I guess we were," she said as she moved to pull back the sheets on her bed. An equally nude Sasamoto Narumi was standing at the open doorway to her sister's cabin. "But still…"

"Don't worry about it," Narumi stated. "Look, Ayu will go over to the _Hood_ next and have Leilani undergo it when we make our next warp stop at Innouma, then we can leave the Jade with her as she takes care of everyone on that ship. They'll pass it on from there. You get some rest; we'll wake you up when we get there, okay?"

"Hai. Oyasumi."

"Oyasumi."

With that, the door was closed. Naoko sighed before she turned to gaze on the softly glowing circular jewel on its pillow sitting on her nightstand. "Gomen ne," she said to the trapped souls within the Dragon Jade. "I hoped to get you all out of that thing as soon as I could, but right now, we're in such a hurry…"

_**Do not apologize for things beyond your control, young Naoko…**_

Silence.

"Who said that?!" Naoko asked as she looked around her room.

_**Look to the Dragon Jade…**_

She turned to look…

…and then gasped on seeing the beautiful jewel glow brightly. "Who…?!"

_**That, dear child…is a bit of a tale…**_

* * *

_Yamato_, the VIP cabin above the main bridge…

"Mōtoku-oniichan…"

"Hai, Shijō…I feel it."

Tsukasa Satomi — who had joined the other senior leaders of Kyoshō in the beautiful cabin that had been originally designed for the use of the Japanese starship's captain by Ki Tsukihana (in reflection to the location of the captain's cabin aboard the _Yamato_ in _Uchū Senkan Yamato_) to enjoy a private party before going to bed — blinked as she looked around, and then she focused her eyes on _Haida_. "There…"

"Mō-kun…what is it?" Bakari Choko — Kyocho Chūkō — then asked.

Tsukasa Torusuke smiled. "Someone who once was lost…and has now been found."

The others stared in confusion at him…

* * *

_Bismarck_, the main botanical gardens…

"Doesn't that…feel familiar to people?" Tano Tsukuhito asked.

"Yes…" Oroka Shikumi trilled out. "It feels DOES familiar…"

"Damn…!"

Eyes locked on the balding elderly gentleman — who had volunteered himself to come along with the Nan'yō group as a "chaperone"…though he knew from long experience that if naughty things happened between any the kids he was watching over, he really couldn't do anything to stop it! — seated nearby, enjoying watermelon slices. "Oi! Ojii-san, you recognise what that is?" Ranma — seated beside Mimōko nearby — asked.

A nod. "I haven't felt that in some time, son," Haru Himon (Chōkō Shikō) trilled out before spitting the seeds from the watermelon into the dirt nearby; the old Nan'yō alumni had been very impressed that Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami had included botanical gardens on these quite powerful warships. "But if it is who I _think_ it is…!"

"Who?!" many of the younger tōshi prodded.

The old fighter closed his eyes. "Shishimyō."

Gasps of shock filled the space on hearing _that_ battle name…

* * *

_Arizona_, crew quarters on Deck 14…

"Shishimyō-sempai…?" Seki Haneko breathed out in shock.

The senior leaders of Seito had been gathered together in the communal living space between their individual quarters. "That's the first name that came to my mind, Kan'u," Kashira Tōko replied. "But if I remember correctly…"

"He died in some weird mishap before the 2007 Great Fighters Tournament," Haru Asumi finished for the senior student. "But I don't exactly remember what…"

"It was no mishap, Ekitoku."

Eyes locked on the elderly gentleman who — along with several monks from Tōgen Abbey — had accompanied the Seito delegation as chaperones. "What do you mean, Suikyō-sensei?" Haneko then demanded. "Shishimyō-sempai was A-rank. And his fate…"

"Has always been wrapped around that of Reitei-sama's elder son, Unchō," Tsukasame Shirushi — whose proper battle name was "Shibaki Tokusō"…though he was known better by the Japanese pronunciation of his past-self's pseudonym, "Suikyō" — declared before he took up the small jug of sake he always had with him to take a drink. "Don't you remember? Because of Reitei-sama's children dying like they were…"

Eyes went wide. "That's right! Shishimyō was the one who took Shōteiben-sama in to raise as his own until after Reitei-sama died and Shōteiben-sama was made Emperor!" Takadono Osami declared. "But why would this matter NOW, Sensei?!"

"It was Shishimyō who brought the Emperor back to us."

Eyes locked on the bald and very elderly monk nearby. "_**WHAT?!**_" all the Seito students screamed out.

The black-eyed Omomuro Chikarō — Josho Genchoku — gazed in amusement at the young fighters seated around him; when they had first met the senior of the monks now working at Tōgen Abbey, he had spoken in a broken form of Japanese that normally would make most people think that senility had set in. But to hear him now…!

"What do you mean, Josho-sensei?" Ki Magokoro — Kōchū Kanshō — then asked.

The aged cleric smiled…

* * *

_Zhèng Hé_, the forward observation lounge…

"Oh, my…"

A gaping Tadasu Suguta was staring in the direction of _Haida_. Gazing at her school's leader — and in the private recesses of her mind, a man she still loved with every fibre of her being — Uru Hokona moved to squeeze his shoulders. "Tōtaku-sama…"

"You fuckin' genius…oh, Sempai, you _**fuckin' genius**_…!"

As laughter that came straight from a heart now freed of all the dark burdens of life escaped the scarred leader of Rakuyō, those around him gaped in shock…

* * *

_Haida_, crew quarters on Deck 12…

"Doesn't that feel familiar to you?" Ki Kenshika demanded.

The other senior Nanban tōshi were all on their feet and scanning around, their eyes narrow as their ki senses reached out to scour their surroundings and seek out the source of that incredible wave of power they had picked up on. "It does…" Kashira Yutako said as she held her jiàn at the ready. "But I can't recall who it is!" she then hissed out. "Onē-san, do YOU recognize it…?"

"No, I don't," Emi said. "And I know the ki signature of everyone who goes to our school. So why the fuck does this bakayaro feel like an old friend…?"

"Wait a minute…"

Eyes locked on Norito Tōmi. "Talk, babe!" Emi urged.

The spiritual descendant of an ancient Chinese fire god was tense as she gazed aft towards Sick Bay. "It's Shishimyō…" she breathed out. "I'm sure of it…"

"Who?!" Kenshika demanded.

"Shishimyō, Kenshika-kun," Emi's lover stated. "He was Shōteiben-sama's guardian!"

"Then why do we feel…?!" Yutako demanded before her eye went wide as it hit her. "The Dragon Jade! Damn it! His soul's in the Jade!"

The others paled on hearing that…

* * *

Crew quarters on deck 11…

"Onē-san…?"

Hari Sumiko held up her hand to silence a wide-eyed Hironaru. "Despite the very noble intentions of our lost friend and brother, we now are also facing the last gasp of the dark kami that once controlled the magatama we all wear, Hiro-chan," the leader of the Kōshi Kasshi then declared. "They know that here — in this place beyond normal space, far from Earth — that their grip on us grows weaker and weaker by the second as we pull farther and farther away from both our spiritual homeland and our temporal homeland."

"But if the spirit of Shōte-…!" — here, Takara caught herself before continuing — "No! If the spirit of Ryūben-sama is now trapped in the Dragon Jade — and in some way, he is aware of what he is — he has to be taken out of there quickly!"

"Oy…!"

Everyone tensed, and then they turned to see a bleary-eyed New Yorker step out of her own room, draped now only in her Yankees baseball jersey. "Sandi-chan!" Harimi gasped.

Sandi McLugh moaned. "How can a girl get her beauty sleep with THAT racket echoing in her head?!" the gaiscíoch from the Bronx wondered as she glanced in the direction of Sick Bay. "Who the bloody devil is that, anyway?! I thought all the souls in that little crystal we found in Hong Kong had lost all their memories!"

"It is the Emperor's son, Sandi," Sumiko explained.

"Eh?! You mean the one who caused the Nanban folks all that trouble?"

"No! The _**other**_ one!"

Sandi blinked again…and then her eyes went wide before she bolted for the nearest accommodation ladder to the upper deck, which was where "Burma Road" — the main fore-to-aft central corridor aboard _Haida_ — was located. As she went, a flash of ki around her hand revealed the Gáe Bulg, its vicious battle-head already glowing with power.

"_**SANDI-SAN!**_" Takara screamed out…

* * *

Near Sick Bay…

"You were the one who protected Hiromi-onēsama's _**son**_…?!"

The ghostly image of a man appearing to be a freshman university student — in the simple robes of a Sōtō Zen monk — smiled as he gazed upon a wide-eyed Naoko. _**Yes, Lady Naoko**_, the being born a man named Fumi Susugame twenty-three years before answered. _**Despite I being caught in the endless cycle of reincarnations that my brothers and sisters from that dark time in China suffered over the centuries, I also made sure that the living spirit of Liú Biàn — whom the Emperor charged me to protect in our first lives to ensure the dark spirits consuming the lives of his children would not take the young Prince — would remain safe and free of the endless cycle we all endured. And as I awoke to my fate in this incarnation and came once more into contact with the Prince's soul… **_

_**…I learned something else.**_

Naoko blinked…and then her eyes widened. "Hiromi-onēsama…?"

_**Hai**_, Susugame said with a nod of his head. _**Luck shone on me that day over ten years ago when, as I was meditating and casting my spirit into the Dào — that which you call 'Te'a' — did I hear the moaning voice of a man whose voice I and all before me had not heard in eighteen hundred years. The man who — unlike others such as we — was trapped in a hell beyond any sort of mortal comprehension. The man whom history denounced as a selfish, lazy, sex-crazed fool who allowed his country to fell into ruin and a dynasty to finally fall…yet to we tōshi of the Three Kingdoms, had evolved into the living icon of a time of peace. A time when we all lived as one nation under one tent…NO!**_

The young Terran-form Avalonian cried out as Susugame's image suddenly began to warp and twist around as tendrils of black matter formed around him.

**YE, WHO HAVE ABSORBED THE SPIRIT OF AN ANCIENT TO BE FREE OF THE PAST…**

Naoko's eyes went wide as a glowing pair of eyes seemed to focus on her.

**…WHY DO YOU SEEK TO ALLOW OTHERS TO ESCAPE THEIR JUST AND DUE FATE?**

The would-be medical technician blinked as her mind tried to interpret that demand, and then her eyes widened as it came to her. "You're the kami that have trapped all the tōshi's spirits in the magatama all these years!" she accused the thing before her. "Why?! What did all those poor people do to cause THIS to be done to them?!"

**YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE US, CHILD! WHAT THE TŌSHI HAVE DONE…!**

The door to Naoko's quarters exploded inward as an inhuman scream bellowed out…

…and a second later, _Haida_ violently shook from stem to stern!

* * *

In Muzlim Madiina on Yaminokuni, the Great Palace, that moment…

A surprised gasp made everyone's heads snap around. "Shikuko!" Natsukimi Makoto called out as everyone moved to gather around Rakuyō's greatest fighter. "What is it?!"

Shikuko was now gazing into the dark heavens over Yaminokuni's capital city. "I just felt a ríastrad happen," she whispered. "Somewhere…"

All the tōshi paled on hearing that Irish Gaelic word. "'Ríastrad?!' You mean…the thing Kūkurin-sama can do?!" Kuruwa Yoisuke then demanded.

A nod. "Hai, Yoisuke-kun. The same," Shikuko breathed out. "Something's happened…"

"Don't worry about it."

Everyone stared at the only non-tōshi Terran in the room, who was busy enjoying a late meal with the three Avalonian replica bioroids that had come with the tōshi to this dark planet not more than a day before. "What do you mean, Ataru-kun?" Miyako asked.

He winked at her. "Hiromi's looking on it right now, Miyako-chan. Trust me; I can feel it if she's in real trouble or anything like that." He then sighed.

Kamen, Mienai and Damasu gazed at him, quickly sensing the tiny bout of uncertainty that just appeared in his heart. "What is it, Darling?" Ran's sister asked.

"Am I too young to be an uncle, Damasu-chan?"

Everyone blinked as they stared at him…

* * *

Three light-years from Chi Ceti, aboard _Haida_…

It had been agreed to by the ten starship captains ahead of time: The instant ANY of the ships had any problem with on-board systems, ALL ships would drop from warp at that instant and move to render aide to the stricken vessel. Alerted by the flash signal of "Sunburst!" from _Haida_, everyone broke out of warp space and allowed their ships to drift as a way of cutting momentum down before secondary drives could be engaged and the other vessels move to approach the now-still flagship.

As this was happening, the internal alarms were blaring as the crew was called to action stations — what would be called "red alert" in _Star Trek_ or "general quarters" in the American Navy — to get everyone out of bed and dressed. As the boatswain mate of the watch called the damage control party to muster at Sick Bay Flats, the ship's materialiser systems came alive as boarding parties of tōshi — who had managed to get one of the Avalonian crew on their ships to beam them over — came aboard the Canadian starship and made their way towards whatever it was they had all sensed, weapons at the ready.

As members of the 2nd/10th Dragoons — all with rifles in hand — moved to keep people back from the waiting area close to the main doors to Sick Bay, a cheery voice called out, "Oi! Sō-chin! Ryūbi-chan! Taku-chan! Kaku-san! What's going on here?!"

Torusuke, Sonami, Suguta and Emi turned as Mago Tsueko came up, followed by some of Nan'yō's best fighters. "We're still trying to figure it out, Hakufu-san," the leader of Seito called back, and then she blinked as several people approached them from ahead, having been allowed to pass through the cordon of soldiers at the forward end of the compartment. "Ah! Sempai-tachi! What's going on here?!" she asked as the Hari siblings approached, keeping clear of the small crowd of Canadian Navy personnel donning firefighting equipment and deploying hoses from a station nearby.

"Did you sense what we did?" Sumiko asked.

"Yeah, we did, Sempai. Shishimyō," Torusuke answered. "But something cut his voice off; I think he was talking to one of the girls here…"

"Excuse me! Make a hole! Coming through!"

Everyone turned…and quickly got out of the way as two women in Naval combat dress, equipment slung around them on CADPAT pattern web gear, marched through. Both moved to the bulkhead computer terminal across from the main doors to Sick Bay, then began to work on the unit there. A second later, the woman with the hip-length grey-tinted brown hair turned to tap a Bluetooth-like device fixed on her right year. "Onē-sama, this is Mami," she said with a quiet voice. "Confirm no hull breach, signs of fire or any other potential life-threatening situation. Inner compartment bulkhead 12-J-123 breached. We're going in to take a closer look at the damage."

"Go ahead, Mami-chan," Hakaru Ayami called down from the damage control monitoring room — known as "HQ1" in Canadian Navy shipboard terminology — several decks up; her voice was now echoing over the intercom system in Sick Bay Flats.

"Ops to Damage Control Team," Carol Moore called down from the operations room. "Mami, can you tell us what that bulkhead actually divides off?"

"The spaces to either side are cabins for medical personnel, Carol-san," Sakurai Mami replied…and then her eyes widened as a well-memorized map of that part of the ship came back to her. "Wait…J-123…oh, my! That's the port bulkhead of Naoko-chan's room!"

Everyone gasped…

…as the doors to Sick Bay opened.

Instantly, the muzzles of a dozen C7A2s — the tōshi watching this were not willing to bet either way on whether or not the powerful rifles were loaded with live ball ammunition — levelled on target…before people relaxed as a yukata-clad Takanashi Naoko stepped out, looking as if she had literally been shoved into a wind-tunnel for an hour or so. "**_NAOKO-CHAN!_**" Mami and her companion, Saeki Kozue, cried out as they moved to help her.

"Director to Damage Control Team! Is Naoko-chan alright?!" a voice called out.

"I'm okay, Onē-sama!" Naoko called back. "Something weird came out of the Dragon Jade! Sandi-onēsama destroyed it with her spear! I'm okay!"

Hearing that, people then relaxed. "Sandi-san, are you there?!" Ayami called out.

"It's alright, lass! We're fine!"

People blinked…

…and then they gaped on seeing Sandi calmly walk out, the Gáe Bulg in hand. Also with her was a frazzle-haired acting chief medical officer of the 2nd/10th Dragoons, currently in CADPATs without his jacket. "Doctor Gossip!" several of the Avalonian-Canadian soldiers from that regiment cried out as they immediately moved to help him sit down on a nearby couch.

"Sorry about that, Doc," Sandi calmly stated as she gazed in sympathy at the general surgeon from Saint Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton who had been called out on the mission. "But when you're dealing with a potential possession situation, niceties need to get out of the way." With that, she willed her spear back into ki space, and then headed off.

People quickly got out of the gaiscíoch's way. "What did Kyū-chin do?!" Tsueko asked.

"Twelve…inches…!"

Eyes locked on Gossip, who was now as pale as a ghost. "Twelve inches of what, Doctor?!" one of the Avalonian-Canadian armoured troopers comforting him asked. "What happened?!"

"I think he means the thirty centimetres of reinforced nickel-chrome steel, insulation layers, panelling composites and other materials that went into the bulkhead that separated his quarters from Naoko-chan's," Mami calmly explained.

Jaws dropped, and then Mimōko — standing next to Tsueko — shrugged. "Well, that's to be expected." As people stared at her, the Nan'yō senior smiled. "In her first life, she took out an **_army_** all by **_herself_**. A few dark kami would be **_nothing_** to her!"

People blinked, and then they broke down and laughed…

* * *

Minutes later…

"We're back at warp again, Director."

"Thank you," Hiromi called out over the intercom to the operations room before she gazed at the blackened bulkhead — that punched through with a jagged hole which was large enough for someone the size of Ki Kenshika or Tano Tsukuhito to squeeze through horizontally — at one side of Takanashi Naoko's cabin close to her bed. "So where in the name of the Fates did such beings come from?" she then asked.

"I think I know where."

Eyes locked on Mimōko; the Nan'yō senior had been examining the area around Naoko's nightstand and bed ever since the senior tōshi had come into this room to inspect the scale of the damage Sandi unleashed. "So what was it?" Torusuke asked.

A sigh. "It was a warning in the old scroll I discovered when I first learned of the Dragon Jade," she explained. "It was written that if a tōshi sought out the Jade, he or she would have to face a test to earn the right to possess it. Probably some sort of trial to prove one's worthiness to have it." She sighed. "I wish Itsuji-kun was here; it was his past-self that created that thing in the first place. Maybe he…"

An amused chuckle escaped Tadasu Suguta. "What's so funny?" Kokoni Kichimi asked.

The leader of Rakuyō was shaking his head. "I can't believe it! Don't you people _know_?!" On seeing the chorus of shaking heads, he laughed. "Oh, gods…!"

"I assume, Suguta-san, you're about to inform us of something," Hiromi mused.

A nod. "I suppose I have to…" He took a deep breath. "Mimōko, that's not his real name." As others gasped, Suguta added, "His real name is Wan Yuruji."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"**_ŌIN SHISHI?!_**" most of the people there cried out in shock.

"Who's he?!"

People gazed on a confused Tsueko, and then everyone from Nan'yō moaned. "Never you mind, Tsueko-san!" Hiromi then called out. "We'll worry about Yuruji-san another time. Mimōko-san, was there anything else that scroll told you about the Lóngyù?"

A nod. "Hai. The gist of what I could get from all the warnings about the Dragon Jade is this: The guardian spirits — or whatever they were — who protected it from being seized by anyone clearly do NOT approve of a tōshi questing to change his or her perceived 'fate.' And that probably explains what just happened now. The Jade was being used to infuse souls from the Nanban Forest into Naoko-chan and her sisters, which — while making all of them, in effect, tōshi themselves — will separate them by a great chasm from the rest of us since they now serve on a STARSHIP…and away from all of us."

"And since those souls have all been made to forget their own pasts, whatever 'fate' they might have faced is unknown anyway since they don't know how their past-selves died," Sumiko then mused. "Even more so given your presence in our lives now, Hiromi-sama, the 'fate' we all faced has been turned even more sideways."

The others nodded. "Since I am alive and not dead — thus not provoking the struggles amongst those who wished to seize control over the Middle Kingdom…or in our present set of circumstances, all of Kantō — the replay of the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' can't even get _started_ in earnest. Is that what you mean, Sempai?" Hiromi asked.

"Hai. Which makes Susugame-san's actions all the more understandable."

"How so, Sempai?" Futoshi Itsuku asked.

The leader of the Kōshi Kasshi smiled. "For all the times Shǐ Zǐmiǎo has reincarnated, he has dedicated himself to one mission in life: Protecting Liú Biàn. And while Liú Biàn has never reincarnated as we have done, his spirit has been out there…"

"…and in this life, Sempai found him and placed him where he believed Liú Biàn's spirit would be safe," Suguta finished before he gazed on Kashira Emi. "Ironically, in the very forest that the spirit Liú Biàn's half-brother once controlled."

"Tōmi-san, do you remember what my son thought of his brother?" Hiromi asked.

Tōmi hugged herself. "Kentei…" She stopped before sighing. "Ryūkyō-sama always believed that Ryūben-sama's spirit was out there somewhere. He didn't expend any effort to try to trace down Ryūben-sama, at least as far as I recall. But he did always privately long for the times they were together in their first lives."

"So what do we do now?" On Tsuguta asked. "Are their spirits…?"

"Hiromi!"

Hiromi turned as an annoyed-looking Noukiite marine major general stormed through the open doorway of Naoko's bedroom. "Tachp'uch-san? What's wrong?"

A groan escaped the raven-haired, one-eyed warrior of Eap'ye. "**_SHE'S DONE IT AGAIN!_**"

Hiromi was nonplussed. "She…?"

It hit her.

"Kyech-san…?" the reborn emperor eeped.

Tachp'uch nodded as the tōshi all blinked in confusion…

* * *

Three minutes later…

"Um, Husband…"

A sigh. "Yes, Dear?"

Mioko shuddered. "Why is this strange woman sleeping in **_our bed_**?!"

Hiromi sighed as the tōshi — and Tachp'uch — all stared at the gently snoring red-haired Noukiite free warrior now curled contently on the double-sized bed in the middle of the flag officer's cabin the reborn emperor had set aside for her usage whenever she was aboard _Haida_. "She is…the one who helped me be finally free of Onii-san's mind, Mioko," she explained as she then gazed on her lover. "Like you, she has the blood of a ch'uokyek inside her. She's Shikuko-san's spirit-sister from Noukiios…"

"So how the heck did Kyech-san get HERE, Hiromi?!" Mimōko then asked. "We're dozens of light-years from Okusei or any other Noukiite colony planet! Did she come by ship?!"

A sigh. "No, Mimōko-san. With the amount of power she possesses, Kyech-san could easily teleport across the very **_galaxy_** itself if the mood ever struck her."

"She's gotta be a great fight-…!"

"Tsueko-san."

The new leader of Nan'yō gazed at Hiromi. "What is it, Kōtchi?"

"Much that I admire your desire to test your considerable fighting skills against worthy opponents, I would strongly caution you against fighting Kyech-san," the reborn emperor warned. "She often fights the natives of a planet named Yiziba; it's three hundred light-years to the galactic east of Earth. All of whom are **_metahumans_** who would find the most powerful of the many noble 'superheroes' depicted in mainstream North American manga their EQUALS in power!" As people jerked on hearing that, Hiromi pointed to Kyech. "Not six months ago, Kyech-san slaughtered **_over sixty-two thousand bandits_** within the Morningstar Plains on Okusei in a space of THIRTY MINUTES! You wish to try your luck?!"

Tsueko gaped while the other tōshi all stared in awe at the sleeping Dragonspeaker. Everyone then perked as the door leading to the bathroom next to the bedroom open, revealing a young Terran girl in a plain black martial arts gi. Looking to be about six years of age, she had green-streaked brown hair cut stylishly short like Hiromi's…and brown eyes behind reading glasses that were the match of Mioko's.

Even more so, she had a green magatama earring hanging off her left lobe.

As everyone — including a white-faced Hiromi and Mioko — watched, said girl climbed onto the bed, and then moved to stand next to the still-snoring Kyech. Noting that the wandering Noukiite free warrior was asleep, said girl then yawned before she collapsed on the bed, taking off her glasses and placing them onto the nightstand before rolling onto her side and closing her eyes. In a minute, she too was quietly snoring. Silence fell, and then Hiromi shook her head, a light smile crossing her face. "Kyech-san…never stop being what you are," she whispered.

Mioko blinked, and then she turned to stare wide-eyed at her lover. "You mean…?"

"Sure looks like both you and Kōtchi, Mikyōchi!" Tsueko mused, a delighted putting-it-all-together grin on her face.

Everyone gazed at the leader of Nan'yō before they turned to look with delight upon the scene of the reborn Prince Huái of Hóngnóng — now Moroboshi Arami, daughter of Moroboshi Hiromi and Izuku Mioko…and soon to be given the new battle name "Ryūben Kōnō-Kaiōji" — sleeping next to the woman who had literally helped restore her to life. "Nice lady," Itsuku mused as he reached over for Kichimi's hand.

"Yeah…" the leader of Gogun breathed out…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) A **jackstay**, in the proper nautical sense, is a rope or rod run along a ship's yard (the beams holding sails up) to allow the edge of a sail to be fastened to…or a rope of rod run up and down a ship's mast to allow the yard to be moved while being hoisted or lowered. Because of that, the term got translated over to a process by which two ships sailing side-by-side can transfer personnel or cargo via an interconnecting rope, pulled or pushed by line crews on both vessels. Such a process would require both ships to sail on the exact same course and speed to prevent collision…or to prevent the person or cargo being transferred from taking a dip into the ocean should the line snap if the ships drifted apart. Of course, in outer space, the process done by materialiser (in effect, the same as a _Star Trek_ transporter) would require pinpoint aiming by the systems operation to make sure what is being "beamed" over to get to the right place intact…and without being beamed into a bulkhead or other such obstruction.

2) The characters of **Prim**, the **Prince of the Underworld**, **Umi** and **Diana** all appeared in the _Yatsura_ manga storyline "Deranged Marriage" (manga stories #87-90). The names of their home worlds and races are my creation.

3) Translations: **-hi** — Noukiite standard honorific, their version of the Japanese "-san" honorific; **-tachi** — The Japanese language convention that is the equivalent to the plural "-s" ending in English (as used here with the word "sempai," it would mean a plural "upperclassmen" instead of the singular "upperclassman/woman").

4) **Shogai Dakejinzō** first appeared in _The Senior Year_ story "Arrive Reiko-chan." She is a synthezoid of an unknown race (I would eventually give them the name "**A'g'san**") who trained under Nassur's teacher **Varanko** of the Yehisrite principality of Kyotos (he first appeared in "Ancient Ties") to become a bounty hunter. Save for her being part-silicon (she would be somewhat akin to a humanoid Cylon from the re-imaged _Battlestar Galactica_ series), she is as humanoid as anyone else; the A'g'sans possess long tapered ears, a spinal ridge of hair and a furry prehensile tail.

5) **25 Canadian Forces Supply Depot** (**25 CFSD**) in Montréal is one of the two main supply warehouse units in the Canadian Forces; its sister unit based in Edmonton is **7 Canadian Forces Supply Depot** (**7 CFSD**). Both elements of the **Canadian Operational Support Command** (**CANOSCOM**) in Ottawa (at the time of this story; in 2012, CANOSCOM was downgraded to the component support formation of the **Canadian Joint Operations Command** [**CJOC**]), the Supply Depots are giant storehouses of materiel that supply every unit in their area of responsibility with all equipment needs, both outgoing to the unit and incoming to the depot from the unit when said equipment is to be taken out of service (and needs to be de-militarized before being sold on the civilian market), worn out or damaged beyond any repair (for final disposal). The dividing line between 25 CFSD's and 7 CFSD's areas of responsibility is the Lakehead region of Ontario.

6) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Kyocho Chūkō** (**Bakari Choko**) first appeared in manga episode #79. She is the tall and quite sweet Kyoshō freshman who packs incredible strength; she is a striker on the girl's volleyball team…and she belongs to the school sewing club as well. She has a huge crush on Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke); she always calls him "Mō-kun." She is the current reincarnation of **Xǔ Chǔ** (unknown date of birth, died circa 230 C.E.), who was one of Cáo Cāo's personal bodyguards. He was a simple man who was often nicknamed "Dumb Tiger" by his contemporaries, but Xǔ was a very loyal man who actually grew sick with grief when Cáo finally passed away in 220. Like his counterpart Diǎn Wěi, Xǔ was also said to possess nearly-superhuman strength.

**Shibaki Tokusō** (**Tsukasame Shirushi**), also known as **Suikyō-sensei** to his students, first appeared in manga episode #37. He, one of the older generations of tōshi, is the personal combat trainer of Kan'u Unchō (Seki Haneko) and several other Seito fighters. He also advises the Seito student leaders on what to do concerning the _haōryū_ inside Ryūbi Gentoku (Koro Sonami). He is the current reincarnation of **Sīmǎ Huī** (unknown dates of birth and death), who was an elder adviser to Liú Bèi; he was one of the people who recommended that Liú seek out wise men such as Zhūgě Liàng and Páng Tǒng. Sīmǎ was often nicknamed "Mr. Yes-yes" (in Chinese, _Hǎohǎo Xiānsheng_, written as 好好先生) because of his frequent use of the word _hǎo_ (literally meaning "good" or "yes") whenever people asked him how things were.

**Josho Genchoku** (**Omomuro Chikarō**) first appeared in manga episode #45. He's the perverted panty-loving, mushroom-chomping monk of Tōgen Abbey who challenges Seki Haneko when she goes up to the abbey seeking out the "hidden dragon" (in other words, Shokatsuryō Kōmei [Morokuzu Ryōko]). He is the reincarnation of **Xú Shù** (unknown dates of birth and death), who was originally an advisor to Liú Bèi…until around the year 208, when he switched allegiance to Cáo Cāo, forced to do so because Cáo had seized Xú's mother. Before he headed north, Xú referred Liú to a more capable advisor that he: Zhūgě Liàng. This clearly inspired his modern-self's over-protectiveness of Ryōko in the manga when Haneko came looking for her.

And my own characters introduced in this part:

**Shishimyō** (**Fumi Susugame**) is the current reincarnation of **Shǐ Zǐmiǎo** (unknown dates of birth and death), a Taoist magician who was entrusted with the care of the first male child of the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn to survive infancy in hopes of ensuring said child would live to become the next ruler of the Middle Kingdom. Give how said child turned out — to the point where Liú Hóng decided to choose a younger son to succeed him — it could be imagined that Master Shǐ rather spoiled his charge a little _too_ much.

Finally, there is Susugame's spiritual charge: **Ryūben Kōnō-Kaiōji** (**Moroboshi [****_née_**** Koro] Arami**), also known as **Shōteiben** (literally "Little Emperor Biàn"), is the current reincarnation of — as noted above — the eldest male child of Liú Hóng to survive infancy, **Liú Biàn** (176-190). Being made to succeed his father on the Xiàolíng Emperor's death in 189, Liú Biàn became the target of a massive power-play in the imperial court at Luòyáng…one that resulted in his being deposed in the autumn of the very year of his ascension to the Dragon Throne, being replaced by his half-brother Liú Xié. Given the title "Prince of Hóngnóng" after he was replaced by his brother, he would later be poisoned at the order of Dǒng Zhuó to ensure those forces rebelling against the new Chancellor at that time (under Yuán Shào's leadership) didn't have an imperial heir to rally around. In the wake of his death, he was given the posthumous name "Huái;" hence his modern battle name literally means "Liú Biàn, Prince Huái of Hóngnóng."

7) The spirits Takanashi Naoko confronted in her cabin when she encountered the ghost of Fumi Susugame are the same spirits that possessed the stone statues at the pagoda in Hong Kong that guarded the Dragon Jade; see the first episode of _Ikkitōsen - Dragon Destiny_, "Signs of the Dragon Spirit," to see what I mean.

8) **Sakurai Mami** is a character from _Ojō-sama Express_ (translated sometimes as "Princess Express"), a dating simulation game for the SegaSaturn system which was released by MediaWorks in 1999. Mami is a would-be artist who likes to travel with her sketchbook and draw new things. **Saeki Kozue** is a character from the third _True Love Story_ game, which was released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. Kozue is also an artist who likes to sew and sculpt.

9) The nickname Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko) gives Kataikō (Izuku Mioko) at the end of this part, **Mikyōchi**, is actually based on the Japanese _on'yomi_ reading of the name of Mioko's past-self as I invented, "Xìxīng." Mioko's proper battle name, using the same pattern Hiromi uses, is **Kamikyō Reishi**.


	35. Hiromi and Mioko Get a Daughter

_Haida_, now passing Castor (Japan time: dawn)…

Moroboshi Arami's eyes opened.

Grunting as she moved to stretch herself, she then reached over for her glasses — she had inherited Izuku Mioko's myopia — to slip them over her eyes. Looking around, she smiled on noting the contours of the nice bedroom her genetic parents had been using on this great warship now going off to help them beat down all the bad people who wanted to force her Uncle Ataru to marry someone he didn't love…and hurt the people whose power was now infused into every cell of her young bioroid body. Remembering that, she then turned to see the sleeping form of Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech on the other side of the bed, her back turned away from the reborn prince — and briefly emperor — of the Hàn, her chest slowly rising and falling as snores fluttered from her lips. With that, Arami stood up on the bed, and then leaned over on Kyech's right arm to gently push into her to wake her up. "Kyech-et'e! Kyech-et'e! Oi!"

Kyech's chestnut eyes fluttered open as a tired sigh escaped her. "I'm very tired right now, Arami-yu…" she whispered. "Go find your parents, okay…"

Arami nodded, and then she turned to hop off the bed onto the floor. Slipping her bare feet into the small pair of slippers there, she then walked around the bed and headed to the door leading to — as she learned thanks to the Dragonspeaker's powers when she infused one of the non-templated bioroid bodies in _Haida_'s medical station with a mixture of Hiromi's and Mioko's DNA to create a genetic "daughter" for Arami's soul to inhabit — an outer room. Walking through the doorway, she found herself in a boring meeting room, no one there. Shrugging, she then turned to head to the door that would lead to the hallway that connected the flag officer's quarters to the nearest turbolift station.

"Ah! My Prince! You're awake!"

She stopped, and then turned…before looking WAY up to see a tall and very muscular man with obvious foreign ancestry in him — as hinted by his dark skin and fleshy face with pronounced lips — now in the orange vest, button shirt, tie and slacks of a student at the Nan'yō Academy. He had spiky black hair partially held down by a hair band and bronze-brown eyes. "Hai?" she asked.

He instantly went to one knee as he saluted her. "My Prince, it does my heart well to see you once more returned to us," he declared as he bowed his head. "I am Gakushū, born as Tano Tsukuhito, an A-rank tōshi and third-year student at the Nan'yō Academy. I am here at the request of your most august parents to ensure that once you have awoken, you will be conveyed immediately to their presence in the cafeteria."

Arami blinked…and then her cheeks flamed as a squeaking sound echoed from somewhere in her tummy. "Um…I guess I need to have something to eat."

Tsukuhito chuckled. "I will take you there now, My Prince."

With that, he gently lifted the young girl into his arms and moved to exit from the meeting room. At the doorway, he then paused before looking back towards the bedroom. Arami noticed. "Kyech-et'e's really tired, Tsukuhito-ojichan. She should sleep."

He jolted…and then twin tracks of tears flowed down his cheeks. "She…she called me 'uncle'…!" he sobbed as he carried her off.

Watching that reaction, Arami could only shake her head.

Grown-ups were SO weird…!

* * *

Main Cafeteria #3…

_Haida_ was a ship that was physically 1,072 metres long, had a beam of 374 metres, stood 155 metres tall without the sensor vanes (with them, _Haida_'s height cleared 260 metres from the head of her mainmast to the lower tip of her keel mast) and would displace 6,220,407 tonnes of water in Earth gravity were she capable of landing on the ocean.

To man such a vessel even with the sheer level of automation that drove all of her systems, Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami projected her optimal crew strength — including an infantry battalion battle group — to be about 6,500 officers and non-commissioned members, which was roughly the full military population of all the units and formations headquartered at Canada's largest base in Halifax. To ensure such a large amount of people could be fed three meals a day on a twenty-four hour watch system, four cafeterias with fully-stocked kitchens had been fitted into the main hull, along with smaller pantries for the ship's officers and the flag officer complement, one in the forward upper superstructure and one in the aft upper superstructure.

Currently, thanks to the Canadian starship only having about 2,250 people aboard now — the majority of them tōshi from Nanban High School and the command group and Team 1 of the Kōshi Kasshi, with the "weekend warriors" of the 2nd/10th Dragoons forming the next big group — only the two inner cafeterias and the forward upper pantry were manned with military cooks from _Haida_'s Victualling Division of her Supply Department, the Logistics Support Flight of 21 Air Maintenance Squadron and the Kitchen Troop of the 2nd/10th's F (Support) Squadron. Helping them out were volunteers from both the Kōshi Kasshi and Nanban High School, all of whom had done cooking duties for their friends in the field. Since breakfast would soon be served, people were milling around the aft-of-midships cafeteria waiting for the kitchen bell to be rung.

Of course, there were vending machines present that allowed drinks to be served free of charge. To the joy of all the Canadians aboard _Haida_, Avalonians working for the country's most popular fast food chain had devised ways of allowing the delightful brew available at over three thousand restaurants and kiosks across the Dominion to be served from these very machines on demand. Borrowing an idea from a _Star Trek_ novel that came out in 1988, diminutive materialiser units were incorporated into each vending machine to keep the coffee grains in suspension until they were needed, then allowed them to be percolated when required to keep the coffee as fresh as possible. And for those who preferred their coffee made via traditional methods, several of the 2nd/10th's cooks were all civilian workers at various Tim Hortons restaurants across Niagara, Hamilton and Brant; they had several coffee-makers with them so they could make fresh pots of brew on request.

The Japanese people aboard — who were mostly used to drinking tea in the morning — weren't left out; Tim Hortons offered all sorts of wonderful choices for those who preferred the more "civilized" hot drink before breakfast. Though there were many who — out of respect for their Canadian hosts — did try the classic double-double once.

Mago Tsueko was one of them.

"Ah! That hits the spot!" she said as she sipped the large mug of coffee before taking a deep breath before she gazed at Hiromi. "Ne, Kōtchi, how soon will we get a chance to fight these dork Onis and their pals once we get to Yaminokuni?"

"Well, there will have to be negotiations with the First Patriarch to allow us to land our troops on the ground around Muzlim Madiina before we have to worry about this stealth ship the Imperials absconded with," Hiromi said as she stirred a teaspoon of red chilli pepper powder into her ginseng tea; seeing that had made all the tōshi gape even if Mioko was now also enjoying the same type of tea. All the senior tōshi who had boarded the Canadian starship after the incident in Takanashi Naoko's cabin were now seated around a table close to the serving line. "I suspect a few hours. It'll give Karin-san enough time to compose the proper challenge letters so we can send them off before we contact Lum-san's foolish father and provoke the charge."

Hearing that, many of the fighters from the Seven Schools exchanged knowing grins; even after an absence of several decades, Chinrin Kōshō was a demon with a calligraphy brush. "They better appreciate it," Tsukasa Torusuke mused.

Laughter. "You expect them to be listening in, Hiromi-sama?" Seki Haneko asked.

"That, you can take to the bank, Haneko-san," the reborn emperor stated. "The Imperial influence on Urusian military affairs even after their Union Revolution two centuries ago has always been strong. I doubt those who remained loyal to Onishuto after Negau-san's actions would have thought to change the communications encryption codes to blind the stealth cruiser as to what might be happening. And with them now on the run somewhere in Urusian space, they'll be desperately tapping into anything for news."

"My Lady Matriarch Syep'yek."

Everyone turned as a Noukiite Imperial Marine sergeant knelt beside Hiromi, his head bowed as he gave her the traditional hand salute. "You have something, good warrior?"

He nodded. "Yes, My Lady Matriarch. We just received a report from the Lady Captain-in-Space Negau concerning those senior leaders of the Imperial Round who are unaccounted for."

She held out her hand. A dataPADD was handed over. "You are released to your duties, good warrior," Hiromi then bade. "You have my thanks for your report."

A bow. "Heaven's most sincere blessings upon you, My Lady Matriarch."

He saluted, and then headed off. Hiromi gazed on the PADD, her eyebrow arching in curiosity, and then she hummed. "Ichiyu-san?"

Meguru Ichiyu blinked before he looked over his shoulder from the table he had been sharing with Takadono Osami and several Avalonian-Canadian armoured crewmen from the 2nd/10th Dragoons. "Hai, Hiromi-san?" he asked.

She held up the dataPADD. "Be a dear and go up to Lum-san's and Kuhu-san's guest cabin with this. Deck A12 port side; it's the cabin beside the one Onē-san is sharing with Miiko-san's sister Kanami-san. I think Lum-san will need to see this right away."

He smiled. "Hai, Hiromi-san."

Taking the PADD, he then offered his arm to Osami, who took it with a grin as they both headed out of the cafeteria. Tsueko watched them go, an amused grin on her face. Hiromi was quick to notice it. "Already planning the wedding, Tsueko-san?"

"Nah! Just wondering when Kōkin's gonna finally do the 'C' with Shigen-chan!"

"Wanting to be an aunt already, Hakufu-dono?" Mioko teased.

"Nah, Mikyōchi! But every time he gets into 'accidents' with me, he always nearly dies from blood loss out of his nose! That's gotta stop!"

Laughter from the other tōshi. "Oh, speaking of which, I need to know something," Mimōko then mused as she gazed knowingly at Hiromi. "'My Lady Matriarch?'"

A chuckle. "My siblings and I were granted honorary citizenship in the Imperial Dominion when we were on Okusei some months ago, Mimōko-san. Much to my personal surprise, we were rated as an element of the Yekhu, their class of high priests." As the other tōshi all gaped at her, Hiromi sipped her tea. "On Noukiios, my name would be said — with the proper conventions — as 'Ye-Nehek Yeho-Eikt'i Hechnich'-Syep'yek.'"

Everyone blinked. "You actually use your posthumous name as your courtesy name on that world, My Emperor?" Koeru Kumomi asked before she sipped her tea.

"You know my reasons why, Shiryū-dono."

"Enough, all of you," Mioko then urged. "What my beloved chooses for herself is her choice and we have no right to question it. If you choose to raise your flag alongside hers, you must respect her choices in that matter. Does she not do that to you?"

"Of course she does," Torusuke stated. "But self-mutilation — even emotionally — is not a healthy exercise to engage in, Mioko-san. You know that."

"It is still not right," Miiko hissed.

"Enough, Kunrō-dono. It is my choice and I accept it with due humility," Hiromi stated before she smiled at Torusuke. "Once again, the wonderful intelligence of the gallant guardian of Our North Gate at Luòyáng has just made itself known," she mused as she winked at a now-blushing Torusuke. "So tell me, Mōtoku-dono…do you still know how to do a sword-dance?" she then asked as she gave him a knowing look.

People blinked. "Sō-chin can do a sword-dance?!" Tsueko gasped.

"Since when?!" On Tsuguta demanded.

Laughter escaped many of them. "Oh, this was back…" A hum. "Sometime after Torusuke-san's past-self faced the Honourable Qiáo Xuán in his court after he tried to rescue a beautiful slave he was quite infatuated with. One my then-foster father took into his service…and was tragically slain when he sought her hand in marriage." As the tōshi gaped in shock at their reborn emperor's knowledge of their first lives, Hiromi gazed on Torusuke. "Tell me, did the Lady Shuǐjīng ever reincarnate?"

The leader of Kyoshō blinked, and then he nodded. "Hai, she did. Unlike most of us, though, her spirit did not properly awaken until the start of high school. She's my age, actually; she's a second year at the Lillian Girls' Academy in Musashino."

"Lillian?" Ranma spoke up from his place beside Mimōko. "My cousins go there."

"The Asagaya sisters, you mean?" Torusuke asked. At Ranma's nod, he smiled. "Akira — that's Suishō's name in this life, Kamizumi Akira — has told me about them. Quite a pair, those girls." A chuckle. "It's rather odd for Akira-san, though."

"How so?" Tadasu Suguta asked.

"She put out a formal challenge to her underclassmen when she finally began wearing her magatama: To become her _petite soeur_, you have to not only be given her rosary, you **also** have to defeat her in judō; she's a black belt. AND you must take her magatama while fighting her."

The others hummed. "Wonder to me why someone who likes to go magatama trolling doesn't go over to Lillian to make a quick kill," Futoshi Itsuku mused.

"Oh, that was Yuzumi-sempai's doing," Torusuke stated.

Hiromi blinked. "Chōjō-dono?"

"Hai. As you might be aware — and as you'll certainly remember, Mioko-san — when Sumiko-sempai and her friends quit from their schools _en masse_ and formed the Kōshi Kasshi to defy their fates, the Attendants all rallied those who stayed behind to remain 'loyal' to the Seven Schools. In one big fight near Kyoshō, someone tried to smash a bus into Yuzumi-sempai. I leapt in to push her clear, saving her life."

"That wasn't one of my people, I should add," Hari Sumiko noted.

"Ah! A magical life-debt, you mean," Hiromi breathed out.

"Hai. Susuko-sempai then hosted a private tea ceremony between Yuzumi-sempai and I at the Izuku home near Rakuyō afterwards. When Yuzumi-sempai asked if there was anything she could do for me personally in payment for my saving her life, I told her about my suspicions concerning Akira-san. She confirmed that Akira-san was indeed Suishō reborn…and then agreed to put a special notice-me-not charm around both the Lillian Girls' Academy and its neighbouring brother school, the Hanadera Boys' Academy." As the other tōshi all blinked, he added, "This ensures no budding tōshi there…"

"Gets ambushed like that Hanno dork ambushed me back in February before I transferred to Nan'yō. Is that what you and Chōjō-sempai wanted to do, Sō-chin?" Tsueko wondered.

A nod. "Exactly."

"Which has made **_my_** life much easier."

Everyone perked, and then they turned…

…to gaze in shock at a beautiful brown-haired girl with olive eyes, possessing the tanned skin hinting at Mediterranean origins. She was dressed in the green-and-soft beige seifuku of Lillian — though the sharper-eyed tōshi all were quick to note that her calf-length skirt was specially designed to break open when its wearer needed to do high kicks — with a rosary around her neck…and a bronze C-rank magatama hanging off her left ear. "Oh, my Heavens…" Hiromi breathed out.

The newcomer bowed as she gave the civilian hand-over-hand salute to the reborn emperor of the Hàn. "My Emperor, I bear greetings from all of both Lillian and Hanadera…and their prayers for the success of our mission against those who would subject all, Terran and Avalonian alike, to their dark will," Kamizumi Akira — Suishō — stated as she gazed respectfully at Hiromi. "I know that with God's strength and the wisdom of the Buddha aiding us, we will succeed in this quest."

"It does my heart well to see you amongst us, Suishō-dono," Hiromi stated as she nodded politely to the only Lillian tōshi present on this mission. As Akira moved to sit next to Torusuke, Hiromi asked, "Where have you been since we left Earth?"

"With Sumiko-sama's permission, I joined those of her friends now aboard the _Trinidad_, Hiromi-sama," Akira explained. "It's been good to be able to practice with fellow tōshi finally. Much that the judō-ka at Lillian are quite skilled, they…"

"Don't possess our edge," Torusuke noted.

A nod. "Hai. And while my first-self perished long before all the fighting really began back in China, there is still the pull in my soul…"

"Which Sandi hopefully wiped out once and for all," Sumiko noted.

The others laughed. "So, Torusuke-kun…what in God's Name is Hiromi-san talking about you doing a _sword-dance_ of all things?" Akira then teased.

More laughter. "Oh, you should have been there, Akira-san!" Hiromi noted.

"Kōtchi! Tell us everything!" Tsueko demanded.

"Oh, it was the peach blossom festival in May of the fifth year of Xīpíng," the reborn emperor explained. "My beloved uncle, the Grand Duke Dàn, was the man who arranged a wonderful sword-dance by this mysterious yet quite well-formed young warrior." As she gazed in amusement at a now red-faced Torusuke, Hiromi added, "And while I know now that Mōtoku-dono's past-self at the time was trying to bring up what he had discovered over the years he was posted as the Captain of the North Gate concerning the level of corruption the Attendants had unleashed on the land, all I could think of at the time was how much he was making all the ladies attending the festival celebrations swoon and pass out from how handsome he looked. Totally topless, of course."

All the girls at the table save Akira and a dazed Bakari Choko — now drooling as she tried to imagine what a topless Torusuke would look like — whooped and cat-called the leader of Kyoshō, who only now wanted to sink into the deck and disappear. "Sō-chin! Shame on you! Shame!" Tsueko said as she wagged her finger at him.

"Hey, Sōsō! You do a dance for Shiba'i every time you make out?!" Kashira Emi heckled.

"Why's everyone making those funny noises, Papa?"

Silence.

Heads snapped around to see a curious-looking Arami now in the crook of one of Tsukuhito's arms. "Forgive my tardiness, My Emperor," the gentle giant of Nan'yō then stated as Mioko nearly broke down in tears on seeing her child alive and well again. As the reborn empress moved to take Arami from Tsukuhito's arms, he added, "But before I could bring the Prince to be with you and the Empress, Reverend Klein found us and offered to perform a baptism ceremony given that the Prince was technically reborn on Canadian sovereign territory. He is now speaking with Captain Gamblin about this."

Sonami gasped. "A baptism on a warship?! Oh, that would be so nice!"

"What do you mean, Ryūbi-chan?!" Tsueko asked.

"Well, it's like this…"

* * *

And the ships sailed on…

Phase Three of the deployment to Yaminokuni would take the Task Force ships literally "up" to the inner fringes of the Galactic Barrier, the energy field that surrounded and encased the whole of the main mass of the Milky Way Galaxy from the wider universe beyond. As that would allow the ten starships to literally "leap over" some very hazardous areas of space to the "south" of the Galactic Federation worlds along the horizontal plane of the galactic disk, it would ensure the new crews wouldn't be exposed to hazardous space navigation so soon into their first star deployment.

Of course, the next course correction would take an hour at sub-light speed to allow the ships to align themselves to run parallel to the Barrier's inner border as they poured on the speed to make system-fall at Yaminokuni in the time frame set for the mission.

This would allow a certain ceremony to occur…

* * *

_Arizona_, now sixty light-years "above" Eta Eridani (Japan time: mid-morning)…

"How are those scanners working?"

"Perfect," the senior computer technician, Hank McPherson, said as he keyed controls on the touch-screen keypad on his PADD. "Pity we can't just do a sprint-and-look trip to take a closer look at some of these stars. With the data we've collected so far…"

The chief observer from the Space Telescope Science Institute, a NASA-funded research group that received its personnel from the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy based at the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, could only nod in agreement. While he had simply no idea what the other nations who were contributing the personnel for this trip to the edge of the Orion Spiral Arm had done, NASA had not hesitated on assigning a small group of observers and technicians from the Institute to take stellar observations from _Arizona_. Tom Kazanski had been pleased to allow the eggheads a chance to use his ship's sensory suite for something else other than preparing to fight a war…as long as said people kindly stayed out of the way of the military crew who would have to fight the ship if it ever came to that. That was why everyone had moved to the main bridge; ship's operations were being controlled in the CIC several decks down, so the only people who made their way up here other than the AURA people were either sailors or Marines on shipboard rounds…

"Got coffee!"

…and any of the ship's Avalonian crew who were detailed to bring snacks around.

"Thanks!" the chief observer, Tom Cliff, called back…before he blinked. "Hey, Dorothea! You okay…?" he asked as he looked over…and then gaped as the silver-haired woman with the chestnut eyes gazed his way. "What the…?"

"What?" Dorothea Patton — the AURA people had heard the rumour that all the Avalonians who had been created for _Arizona_ had been named after American porn stars; no one had yet had the guts to confirm this sort of thing one way or another — asked. "Is there something wrong, Tom?" She then caught herself. "Oh, my earring!"

The other scientists all got up to gaze at the green star-shaped device hanging off the would-be seaman recruit's left lobe. "Damn! Where did you get that?" Cliff asked.

"Well, thank Takanashi Naoko over on _Haida_," Dorothea stated as she waved over to the Canadian starship now some distance ahead of her American sistership. "Eh…?"

People stopped, and then they turned. _Haida_ was now about five hundred metres' ahead of _Arizona_'s bow — the ships of the Task Force were practicing close manoeuvres for 'materialiser jackstays' — and it was quite noticeable that a pennant was now flying from the Canadian ship's foremast. Setting aside the coffee tray — like Tim Hortons did for _Haida_, Starbucks provided the coffee for _Arizona_ — Dorothea walked over to the set of "Big Eyes" mounted at the front centre of the bridge, then focused the lenses on the vessel ahead of them. One look was good enough. "The church pennant…?"

The others gathered around her to gaze on the Canadian ship. "Why would they be flying a church pennant?" one of the younger AURA scientists, Patricia Carter, asked as they focused on the long pennant with the Saint George's Cross at the hoist and the mixed red-white-and-blue stripes in the fly. "Even if they're having religious services now…"

"We're in space and no one would understand the significance of the flag," Cliff finished. "So what the hell's going on over there?"

"Let's find out," Dorothea said as she keyed a control on the small communications unit mounted beside the large binoculars. "Patton to Allen. Ginger, you busy right now?"

"Busy working with the Dragon Jade getting everyone's _mei'na_ augmented. Why, Thea?"

"What's going on with _Haida_ now?"

"Oh, _that_!" Here, Ginger Allen laughed, which made the scientists all goggle in shock. "They decided that after Hiromi-onēsama's child was brought back from the Dragon Jade by Lady K'ekhech, they'd have a baptism ceremony aboard for her."

Everyone blinked. "Oh…"

* * *

_Haida_, the wardroom, that moment…

Ever since the concept of using a bell to mark the time on a ship was first introduced, the bronze devices also often ended up being used as the baptismal font for the water sanctified for a child's christening. While traditionally the water would be returned to the sea, being in deep space meant that this ceremony — like so many others — had to be modified, the actual nuts-and-bolts of which would be put on the shoulders of the ship's coxswain once this mission was done and _Haida_ had returned to Earth. At least the water itself had been taken from Lake Ontario and stored aboard the starship by a forward-thinking chief boatswain's mate for situations like this. Noting that, Brian Gamblin — seated alongside his fellow captains at the front right row of guests — mentally patted himself for making sure the senior sailors he got to work on this ship were more than capable of thinking for themselves when it came to situations like this.

And given the international nature of this mission, that ALL the clerics posted to the ships of the Task Force — even _Zhèng Hé_; that ship had a Chán Buddhist abbot, the Venerable Wāng Shìchōng (who was, much to Gamblin's shock, ranked _Hǎijūn Shàngwèi_ in the People's Liberation Army-Navy), who had been trained at the legendary Shàolín Monastery near Zhèngzhōu in Hénán Province — were participating in this ceremony was understandable. For the most part, Orientals were very pluralistic in matters of faith, which was personified by the belief that the "more deities one invoked, the more favour the Heavens would bestow." Given the sheer spiritual horsepower of the priests now involved in blessing young Moroboshi Arami — Gamblin himself had fought to get a friend of his who was a Calvinist minister from northern Alberta and a ten year veteran of the Forces with experience across the country, in Korea on exchange with the United States Air Force there and in Afghanistan on Operation: Athena, Major (Reverend) Vincent Klein, as _Haida_'s permanent chaplain — the chances were good that the little tyke would have God and a whole ton of other deities watching out for her for a long time to come.

Even more so, the little girl — who was dressed in a tastefully-designed kimono — was staying quite still as the sacramental water was gently stroked over her by _Richelieu_'s ship's almoner, _Monsignor_ Jean-Claude Pontier, while he intoned the Catholic baptism. Given that she was physically six — and her past-self had been fourteen when he had been poisoned in 190 C.E. — it amazed Gamblin that Arami was not fidgeting like most children would be in that situation. Then again, given how much children had evolved over the centuries from the Hàn Dynasty to the start of the Third Millennium — and given that in her first life, Arami was the child of an emperor of China, with all that demanded — the fact that Hiromi and Mioko wouldn't have to worry too much about keeping a rambunctious kid under control would make a lot of people's lives a lot easier.

"Sir?"

He tensed on hearing the voice of his chief yeoman of signals. "Yeah, Nate?"

"Signal's gone out."

Gamblin nodded…

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home, minutes later…

"_**YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!**_"

Hearing that screamed cheer through the open kitchen window of the Moroboshi home, Miyake Shinobu — all of Tomobiki High School had been given a day off classes because of the late-night celebrations of the official unveiling of the Earth Defence Force ships; all of Moroboshi Hiromi's peers had known about _Haida_ and her sisterships right from the very beginning — paused on her way to the corner store, then leapt over the front fence-line and charged right for the main door of her ex-boyfriend's home. "Oba-san!" she called out after she burst inside and flipped off her outdoor shoes. "What's wrong?! Are you okay?!"

She then was deluged by a virtual Niagara Falls of tears. "_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'M A GRANDMA, SHINOBU-CHAN! I'M A GRANDMA! I'M A GRANDMA! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH…!**_"

As Shinobu stared at the sobbing Moroboshi Kinshō for a moment, she then turned to gaze hopefully at Negako, now calmly enjoying tea at the living room table. She then stopped on seeing one of the most bizarre sights she had seen since that day the previous summer when Hensō first came into everyone's lives…and considering what had happened in the wake of THAT, it was saying much: TEN beautiful twenty-something women were all doing victory dances, they waving celebratory fans bedecked with dragons. Dancing with them were both Moroboshi Muchi and Kotatsuneko. "Ano…Negako-san…?"

Negako gazed in veiled amusement at Ataru's former girlfriend. "Hiromi and Mioko have succeeded in restoring their child to life, Shinobu. The message just came from _Haida_ right now and Yuzumi and her friends wished to convey the news to Muchi and Kinshō personally." She then blinked before the distant rumble of artillery pieces being fired in unison from the direction of the Mendō estate echoed through the open windows of the room. Sighing, she drew out her cell phone from her pants pocket, and then she dialled a number. A moment later, she called out, "Shūtarō? Hai, it is I. Much that I understand why you would desire to celebrate Hiromi's and Mioko's good fortune…" — she ignored the next round of artillery fire — "…but the peace of the neighbourhood is being disturbed by those howitzers your troops are firing. Would you stop?"

The guns were silenced immediately. "You have my thanks, Shūtarō," Negako said before cutting the link with Mendō Shūtarō…and then she blinked on noting that Shinobu was now enjoying a happy dance with Ataru's mother in the kitchen.

A sigh. "Well, I _did_ try…"

* * *

And in the Great Palace in Muzlim Madiina on Yaminokuni…

"Cigars, guys?!"

Ataru chuckled as he offered Natsukimi Makoto, Kuruwa Yoisuke and Hari Haruka a beautiful Dutch Masters Honey Sports cigar each; they were the same type that one Major Dean Raeburn from Canada smoked. "I just sensed it," he stated. "Thanks to Kyech, it turns out that Hiromi's child with Mioko-san back in their first life was just restored from life; his spirit wound up in the forest north of Nanban, believe it or not."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Shōteiben…?" Haruka eeped out.

Ataru smirked as he put the cigars into the tōshi's hands, and then used some ki to light up his own smoke. "Well, you can't call the kid that anymore since — to borrow the way you all look at things — there can be only one emperor and Hiromi's already got the post, right?" As the three Kyoshō students all blinked before they laughed, they then cued up to get their own cigars lit, he added, "Most likely, Arami-chan — that's her name, of course — will be called 'Ryūben Kōnō-Kaiōji' given what her posthumous name and title was at the end of her life back in 190. So smoke 'em up if you want."

"**_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT…?!_**"

That was a wide-eyed Sebone Shikuko. "It's true," Ataru said as he offered cigars to the girls who had come on the trip to Yaminokuni; as they had been boys in their first lives, it didn't seem totally wrong to do that. "Turns out that this Shishimyō fella — don't know his real name — managed to see to it that Arami-chan's soul be put into the Nanban forest…which is where Onē-san found her later. Want some?"

Hearing that, Shikuko exchanged looks with Noberu Miyako, Tsukasame Yoiko, Sakan Somumi and Natsukimi Mien before grins crossed their faces as they came up to take the offered cigars. After they were lit up, everyone turned to gaze on the beautiful night — time was told on Yaminokuni with the dimming of the luminescence from the large mushrooms that dotted the city and covered almost all the planet — around them…

* * *

Watching them from nearby were two girls, both now draped in black robes. "Is that normal for Terrans, Izabel?" Ika wondered. "Smoking to celebrate a birth?"

"It's one of their odder customs," Redet Izabel — the name had been chosen as it had quite positive connotations in both Urusian and Yaminokuni culture; naturally, the exact translations in the native languages of the two worlds wildly differed — whispered back. Lum's newest Avalonian "twin" had been woken an hour after the meeting between the party from Earth and the First Patriarch of Yaminokuni, then presented in a formal omiai to Upa's younger "great-grandson" shortly afterwards. After the Oni-form Avalonian had been baptized by a priestess assigned to Noukiios' embassy to the dark world — Urusians didn't have codified religions like most other races did — Izabel was allowed the chance to spend time with her new fiancée before any plans for an official wedding were to occur. Which would be done AFTER the potential threat from the Urusian Imperials and whoever from Phentax Two was with them at this time was eliminated.

Ika shook her head. "Weird…"

* * *

_Haida_, the forward observation lounge, an hour later…

"Mistress Luna Lovegood, I presume?"

The beautiful woman with the wavy blonde hair and the silvery-grey eyes rose from her seat in the observation lounge, offering her hand to Hiromi. "Hai, Hiromi-sama," the native of the magical side of Ottery Saint Catchpole in England's County Devon said in eloquent Japanese before she waved to her current escort. "My friend — and official representative of Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic aboard Her Majesty's Starship _Hood_ for this mission — Master Unspeakable Terry Boot. He was the one who made sure _Hood_ had the proper magical runes and defences placed aboard her when she was commissioned by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales."

"Master Terrance," the reborn emperor said as she offered her hand to the fleshy yet quite muscular brown-haired man with the very intelligent caramel brown eyes. "While I am not truly aware of how the magically gifted of Her Majesty's subjects in the United Kingdom live their lives, if they're anything like the power I can sense from both you and Mistress Luna right now, they have clearly earned what was bequeathed on them by the Fates." As Terry courtly bowed his head over him and kissed her hand, she then waved to her lover — carrying her daughter — and Tsukuhito, who had volunteered himself to act as Arami's personal bodyguard at times when she was away from her parents.

Once introductions were done, Luna then introduced her own companion…which, to the total surprise of the tōshi, was a feathered magical serpent from South America! "May I present Alejandro Q. Emplumada, a reporter for the _Quibbler_'s sister publication for non-human magicals, _The News of the Magical World_," the Hogwarts alumni (NEWT Class of 1999) explained. "Given the rather considerable constraints about bringing his reporting staff with him, Alejandro asked for my help to interview you."

Hiromi gazed on the beautiful serpent. "And your staff composes, good sir…?"

"A yeti, a hippogriff and an acromantula. All of which, sadly, are far too large for the human-scale dimensions of these ships, oh Great Lady of the Hàn," Alejandro answered, quite grateful that the translation fields on _Haida_ and her sisterships allowed him to speak his native tongue — which was known as "parseltongue" amongst wizarding humans worldwide — without the need of translator spells. "Which is a pity. My staff and I took the chance to visit your hometown to interview the Lady K'ekhech of Noukiios when she visited Tomobiki in March after your defeat of these — Niphentaxians, they were called? — and the removal of that large bomb in the Tomobiki Ginza by the Lady K'ekhech's people. Yet it seems…"

"The victory is not complete," Hiromi finished for him.

A bob of the head. "Yes, Lady Hiromi. May I ask what your plans are?"

A smile. "They are this…"

The explanation took about fifteen minutes, with Luna using a Quick-Quotes Quill to make sure all the words were recorded. While that was being done, Terry — who himself was the son of an unspeakable; his father Ian was now the director of the Department of Mysteries in London — took the chance to meet with Arami. Then — with Mioko's permission — he moved to cast the Neuwied Test detection charms on her to analyse her potential as a witch. After the result came up on a ghostly parchment, he stared at it…and then gaped in shock. "_**MERLIN'S BLOODY BEARD!**_"

Everyone gazed at him. "What's wrong?!" Arami asked.

Luna stood up and walked over to gaze on the parchment. A second later, her jaw was somewhere around her knees. "Oh, my dear…I've NEVER seen that before…!"

"Is there a danger, Mistress Luna?" Tsukuhito asked.

"Oh, no!" the daughter of the owner of the _Quibbler_ — who actually owned a dozen publications for non-human magicals worldwide like _The News of the Magical World_; his work on the _Quibbler_ was actually a hobby of his — shook her head. "No, Master Tsukuhito. But Arami-chan here will have to start magical training as soon as possible." To Hiromi. "Terry reacted to this incredibly high score on the Neuwied Test he just cast on Arami-chan right now. Oh, my! **_Three hundred-and-sixty-seven points?!_** That's the equivalent of a very powerful house elf back home!"

"Harry's score is only 244 points! That was measured after all the training he took with Nekane Springfield and Lady Tsukuyomi during his sixth year to deal with Riddle!" Terry said before he stared at Hiromi. "How the devil did your child get to be like THIS?!"

"Did Kyech-san do something?" Mioko asked her lover. "Is this from ME?!"

A shake of the head. "No, she wouldn't do that, Dearest," Hiromi answered. "Given her bad experiences with the blood and power she took in from the Sky Lord Nengmek'i — to say anything of your own experiences thanks to the Sky Lady Hucheng-ch'ekyunghechha — she wouldn't want to subject our child to something like THAT!"

"It was from Arami's guardian. Hello, Luna. Alejandro."

Everyone turned as a smiling Kyech — who now looked quite refreshed — walked up to join them, her battle-spear in hand. "Hello, Kyech. My, for someone who just teleported herself from Okusei to the _Haida_ to save Hiromi's daughter, you look very refreshed," Luna said as she bowed politely to the Dragonspeaker. "Sadly, Alejandro's friends couldn't come with him on this trip due to certain size constraint issues."

"Where are they?" Kyech asked.

"I sent them to Tomobiki to interview the Lady Negako when they got a chance," Alejandro answered, which made Hiromi gargle in horror. The serpent then gazed in amusement at the reborn emperor. "Please don't be alarmed, Lady Hiromi. The Earth Angel's willingness to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is actually quite refreshing to magical sentients like myself. Far too many humans engage in double-talk too often for our tastes. There is nothing to fear."

"I pray so, good sir!" Hiromi stated as Mioko laughed, and then she gazed in curiosity at Luna and Terry. "Nekane Springfield? That's Master Negi Springfield's cousin; she's currently a teacher at the Meridiana Academy in Wales. From what I understand concerning relations between those magicals affiliated in some way with Nerio and the other magicals of Earth, such 'cross-training' is not allowed. How…?"

Luna sighed. "That relates to a dark lord from the last decade…"

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi dōjō, that moment…

"You may enter, Xenophilius."

The gentle crack of a portkey spell echoed from outside the dōjō as Negako sat in the middle of the space, enjoying the tea she made earlier. A second later, a handsome silver-haired man with grey eyes, appearing to be in his mid-thirties — as he was magical, Xenophilius Lovegood was quite older — stepped into the space after slipping off his shoes and bowing to the dōjō spirit. "I apologize for disturbing you in your meditations, Lady Negako," the owner of _The News of the Magical World_ and the _Quibbler_ said as he moved to sit seiza before the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū. "It's quite a party out there," he then commented as he nodded to the doorway.

Negako looked amused at that comment; the news of Moroboshi Arami's return to life had spread like wildfire thanks to the wonders of text messaging and it seemed like the whole town was on the streets celebrating. "I assume your friends wish to also engage in this interview," she asked as she gazed knowingly at Luna's father.

"If it is no problem."

"There is no need to be concerned. Here in Tomobiki — which, if you do not know, was granted a blanket exemption from the various clauses of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy by His Majesty in the wake of Hensō's arrival in our lives — the presence of Alejandro's co-workers would not raise much curiosity," Negako stated. "I assume Alejandro himself is with Luna."

"On the _Hood_, along with one of Harry Potter's old classmates: Terry Boot. He's an unspeakable for the Department of Mysteries in London."

"I see"

With that, both walked out of the dōjō. "You may lower your invisibility screens," Negako stated. "Xenophilius, I believe a silencing charm around us is called for."

"Certainly."

A moment later, a cone of blissful silence was set up around the small pond set up in the empty space at the southwest corner of the expanded Moroboshi property; back in February, there had been an empty house standing here. Once the silencing charm had been set up, three magical beings — a regal-looking female yeti from the Himalayas, a quite handsome male hippogriff from Scandinavia and a fair-sized female acromantula from Britain — allowed themselves to become visible. A moment later, Kotatsuneko had joined them from the Moroboshi guest house, his favourite space heater-equipped low coffee table in one paw and a tea service in the other. Also with him — much to Negako's surprise — was Kitsune, the young shape-changing magical fox that had befriended Miyake Shinobu sometime ago after she had saved him from some larger dogs when he had wandered into town. Soon enough, everyone was served; the large _mike_-furred cat ghost even knew what sort of hot drinks the three magical beings who had come with the British newspaper owner desired. "So why are you here?" Negako asked.

"We apologize for disturbing you today, Lady Negako, but the Lady Mistress Yuzumi and her fellow Attendants passed the word to the magical communities here in Japan about your sister's wonderful fortune in having her child through the reborn Língsī Empress restored to life and good health," the yeti, Mìhng, answered; fortunately for all of the entourage for _The News of the Magical World_, they had magical translation spells available so all could be understood…not that the _**Earth Angel**_ of all beings on the planet needed such things. "Given the involvement of the Lady K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech in the restoral of the Prince Huái of Hóngnóng as Moroboshi Arami…"

"Ah! Kitsune-kun! What are you doing here?!"

Kitsune turned, and then he nodded as Shinobu came up, followed by Happōsai. "Hello, Miss Shinobu," he said as the grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū sat down beside his friend. "The Forest School learned from Mistress Yuzumi about Miss Hiromi's daughter and I was sent down here to pass on our congratulations to Miss Hiromi."

"Hiromi is currently off-planet at this time, Kitsune," Negako stated as Shinobu sat down beside Kotatsuneko, then nodded her thanks to the cat ghost as he handed her some tea before taking Kitsune into her lap. "If you remain in Tomobiki until her return, you can convey your institution's best wishes to her and Mioko directly."

The young fox flustered…which made Negako smile as he suddenly transformed himself into a anthropomorphic version of Hiromi, complete with her preferred jeans, jean jacket and T-shirt ensemble. "I don't wish to impose…!" he sputtered in embarrassment as the other magicals all chuckled.

"You can stay at my house, alright," Shinobu offered.

Kitsune transformed again…into a miniature Shinobu. "Miss Shinobu…!"

"My, he is quite infatuated with her," the acromantula in Xenophilius' party, Missy, then clicked out, which made Shinobu gaze in curiosity at her.

"Shinobu intervened when a pack of local dogs tried to abuse him," Negako explained.

More clicks. "Ah!"

"Um…I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think any of you are from Japan," Shinobu then stated. "I can tell you're some type of yeti…" — she gazed on Mìhng before turning to the others — "…but I don't know either of you."

"More than understandable, young lady," the hippogriff stated by clicking his beaks. "I am Pinfeathers of the Ice Flock in what you would know as the Lapland region of Sweden. I am called a hippogriff. My friend here is Missy, an acromantula from the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts Castle in Scotland's Perth and Kinross region. We and Mìhng here…" — Pinfeathers waved to the yeti with his forepaw — "…are staff for _The News of the Magical World_, one of the news outlets for non-human magicals. Our delightful friend now seated beside the Lady Negako is our employer, Xenophilius Lovegood."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miyake-san," Xenophilius said as he bowed his head to Shinobu.

She returned that bow, and then gazed on the British wizard's friends. "The news of Hiromi-chan getting her daughter back is important in the magical world?"

Chuckles from the visiting reporters. "We know that in the non-magical world, the Lady Hiromi's past-self has a very bad reputation in the history books," Mìhng explained. "But within the magical world, it is much different. When he lived, Liú Hóng was a great patron of magical studies all across the Middle Kingdom. He also pressed for research in finding better ways to speak to other magical species…"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Et'e** — Paternal aunt; **Yeho** — Third daughter; **Xīpíng** — Literally "bright peace," the Chinese era name (_Niánhào_) for the period between 172-178 C.E., the fifth year being 176; **Chán** — The Chinese title for what is known as "Zen" in Japanese; **Hǎijūn Shàngwèi** — Literally "Sea Army Senior Officer," the People's Liberation Army-Navy rank name for a naval lieutenant; **Seiza** — Literally "proper sitting," this is where a person kneels with the buttocks on the heels; **Mike** — Pronounced "mee-kay," this means "three-furred" and implies the three tones of fur colour of Kotatsuneko's coat (this is the standard colouring for a **Japanese Bobtail** cat).

2) **21 Air Maintenance Squadron** (**21 AMS**) would be 21 Space Wing's first-line equipment maintenance group. Given the situation on _Haida_, where an entire _wing_ of aircraft is assigned to a ship — in the Canadian Navy elsewhere, helicopter air detachments (HELAIRDETs) normally compose of up to two machines detached from a single _squadron_ — 21 AMS would also serve as the wing's field logistics support group. This would also include providing cooks to support _Haida_'s Victualling Division when the wing is deployed with the ship.

3) The _Star Trek_ novel referenced in this part is _Spock's World_ (1988) by **Diane Duane** (ISBN 0-671-66851-X), one of the more popular _Trek_ novel writers. The actual use of transporters to keep things like coffee fresh was suggested in the novel's prologue.

4) H.M.C.S. _Haida_'s dimensions in British Imperial and American measurements: She is 3,517 feet long, has a beam of 1,227 feet, is 508.5 feet high in the main hull, has an overall height of 853 feet from top of mainmast to bottom of keel mast, and would displace 6,856,754.63 short (American) tons or 6,122,102.35 long (Imperial) tons of water at Earth gravity.

As for how the Type One space battleships compare size-wise to some other famous starships:

An **Imperial-class star destroyer** (first introduced in _Star Wars IV: A New Hope_) is said to be 1,600 metres (5,249.3 feet long) and is 1,015 metres (3,330 feet) wide.

A **Galaxy-class deep space explorer** (such as the U.S.S. _Enterprise_ [NCC-1701-D]) from _Star Trek - The Next Generation_ is said to be 642.5 metres (2,107.9 feet) long, has a maximum beam of 467 metres (1,532 feet) and has an overall height of 137.5 metres (451 feet).

A **Columbia-class battlestar** (from the original _Battlestar Galactica_) such as the _Galactica_ or _Pegasus_ is 1,263 metres (4,143.7 feet) long and spans 510 metres (1,673 feet) at the outer edges of the flight pylon booms.

The **Babylon 5** space station from the series of the same name is 8,064 metres (26,456.6 feet) long, 840 metres (2,755.9 metres) wide and masses 9.1 million tons (most likely American short tons) in Earth gravity.

The **Type 304 deep space carrier** such as U.S.S. _Daedalus_ from _Stargate SG-1_ is 225 metres (738 feet) long, has a maximum beam of 95 metres (311.6 feet) and a maximum height of 75 metres (246 feet).

5) **Tim Hortons** is, as stated in this part, Canada's largest fast food restaurant chain, far outdoing McDonalds and other American-based groups in terms of number of restaurants and kiosks in the country. Founded in 1964 in Hamilton (where the company's corporate headquarters is located), the chain is named after one of the founders, **Tim Horton** (1930-74), a National Hockey League defence player who played with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres; it was in the wake of a Buffalo-Toronto game that he was killed on the Queen Elizabeth Way when crossing the Twelve Mile Creek bridge near the Ontario Street exit in Saint Catharines (he was intoxicated and speeding). The popularity of Tim Hortons in Canada has even impacted the language; the phrase "**double-double**" (which means a coffee with two creams and two sugars) made its way into the _Oxford Dictionary of Canadian English_ in 2004.

6) The sword-dance story as told by Hiromi here is derived from the fourth episode of _Sōten Korō_, "Banquet of Flames." This story is most likely fictional, though Cáo Cāo did serve as the captain of the guards of the North Gate of Luòyáng from 175-178 C.E., when he was posted as governor in Dùnqiū County for a year. However, Cáo did try to bring light to the corruption being unleashed on the land by the Ten Attendants; he wrote two memoranda concerning that when he was a consultant to the imperial palace at Luòyáng in 180. Neither had much effect.

As an aside, in "Banquet of Flames," Liú Hóng's uncle **Liú Dàn** (unknown date of birth and death) also appeared; he was one of the victims of Cáo's stern command of the comings and goings at the North Gate of Luòyáng…though he also supported Cáo's continued campaign towards exposing the Ten Attendants' corruption. In his current incarnation in the universe of this story, he lives as **Ryūzenkō** (**Koro Makoto**) and currently serves as the Principal of Rakuyō Senior High School.

7) **Qiáo Xuán** (109-183), which appeared in the third episode of _SK_, "Demon of the North Gate," was a real person. One of the most prominent legal officials in his day, Qiáo had the reputation of being quite incorruptible. He was also a patron of Cáo Cāo in the latter's youth; the trial scene in _SK_ no doubt reflected this fact. He — as reported in _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ — was also the father of the **Two Qiáo Sisters** who later married Sūn Cè and his oath-brother Zhōu Yú. In his modern incarnation in the universe of this story, Master Qiáo lives today as **Kyōgen Kōso** (**Hashi Kurosuke**), the Headmaster of the Kyoshō Academy.

8) The character of **Shuǐjīng** is a fictitious one; she appears in the second episode of _SK_, "Amore."

9) "**Magatama trolling**" is my term for when tōshi go out to collect magatama from defeated opponents, as depicted in the first few volumes of _Ikkitōsen_.

10) **Operation: Athena** is the Canadian Forces code-name for all military support and operations done under the umbrella of ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force) in Afghanistan, organized under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 that was passed on 20 December 2001 and currently run by NATO. Save for the elements of the Forces that were deployed in support of the American-led Operation: Enduring Freedom (which was code-named **Operation: Archer** in Canada) in 2005, all Canadian personnel in-country or supporting those personnel in-country in the time of this story are said to be participating in Operation: Athena. That particular operation officially came to an end on 1 December 2011.

11) It should be noted in the French armed forces, **Almoners** are allowed to wear the uniform but are not given rank in any service. Hence, Jean-Claude Pontier is addressed by the title _Monsignor_.

12) **Redet Izabel** first appeared in _The Senior Year_ side-story "Tales of Avalon: Ria and Shūtako." It should be noted in that story, Izabel was created from the "copying mushroom" that Upa used to fool Ataru and Carla during the events in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Boy Meets Girl: Are You Really Getting Married?" (manga episode #359).

13) **Luna Lovegood** is one of the more popular of the _Harry Potter_ characters; she first appeared in _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_. **Terry Boot** was one of Harry's classmates; he first appeared in _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ and was a character that appeared in the video game made for _Order of the Phoenix_. His father being an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries is my invention for _The Icemaidens_ stories, by the way. And Luna's wonderful dad **Xenophilius Lovegood** was first mentioned in _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_; his first proper appearance came in _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_.

14) The **Neuwied Test** is my play-off on the magical version of an I.Q. test that often appears in _Harry Potter_ fanfic stories and is used to measure a wizard's total magical potential. To give you an idea of what the score means, an average wizard or witch scores between 120-160 points, someone like Albus Dumbledore would score over 200 points and house elves like Dobby score over 300 points.

15) The characters of **Alejandro Q. Emplumada**, **Mìhng**, **Pinfeathers** and **Missy** — not to mention _The News of the Magical World_ — first appeared in the fanfic story _Triwizard Tales_ by **Clell65619** (Clell Harmon), which can be found at this website. They are used here with permission. Note that with Mìhng's name, I use the Yale Cantonese Romanization of the character 明 (in Mandarin, the word is pronounced "Míng" [note the different accents and the additional "h" in the Cantonese version of the word]).

16) The story of how **Harry Potter** was trained by **Nekane Springfield** (from _Mahō Sensei Negima_) — and how that affected Harry's battle with Voldemort — will be explained in a future story. Hiromi's first meeting with **Negi Springfield** and his friends will be explained in the side story _Wizards and Avalonians_. Do note that the other person mentioned by Terry here, Lady **Tsukuyomi** (real name **Yomigawa Tsukiko**) was first mentioned in my story _The Icemaidens and the Philosopher's Stone_. How she came to impact Harry's life will also be revealed in _W&A_.

17) **Kitsune** first appeared in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Love Is Warm to The Touch" (manga episode #208).


	36. Nabiki and Kyōko Fall In Love

_Haida_, approaching Yaminokuni (Japan time: two hours before noon)…

Miyamoto Nabiki's eyes fluttered open. "Damn…"

"Ohayō, Nabiki."

She blinked…and then seemed to freeze as the wonderful sensation of another person's body — said someone, of course, being a girl…and a _**naked**_ one at that! — pressing into her left side flooded her senses. Said sensation was further enhanced by the fact that Nabiki could now sense that she wasn't wearing her nightshirt anymore.

"Kyōko…what happened…?"

"Lights."

The nightstand light came on, allowing Nabiki to look left to see a content-looking Ikusawa Kyōko there, staring fondly at the middle Miyamoto daughter. As they gazed into the other woman's eyes, Nabiki then relaxed as she recalled the several minutes of tender kisses and gentle fondling — though she had suspected that Kyōko clearly wanted to do much more with her, but had the good sense and self-control to stop when she sensed that Nabiki wasn't interested in going all the way with her — before they had collapsed into bed and fell asleep. Remembering that, Nabiki then smiled as she leaned in, allowing her lips to gently brush against her current companion's. Within a minute of that, both girls were passionately kissing away as their hands began to rove over the other woman's body…

_DING!_

Nabiki jolted, and then she moaned. "Great timing, whoever it is…"

"Computer, who's contacting this cabin?" Kyōko calmly asked.

"_Miyamoto Kasumi. Signalling now from H.M.S._ Hood," the computer dutifully answered.

"Standard 'I'm busy' reply. Ignore all further calls from her or Miyamoto Akane."

"_Acknowledged_."

Nabiki blinked. "Kyōko…?!"

The azure-haired would-be naval communicator — in truth, Kyōko was more interested in becoming an intelligence operator — smiled. "I don't want to be interrupted."

She then leaned in to kiss her…

* * *

_Hood_, that moment…

"_The station you are trying to contact is not accepting calls at this time_," the ship's computer dutifully reported. "_Please try to contact again later_."

Staring at her dataPADD, Kasumi could only gape in shock at the blank screen. Much that she could understand it if Nabiki wanted to not talk to her — the middle daughter had often complained to her sister about all the unanswered voice mail messages Kasumi left Nabiki when something happened, which ended up consuming minutes on her cell phone monthly services; Nabiki had actually threatened to have her number changed if Kasumi didn't stop it — that she would refuse it NOW, with them up in space, struck her as very odd.

And worrisome…

"What's wrong, Onē-chan?"

That was Akane, who had just stepped in after taking a shower in the cabin she and Ebisu Kyoko now shared; she was draped now in a towel and was wiping down her hair. "Nabiki's not answering her dataPADD, Akane-chan," Kasumi reported.

Akane blinked, and then she shrugged. "Well, maybe she wants some time alone."

"Up HERE?!"

"What's wrong?"

That was Kyoko, who was also draped in a towel. "Nabiki's not answering my calls, Kyoko-san," Kasumi noted as she tried to not grin on sensing the refreshed looks on the faces of her sister and her sister's new girlfriend. Refreshed looks that didn't come only from an invigorating shower, Kasumi knew. "I'm just wondering why…"

"She was up late last night," Akane noted as she sat down beside her sister. "Maybe she wants to get some extra sleep. We're just passengers on this trip…"

"But we are getting close to Yaminokuni and I believe Hiromi-san would want us up," Kasumi stated before she reached over to tap a control. "Computer, direct call to Redet Lum's cabin aboard _Haida_. I'm trying to contact Miyamoto Karin."

"_Please stand by_."

A second later, a grinning face appeared on the dataPADD screen. "Ohayō, Onēsama-tachi! Kyoko-san!"

"Ohayō, Karin," Kasumi called back. "Is Nabiki alright?"

Karin hummed as she looked off to her right for a moment, and then she relaxed. "Hai, Onē-sama's fine. She's just spending some quality time with Kyōko-san."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"**_WHO'S KYŌKO?!_**" both Kasumi and Akane shrilled.

Watching this, Kyoko tried not to laugh…

* * *

_Haida_, the computer room, a half-hour later…

"Ooooooooooooooooooooooh! I smell SEX somewhere!"

Nabiki went as red as a cherry as PO1 Joan Mercer moaned. "Master Seaman Stohl! That is behaviour that is VERY unbecoming of someone of your rank and station!" she snapped in an excellent imitation of the perfect drill sergeant. "Now apologise!"

Karen Stohl was a naval combat information operator, late of H.M.C.S. _Toronto_, the ship named after her hometown. While she had never worked with an honest-to-goodness spook before — the Command Systems Maintenance Division had two of them, the other one being Sergeant Robert Aamodt, an Air Force serviceman who just transferred in (with Mercer) from Maritime Forces Pacific Headquarters in Esquimalt — she was finding out the older petty officer ran a tight division. "I'm sorry I said that," she apologized as she bowed her head towards Nabiki and Kyōko, who had just walked into the room, both dressed in Naval Combat Dress without any rank insignia on their shoulders; Kyōko had got the ship's synthesizers to make something up for her new girlfriend.

"It's alright, Karen-san," Nabiki stated with an amused twinkle in her voice as she moved to prevent anything really bad from happening to Karen, whom she had taken a liking to when they had met earlier in the day. "Don't razz her too much, Joan-san," she said as she winked at Mercer. "Younger folks are like that, after all."

Karen ducked her head. "Well, it's still very embarrassing…and you're still legally underage by both Canadian and Japanese law, Nabiki," Mercer stated as she gave the lone true civilian in the room a concerned look. "Much that I know Avalonians run things a lot differently than we normal Earthlings, you don't deserve that."

"Besides, much that a small part of Nabiki-vayae was willing to go all the way with me, we're not properly bonded as yet and there's little to talk about," Kyōko added as she moved to sit down besides Aamodt's equal in rank and the senior naval tradesmen in the group, Petty Officer 2nd Class Hank MacNeil — he was a naval communicator from the Fleet School in Halifax and had nominated himself to be the unofficial "sea daddy" to Ikusawa Kyōko and Fujiki Sayuri when he learned what trades they wanted to pursue after basic training — and key into the computer there to get updates on what was happening.

Nabiki — who immediately knew, thanks to the ship's translation fields, what the meaning of the suffix honorific "-vayae" was — again found herself blushing to her toes. As she moved to take her own seat beside Mercer and get to work, the door to the room leading onto the flats beyond opened to reveal Master Seaman Louis Charron, the division's only electrical technician — the native of Laval near Montréal had transferred into _Haida_ from N.C.S.M. _Ville de Québec_ and was an expert at all sorts of electronics equipment — with mugs of tea and coffee on a tray. "Ah, _Mademoiselle_ Miyamoto has joined us at last!" he said with a strong Québécois accent. "What sort of morning poison do you want, my dear?"

"Coffee?"

"Got a spare double-double here."

A hand shot out. "Coffee!"

"Here you are." A mug was handed over.

"So what's happening right now?" Nabiki asked as she opened up her own station, and then she took a deep sip of the delightful brew in her mug.

"We're about thirty minutes from breaking warp at the edge of the system," Mercer reported. "Once we arrive at system's edge, Admiral Seu-Susa will call in to the planet and establish our credentials before we sail in to make orbit. After that, it's the turn of the ground pounders to get things set up ashore while we wait for the horn-heads and the copycats to finally show their ugly mugs to get shot at."

"Aren't they here already?" Nabiki asked.

"Nothing yet," Aamodt replied. "You'd figure that given how quick the Urusians were ready to go to war with the Ellsians over who'd end up marrying the Director's brother six months ago, every ship they've got would be on their way to Yaminokuni to rescue Hensō. It's been five days since Prince Rupa 'picked up' his would-be princess from Uru to bring her to her 'new home' on Yaminokuni — according to the Noukiites — and no one from Uru's come anywhere close to Yaminokuni to try anything."

"What?!" Nabiki called out. "That doesn't make sense, Bob-san!"

"What do you mean?" Mercer asked.

"Well, according to Oyuki-sama's cousin, the troops that hit Ataru-kun's place had been building up at the Urusian embassy on Triton for the past _**three months**_." Nabiki had been briefed on that by Kyōko and her friends. "So that means…"

"The attack on Earth was always in the cards…but they needed the right excuse to launch it," Koizumi Hitomi concluded. "Probably to not provoke a war with Noukiios, I think." She then frowned as she sipped her tea. "Which possibly means…"

"They know about these ships?!" Karen wondered.

A shake of the head. "Not sure about that, Karen-san," Hitomi stated. "Save for a small incursion by the pirates of Konton — they're terrorists that were supported by the Imperial Round — back in March that was deflected by Hiromi-onēsama, Ataru-oniisama, Tariko-onēsama, Negako-sama and Kyech-sama, there's been no attempt at passing the orbital line of Ceres from anywhere in the Federation without permission from the Special Committee." At Nabiki's confused look, Hitomi added, "That's the accepted dividing line between Terran and Neptunian areas of space within the solar system itself, Nabiki; it was negotiated between Oyuki-sama's father and the Special Committee on Alien Activities years ago."

"Joan, I think we better be at action stations before we drop out of warp," Aamodt warned.

A nod. "Agreed." With that, she tapped a control. "Ops, Main Computer Room."

"Go!" Michelle Anderson's voice called back…

* * *

The operations room, minutes later…

"You _**don't**_ consider this a possible threat situation, Admiral?"

Tap'uch shook her head. "No, Lord Captain, I don't," she stated. "The route we just took to come to Yaminokuni is something the Eunuch Spaceman discovered nearly nine hundred years ago during his first deep-space deployment from the Home World." A smirk. "Given that it was a _Noukiite_ that discovered this route, I doubt any Urusian captain would choose to use it if he was determined to rescue Hensō from her captors."

"You mean only the Imperial ones," Brian Gamblin noted.

"No, ALL Urusian ship captains," the silver-haired rear admiral said with a shake of her head and a smirk crossing her lips. "Even if they're not as overtly racist as their Imperial co-workers, most Urusian captains — even a man like Redet Invader — wouldn't consider using a route WE would normally use, even if it was less hazardous than a direct run from Spotak to Yaminokuni." She indicated the holographic image on the main operations room table. "Look here. The whole region from Spotak south to Yaminokuni is full of wormholes, various types of collapsars such as black holes and neutron stars, not to mention several diffuse nebula. In both the original voyage by the Lord Admiral T'uhut'k'e and subsequent voyages of discovery that led to the opening of trade between our worlds, it was discovered that this whole sector of space was the scene of some ghastly intergalactic conflict ages ago. As to who provoked it, one can't say; there is no evidence indicating if there were colonies or civilizations on the few potentially life-bearing worlds throughout this part of space."

"A sort of outer-space version of the Bermuda Triangle," Michelle Anderson mused.

The commander of the Expeditionary Forces of the Left nodded; while the Noukiites were not as obsessed with Terrans as the Urusians and the Niphentaxians were, people like Tap'uch were familiar with some things. "Aye. If there have been any attempts by ships from Uru to penetrate to Yaminokuni, Lady Michelle, they're lost in this Fates-forsaken mess." She waved to the holographic image. "We signalled our embassies on Spotak, Phentax Five and Zeiwan when we were coming here. None of them received any intelligence reports of Urusian military units that may have passed through their sectors of space heading towards Yaminokuni." A sigh. "That still doesn't cover the approach route through the city airport at Muzlim Madiina. But if they did come there, our embassy there would have sent out a flash message to us to come with all possible speed."

"And since we have not received such a message…"

People gazed on Hiromi, who was enjoying tea at the aft end of the table. Mioko was standing beside her lover; Arami was currently with Tano Tsukuhito in their cabin aft as Luna Lovegood and Terry Boot sought to teach her some basic magic. "No doubt, they were pinning their hopes all on your brother, ma'am," Master Seaman Kelley Saunders stated, and then she shook her head. "But that's totally stupid! How the hell can you guarantee the success of some special operation by putting it all on the shoulders of a Grade 11 high school student? And especially one who wouldn't really care to help out in the first place? Why are we scared of these guys?!"

"They were acting like puffer fish," Gamblin mused.

People exchanged looks. "Swallow up a gallon of water to make it seem large enough to convince predators to not eat it," Michelle noted. "By 'taking over' Earth…"

"They made themselves look too large to the Ipraedies to ensure a war didn't happen," Gamblin finished. "When everything in Onishuto went down, it made them look pretty vulnerable. Not to mention a big pack of idiots given what was revealed about Miss Lum and Miss Hensō. And since no one's probably ever called their bluff before…"

"They simply did not know what to do afterwards," Tap'uch finished. "That is how we were able to put them down whenever they challenged us for worlds we had settled yet they claimed centuries ago; that led to some minor border wars between the Outmarches and the Urusian Empire in the years before their Union Revolution. That is how the Yizibajohei put them down in the Mother of All Fight Scenes that effectively crippled their economy and made the Union Revolution actually occur fifty years later. Ever since they won their freedom from Seifukusu domination, they've done everything to bully people around them to get their way. Most often playing the 'wounded' card due to the total loss of their culture from before the Seifukusu conquest to earn sympathy, no doubt even with Master Zachariah and his co-workers in the Special Committee, to force their will on other beings. For those who were not in the mood to tolerate such childishness, they found themselves quite disciplined. Quite literally by the Yizibajohei and to a lesser extent by ourselves, in fact. But for those who weren't in the mood to fight a potential war…or who could not fight such a war for whatever reason…"

"We've been rather lucky, haven't we?" Michelle asked.

A nod. "Aye, you have been. But the Angels of Luck never grant you their favour forever, Lady Lieutenant. Thanks to the actions of the Urusian Imperials — who did give the military of that world much of its passion — the arrogance of that race has been exposed to the scrutiny of their friends and foes alike. The smart ones such as Lum's wonderful sister capitalized on it right away to see some long-overdue purges unleashed. If the Ipraedies decide to take advantage of that, Her Imperial Majesty warned Emperor Schwartz off about doing such a thing four months ago; Hiromi was witness to that. I think that after this mission, things around Uru will be delightfully quiet."

"Let's hope so," Gamblin noted.

"Captain?"

"Yes, Miss Yoshino?"

Yoshino Tomomi was looking over from her station. "Sir, we'll be at the arrival point in sixteen minutes. Recommend we commence procedures to drop from warp."

"Very well," the captain said. "Officer of the Watch, signal all ships."

"Aye, sir!" Michelle called back…

* * *

Yaminokuni, Muzlim Madiina, that moment…

"Couldn't sleep too much, Ataru?"

Ataru shook his head as he gently took his host's hand in his own. "No, not really. What I sensed concerning my sister kept me up most of the night." A smirk. "According to my body clock, it's almost noon hour. What time of day is it here?"

Rupa smiled. "Early in the morning," he stated as a servant moved to provide the Terran with a bowl of rice and a serving of mixed vegetables. A cup of tea was also poured. "Given that I do tend to travel a lot when I'm running my farm, I can adjust to different times of day and different day lengths when I go to other worlds. Have you been off Earth since your sisters and you returned back from Okusei?"

"Other than staying aboard ships like _Haida_ and _Yamato_ overnight, it was just the one time with Lupica when she was looking for her 'ultimate love potion' about a month ago," Ataru answered. "But it wasn't too bad; it was a quick in-and-out thing on the planet where we found that bottle." He smirked. "It was kind of nice to shake out the old muscles a bit. I was glad to help her; she was so damned shy when it came to Rio, it was just utterly pathetic. And she's the administrative boss of the whole Galactic Federation?" He then gazed at his host. "Ever met him?"

A nod. "Several times whenever I've gone to Rajdhani to represent the Kingdom at conferences. Lupica often took us down to the city bazaar to allow everyone to sample the local cuisine. And I agree about Lupica and Rio; it WAS pathetic!"

Both men laughed, and then Ataru hummed. "Ever tried his tōfu?"

"Got the recipe for it; my cooks just LOVE making it! You?"

"Got a half-month's supply of the stuff as thanks for what happened," Ataru noted as the door to the private dining room opened to reveal a stretching Natsukimi Makoto. "Hey, Makoto! Everyone else up now?" he asked as the Kyoshō sophomore took his own seat, pickup up his own rice bowl and dipping into the vegetables."

"Yeah, they're up and in the baths now. Lucky we're a bunch of young pups; staying up most of the night is okay with us," Makoto said before he gazed at the servants. "Can you guys leave us alone for a few minutes?" he then asked.

Rupa nodded. Once the servants were out and the door closed behind him, Ataru gazed knowingly at Makoto. The latter was quite calm as he nibbled on his rice. "How long's your sister going to keep pretending to be your brother?" the master of basics asked.

The crown prince jerked, and then he blinked as his guests gazed knowingly at him before he relaxed. "Until Great-grandpa dies. He has Rekki's Syndrome…"

"Alzheimer's," Ataru whispered.

Makoto jerked. "Okay, let's drop any questions about the 'why,' then! The other patriarchs and matriarchs okay with this?" he then asked.

Rupa nodded. "They're happier about my relationship to Carla. They can accept Ika's preference and understand why Great-grandpa wants to square accounts with the Clan Redet. In fact, they're also happy about what you're doing for Ika." As the two Terrans looked at him, the crown prince grinned. "The Niphentaxians — especially after Ōgi became their president — left very bad tastes in ALL our mouths."

"Is he still around?"

"Most likely. Idiots like him ALWAYS have a long shelf-life," Ataru noted. "But if we're lucky, he'll be on this ship that Negau-san warned us about." He smirked. "If he dies, good riddance to that creep. If he lives, we bundle him up, I call Kyech in and she delivers him gift-wrapped to Lecashuto."

Makoto blinked. "What's that?"

"The capital city of a very beautiful planet named Vos; it's about a thousand light-years to the galactic east of Earth," Ataru explained. "Currently in the midst of a rather ugly civil war, but it should wrap up pretty soon. It's been run by a nutcase calling himself the 'Mikado' for the last century or so. Think of a mix of Benito Mussolini and Iosef Stalin and you get the right idea. Six years ago, he tried to have Lum and her family assassinated because they were very good friends to a famous dissident from that world, a very good warrior — he'd give Onē-san a run for her money — named Nassur. Fortunately, a friend of Nassur's — another great warrior named Shogai Dakejinzō; she's an adopted Fukunokami, one of Benten-san's people — stopped it in time. But when Ōgi found out — this was just after he had become president of Phentax Two — he fired a warp-capable interplanetary ballistic missile on Lecashuto." He sighed. "It was a bio-bomb, Makoto. Packed with the outer-space version of Ebola. Five million KIA; almost all of them civilians. The Mikado was never touched."

Makoto gaped. "You are SHITTING me!" he then snarled.

"It's true," Rupa stated. "Our galaxy is often not a friendly one, Master Makoto. Indeed, the Lady Yoiko said it eloquently when she spoke to Great-grandpa yesterday after you all arrived." He sighed. "I hope you do capture Ōgi and see him delivered to the Vosians. It would be perfect justice for all of Lum's sufferings."

"Amen to…!"

A knock. "Master Rupa?"

"Yes?!" Rupa called out.

"Sir, we've detected ten battleship-class vessels now arriving in our system. They've signalled the Defence Command and declared their identity," one of the many guards protecting the Palace stated from beyond the sliding door. "It is the Task Force from Earth under the command of Matriarch Moroboshi, guided here by the Lady K'ekhech herself. They request permission to assume orbit over our world and send a delegation down to meet the First Patriarch."

"Grant it to them," Rupa stated. "Warn them that if they have teleporters or the like, the dust layers in the atmosphere will interfere with the sensor signals."

"They are aware of that, sir. Matriarch Moroboshi is more than agreeable to dispatch an executive shuttle from her flagship _Haida_ to land near the Airport."

"Grant them permission to land when they are ready to do so. Have the Palace staff inform the Lady Yoiko and her companions about this."

"Right away, sir!"

* * *

_Hood_, passing the outer world of Yaminokuni's home system, a half-hour later…

"We're secure from warp."

"Aye, sir! Formation proceeding in two columns towards the third planet of Hika'aka!"

"Captain, picking up communications between _Haida_ and Yaminokuni. Rear Admiral Seu-Susa is now discussing things with a person calling himself the Chief Constable of the Kingdom. No doubt, this might be their senior defence officer."

"Like the bloody French had back before Agincourt…"

As laughter echoed over the speakers from the operations room, Miyamoto Kasumi — who had taken her place at the navigation officer's chair at the front end of the main bridge — could only smile as she listened to the friendly banter between Captain Nathan Kerr and his subordinates. That the _wa_ of the British starship seemed so strong was an encouraging sign to the elder Miyamoto daughter; while there were the feelings of fear and concern amongst the people aboard _Hood_, it was balanced with the sense of wonder travelling so far away from Earth — for all save the ship's "plank owners," their very first time! — and representing their nation in the defence of another PLANET from alien invasion. Even more so, with the presence of the members of the 10th Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery — the largest single unit in the brigade that had been dispatched from the Dominion for this operation; said unit had 1,400 officers and gunners within its six fighting batteries and its headquarters and support battery — and the tōshi of the Yoshū Private Academy, the hopes for success in this mission were all the more higher.

Now…

_Oh, face facts, Kasumi!_ she then scolded herself. _You're too worried about what Nabiki-chan is getting herself involved in! Who on Earth is this Kyōko girl that Karin-chan spoke about?! An armoured soldier from the 2nd/10th Dragoons?! Perhaps one of the tōshi from the Kōshi Kasshi or Nanban High School?! Surely she couldn't be…!_

"Kasumi-onēsama, are you alright?"

Hearing that polite British-accented voice speak perfect Japanese, she then turned to see Leilani Dowding gaze curiously at her. At first surprised that this girl — Kasumi had heard from some of _Hood_'s new cooks that the Avalonian-Britons aboard the ship had all been named after people who had bared their breasts for tabloid newspapers like _The Sun_ — had called her "older sister" in Japanese, she then focused on the green earring now hanging off the left lobe of the brown-eyed woman with the wavy raven hair. "Oh, my! Where on Earth did you get that, Leilani-chan?!" she asked as she reached up to feel the earring, sensing the amount of ki within it. She also noted that the design — which looked like two lion's heads put back-to-back and was topped with the Saint Edward's Crown — had a rocket etched on it with the nosecone pointing up, three lightning flashes emitting from either side. "That's a rating badge, isn't it?"

"Communications Information Systems Specialist," Leilani explained as she reached over to turn the volume from the operations room down. "That's the trade I chose when the recruiters for the Navy came aboard a month ago to explain what we could do."

Kasumi blinked. "So how…?"

A chuckle, which made the elder Miyamoto daughter gape. "My _mei'na_ — my soul, in other words — was augmented with the soul of one of the thirty-one thousand unfortunates Negako-sama found in the Nanban Forest and had transferred to the Dragon Jade." As Kasumi nodded — Kyoko had told her about that — Leilani added. "All the girls on _Haida_ and _Arizona_ have had their souls augmented, so it's our turn now, and then we'll pass on the Jade to the _Bismarck_. Hopefully by the time the enemy gets here, we'll be ready."

"Are you alright?"

Leilani hummed. "It's like suddenly realising that you've been blind all your life — and for me, my life has only been measured in _months_, not years — when the blinds over your eyes were ripped away all at once. Right now, Nell-chan is getting all the other girls on _Hood_ taken care of." As Kasumi nodded — Nell McAndrew was one of three girls on the British starship who planned to be a medical assistant — Leilani hummed. "Wonder if a few bond-matings might result from it. Should be interesting to watch…"

"Leilani?"

"What is it, Onē-sama?"

"Do you know a Kyōko on _Haida_?"

The would-be CIS specialist hummed. "Let's see…there are four of them actually. Ikusawa Kyōko; she's a naval communicator. Kagawa Kyōko's a hull technician. Morimura Kyōko's a naval weapons technician; they're going to be changing that trade around soon, I believe. And Hayashi Kyōko's a supply technician."

Kasumi blinked as she considered that — there were enough similarities still between the Royal Navy rating system and trade classifications in the Canadian Forces to draw comparisons between what rates could serve on _Hood_ with what trades could serve on _Haida_ — and then she gazed at the other woman. "Where does Ikusawa-san work?"

"The main computer room."

A gasp. "Oh, my…!"

Leilani looked over. "What is it?"

"I think Nabiki-chan and Kyōko-chan are…well…"

The dusky-skinned woman — like all of _Hood_'s plank-owners, she had been modelled as a woman of about twenty in Terran years — blinked…and then her eyes widened before she smiled. "You're worried about the impropriety of it all, right?"

"Well, you are _**so**_ young…"

A nod. "Hai, that's true. But given that the souls that were just mixed up with ours thanks to the Dragon Jade were normally about the same emotional age as Nabiki-onēsama is whenever they died — at least from what I could sense of the soul that meshed with MY mind — I don't think there's too much to worry about. Given that all of those poor unfortunates Negako-sama found in the Nanban Forest were all tōshi — with all the combined experiences of fifteen lifetimes on average — it would mean that despite her _physical_ youth, Kyōko-chan would be quite a mature lover for Nabiki-onēsama."

"So why are you calling ME 'onē-sama?'" Kasumi then demanded.

"You noticed that as well, my dear."

Both women turned, and then Leilani grinned. "Padre Jean!"

"How are you, my dear?" Chaplain Jean McDermott came over to gently grasp Leilani's hand. As she kissed the other woman's cheek, she hummed as she noted the Avalonian-Briton's earring. "My! The Buffer and the Jaunty aren't giving you problems with that, are they?!" the native of Aberdeen in Scotland wondered.

"No, ma'am," Leilani stated as Kasumi giggled; she had met _Hood_'s two senior ratings, Master-at-Arms Warrant Officer Class One Paul Gordon and Chief Boatswain's Mate Warrant Officer Class One Tom Nelson…who was NOT a relative of the famous admiral that commanded the British fleet at Trafalgar in 1805 given that he was African-Jamaican by descent. "Nell is just getting started with the soul-augmentations right now. Naoko came over from _Haida_ and warned us that we can't take them off for a day at least."

"Just found that out."

Everyone turned as a grizzled thirty-year veteran of the Royal Navy walked onto the bridge. "Hello, Mister Gordon," Kasumi greeted the master-at-arms with a polite smile; even if the senior rate had a voice that hurt her ears when he yelled at the junior sailors to get things done, he had been very nice with her. "What happened?"

"Asked Nellie if she could take that earring off when I saw it, Miss Miyamoto," WO1 Gordon said. "Poor girl almost passed out from the pain. That's when Naoko gave me the Director's warning about not removing these earrings for the first day or so."

"Is Nell alright?" Padre Jean asked.

"Oh, she's resting in the cockpit right now, Padre," Gordon answered. "She got Sian Adey-Jones to handle the rest of Leilani's sisters on the ship." He then tipped the peak of his hat at Kasumi. "Anyhow, I'm off on my rounds. Excuse me."

He walked off the bridge. "He's a nice man," Kasumi noted.

"He is. But don't say that in front of the junior rates, Onē-sama," Leilani warned.

The three women laughed. "Are you alright, Kasumi?" Padre Jean then asked. "You seem really bothered by something. Do you want to talk about it?"

A sigh. "I'm worried about my sister Nabiki, Reverend," Kasumi said, and then she proceeded to explain the situation she had encountered earlier.

After a few minutes, the priest nodded. "Do you approve or disapprove of a potential relationship between Nabiki and Kyōko?" she asked as she sat in the helmsman's chair to Kasumi's left. "Once the drive to seek out a _marei'cha_ overwhelms an Avalonian, it is simply impossible to deny those feelings no matter how hard one might try."

"Well, I'm not sure," Kasumi stated. "I don't know Kyōko-chan at all…and if she's undergone what Leilani-chan here just underwent, anything that one might have assumed about Kyōko-chan will have to be thrown out with the old dishwater. And given how Nabiki-chan has always kept herself closed in from others…"

"Why is that?"

A sigh. "Well, it's no great secret," Kasumi confessed. "Our mother died of breast cancer ten years ago and it just nearly destroyed my family." She then blinked on feeling a comforting hand on her shoulder…and then she relaxed as a flood of pure compassion surged through her whole body from that contact. "Oh, my…"

"Quite comforting, isn't it?" _Hood_'s chaplain asked.

Kasumi slowly nodded. "Hai, it is." To Leilani. "Arigatō, Leilani-chan."

"Dō itashimashite, Onē-sama." And with that, Leilani leaned down to kiss the elder Miyamoto daughter on the lips, which made Kasumi blink…though she didn't resist that show of compassion from the other woman. "And wherever she is within or beyond the Te'a, I'm sure your mother is in a much better place than what we're in now."

Kasumi blinked. "You really believe that?"

"Indeed they do, my dear," Padre Jean mused. "Actually, if I may propose something, what say we actually get you and your sisters together on the _Haida_. It'll give you all the chance to meet Kyōko herself and you can see what she is right then and there. Leilani, you're off-watch right now, aren't you?"

"Just came off at the turn of the forenoon watch," Leilani stated.

"Well, now that we're out of warp, we can use the materialisers. Let's go find Akane. We'll probably need Miss Ebisu as well. Let me clear it with the captain, first."

"Aye-aye, ma'am."

* * *

The ship's gymnasium, minutes later…

"Alright, ladies! _Kallyŏ_!"

On hearing that, both Akane and Kyoko paused before they relaxed, and then they pulled apart before they bowed politely to each other, and then they turned to bow politely to the woman who had been supervising their match. "Thank you very much for refereeing, Kirkland-sŏnsaengnim," the ninja-trained tōshi from Utsunomiya politely said.

_Hood_'s acting senior physical training instructor, Chief Petty Officer Mary Kirkland — who had been asked to come aboard the ship with a small detachment from the Royal Navy School of Physical Training at H.M.S. _Temeraire_ in Portsmouth; the Admiralty was still debating over the idea of having "club swingers" posted on Britain's first starship — returned their bows. Atop being one of the most physically fit members of her branch of service, CPO Kirkland was also a second-level black belt in t'ae kwon-do — which had instantly earned her respect from the tōshi of Yoshū; she was already seen as the equal of a C-rank amongst them — and a specialist in teaching Royal Marines about hand-to-hand combat. "My pleasure, ladies," she said. "My heavens…I've heard of some of the more esoteric martial arts schools in the Orient, but to see that…!"

"Never witnessed any form of combat from a school descent from the Tensei-ryū, Mary-san?" Kyoko asked as Akane moved to cool herself down.

"No, I must admit I haven't. I've heard all the incredible tales about Major Raeburn and the Director's elder sister, but to actually watch THAT…!"

"You ever thought of joining the Marines, Mum?" Staff Sergeant Joseph "Jock" Stuart, a member of the Special Boat Service detachment now aboard _Hood_, then asked.

"We don't have Marines in Japan, Jock-san," Kyoko stated as she moved to cool down herself, with Kirkland walking over to help her. "Nearest thing would be the Maritime Self-Defence Forces' Special Boarding Unit out of Eta-jima. But I get seasick!"

Both British servicemen laughed on hearing that. "And I can't swim," Akane admitted. "Try as I might, I just sink right to the bottom of the pool every time."

"We'll work on that, student," Kyoko said. "Go take a shower."

"Hai!"

With that, Akane was off for the change rooms. Both British servicemen were quick to note the glowing smile on the youngest Miyamoto daughter's face as she moved to slip off her gi top, revealling one of the blue _Hood_ T-shirts she had been given by one of the ship's stewards as a memento to her stay aboard. "First student?" Kirkland wondered.

"Hai. I got my mastery in the Ebisu-ryū just last year when I made A-rank at the last Great Fighters Tournament," Kyoko said as she got back to her feet. "She's got loads of potential. It was a damned shame that her father just stopped training her when she was so young; she learned far too much by then and would've become a pure berserker if I hadn't taken over."

"What about the legalities?" As a practitioner of t'ae kwon-do, Kirkland was aware of how Oriental martial arts masters viewed people poaching students from them.

"Her father was never properly registered as a master of Musabetsu Kakutō; you have to go to Watari-shima to get that since Happōsai-sensei wasn't allowed to do that by Master Hosan," Kyoko explained. "What's even worse, her father simply refuses to accept the fact that he has no moral or legal right to declare himself Akane's proper teacher in the Art. Hence, the reason she had to change her family name."

"That bad?" Stuart asked.

A nod. "To be seen as without family name in Japan is very bad, Jock-san."

The Navy senior physical training instructor and the Royal Marines special operations sergeant exchanged looks, and then they nodded in understanding. By then, the main door to the gymnasium had opened, revealing a smiling woman in the modified duty uniform worn by chaplains in the Royal Navy. With here was one of the British starship's Avalonian plank owners and Akane's elder sister. "Are you done abusing that poor girl for the day, Kyoko?" Padre Jean then asked, that making Kasumi giggle and Leilani grin.

"She needs it, Reverend," Kyoko explained as both Kirkland and Stuart nodded politely to the ship's chaplain. "And she loves every minute of it!"

"Sensei's a bully!" Akane chanted from the open doorway to the change room.

"All sensei are bullies! Don't you know that by now?!" Kyoko shouted back.

"Couldn't say that about my father!"

"Hurry up and wash up, Akane! Your sister's here!"

"Hai!"

"Oh, my! I hope Akane-chan's not ruining that T-shirt she was given," Kasumi noted.

"She got five of them, Kasumi-san. She'll be fine," Kyoko said, and then she gazed intently at Akane's sister. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nabiki-onēsama seems to be in the process of getting a bond-mate," Leilani stated. "And with one of my sisters aboard _Haida_ as we speak."

Kyoko blinked, and then she shrugged. "Again, what's the problem?"

Kasumi gaped as the others all chuckled. Padre Jean then described what Kasumi now suspected was happening between Nabiki and Ikusawa Kyōko. Noting this was a private conversation, both CPO Kirkland and S/Sgt Stuart headed off. At the end of it, Kyoko then hummed as she gazed intently at Leilani for a moment before she nodded. "While I can certainly understand your concerns about your sister's welfare, Kasumi-san, the fact that Nabiki-san is potentially seeking out a lover in Kyōko-chan — and I should caution you that you might be blowing this way out of proportion — is probably a good thing in and of itself," she then noted as she crossed her arms.

"But Kyōko-chan is an Avalonian-_Canadian_ now, Kyoko-san," Kasumi warned. "When she joins the Canadian Forces, she'll be spending quite some time training in _**Canada**_, and then be posted aboard _Haida_. Nabiki-chan still has a year-and-a-half of grade school to finish before she faces the Centre Test, and then she'll be attending university. Most likely at Tōkyō University. Which is in _**Japan**_!"

"Has she looked at Canadian universities yet?"

A shake of the head. "I don't know…"

"Well, as soon as Akane is ready to go, we'll go visit _Haida_ and I'll introduce you to Padre Vincent Klein; he's the chaplain there," Padre Jean then offered. "Once we get him appraised as to what's happening, we can then go to speak to Nabiki and Kyōko."

"Is it wise to put them on the spot like that?" Kyoko asked.

"My dear, the instant you came aboard this ship, you came under my spiritual charge," the priest from Aberdeen advised with a smile. "You and your friends from Yoshū — and yes, that also includes the Miyamoto sisters — all _volunteered_ to come out to help Director Moroboshi and we get this matter facing us resolved. If I — and I am sure I'm also speaking for Padre Vincent — can help with anything, that is what I'm here for."

Kyoko smiled. "You are a credit to your service, Wise Mistress Jean," she then said with a polite bow. "And since Akane is my student in the Ebisu-ryū, I'll be here to help."

"Wonderful!"

Kasumi smiled as Leilani squeezed her shoulder…

* * *

_Haida_, Main Cafeteria #2, ten minutes later…

"It's almost empty."

"Looks like most of the people are preparing to head down to the planet."

Nabiki chuckled as she moved to prepare some coffee from a vending machine. "Well, that's nice," she mused as she waited for the machine to complete her order; unlike instant coffee vending machines, the machines aboard _Haida_ were designed to make sure the coffee it served was the same quality as one would get at a Tim Hortons restaurant. "Pity we couldn't spend too much time away from the computers."

Hearing that, Kyōko almost glowed with delight at the hidden meaning behind her new girlfriend's words. "I'm happy you're not upset over this, Nabiki-vayae."

Nabiki smirked. "Well, being called 'My Darling Nabiki' — and knowing deep down that you _**mean**_ it with every fibre of your being — can do that to anyone." She then sighed. "Kyōko, what's going to happen to us? I mean, with you…"

"On _Haida_ while you're in Japan?"

A nod. "Hai."

The azure-haired girl considered that for a moment as Nabiki finally got her coffee. "Well, that's an understandable question. While I would want to make a life with you as my bond-mate, I have committed myself to join the Canadian Forces when we'll be allowed to do so. That would mean basic training at the Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu for fourteen weeks, five weeks of Naval Environmental Training at the Fleet Schools in either Halifax or Esquimalt, and then twenty-nine weeks of training at the Fleet School in Esquimalt to get my Level Three qualification as a naval communicator before I'm sent back here for on-the-job training."

Nabiki blinked. "But you said that you wanted to become an intelligence operator," she noted as Kyōko moved to dial up her own coffee. "Maple leaf-shaped magatama or no."

A laugh. "That's my goal…but right now, new members of that trade are only brought in when one's a leading seaman or corporal and hold a Level Five trade qualification in another occupation." A shrug. "That might change; in the last four months, a lot of us joined the Army to help form brigade-level intelligence platoons and division-level intelligence companies — even three corps-level intelligence battalions in Toronto, Québec City and Edmonton — in the Militia. And there are Air Reserve intelligence squadrons and fleet reconnaissance units in the Naval Reserve, so there's talk now of allowing people to still be trained in a compatible 'feed trade' to adhere to the regulations, and then go straight to Kingston right after the Level Three course in their old trade for Level Five training at the Military Intelligence School for twenty-two weeks, skipping the on-the-job thing for Level Four and the Level Five course. Hopefully by the time I join, I can do that instead."

"Kingston…?" Nabiki trilled. "That's in Ontario, right?"

"Hai. East end of Lake Ontario on Highway 401, about halfway between Toronto and Montréal in Québec; it's not so far from the Thousand Islands area."

Nabiki nodded. "I looked at Queen's University in Kingston when I began searching for schools I can attend after the Centre Test next year. My English is good, so I can pass whatever IELTS test that could be put in front of me before I go over there; I've been scoring 900 points on average every time I've done a TOEIC test for the last two years. My only problem would be tuition costs and living expenses; I don't know how far Ojii-chan would go to sponsor me over there." She then hummed. "Unless…?"

Kyōko smiled. "I think if you ask Hiromi-onēsama directly, you can be hired on as part of the Volunteer Earth Defence Force civilian staff after high school or even if you still are in high school. The United Nations won't let Hiromi-onēsama get away from them after she helped bring this fleet to Earth, not to mention bring the technology we can use to help maintain the fleet. You earn a salary or get a percentage cut of whatever resources the EDF brings in or develops and save a nice little nest egg for when you decide to go to university. And then we can be together in Kingston."

A hum. "What if you became an intelligence officer?" Joan Mercer had talked about getting an intelligence officer assigned as the division officer since the Command Systems Maintenance Division would have — as part of its overall responsibilities — the duty of maintaining _Haida_'s impressive library databank of information. Which meant making sure that news updates and the like always flowed into the system. "How does that work?"

"Well, there is talk to allow ten of us plank owners to become Direct Entry Officers into the Forces right away," Kyōko admitted as she got her coffee, and then they moved to sit at one of the tables nearby to enjoy their drinks; they weren't expected back in the computer room for an hour and they wanted lunch as well. "We could take our time doing our university degrees, not like those who would go to the Royal Military Collage for the standard undergraduate degree. No one's really decided about that yet; I think Hiromi-onēsama would prefer if we took the time and think it over before we'd volunteer to become officers." She paused for a moment to consider that, and then she shrugged. "Well, if I did do it _**that**_ way, it'd be basic training at Saint-Jean for fifteen weeks, then the Common Army Phase for eleven weeks at the Infantry School in Gagetown in New Brunswick before going to Kingston to attend the Basic Intelligence Officer Course for six months. While I'm doing that, I can attend night school at Queen's to start getting my degree; they don't recommend doing university degrees during basic and CAP."

"Why do an Army course if you're going Navy?"

A shrug. "It's a requirement."

"Military thinking, right?"

"Hai."

Nabiki smirked. "I doubt I could tolerate that."

"Well, what can you tolerate?"

A saucy smile crossed the Japanese woman's face. "Well, I could tolerate us going back to our cabin, taking our clothes off and sleeping together — maybe going all the way to us becoming women by our own means — but Joan-san will get upset and you don't need to get a senior serviceman like her upset. It'll ruin your employment chances."

Kyōko laughed, and then she rakishly arched her eyebrows. "I'd love to do that as well, too. And you're right. Business before pleasure." She then sighed. "But there is one thing I would want to do for you as soon as I can arrange it."

Nabiki paused…and then she slowly nodded. "The body-swap thing, right?"

"Do you blame me?"

A shake of the head. "No. I have read up on the whole _marei'cha_ process on the Internet, so I understand the mechanics of it all. And while the idea of being quite beautiful for several centuries really would do my vanity wonders, there is the downside to an eight-century lifespan." As Kyōko stared at her, Nabiki winked. "I don't want to spend a century looking like Shan's great-grandmother."

"And what's the matter with that?" Kyōko then asked. "I'm not falling in love with the _body_, Nabiki-vayae. I'm falling in love with the **soul** inside that body. THAT is what drives an Avalonian's heart! Sure, the window-dressing looks awesome from here — and it would look even more awesome out of those clothes — but sex is not everything in life." As Nabiki gaped at her, Kyōko then stopped before she whistled. "Wow…!"

Nabiki tensed. "Are you okay?"

A sigh. "Sorry. I just can't believe that with a few seconds' exposure to the Dragon Jade, my behavioural programming was enhanced THAT much!" Kyōko then confessed, which made Nabiki blink at this incredible shift of behaviour between a very wise woman and an emotional _baby_ in a body that, if it was a half-year old, was pushing it. "I…" She then sniffed. "I'm scared, Nabiki. I'm falling in love with you — I KNOW it's that because of what I absorbed from the Jade — but it's happening so fast…!"

Nabiki instantly reached over to fiercely embrace the other woman. "I'm here for you, Kyōko-vayae," she whispered into the other girl's ear.

That did it. As Kyōko broke down and began to weep, Nabiki could only smile as her own eyes teared in sympathy to her new girlfriend's profound confusion…though she also knew her tears were those of happiness. For the first time EVER, she had someone fall in love with her who UNDERSTOOD who Miyamoto Nabiki was. Who didn't give a flying damn at all about the "Ice Queen" she had become in the wake of her mother's death. Who clearly wanted to make Nabiki a happy woman…and who, considering Kyōko's understandable desire to make Nabiki an Avalonian herself, wanted Nabiki to live as long and as successful a life as she could. Together for eight centuries…

Eight centuries…

"Hey!"

Nabiki perked…and then she blinked on seeing Sasamoto Narumi gazing in amusement at them; the would-be medical technician was standing beside the vending machine. "Narumi-chan?" the middle Miyamoto daughter breathed out, and then she tenderly kissed the still-sniffing Kyōko. "I'm here, Kyōko-vayae…I'm still here…"

Narumi walked over to gently squeeze Kyōko's shoulder. "If you're going to snuggle, this is not the place to do it in," she then whispered. "Lunch will start soon."

Nabiki nodded. "And we got to get back to work."

"Unless…"

The middle Miyamoto daughter blinked, and then she gazed on Narumi, quick to see the conspiratorial look on the latter's face. As Narumi patted her tricorder — the device in the pouch on her belt was not officially named that, but it was nicknamed that from its similarity to the device seen in _Star Trek_; it was because of reasons of potential copyright infringement that the transporter-like systems on _Haida_ and her sisterships were called "materialisers" — in emphasis, Nabiki then blinked…and then she breathed out. "Who dares, wins…" she quoted the motto of Britain's Special Air Service, and then she sighed. "Do it, Narumi." She then offered her arm.

Narumi smiled as she waved it off. "I got your DNA pattern from ship's internal scanners. Don't ask me why the folks from 23 Field Ambulance prefer blood samples," she said. "I'll call you into Sick Bay in about ninety minutes."

Nabiki gazed at her, and then she nodded. "Arigatō."

The would-be medic smiled as she kissed Nabiki on the cheek. "Dō itashimashite. And welcome to the family," Narumi said in return before heading off…

* * *

Nearby…

Kasumi was in tears.

Akane was trying desperately not to cry herself, though her eyes were misting.

Kyoko was keeping a supportive hand on her girlfriend's shoulder.

Leilani was beaming in delight at her sister's wonderful choice of bond-mate.

With them were Jean McDermott and Vincent Klein. "I think your sister is doing quite fine on her own regard," the latter — a granite-faced man with silver-shot black hair and wise olive-brown eyes; even if he hadn't served in the Forces as long as Brian Gamblin did, they were about the same age — then advised before he beckoned them out of the cafeteria. "Let's move this to my cabin. I think we need to talk about some things." To the British navy chaplain. "Would you care for some tea, my dear?"

"Red Rose?" Padre Jean asked.

"Naturally."

A shake of the head. "Only in Canada, eh? Pity…"

As the two priests and Leilani laughed at that joke while heading off to the nearest turbolift station, Kasumi, Akane and Kyoko exchanged looks, wondering what was so funny…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Vayae** — Sagussan term of affection meaning "my darling," "my dearest" and other such phrases; **Québécois** — Demonym for anything relating to the province of Québec; **Collapsar** — Formal name for any sort of star that has collapsed in on itself like a black hole; **Wa** — Harmony, peace or balance; **Kallyŏ** — The verbal command to stop a bout; **Sŏnsaeng-nim** — Korean version of the Japanese "sensei" with the "-nim" honorific added; **T'ae kwon-do** — Literally "the Way of Striking with Fists and Feet," this is Korea's most popular martial art form; **IELTS** — Literally "International English Language Testing System," this is the international standardized test for English language proficiency managed by Cambridge University and the British Council (which is often used by universities to test potential students to ensure they can perform their academic work without difficulty); **TOEIC** — Literally "Test of English for International Communication," this is the English language proficiency test used to ensure speakers can survive in everyday workplace environments.

2) H.M.C.S. _Toronto_ (pendant **FFH-333**) and N.C.S.M. _Ville de Québec_ (**FFH-332**) are both Halifax-class patrol frigates. Both ships are based in Halifax.

3) As Canada is a country with two official languages, everything at the federal level — which includes the military — must have a translation into French. To that end, the ship prefix used for warships is **N.C.S.M.**, which is short for **Navire Canadien de Sa Majesté** (literally "Her Majesty's Canadian Ship"). However, given the fact that the "S" in "H.M.C.S." would be interpreted as **starship** for _Haida_ — which can be translated as _navire interstellaire_ in French — it was decided to not initialise the "I" for _interstellaire_ and keep the "N.C.S.M." initials for _Haida_ even if the prefix title is spelt out as **Navire Interstellaire Canadien de Sa Majesté**.

4) The incident Hitomi speaks to Nabiki of concerning the attack of the Konton pirates on Earth was shown in _Long Way Home_.

5) The **Eunuch Spaceman** (real name **Eyu-Nek Ch'a-Seu**, posthumously renamed **Eyu-Nek Ch'a-Seu Hechnich'-T'uhut'k'e** of Nehech) is the Noukiite analogue of **Zhèng Hé** in the history of Míng China. It should be noted that "eunuchs" in Noukiite society are not physically castrated as the Ten Attendants were in China…but suffer from a disease which prevents them from being the fathers of children. This forces them — as Noukiite society demands the continuance of family as part of one's duty to one's ancestors — to engage in long quests to enhance the lives of those around them. The explorations of Lord Admiral T'uhut'k'e — which spanned the local cluster — was one type of quest. Another is the creation of "eunuch swords" (_seucheuchet'_), which are perhaps the most famous weapon export of Noukiios.

6) The **Mother of All Fight Scenes** is the all-out attack by two dozen Yizibajohei against Uru around the year 1745 Earth-time in retaliation to the outcome of an attempted Tag Race run against the natives of Yiziba by the Urusian Empire (in that case, the Yizibajohei "champion" made the tag against Redet Danu — a distant ancestor of Lum's — in nearly **_eight seconds_**). It is because of this that the Yizibajohei became feared throughout the local cluster as "They Who Must Never Be Named" or the "You Know Whos;" Yiziba itself is known as "the Unspeakable Place" or "You Know Where." The devastation wrought on Uru by the Yizibajohei unleashed a horrid famine that killed millions…and eventually planted the seeds that made the **Union Revolution** that overthrew the Empire possible.

7) The bio-bombing of Lecashuto by the Niphentaxians was first introduced in _The Senior Year_ story "A Hectic Vacation;" it was this incident that fully turned Lum away from acknowledging anything from Phentax Two…though, for the sake of galactic _realpolitik_, she had to stay silent about the deaths of all those people that day. How that played out in this universe will be revealed in a future story.

8) In the Royal Navy and the United States Navy, the trades for non-commissioned officers are officially called **ratings** and the rank levels are referred to as **rates**. A person such as Paul Gordon, for example, would rate as a **Warrant Officer Class One** (or WO1 for short) and has the rating of **Master-at-Arms**, the equivalent of the position of Coxswain in the Canadian Navy or the position of Command Master Chief Petty Officer in the American Navy. The Master-at-Arms in the Royal Navy is nicknamed a **Jaunty**, derived from the French term _gendarmerie_, which indicates his function as the chief supervisor of discipline on a warship. Their rating badge is a wreathed crown.

Before Unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, the old Royal Canadian Navy had rates and ratings as well to classify its non-commissioned members by their rank level and occupation. These days, however, all personnel in the Canadian Forces are divided into **branches** (signified by the branch hat badge worn on berets, wedge caps and peaked hats). Each of the branches are, in turn, broken down into individual **trades** (signified by a specific trade badge that are worn on the dress uniform on the collars [for Navy personnel], on the lower sleeves [for Army personnel ranked sergeants and below] and in a "half-wing" format over the name tag on the right breast [for most Air Force personnel]).

Using Ikusawa Kyōko as an example, she would be seen as a naval communicator in the **Naval Operations Branch** of the Forces, which is the administrative branch overseeing all hard sea trades. The branch badge is a fouled Navy anchor with the Saint Edward's Crown overhead, the anchor surrounded by either a circle of ship's rope (for people ranked as master seamen, leading seamen, able seamen and ordinary seamen), a wreath of laurel (for those ranked chief petty officers 2nd class and petty officers 1st and 2nd class) or a wreath of maple leaves in a triangular shape (for officers and chief petty officers 1st class).

When Kyōko eventually **remusters** (switches occupations) to become an intelligence operator or intelligence officer, she would switch from the Naval Operations Branch to the **Intelligence Branch** of the Canadian Forces. The branch badge for intelligence officers and operators is a silver North Star insignia on a circular field bisected from top left to bottom right green over red with a white band, the whole surrounded by a wreath of fourteen maple leaves, the Saint Edward's Crown overhead.

It should be noted that personnel of the **Royal Canadian Armoured Corps** (the Armoured Branch) and the **Royal Canadian Infantry Corps** (the Infantry Branch) wear individual regimental hat badges and collar badges in lieu of the accepted branch badges…except when they teach at a branch school such as the **Armoured School** or the **Infantry School** (both located at **Gagetown** near Fredericton in New Brunswick).

As an aside, Leilani Dowding's rating of **Communications Information Systems Specialist** is the rough equivalent of the Canadian Forces trades of **Naval Communicator** and **Meteorological Technician** (the latter trade, short-formed as **MET TECH**, are the Canadian Forces' resident weather forecasters). Nell McAndrew's rating of **medical assistant** is the equivalent of the Canadian Forces' trade of **Medical Technician** (**MED TECH**), the primary non-commissioned health services caregivers in the military. Finally, Mary Kirkland's rating of **Physical Training Instructor** would be the equivalent of the Canadian Forces' recently-discontinued trade of **Physical Education and Recreation Instructor** (**PERI**); people in this trade were responsible for all physical training in the Forces until 1997, when the **Physical Education and Recreation Branch** of the Forces was disbanded and all physical training was turned over to a newly established part of the **Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency** (**CFPSA**), which normally runs things like the base exchange (or CANEX) system.

9) Ikusawa Kyōko's namesakes: **Kagawa Kyōko** is a character from _Grand Prix_ who comes from Shimizu Ward of the city Shizuoka in the prefecture of the same name; she loves flower arrangements and track and field sports. **Morimura Kyōko** is a character from _First Kiss Story_, a romantic visual novel from HuneX released in 1998 for the PC-FX system. And **Hayashi Kyōko** is a character from _Doki Doki Pretty League_, which was released in 1998 by XING for the PlayStation platform; she is the baseball team's relief pitcher in the game.

10) H.M.S. _Temeraire_ (seventh ship of the name) is what is referred to in the British Royal Navy tradition (carried over to the Canadian Navy as well) as a **stone frigate**, a shore installation used by naval personnel and commissioned as if it were a fighting ship at sea. The current _Temeraire_ was commissioned as such in 1971, though the Physical Training School itself had been first established at Portsmouth in 1910.

11) **Petty Officers** (short-formed normally as **PO**, pronounced "pea-oh") are typically senior non-commissioned officers in any navy. How they are rated and ranked depends on the individual navy. Listed below are the rank/rate levels for petty officers and other ranks and their equivalents for the Canadian Forces, Royal Navy and United States Navy with NATO other rank code numbers for reference:

CANADIAN FORCES MARITIME COMMAND  
OR-9 — **Chief Petty Officer 1st Class** (**CPO1**)  
OR-8 — **Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class** (**CPO2**)  
OR-7 — **Petty Officer 1st Class** (**PO1**)  
OR-6 — **Petty Officer 2nd Class** (**PO2**)  
OR-5 — **Master Seaman** (**MS**)  
OR-4 — **Leading Seaman** (**LS**)  
OR-3 — **Able Seaman** (**AB**)  
OR-2 — **Ordinary Seaman** (**OS**)  
OR-1 — **Ordinary Seaman (Recruit)** (**OS[R]**)

ROYAL NAVY  
OR-9 — **Warrant Officer Class One** (**WO1**)  
OR-8 — **Warrant Officer Class Two** (**WO2**)  
OR-7 — **Chief Petty Officer** (**CPO**)  
OR-6 — **Petty Officer** (**PO**)  
OR-5 — _No rank equivalent_  
OR-4 — **Leading Rate** (**LH**)  
OR-3 — _No rank equivalent_  
OR-2 — **Able Seaman** (**AB**)  
OR-1 — _No rank equivalent_

UNITED STATES NAVY  
OR-9 — **Master Chief Petty Officer** (**MCPO**)  
OR-8 — **Senior Chief Petty Officer** (**SCPO**)  
OR-7 — **Chief Petty Officer** (**CPO**)  
OR-6 — **Petty Officer 1st Class** (**PO1**)  
OR-5 — **Petty Officer 2nd Class** (**PO2**)  
OR-4 — **Petty Officer 3rd Class** (**PO3**)  
OR-3 — **Seaman** (**SN**)  
OR-2 — **Seaman Apprentice** (**SA**)  
OR-1 — **Seaman Recruit** (**SR**)

12) To understand the joke at the end of this part, go to YouTube and type in the search words "Red Rose Only In Canada" to see some commercials from the 1970s and 1980s.


	37. Nabiki Does A Body-Swap

_Haida_, the operations room (Japan time: before noon)…

"I believe I now have a first draft for you, Hiromi-sama."

Hearing that, Hiromi smiled as she took the rolled sheet of synthesized parchment from Miyamoto Karin, and then she opened it to scan the beautiful calligraphy there. Right now, the Canadian starship was leading the Task Force into high orbit over Yaminokuni. Kyech, Tap'uch and her cousin Tachp'uch had already left _Haida_ to speak to the Chief Constable of Yaminokuni's armed forces to get him on-board concerning what the Terrans had in mind concerning the missing Urusian stealth cruiser and what it might do should it attack Muzlim Madiina in an attempt to rescue Hensō. While the decision to land was dependant on Upa's final approval — which Hiromi would seek when she met him for the first time — it was pretty much a given that nearly ten thousand Canadian servicemen would be heading down to the planet very soon and preparations would have to be made.

As many of the people now in the operations room busied themselves with the ship's movements, others were taking initial observations of the featureless world below them. Thanks to the heavy dust particle layer that ensured no light could ever shine on the planet from its home star Hika'aka, surface features on Yaminokuni could not be discerned visually from orbit…though scanners that could penetrate the veil of darkness were picking up the wide variety of terrain, not to mention several fair-sized ice oceans and loads of geothermal activity that kept the average temperature of Muzlim Madiina at a moderate fifteen degrees Centigrade year-round. With that, Colonel Wayne Bell — who had just beamed over with his battle staff from _Vittorio Veneto_ so he could also keep Hiromi appraised of what was happening with troop preparations — passed on orders to the troops to dress in temperate woodland CADPATs with night-vision devices on their eyes so they could see even if the planet's native giant mushrooms did let off their own phosphorescent light from their gills which made high noon seem like twilight on Earth.

As both Mioko and Tsukasa Torusuke — the latter having been called up by Karin before he could return to _Yamato_ to make sure everyone from Kyoshō was getting ready — looked over the reborn emperor's shoulders to read what was there, they found themselves nodding in appreciation at what Akane's sister had just composed. "Beautiful…!" Hiromi hissed out. "Truly lovely. A pity those who are about to receive this will never appreciate this splendid tapestry of words you've prepared for their attention."

"I agree," Torusuke stated. "They should consider receiving a declaration of war like this a privilege." To Karin. "You haven't lost your skills at all, Karin-san."

"You are too courteous to me, Torusuke-sama," Karin said, her cheeks now as red as cherries at his complement. "It's still pretty rough by my standards, though."

"You call this 'rough?!'" Mioko asked.

"For me, My Empress."

"You are too hard to yourself, Kōshō-dono!"

"Enough, my wife," Hiromi stated, and then she read the words again. "Excellent. You targeted the potential audiences for this message quite thoroughly, Kōshō-dono. Not just Lum-san's foolish parents but the Imperials and that beast Ōgi as well."

"There is one other group I believe we need to consider, My Emperor," Karin warned.

"That being?"

"The 'soft' Imperials, Majesty," Akane's adopted twin stated. "The Lady Lum and the Lady Nut'yek told me that despite how monolithic the Imperial Round might be as a whole, they have their own internal factions. They could be divided into two broad camps: Fanatics and moderates." She then pointed to the scroll. "In this missive, I specifically targeted the fanatics with my words. Bringing shame and a waterfall of insults on their ancestors' actions since the Liberation from the Seifukusu that forced the Lady Aruka Syl to promote the abolishing of the Imperial Houses which led to her martyrdom and the Union Revolution. Also declaring them traitors to the memories of the Ladies Noa and Honii, admonishing them for actually allowing themselves to be taken by the system that had destroyed whatever Urusian culture was there before the Conquest in the first place and forcing that system on their countrymen without their full consent.

"But when I was discussing this issue with Lum-san and Kuhu-san, I came to realize there might be moderates amongst our foes that — while desiring a restoration of the monarchy — do understand the true lessons the Union Revolution taught them. If we can call upon their true patriotism and make them see that Lum-san — as the nominal heiress of the Throne of the Maidens of Liberation — was _**betrayed**_ by all her kind when she was effectively cast out of her parents' home after Hensō's birth five years ago…"

"We could win allies," Torusuke concluded, nodding his head.

"You have an idea about this, my friend?" Hiromi wondered.

"Hai," the leader of Kyoshō nodded. "And if we play this right, we can not only reduce the number of people we actually have to fight to a much lower level…but we can possibly neutralise all future attempts by the Urusians to stick their noses in our affairs."

"How will that work?" Mioko asked.

"Did the Ipraedies do anything towards us after Hensō come to live with Hiromi-san's brother, Mioko-san?" he asked as he gave the reborn empress a knowing look.

Hiromi sat back in her chair, and then she nodded. "You have a point."

"So here's what I suggest…"

The explanation took about five minutes. At the end of it, Karin did a quick mental calculation, and then she stated. "Give me an hour."

"You have it," Hiromi bade.

With a hand salute, Akane's twin was off…just as Takiguchi Shōko came up to them; she was currently doing her watch here in lieu of the main communications suite. "Signal from Kyech-sama, Onē-sama," she said. "She wishes to speak to you."

"Here," Hiromi said as she pointed to the PADD before her.

Shōko tapped a control, allowing the Dragonspeaker's image to appear on the small screen before Hiromi. "Hiromi, Upa is ready to receive you at the Great Palace."

"Please inform the First Patriarch that as soon as I get changed, I'm on my way."

A nod. "Alright."

The link was cut. "Prepare your people, Mōtoku-dono," Hiromi then bade. "As soon as the clearance is made, I'll need your bright phoenixes on the ground immediately."

Torusuke smiled. "It will be done, Majesty."

And with that, the reborn imperial couple of the Hàn headed aft…

* * *

Six decks below…

"Same quarters as on _Hood_."

Vincent Klein chuckled as he handed Jean McDermott a cup of tea. "Seems that way, doesn't it," he admitted before he gazed on his guests. "Everyone alright?"

"We're quite fine, sir," Kasumi said before sipping her cup of Red Rose. "Oh, my! What a beautiful tea. This is only made in Canada?"

"For the longest time, it was," Padre Jean said. "But that's different now. I don't know what exports the company makes to Japan, though. You might need to ask the supply technicians, the cooks and the stewards to loan you some boxes to tide you over once you get back home."

Laughter filled the room. "So what's happening with Nabiki-nēchan now?" Akane then asked. "I mean, I can understand why Kyoko and I are falling in love with each other." She waved to Ebisu Kyoko. "We have like interests and she's helping me do things that no one my age has ever done for me, so there is that basis for a relationship. I don't see anything like that between Nē-chan and Kyōko-san."

A nod. "An understandable concern," Padre Vincent stated. "But let me ask you something in return, Akane: How much do you know about the Avalonians?"

The youngest Miyamoto daughter blinked, and then she shook her head. "Not really that much, I admit," she then confessed. "I know the basic story about them. How they came to be, why they came to Earth and how they've been accepted across the planet. And how they're trying to help us get into space and all that. But…nothing about what they're like as people. Is there something that's _**making**_ Kyōko-san want Nē-chan?"

"Actually, yes," the Canadian chaplain answered. "The process is called _marei'cha_ in the Avalonians' native language. The term actually means 'the one with whom you raise a child' but it's more often translated as 'bond-mating.' Avalonians as a whole are genetically bisexual; it's inherited from the race that created the bioroid factory in the first place. In their culture, it was the practice that two people — usually of the same gender — would seek each other out as _marei'cha_, then go find someone from the opposite gender to help parent a child. And while it has caused issues with some people across the planet, it's been ignored for the most part by governments worldwide since the Avalonians are also doing so much to help Terrans as a whole."

"Environmental cleanup and all that," Kasumi stated.

"That's right."

"I've heard of how much they crack down on things like child abuse and honour killing," Kyoko noted. "Drunks who beat their kids wind up trussed up in front of the local police station, ready to confess everything they've done to their own children. People going out to find family members who've 'dishonoured' the whole clan…and wind up suffering interesting accidents along the way. Nothing fatal but the point's getting across real quick." She sipped her tea. "It's ultimately a good thing in the long run. Most people simply don't see the Avalonians as trying to FORCE themselves on us. They literally PAID their way into what countries they wished to live in…"

"Thus taking a massive bite out of public debt," Padre Jean finished. "I dare say the full public debt in Britain will be abolished in a year or so. How about Canada?"

"Oh, about the same time," her Canadian counterpart mused.

"You seem to know so much about them," Kasumi commented.

"We had no choice but to become knowledgeable about them, Kasumi. You see, when Avalonians began flocking recruiting centres worldwide to join the armed forces of the various nations, work groups were set up by military ministries such as the Canadian Forces Chaplain Branch and the Royal Navy Chaplain Service to understand what their spiritual needs are like," Padre Vincent explained.

"I was part of the team at the Admiralty that explored this issue for the Navy, as Vince here was for the Canadian Forces," Padre Jean added. "We discovered over the last few months that Avalonians — despite the artificial nature of their entering this world — are a remarkably spiritual people, as worthy of our services as any normal Terran." To Kasumi. "Do you remember what Leilani said about your mother?"

Kasumi nodded. "She said that wherever she is within or beyond this…Te'a, you call it, Leilani-chan?" At Leilani's nod, the elder Miyamoto daughter then hummed. "Is that your version of Heaven?" she then wondered.

"No, it's not," Padre Jean said as her host chuckled. "But it's an understandable mistake to make, especially when you know the translation of the word itself: 'That Which Is Above mortal understanding.' You're all believers in Shintō, aren't you?" At the nod of the three Japanese natives, the Scottish priest smiled. "Well, if I understand your beliefs correctly, the Divine Power — _kami_, you call them — is within all things. Even the air we breathe, this ship around us and even in the near-vacuum of the space surrounding her. Is that right?" At their nods, Padre Jean smiled. "Well, the Te'a is the Avalonian version of the concept. But in the eyes of people like Leilani, because the Te'a is a Divine Thing, we're simply not supposed to know what lies within the Te'a."

"Or beyond It," Padre Vincent added. "Is that what you're worried about?"

Kasumi considered that for a moment, and then she nodded. "Partially yes," she then answered. "I mean given that people like Kyōko-chan and Leilani-chan never really had proper childhoods like normal people do…are they really ready to launch into a relationship with a normal person like Nabiki-chan? Yes, they are much more mature now thanks to the Dragon Jade, but they don't have the real-time experience of childhood and adolescence to back it up. Save for the memories they received from the Jade."

"That's understandable. But it's been happening all over the place, believe it or not. Regardless of how 'mature' an Avalonian might be in the long term," Padre Jean said. "While I'm not totally familiar with how same-sex relationships are viewed in Japan, I haven't heard of any major problems coming from your country."

"There are no laws forbidding such relationships at our age group…although there are no legal means for Nabiki-chan and Kyōko-chan to get married in Japan as they can in Canada," Kasumi noted. "And for the most part, Nabiki-chan doesn't have very much in the way of close friends who might object to this sort of thing. She is possibly transferring to the Yoshū Academy for her last years of school before the Centre Test; our version of the American SAT examinations." As both priests nodded, Kasumi then sighed. "But that depends on Kyoko-san's friends."

"I think she can be accepted," Kyoko stated. "She'll need to brush up her martial art skills, but she'll be probably accepted more as a strategist like Karin-san than a fighter. Given how much Hiromi-sama is trying to push us away from that…"

"Why does that happen?" the Canadian cleric asked.

A smirk. "For the life of us, Wise Master, we just don't know," Kyoko admitted.

Kasumi and Akane chuckled as the ninja-trained tōshi continued…

* * *

The shuttle _DeWolf_, heading towards Muzlim Madiina, a half-hour later…

"There we go, Captain! How does it look?"

Brian Gamblin — who, as flag captain, was asked to accompany Hiromi and Mioko to the planet's surface — nodded as he gazed at the new epaulettes slip-ons currently on his work jacket. Atop possessing the proper insignia for his rank with Elliot's Eye on the topmost of his four stripes, he also had a new unit identification "shoulder flash" tag under the bottom stripe. In lieu of the gold embroidered **CANADA** stitched into the slip-on itself that was normal for all Navy personnel regardless of which unit they were posted, there was a dark blue rectangular box patch with **HAIDA** on it in dark gold, the whole bordered in bright gold ship's rope, the wreath of three gold maple leaves at the bottom of the tag to mark the ship as Canadian, the whole topped with the _corona navalis_ that capped all Commonwealth ship's crests. When he had first seen what Asami Junko — one of _Haida_'s plank owners who had elected to become a supply technician — had designed, the captain gladly nodded his approval. It had also won the support of the Army personnel now aboard (who protected and cherished their own unit identities with vigour) as well as the Air Force personnel from 21 Wing (who wore similar tags when they were in a line squadron). "It looks pretty nice…and you even fit the crown under the bottom stripe, Miss Asami," he said as Junko sat beside him in the cockpit of the Star Flare now being piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Louis Lagrange through the sea of black soot that covered this world's surface. "Are they prepared for everyone?"

"Of course they are!" Junko — a studious-looking girl who had waist-length dark brown hair tied in twin French braids and brown eyes behind reading glasses — said with a smirk. After all, it was the law of military conformity; if _**one**_ person wore it, _**everyone**_ did…or _**no one**_ did!

"When we get back, get them issued."

"Aye, sir!"

Lagrange laughed. "At least you're like the rest of us now, sir!" he stated as he showed his right shoulder, which had on the epaulette slip-on a soft gold **448 SQN** on the combat green unit tag there before the three blue stripes of his rank. "Wonder to me why is it you Navy folks never did something like this back at Unification. If I recall correctly, you did wear the ship's names on your hats back then."

"That's not exactly correct, Colonel…HEY!" Gamblin gasped as the Star Flare shook wildly for a second. "Damn! That's some turbulence there!"

"Winds are all over the clock in this pea soup!" the co-pilot for this flight, Captain Lana Vanderhausen, stated as she gazed on the scanner readouts before her. "Altitude now 306,000 metres above ground level…AH! Here we go!"

The shuttle burst through the bottom cloud to appear in a pitch-black sky with a very large city ahead and far below them. "Okay, winds back to normal," the captain then stated as she keyed controls. "We have clear sailing ahead, Colonel."

"Roger that, Captain." Lagrange then tapped controls. "Muzlim Madiina Airport Control, this is shuttle _DeWolf_, bearing emissaries from _Haida_. Director Moroboshi is aboard, along with the Director's life-mate…" — that was the accepted intergalactic term for a same-sex relationship — "…and their child as well as our ship's captain. Requesting landing clearance and local weather conditions."

Gamblin looked over to a dozing Moroboshi Arami, who was now in her mother's lap. A stern-looking Tano Tsukuhito remained on guard beside the reborn prince of the Hàn. The Canadian captain had been leery about bringing _Haida_'s first "daughter of a gun" to Muzlim Madiina…but Hiromi had been adamant on that; doing that would imply a profound level of trust in the Yaminokuni to guarantee their safety, thus make things run easier in the long run when it came time to land troops. "Shuttle _DeWolf_, this is the Airport Patriarch," an accented voice came back. "The First Patriarch is awaiting your Matriarch's arrival." An amused chuckle. "I see your Noukiite friends must have told you some things about coming to visit our world. The weather is calm and there is no wind over the city at this time. Can you track the landing beacon?"

Vanderhausen nodded. "That's affirmative, sir. We are locking guidance control now on the beacon and will approach. Request approach speed, over," Lagrange requested.

"You may approach at your current velocity, sir. Welcome to Yaminokuni."

A nod. "It's our pleasure to be here, sir."

And with that, the Star Flare slowly began to descend…

* * *

The Muzlim Madiina Airport, minutes later…

"Most impressive technology," Upa mused.

Ataru chuckled. "While Tsukihana and Ayami-chan didn't build as _big_ as the Maidens of the Voyager and their predecessors built their ships, there were times they did kinda go overboard," he admitted as he gazed at the old leader; everyone had come down from the Great Palace on pig-drawn chariots to await the _DeWolf_'s arrival.

Upa laughed uproariously as the Star Flare came to a final rest on the east landing clearing beyond the lake that held the central warp nexus of the Airport. The lower boarding hatch then came down, allowing a small party of five to walk out. Seeing his sister in a lovely qípáo, Ataru could only grin; Hiromi could really turn heads when she put her mind to it. He then blinked on noting the bespectacled girl in a matching qípáo walking alongside Hiromi. And then he grinned on seeing the cute girl now in Hiromi's other arm, dressed also in a qípáo (though not as revealing as the older people given her youth), with green-streaked brown hair, brown eyes and cute reading glasses perched on her face. She also had a green magatama hanging off her ear.

"Um, Ataru…?"

He looked at Rupa, who was standing beside his great-grandfather. "Yeah?"

"Does your sister always travel with her daughter?"

Ataru smirked. "Well…"

"_**KAWAII!**_"

Instantly, four teenage girls surged over to start gushing over Arami. "Actually, it's a long story," Ataru admitted as he watched Shikuko and Miyako embrace Mioko; they had been schoolmates at Chōan Junior High School, the feeder school to Rakuyō. As Hiromi paused with Brian Gamblin to gaze on the four fighting tōshi from Kyoshō and Rakuyō, now acting like normal Japanese girls when presented with something that was really cute like Moroboshi Arami, Ataru then turned to bow politely to Upa. "Please excuse me, sir."

"By all means, young man!" the aged patriarch cackled with delight.

With that, Ataru walked over to warmly embrace his sister. "Took you long enough."

"Well, we were slightly delayed when the rude spirits that once guarded the Lóngyù in Hong Kong decided to protest Naoko-chan's efforts in making people like her all the more human, Onii-san." And with that, she nodded back to the Star Flare, where Junko was politely standing beside the main boarding hatch, a smile on her face.

Ataru was quick to see the maple leaf-shaped earring. "Yeah."

"How are things here?" Gamblin wondered.

"So far, quiet. But if this thing that Lum's old playmates once stole is out there somewhere, it won't stay that way," Ataru admitted as he turned…and then he stopped. "Um, Hiromi…" he then said as he nodded towards Mioko's exposed leg.

"Hucheng-ch'ekyunghechha, Onii-san," Hiromi stated.

Silence.

"_**LOONY?!**_" Ataru shrilled at the top of his lungs.

"OJI-CHAN!"

He jolted on hearing Arami's indignant shout, and then stared warily at his new niece, who was now giving him a disapproving look. "Don't call people names, Oji-chan! It's not nice!" she then scolded as she wagged her finger at Ataru.

He blinked for a second, and then he smirked. "We've _got_ to unleash her on Jariten," he then whispered to Hiromi, which made her smirk.

"Oh, indeed we must," she noted; she didn't care too much for Lum's cousin either. "But I do believe the First Patriarch awaits us, so shall we?"

"Hai!"

He offered his arm to her. She took it and they walked over to Upa…

* * *

Aboard _Haida_, now in orbit around Yaminokuni…

"Colonel Bell, all the updated scans of the terrain around Muzlim Madiina will be finished in ten minutes. We can produce the maps and the updated geomatics data for the combat dataPADDs within the next half-hour for your staff."

A nod. "Thank you, Miss Yoshino," the commander of 37 Canadian Brigade Group/Task Force Ground Commander said with a nod of his head as he stared at the computer-generated image of the capital city of Yaminokuni on the operations room main plotting table. Around the table, the unit commanders of his force — who were all chomping at the bit to get the equipment landed so they could get to work — were chatting away as they picked out the best place to land their personnel and equipment. Every once in a while, the commanding officer of 36 Combat Engineer Regiment, Major Clark Mitchell, would call up the planned deployment area for the anti-surface missile deflector field system his unit would spread out over the capital city to ensure that when the enemy ship came through the Airport and got high enough from the warp gate, it couldn't turn its guns and missile launchers down on a helpless civilian population. There were no known underground shelters or evacuation zones (at least to the knowledge of the Noukiites), so getting people to safety would be a problem.

Still, the basic battle plan was quite good even for being so quickly thrown together. With two of the ships to be deployed to act as radar pickets at the line of the inner system asteroid belt (the Hika'aki system had two such belts), there would be advanced warning in case these bastards had friends who were willing to risk the "regular" way of getting here that the Task Force had taken…though such was unlikely given the fact that Urusian ships were restricted to a Warp 4.2 — about 1,307 times the speed of light — maximum speed limit; a voyage from Uru to Yaminokuni the "regular" way would take over a YEAR at that pace. Still, when things were primed and ready, First Patriarch Upa could deploy his own fleet of destroyers and cruisers out to form an even thicker radar picket; besides, it _was_ their home solar system, so they should be given the right to defend it after all. And even if all the Terran ships could put up between thirty and fifty Starfires each with trained pilots willing to risk fighting in a total vacuum for the first time in their lives — there was just no way that NO ONE was going to make use of any of the Kōshi Kasshi even if many of them were showing much promise on the simulators — to help fight the battle, there was little chance of any aerial fur ball developing as the enemy ship had no fighters or other combat small craft of its own.

"By the way, Miss Yoshino, how are you and the others adjusting to what Miss Takanashi, Miss Sasamoto and Miss Wakabayashi did?" the brigade regimental sergeant-major of 37 CBG, Chief Warrant Officer Nick Campbell, asked as he looked over to the person who was helping with the geomatics information.

Yoshino Tomomi was a tall girl with a long ponytail of dark brown hair and deep blue eyes peeking out of a face that was just simply too cute for words. "I'm fine, Sergeant-major Campbell," she spoke with the flowing tones of Hokkaidō. "Much that I can understand why some people in the Task Force were concerned about what could have happened when we did have our souls augmented, it was no real problem for me."

"Well, at least you have your trade badge now," Mitchell noted.

Tomomi — she was planning to be a naval combat information operator as marked by the radar plotting screen-with-crossed lighting flashes on her earring — blushed as laughter echoed around the room, including from Michelle Anderson, now acting as Officer of the Watch as she watched the Army mud-eaters do their planning and get ready to unleash mayhem on a pack of stupid aliens that didn't realize their precious empire had gone up in smoke two centuries before in the Union Revolution and that the average Joe Oni wouldn't care to have his rights and dignity taken away after his forefathers had fought and died to ensure he would have them. If only they had realized that before they decided to try to commit mass treason against their own government.

Oh, well…

"So you think you can put fighters up if we need some air cover?"

That was the commanding officer of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Lieutenant Colonel John Buchanan; he was now talking to 21 Wing commander Colonel Mark Sullivan. Thinking about the handsome, balding pilot, Michelle could only nod in appreciation. Sullivan was a former CH-124 Sea King helicopter pilot who had been running 12 Wing at Shearwater before he became the top dog of Canada's first space combat wing (especially given his experience flying for the helicopter air detachments of his old command's squadrons off the flight decks of surface warships; that was the reason Brian Gamblin was more than happy to have that man aboard as the top air boss).

"I honestly doubt it, John," Sullivan then answered. "Once this ship goes to action stations, shields go up and there's no way my birds can launch." A deep sigh. "Much that there are the munitions in the magazines that can turn any Starfire aboard _Haida_ into a perfect city-wrecking machine, we're facing a ship that has no fighters of its own. I saw the schematics. The only hangar bay on this thing is about the same size as _Haida_'s Star Flare hangar; all that fly from that would be executive shuttles. And while my flyers are ready — their survival gear is totally top-notch, so we won't suffer anyone taking the trip down the Highway of Heroes! — and think they can survive in a dogfight even with no real 'up' or 'down,' I won't risk them unless I have to."

"What seems to be the problem, John?" Bell asked.

A sigh from the infantryman from Manitoba. "Colonel Bell, much that I'm sure the deflector grid Major Mitchell's people will throw up to protect the city and us from harm is good, I still don't like the idea of going to ground without the sky over my head being totally under our control." He sighed. "I can understand Colonel Sullivan's concerns about his own pilots, sir. I want all my people to get home, too. But I'm just wondering if it's possible to launch what we can put into space so we have an extra ace of the table just in case these guys pull a surprise on us?"

Sullivan hummed as he considered that. Technically, this was a _**big**_ breech of military protocol given the fact that Buchanan was not anywhere under the Air Force pilot's direct chain of command. Under normal circumstances, Buchanan should have discussed this privately with his brigade commander before making it public in front of others, especially someone senior in rank. Still, Mark Sullivan did rather like the informal atmosphere this ship had been running under since before she had left Earth; who knows WHAT might have happened if everyone had decided to bring up all the usual military folderol — to say of ANYTHING of the normal rivalry between the full-time service personnel of the ship and 21 Space Wing and the "weekend warriors" brought in across Canada to serve as the ground force troops! — to this place. Maybe it was because of the fact that they were being managed ultimately by a civilian and that there were nearly ten thousand volunteer martial artists aboard all the ships, ready to risk life and limb at the command of their reborn emperor to make this work. And then…

"Miss Yoshino?"

Tomomi looked over. "Yes, Colonel?"

"How many of the original crew of _Haida_ are trained to fly Starfires?"

Tomomi hummed. "All of us are, sir." She then closed her eyes as information ran through her mind as she considered what was being brought to the table now. "Given that there will be people needed to make sure all the critical systems are manned and ready in case battle is launched, I think we could spare at least forty people. Colonel Sullivan, how many fighter pilots are currently in 433 and 434 Squadrons?"

"Twenty-eight," Sullivan said, nodding in approval at the level of preparedness the Avalonian-Canadians now aboard _Haida_ showed for issues like this. "Are you saying we can put people we can spare from the ship and put twenty more birds into the air?"

"For this time only, sir," Tomomi affirmed with a nod. "With the captain's approval, of course," she then helpfully reminded him with a smile.

"Naturally." Having sailed with Brian Gamblin before when the latter commanded N.C.S.M. _Montréal_ out of Halifax and he had been a detachment commander for 423 Maritime Helicopter Squadron in Shearwater providing a Sea King crew to the frigate, Sullivan knew that would just be a formality; the former submariner would want all his people to go home, too. "Let's get Colonel Jefford and Colonel Fowler up here," he then directed.

"Aye, sir," Tomomi replied with a nod, and then she tapped controls to send a signal down to the Air Wing Headquarters office deep in the lower superstructure…

* * *

Sick Bay, a half-hour later…

"Nabiki…?"

A tired moan escaped the woman on the diagnostic table.

"Nabiki-vayae…"

She felt as if she had just gone over _**Niagara Falls**_…

"Wake up, Nabiki…"

…in a _**kayak**_ of all things!

"Sweetie, you can't sleep forever, you know…"

Wasn't that outlawed or something…?

A sigh. "Nabiki, Kunō-kun's trying to have the school computer club feed a virus into your computer. You're going to lose all your profits for a month."

That did it.

"**_SAY WHAT?!_**"

Nabiki then stopped herself from vaulting off the bed in a panic as she blinked several times, her mind finally catching up to what just happened to her. As she took a moment to draw in a couple deep breaths, she then blinked as she felt a strange orange-golden glow surge into her eyesight. "Hey…what the hell…?"

A finger touched her forehead as she felt something surge into her, that making said glow fade into her subconscious mind. It was still there — like the feeling one had when one wore clothes over their body; you knew they were covering you, but the feeling wasn't so distracting enough that you lost concentration on other things — but it was not overwhelming her. "Thanks…" she breathed out before her vision then filled with a smiling face framed with straight electric blue hair and pierced with the prettiest amethyst-blue eyes she had ever seen on anyone. "Hey…"

"Welcome to your new life, sister," Kyōko whispered before leaning in.

Nabiki nearly lost her breath as a wonderful explosion of sensations flooded her whole body from that warm touch on her lips, and then she moaned as she felt the coming of an unbelievable orgasm about to take her. Just as she was about to hit that peak, she felt something else surge through her body at that moment to slam the breaks on that rolling tsunami of pure pleasure that was thundering up from between her legs, and then she relaxed as a very nice buzz seemed to overcome her for a second. Once that had happened, the kiss was ended and Kyōko gently pulled away from her girlfriend, a smile crossing her face. "Why the hell did you stop that?" Nabiki nearly moaned out.

Kyōko grinned. "Well, I don't know about you, Nabiki, but I believe I would prefer my first true orgasm to come when we're in bed and making ourselves women with our fingers or a toy. Not to mention with some food and drink in our bellies as well."

Nabiki took that in, and then she sighed. "Food. Right. Narumi, you there…?"

"Right here," the voice of a proudly smiling Sasamoto Narumi declared as she came up to pass a scanner over Nabiki's head. "Well, your _mei'na_'s nicely meshed in to your new body's wetware. That's a good sign. With Kyōko's help, you've endured the first part of the Awakening quite well. When it really comes in a short while, you'll be okay."

A confused look crossed Nabiki's face. "'The Awakening?'"

"When you develop your 'inner eye' to the Te'a," the would-be medical technician stated. "It's part and parcel of your new psionic powers. Oh, speaking of which, do you need them dulled all the way down or do you want to practice with them?"

Nabiki hummed. "Can I pick and choose?"

"Reduce her sensitivity by half," Kyōko proposed.

"Right," Narumi said.

A hypodermic was then pressed into Nabiki's neck, which flooded her with warmth…and made the growing sensation of pins-and-needles echoing from all around her — with the two biggest source points between Kyōko and Narumi themselves! — fade to a dull roar. "Damn…" she breathed out. "I never thought that Kanami-chan, Miiko-chan and Kikuko-chan went through THIS when they got their bodies."

"Well, it didn't feel as bad as what we did at the start. Hey, Nabiki!"

Nabiki looked over…and then smiled as she reached out to gently grasp Kanami's hand. "Hey, Kanami. How are things with you and Tariko?"

"Surviving," Kanami said as she gave her would-have-been sister-in-law's hand a warm squeeze, and then she leaned up to gaze intently into Nabiki's eyes for a moment before she scanned the rest of her body, which made the latter blush…until she realized that her body was covered by a blanket and Kanami — thanks to hers and Ranma's total LACK of experience in matters sexual — was doing some cursory ki scan with her eyes. "Ki flows look pretty good. Might need some shiatsu or moxibustion to make it flow a lot better. If you're gonna transfer to Yoshū, you'll need every edge you can get."

"Can you help her, Onē-sama?" Narumi then asked.

A shake of the head. "Not me. I haven't really delved much in shiatsu studies even with the times I spent at Doc Tōfū's place." Kanami sighed. "Tariko's out of practice and Negako-san's back on Earth right now. Ditto with Jijii." She then shook her head. "Oh, I'm an idiot! Narumi-chan, go get Shān's great-grandma, alright!"

"Hai!" And with that, the would-be medical technician headed out.

"So what's going on?" Nabiki asked.

"Hiromi went down to have this powwow with the big boss on Yaminokuni about a half-hour ago," Kanami said as she helped Kyōko to get Nabiki up into a sitting position, the latter moving to keep the blanket covering her body from falling away from her breasts. "The Army guys are chomping at the bit to get down to the ground, get their gear set up and roll out the red carpet for these idiots we're after right now. Karin's still preparing her special challenge letter to make these idiots come here running as fast as they can come so they'll get sloppy and we can beat the crap out of them. The tōshi are pretty much wanting to get on with it, too. But…"

"We have to ask 'May I?'…and wait for the 'yes' answer."

"Right…"

"Oh, my dear heavens!"

Nabiki looked over to see Cologne nearby…and now _**balancing herself**_ on the end of her walking cane like it was a pogo stick! "Konnichi wa, Hiibā-chan."

Much to the middle Miyamoto daughter's shock, the elder of the Nǚjiézú then literally bounced herself on her cane over to land daintily on the edge of Nabiki's bed, her eyes narrow as she gazed intently at her. "You were wise to bring this to my attention, child," she said as she gazed on Kanami, and then she stared intently at Nabiki, her finger touching several points on her head. "Did you train with your father before?"

"Up until my mother passed away," Nabiki admitted. "After that, it was just mostly calisthenics-type exercises to keep my body in shape."

"Well, he taught you far too much for your age. Just like I feel he may have done to your sister Akane," the elder explained. "I can sense her from here now that she's aboard this ship. All the anger and frustration she still feels about her life burns within her still even if the Lady Kyoko is doing her best to try to purge it. All that rage is quite unhealthy for anyone to feel. You have it in the same levels, too…and even if you haven't dedicated yourself to the Art as your sister tried to do — and kept such discipline over your emotions — there's still a very sharp edge to your soul. One that might not do you any good favours if you decide to switch schools to Yoshū."

Nabiki blinked. "Shouldn't that be the other way around?"

A chuckle. "The Emperor is trying to turn her people AWAY from the darkness, child."

The younger woman considered that, and then she sighed. Like so many across Kantō, she knew what tōshi could do when their fury was aroused. "Right…!"

* * *

The main gymnasium, that moment…

"You okay, Ranma?" Mimōko asked.

Ranma — who had switched himself to a girl to give him/herself a chance to practice with the enhanced female body s/he had received thanks to the blood transfusion from Kanami not two days before — was now gazing aft and down towards Sick Bay; the gymnasium on the Type One ships was located on Deck A3 aft of Main Turret B and below the main observation lounge, right next to a large auditorium that could serve as a big classroom or meeting hall for the crew. "I'm just feeling something from Nabiki," she said as she gently crouched herself. "Even if Negako dulled my senses a bit, I can still feel things from people I'm familiar with."

Some of the tōshi who had been watching this bout between the most powerful of Nan'yō's "four divas" and the young heir of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū — Mago Tsueko, with guidance from Seki Haneko at Koro Sonami's urging, had been refereeing this bout as a way to prepare the new leader of Nan'yō for when she had to face the Great Fighters Tournament — all tensed on hearing that; they all knew of Yoshū's interest in the younger Miyamoto sisters. "Is she alright, Ranma-san?" On Tsuguta asked. "Nothing wrong, I hope."

Sandi McLugh gazed aft. "She's upset about something," the gaiscíoch from the Bronx then said. "Probably something that was just discovered before her soul was moved into her new body." As people gasped on hearing that, the reborn Great Hound of Ulster smirked. "Seems she won the heart of one of the lovely lasses that work full-time on this ship after her soul was given a gift from the Dragon Jade earlier today."

"A lot of us have sensed that," Haneko mused. "That those poor souls that were trapped in the Nanban Forest have gained a chance to live again within those who serve under Hiromi-sama on these ships is a good thing. But given that whatever they might have been in their former lives is now forever lost to Eternity…"

"That's a good thing in and of itself."

Eyes locked on Morokuzu Ryōko. "What do you mean, Ryōko-chan?" Sonami asked.

The young temple maiden smiled. "We have been weighed down by our past — some less so than others…" — her eyes fixed on Tsueko when she said that — "…in this incarnation as has happened in previous incarnations — and that governs our actions to this very day. Even our coming out here was governed by old loyalties to Hiromi-sama and what she once was." A sigh. "Naoko-chan and all her sisters…are free of that. It is inspiring."

"I wish I could see what you do, Ryō-chan," Tsueko lamented.

A giggle. "In many ways, Onē-san, I envy you your innocence in this matter," Ryōko mused as she gazed on the new leader of Nan'yō. "You fight because you take simple joy at the contest. The matching of skill against skill as you did with both Kichimi-onēsan and Itsuku-oniisan." She gazed on Kokoni Kichimi and Futoshi Itsuku when she said that. "And even if you feel shame at losing control over the dragon within you as you did both in your bout with Kichimi-onēsan and what Yuruji-oniisan provoked between you and Mimōko-onēsan, you still seek to walk the path of the true martial artist."

"And there's nothing wrong with walking that path," Ranma said, and then she tensed. "Okay…looks like Hiibā-chan finally fixed up what's wrong with Nabiki," she then reported, which made the tōshi from Yoshū present all relax. "Wonder what it was…"

"We'll find out soon enough, Ran-chan," Tsueko then said as she waved her up to her feet. "C'mon! I want a chance to spar with you before Kōtchi gets us down to the planet and we can go beat up some Onis! Let's get back to it! Chop, chop!"

Mimōko moaned. "Slave-driver!"

That earned her a stuck-out tongue from the younger woman as people laughed…

* * *

Sick Bay…

"How are you feeling, Nabiki?"

Nabiki — who had just slipped back on her naval combat dress — blinked before she smiled as Padre Vincent Klein walked into the room she had awoken in. "I'm fine, Sensei. Thanks for asking," she answered before she paused, her empathic senses — Kyōko had mind-melded with her to teach her the basic "feel" of different emotions — picked up on something. "Oh, no! Don't tell me Onē-chan's being a mother hen again?"

"She does want the best for you," the priest from Alberta — Vincent Klein had received his masters of divinity from Saint Andrew's College in Saskatoon, an affiliate seminary to the University of Saskatchewan — said. "But I believe once she gets to know Kyōko a little better, she will support it. Akane is quite supportive of it as well."

"With her wanting to do the horizontal Macarena with Kyoko-san, that doesn't surprise me," Nabiki said. "Then again, Akane-chan always needed that sort of support. Otō-chan refused to teach her a damned thing after Okā-chan died and Ranma-kun was restrained by all the thinks his idiot father never taught him. Kyoko-san's taking over her training is the best thing to happen to Akane-chan in a long time."

"She does strike me the same way," the chaplain mused. "It's a good thing. And I will say that it's a good thing that you and Kyōko are together. Even with the enhanced experiences and knowledge each of the girls on this ship received from the Dragon Jade, they've been too isolated up here. They need to get out and experience things."

Nabiki nodded as she walked over to pour herself a glass of water. "I'll do my best to help her. We're not planning on doing a full bonding just yet. I've got the rest of high school to worry about, not to mention the Centre Test. Plus whatever test I need to take to enter a university in Ontario. Maybe Queen's in Kingston."

He perked. "Why there?"

"Did you know that Kyōko wants to be in Intelligence?"

"No, I didn't. Is she planning to become one of the junior officers on this ship?"

"I'm going to try to convince her to do that," Nabiki stated. "If she went in as an ordinary seaman, she's looking at least five years before she could hope to get into the School of Military Intelligence in Kingston as an intelligence operator. If she goes in as an intelligence officer, she's accepted straight out of Saint-Jean." A smirk. "Save for a useless vacation over in Gagetown, of course."

"Gagetown…oh! The Common Army Phase, you mean!" Padre Vincent said with an amused chuckle. "Yes, I can understand that. The military does have its bizarre rituals and odd requirements, does it not?" As Nabiki laughed, he then sighed. "Your sisters need to know you're all right with what you just did to yourself, Nabiki."

Nabiki sighed. "We haven't been much of a family since Okā-chan died," she admitted. "Did Onē-chan and Akane-chan tell you about that?"

"God is watching over your mother. I'm sure of it."

She smiled. "Arigatō." Another sigh. "Even if I find it hard now to really care for my family after we just drifted apart and simply _existed_ for ten years…" A shake of the head. "I'll look in on them, Sensei," she promised. "But right now — after so long just existing day after day in an emotionally empty home — I'm gazing into a future where I'll be not only safe in body and in soul…but _**loved**_ as well. Yeah, I know it's genetics that drove Kyōko into my arms…and she would rather die than deny what her just-freed heart demands of her now. I won't have that on my conscience…and I'm sure as hell not going to pass up that sort of chance."

"I don't blame you," he mused, clearly not bothered by the profanity. "Still, they need to be reassured of it."

A nod. "I'll do that."

* * *

A minute later, after being "officially discharged" from the care of the Medical Division of _Haida_ and the Canadian Forces Medical Services — and arranging to have her old body cremated and the ashes preserved just in case her father decided to be really stubborn about trying to assert control over his daughters' lives — Nabiki walked out of Sick Bay. She then paused on seeing Sebone Mimōko standing there, a neutral look on the Nan'yō senior's face. Seeing that — and sensing the guarded emotions surging from Mimōko's heart — the middle Miyamoto daughter then breathed out. "What?"

"He was concerned about you," the older woman stated.

Nabiki blinked…and then she gaped. "Ranma-kun?"

"Hai."

Hearing that, the younger woman blinked as her eyes teared, and then she sighed. "I was an idiot that day," she stated. "When Ranma-kun came to the house for the first time." She walked over to sit on the couch nearby. "I was hoping to meet someone who didn't know at all about the 'Ice Queen' reputation I had at school. Someone who wouldn't be attracted to Akane-chan…who, without even trying, had almost every guy in Fūrinkan High wrapped around her little finger." A shrug. "The curse freaked me out when I found out about it. I'm not a believer in magic despite some of the weird things that rocked Tomobiki — and you guys, too — over the years. But to have something like Jusenkyō shoved right into my face…" A shake of the head.

"You pushed him off on Akane," Mimōko stated. "Treated him like you did everyone else at Fūrinkan. Decided he was nothing more than a convenient new source of cash and laughs, right?" At Nabiki's nod, the older girl then smiled, crossing her arms. "But you had the ugly truth of life once more shoved into your face when he was crippled. And realized you couldn't run away from it anymore. That shows you're a good person deep down, Nabiki-san." A smirk. "Did you know how Ranma always allowed you to take those pictures of his girl-side — and his guy-side later for Kunō's sister — to bring some money into the home?" As Nabiki blinked before she nodded, Mimōko moved to head forward. "You have empathy now, Nabiki. You better learn to use it. Yoshū is not a forgiving school; Tsuguta-kun demands the best of all who attend it."

She walked off before stopping, and then she looked back. "Because this time, you won't have Ranma available to bail you out if you get into a hole."

And with that, she was off. Nabiki watched her go, and then she sighed. "Yeah."

Taking a deep breath, she stood…and then she turned to see Karin standing nearby. "Why do some people do that?" Akane's adopted twin then mused as she gazed in the direction the Nan'yō senior had walked off in. "Are you alright, Onē-sama?"

"Much better than I have been for a long time," Nabiki admitted, and then she moved to scratch the curve of her right jaw close to her ear. Seeing that made Karin giggle, which made Nabiki pause before she remembered that Akane always found that physical act of self-contemplation quite funny to watch as well. "I'll need training."

"Not as much as Akane-onēsama would need…and Kyoko-san is giving her now," Karin stated as she nodded towards the nearby turbolift station. "Let's go back to Lum-san's room. I almost have my first of a hopefully long line of _magna opera_ fully prepared for the Oni and the Niphentaxians we're soon to face. I'd like your opinion of it."

Nabiki blinked, and then she smirked. "Sounds interesting."

With that, both Miyamoto sisters headed off…

* * *

Watching them go from the doorway into Sick Bay, Padre Vincent could only sigh as a long-remembered psalm came back to him:

_Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war… _

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The characters of **Noa**, **Honii** (later **Honey**) (these two known collectively by the title "**Maidens of Aruka**") and **Aruka Syl** (later **Sylia**) were introduced in _The Senior Year_. All three of these women became Daishi'cha at the end of their first lives when they were taken by the Gatherer from Uru to be transported to Sagussa; the scene of Noa herself picking up the then-fatally wounded Syl was depicted in flashback in "Great Father Ataru Stage Two: Remembrance." Noa, as stated before, is based physically on **Izumi Noa** from _Patlabor_. Honii/Honey is physically based on **Kisaragi Honey** from the Nagai Gō series _Cutey Honey_. And Syl/Sylia is based on the version of **Sylia Stingray** from the _Bubblegum Crisis_ OVA series released in the 1980s.

2) The **Corona Navalis** (literally "Naval Crown") is a device used in naval heraldry. For British and Commonwealth ships, it is a device that has the sterns of men-of-war depicted above the headband of a crown (two to the ends, depicted split in half; one whole in the middle), the ships' sterns divided by the mainsails of said ships, depicted close hauled.

3) The phrase "**son of a gun**" has its potential origins in British naval slang; by the time the phrase became common usage in the eighteenth century, it was normally applied to a child of questionable parentage conceived on the gun deck of a warship. As it was necessary to record the parentage of such a child in the ship's log book and other papers, the **Gunner's Mate** was often recorded as the father if the true father didn't wish to claim the child himself. It is also claimed that the phrase has its origin in the practice of women travelling on board ship and giving birth on a sectioned off portion of the gun deck.

Of course, as Moroboshi Arami is a girl, calling her a "son of a gun" wouldn't really do.

4) The warp speed factors used in this story is a fifth-power concept in lieu of the third-power concept used in the original _Star Trek_ series. Thus, Warp 4.2 is equal to 4.2 x 4.2 x 4.2 x 4.2 x 4.2 = 1306.91232 times the speed of light.

5) The **Highway of Heroes** is a special designation that was applied to the part of Ontario **King's Highway 401** (known officially as the **MacDonald-Cartier Freeway**) from the Glen Miller Road interchange (Exit 526) in Trenton to the Don Valley Parkway interchange (Exit 375) in Toronto. This is the route that all Canadian Forces personnel who were killed overseas take when their bodies are repatriated back to national soil at CFB Trenton. Starting from right when Canada lost her first casualties in Afghanistan in 2002 to this very day, crowds of civilians line the overpasses on this part of the 401 to pay their respects as the convoy of hearses (escorted always by police vehicles) make their way to the Centre for Forensic Sciences in Toronto, which does all post-mortem analysis on all overseas military deaths since bodies are flown into an airbase in Ontario. Among those paying their respects are fire fighters, members of the local branches of the Royal Canadian Legion and members of local police and fire service forces, who all gladly salute the fallen as they pass by.

6) N.C.S.M. _Montréal_ (pendant number **FFH-331**) is a Halifax-class patrol frigate.

7) **423 (Eagle) Maritime Helicopter Squadron** (**423 MHS**) is one of the two active anti-submarine helicopter squadrons in **12 Wing**; it is based in Shearwater. Formed originally in England in 1942 as a general reconnaissance unit, the squadron flew B-24 Liberators on anti-submarine patrols until the end of the European war, and then was re-rolled as a transport squadron for operations in the Pacific. Disbanded at war's end, it was reformed in 1953 as an all-weather fighter squadron at Saint-Hubert, then was deployed to Germany until it was disbanded again in 1962. The squadron was reformed in 1974 from the breakup of the old **50 Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron** (**HS-50**) — a former Royal Canadian Navy Fleet Air Arm unit — into two squadrons, 423 Squadron and **443 (Hornet) Maritime Helicopter Squadron** (**443 MHS**). The squadron stayed in Shearwater when 443 Squadron was moved to Victoria International Airport (Patricia Bay) in 1989.

Note that in the reality of this story, 423 and 443 Squadrons are in the process of being re-numbered into **50 Maritime Helicopter Squadron** (**HM-50**) and **51 Maritime Helicopter Squadron** (**HM-51**) in tribute to the old Navy squadrons. The latter squadron would form the nucleus of a new **11 Wing** to support Canadian Pacific Fleet operations out of Patricia Bay Airport. As stated in previous notes, 11 and 12 Wings will join 21 Space Wing in a new 3 Canadian Air Division (3 CDN AIR DIV) to act as Air Force support to Navy operations at sea and in space.

8) **Queen's University at Kingston** (the "at Kingston" part is added in the official title so as to not confuse this school with other like-named institutions) is one of Canada's oldest post-secondary schools. Founded in 1841 by the Church of Scotland, it is now one of the largest universities in Canada, with 23,000 students attending in any one academic year. I took a course at Queen's in 1989 when I was posted to the **Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College** at **Fort Frontenac** on the western shores of Cataraqui Bay to get a credit in English.

9) Translation: **Magna opera** — Plural of **Magnum opus** ("great work").

10) The Bible quote at the end of this part is from **Psalm 144**.


	38. Canada Comes To Yaminokuni

Muzlim Madiina, the Palace (Japan time: An hour after lunch)…

"I cannot believe that you people are willing to risk so much just for _this_."

"It does appear to be risking much for such little apparent gain, Patriarch Upa," Hiromi replied as she and Upa enjoyed tea in the main meeting room. "But given the arrogance that was displayed when the Imperials and the Church of Lum brazenly tried to attack my family home, I believe the risk we are taking is justified. Though I will say it could be mitigated by our potential foes' own foolish blindness about many things."

The elderly leader of the Dark Kingdom considered that for a moment, and then he smirked. Having encountered that sort of thing from Urusians over the years — the least of which being Redet Traveller himself over a century before — it was so pathetically easy to conclude. "They will not believe you capable of such things."

"Hai," the reborn emperor affirmed with a nod. "As a matter of fact, from what I learned about the Imperial Round and its members while I was Okusei, they have long believed their race is markedly superior to ANY other space-faring race in the known galaxy. Even 'elder' races such as the Vosians and the Seifukusu…which really mystifies me as the latter race were the ones who GAVE the Imperials the system of government they used to rule their domain after the Ladies Noa and Honii sacrificed their lives to win their independence. Fortunately for them, they — despite their clearly ultimate goal of domination over as vast of a domain as they could possess — have never gained enough power in government since the Union Revolution to galvanize their countrymen with their philosophy even if most Urusians, even these days, tend to be arrogant when it comes to dealing with other species. That — as recent events have unleashed — now forces us to move to deal with them now that they've been chased out of the shadows, most of their leaders slain and the remainder declared traitors to their people and made to flee Uru on threat of death. Thus — given how much they look down on us — when they do come to this world, they will be in for a _rude_ surprise."

Rupa, seated to Upa's right, gazed on the older patriarch. "Great-grandpa, we can send the Chief Constable to the Matriarch's flagship — or to have the commander of their ground troops come to the planet — to see to the deployment of their fighting vehicles and field guns. I think the sooner we do that, the sooner we resolve this."

"Hear, hear," Hiromi chanted.

"We can have Colonel Bell's people brought down now, sir," Brian Gamblin offered. "They'll want to get the brigade command post and the signal folks set up first."

Upa nodded. "Have Constable Sanza make the preparations now."

"Chūtatsu-dono, please go with His Highness to assist the Chief Constable so we can have our people come down as well," Hiromi ordered. "Captain Gamblin, you might as well have the ships' companies start to bring down Colonel Bell's people."

Tsukasame Yoiko went to her knee and saluted. "At once, Majesty."

With that, she and Brian Gamblin headed out of the room with Rupa. "Hiromi, how soon will you have Hensō cross over into her new body?" Izabel, seated to Ika's left, asked. "Kamen and the others didn't feel confident enough to do it on their own."

A sigh. "I believe we can do that anytime we desire, Izabel-san. All we would require is someone trained in the _tre'cha_ process to supervise. Not to mention dispose of the gestation fluid made to create your sister's new body." When she had been transported to Yaminokuni, Izabel had been in a dry gestation chamber, her body protected by pressurized air to ensure no harm came to her; Hensō's new body had been transported in a tank filled with gestation fluid. Remembering that, Hiromi then turned to Kamen, who — along with the other replica bioroids — was seated with Ataru and the tōshi that had first come to this world, not to mention the others who had come down from _Haida_. "Since the landing process would have the people of 33 Field Ambulance come down from _Yamato_ right away to set up their medical station, we can ask them for their assistance. Kamen-san?"

"Well, since we got the body, might as well do it now," Kamen noted as she finished her tea and then stood, brushing her legs. "At the same time, we can finally show Jariten the truth about what happened to Lum and her sister. He never accepted anything Kyech-san said at the chapel about us and our sisters. Where're Aneki and the others now?"

"They're aboard _Haida_ at this time, Kamen-san," Hiromi confirmed.

"Mioko-san, would you be willing to allow your daughter to come with us when we retrieve Ten-chan and have Hensō-chan placed in her new body?"

Eyes locked on Mienai. "Why would you ask that?" Mioko wondered before she turned to gaze down at Arami, who was currently in the older woman's lap.

"Ten-chan has always caused trouble, put simply, because he's never really had anyone his age to play with," the Neptunian-form Avalonian then stated. "I think meeting Arami-chan will help him better accept what happened to Hensō-chan."

"And keep him out of trouble," Damasu added.

Arami immediately looked wary. "Do I have to tag his horn, Papa?" she asked Hiromi.

Ika giggled. "I actually caused his horn to fall of his head two days ago when he tried to break out of this place with Hensō, young Princess," she stated; she and the members of her family had been given a quick explanation about what tōshi were about when all the people in Yoiko's group had greeted both Hiromi and her lover with the terms "Majesty" and "My Emperor/Empress." As the tōshi's stories were so similar to that of the Flower Youth of Noukiios, the Yaminokuni had accepted it without any qualms or concerns. "Besides, four months ago, your uncle decreed that no Urusian will be allowed to live on Earth until such time as they learn civilized behaviour when it comes to less-advanced races. Even at _that_ young age, he would see you tagging his horn as you wanting to marry him. Would you want to be engaged THAT young?"

Arami blinked, and then she shook her head. "No!"

"My Emperor?"

Hiromi smiled. "Yes, Ten'i-dono?"

Sakan Somumi moved to kneel beside her reborn emperor, bowing her head respectfully as she gave her a hand salute. "My Emperor, may I have the honour to stand with Gakushū-dono to guard your noble child while she is currently away from your side?"

"You may."

A bow of the head. "I will not fail you, Majesty." With that, Somumi moved to stand beside Tano Tsukuhito, who was nodding in approval at the younger woman's actions.

"Husband?"

"Yes, Dear?"

Mioko stared at Hiromi. "Given how much I can sense Kamen-san and her friends were affected by this terrible curse that caused their sisters such grave pain, I believe it would be only just to ask one of the priests to come down as well."

The reborn emperor hummed before nodding…

* * *

Once Gamblin got back aboard the _DeWolf_, he made a call to all the Task Force ships.

"It's a go, everyone. Let's bring them down."

Once the call went up, the ground forces commanders returned to their troops, and then both _Vittorio Veneto_ and _Yamato_ began to descend through the atmosphere to make a high altitude approach over Muzlim Madiina. As the Japanese starship came to a hover far above the Airport, her Italian sistership was guided to the Metropolitan Fortress — where the Chief Constable of the Kingdom and his staff were based — to beam the fifty people of the headquarters of 37 Canadian Brigade Group and the two hundred people of the signal squadron from 721 Communications Regiment onto a clear patch of land in the Fortress grounds. Once there, the colonel from Moncton was introduced to the Chief Constable — a middle-aged patriarch named Sanza who was glad to see the warriors of the "worlds of light" here today; Yaminokuni, due to its remoteness from potential foes, had little standing armed forces outside the fleet of space cruisers and destroyers in the Kingdom's space navy — and then the local leaders were briefed on the battle plan the Canadians had come up with to deal with the missing Urusian stealth cruiser.

Once Sanza — after confirming with both Tap'uch and Tachp'uch of the soundness of the operation plan and the willingness of the engineers coming with the Canadians to keep Muzlim Madiina protected — gave his nod to allow the troops to land, Bell put up a call to _Yamato_'s captain, _Ittō Kaisa_ Umezu Saburō, to bring down the troops the Japanese starship was carrying so the deployed company from 3 Military Police Regiment could come together with local forces to set up supply routes for 37 Service Battalion…as well as casualty evacuation routes to be used by vehicles of 33 Field Ambulance in case it all went totally south and collateral damage was unleashed.

At the same time, Yoiko arranged for the tōshi from Kyoshō and Yōshū, once beamed down from _Yamato_ and _Veneto_, to gather together outside the walls of the Fortress and wait for the military police to get things set up before getting their own assignments.

Once on the ground, the officer commanding 3 Military Police Regiment's detached company for this mission, Major Michael Seo, had everyone off and running as quick as they could be arranged. Checkpoints and travel routes were marked out within fifteen minutes of the company's arrival, staffed by people in CADPATs with roving patrols on the roads flying in on very high-tech hovercycles built by the Avalonians.

* * *

On seeing the sleek machines — each looking from a distance like a Bombardier Ski-Doo snowmobile mated to a jet engine, with long side skirts in lieu of ski skids and tracks — from her position at the Great Palace, Kamen howled, "_**I WANT ONE!**_"

Mienai and Damasu swatted her down as everyone around her laughed…though Hari Haruka promised his new girlfriend that he would talk to Hiromi about getting her one.

That earned him a very wet kiss from Kamen as a result…

* * *

Fortunately for the Canadians, Major Seo had ensured that each checkpoint had at least a quartet of Avalonians — all still reservists from 336 and 337 Military Police Companies in Lower Sackville and Moncton respectively as the first Avalonian-Canadians going through the full-time training system were some months away from graduating out of the Military Police Academy in Borden — so they could calm concerned bystanders down and assure them that all would be well. While everyone on Yaminokuni was more than aware of what might soon be coming up through the capital city airport, there was still the understandable and unavoidable disruptions in people's lives the presence of nearly _**twenty thousand**_ aliens would ultimately unleash on their beloved home city.

By the end of the first hour of the operation — with _Zhèng Hé_ moving to land the logistics and EME people from New Brunswick and Newfoundland, along with the tōshi from Rakuyō to join their brothers on the ground by the Fortress — Yoiko was arranging with Major Seo to get hovercycles issued to riding enthusiasts from both Kyoshō and Yōshū, to work under Natsukimi Makoto's charge, to help with dispatch riding and quick movement of small amounts of troops who needed to be taken somewhere right away. By then, the initial disruptions were smoothed over and the natives were finding that these strange people from the Worlds of Light were quite friendly and respectful, especially when it came to dealing with children and the elderly. Given that most of the ground troops were Avalonian-Canadians — with their psionic powers available to help with translation difficulties, not to mention memories of their past lives as slaves of the Niphentaxians demanding they behave as honourably and politely as possible…thus ensuring their Terran work-mates didn't deviate from what was demanded of them — owners of local restaurants and other public services such as bath houses and grocery stores were quick to make their establishments available in case it was needed.

* * *

By the time all of 37 Service Battalion was on the ground and getting set up in a park north of the Palace, the commanding officer of 33 Field Ambulance — Lieutenant Colonel Donna Sawatsky, a surgeon from Halifax's Victoria General Hospital — had made an ugly conclusion about something she had overheard a couple local people mention about how bright things would be when the alien ship arrived. Realizing most native Yaminokuni were just too used to the twilight-like conditions in and around Muzlim Madiina, she called over to the commanding officer of 37 Service Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Olaf Meulenkamp — who worked as the chief manager of equipment warehouses for the provincial government in Saint John's in civilian life — and asked him a question.

"Yes, Doctor Sawatsky, we brought equipment replicators with us. Why?"

"We need sunglasses for all the locals, Olaf. As many as your people can make! And it would have to resist the direct light of OUR sun on the eyes for at least ten minutes. The specs for that sort of thing are in the equipment catalogue. If that ship comes blasting through the airport and people are looking in that direction, they'll be blinded by the light! I can get my medics to start passing them out right away."

Hearing that — and taking a moment to look at the dark city around him — Meulenkamp said it would be the priority of the materials technicians in 21 Workshop Company and that the medics could pick up the first batches for distribution in a half-hour…

* * *

Once _Zhèng Hé_ disembarked her passengers, she climbed up into the skies to make room for _Santísima Trinidad_ to bring down 36 Combat Engineer Regiment and half of the Kōshi Kasshi. Once he was on the ground, Major Clark Mitchell reported to Colonel Bell at the Fortress, and then was introduced to Chief Constable Sanza and the Patriarch of the Muzlim Madiina Airport, Elder Wahaza. After a quick brainstorming session — with some computer model simulations done to give everyone a good idea as to how the mass of a ship that would displace two million tonnes in Earth gravity would have on the waters of the Airport warp gateway itself — the combat engineer from Sydney on Cape Breton Island ordered the sappers of 20, 30 and 45 Field Engineer Squadrons and the combat engineering vehicles of 63 Armoured Field Engineer Squadron to get down to the Airport and begin to set up defensive barriers with sandbags and deflector shields around the half-kilometre wide lake; even if the physical amount of water was no bigger than the storage pond for a hydroelectric dam, it could still cause damage to surrounding homes from mini-tsunamis. His remaining engineering squadrons — 65 Field Engineer Squadron and 38 Engineer Field Park Squadron — were detailed off to start setting up shield generators around town as the people from 236 Administration Squadron set up the regimental headquarters camp on an estate to the south of the Airport.

* * *

The end of the second hour of the landing saw a rather large army of children — the elder mother of the Avalonian-Canadians in 63 Squadron, Warrant Officer (Brevet) Holly Murray, estimated their total number at nearly 15,000 — under the command of Rupa's girlfriend helping out at the Airport. By the time clearance was given to _Hood_ to bring the 10th Field Regiment and the tōshi of Yoshū down so the long guns could be landed, what Carla was calling the "biggest sand fortress on Yaminokuni" was two metres high and growing taller.

Hearing that comment, a native of Glace Bay near Sydney, Sapper Will Harkness, looked up to the very pretty lady who would one day become the wife of the next First Patriarch of the Dark Kingdom. "You've got beaches on this planet, ma'am?"

"You wouldn't like going there," Carla said; as she had travelled with Rupa since their relationship had solidified some months before, she knew about beaches and oceans.

"Why's that, miss?!" Sergeant Luke Walker from Baddeck, a section commander in A Troop of 45 Squadron, wondered as he held up an empty sandbag for a pack of grade school kids to fill with crushed rock and dirt being brought in from nearby hills by native construction crews using cargo flitters the size of an eighteen-wheel transport truck, which were then unloaded and moved into position by the armoured engineering vehicles of 63 Squadron.

"We don't have water oceans like other planets. All our oceans are frozen!"

"Hey!" a sapper from Louisbourg, Scott Malton, then heckled. "We can have a good old fashioned ice hockey game on one of them once this is all over with!"

Carla looked confused. "Um…what's ice hockey?"

The sappers from Nova Scotia all gaped at her, and then — after Sergeant Walker berated them all for assuming that their wonderful project leader knew normal Canadian things — several of the sappers began to explain about the fastest game on Earth…

* * *

The Metropolitan Fortress of Muzlim Madiina, 37 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters command post (Japan time: mid-afternoon)…

"You wished to see me, Colonel Bell?"

Wayne Bell looked up from his work table to see Tsukasame Yoiko standing before him. "Yes, Miss Tsukasame. I've received a request from both Colonel Fiacco and Major Mitchell to get some reconnaissance teams out on both hovercycles and on foot to make as detailed a scan of the city and its surrounding environment as quickly as possible."

"You'll need our people to do that?" Kyoshō's second-in-command wondered.

"Yes. Especially the Hari sisters' people." He pointed to the map before him, which was a detailed topographical chart of Muzlim Madiina and everything out to twenty kilometres from the Airport. "We know what the land looks like in a general sense of the term, but this is terrain we've not properly examined in detail and the chance is there — a very slim one, of course, but still there — that we may be involved in a ground fight. Once Colonel Buchanan gets his infantry on the ground, they'll need to know the lay of the land since they'll be at the front of it until we can land the Marines and other special forces from the ships. I don't want them fighting blind."

Yoiko nodded. "We can get people with tricorders up as quick as we can."

"It's appreciated."

* * *

West of the Airport, that moment…

"Wow! You ever see such a big sand castle in your life?!"

Hearing that from their new boss, the senior Nan'yō class leaders could only exchange knowing looks and grins. That comment just proved it:

Mago Tsueko was still a little kid at heart!

"Sonsaku!" Mimōko snarled. "Would you mind getting your head back on business?! We can play in the sand after we're done putting the Oni in chains!"

"Ah, leave her be, Mō-chan!" Ranma called out. "This is pretty exciting."

"It is that, Ranma-kun," Oroka Shikumi said as she scanned around. Everyone from Nan'yō and the Royal Winnipeg Rifles had come down from _Bismarck_ onto the vast estate of Carla's grandmother, Elder Yorla. She — a cantankerous woman Upa's age who had taken to the presence of the Little Black Devils of Manitoba and the Tigers of Dōng Wú on her lawn with a huff and a muttered comment about the First Patriarch **_not_** expecting something like this when he sent Rupa out to bring Hensō to Yaminokuni — had been the one who purchased the yacht for her favourite relative that Tsukasame Yoiko's group had literally run into on their way to Yaminokuni; Carla had actually been on a shopping run to Tengsei when her ship had collided with Damasu's small craft. As tents were set up for the battalion command post and the riflemen were gathered by company to prepare weapons, Nan'yō's senior strategist could only nod in approval. "The Heavens have granted us favour…"

"Are you sure about that, Onē-chan?" Oka Yuzuko wondered.

"I'm sure…eh?"

People perked, and then they turned…

…as one of _Haida_'s smaller Space Dhow utility shuttles came down to land on a clear patch of ground nearby. As everyone watched, the side hatch of the machine — the CSV-197 was shaped very much like the Type 7 from _Star Trek - The Next Generation_ — opened up to allow two people to come out. "The first priest to ever step foot on an alien world," Padre Vincent Klein declared; he had been flown down by Takanashi Naoko.

Naoko — who had a first aid kit slung over her shoulder — laughed. "At least the first _full-time military priest_, Padre." As the Alberta native laughed, she added, "I'm sure you can find the proper passage in the Bible to mark the occasion." She then looked over. "Oh, minna! Konnichi wa!" she called out, waving.

"Hey, Naoko-chan! Whoo! E-rank already, huh?!" Tsueko called back before she bowed politely to the Air Force chaplain that had come with the would-be medical technician. "Konnichi wa, Klein-sensei! You here to babysit Ben-chan?!"

"If you mean young Arami, yes. I'm still getting used to all your battle names, so please forgive me if I make any mistakes," Padre Vincent asked before he perked. "Oh, if you wish to pass it on to all your friends, Miss Mago, both the British Columbia Regiment and the 2nd/10th Dragoons have Buddhist priests attached with them for this mission if any of you need spiritual comfort. Both of them are accredited with the Jōdo Shinshū Temples of Canada; they were trained at the Nishi Hongan-ji in Kyōto."

Several of the tōshi all blinked on hearing that. "Military priests?" Shikumi asked.

"Not as of yet, miss. Reverend John Takaya — he's with the 2nd/10th; he comes from the Hamilton Buddhist Temple — is contemplating joining the service on a part-time basis." He then winked as he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Once the proper hat badge for Buddhist chaplains is devised, of course." He pointed to his purple-and-gold hat badge with the Maltese cross identifying him as a Christian chaplain.

All the tōshi laughed on hearing that, and then they tensed on hearing someone gasp, "You're a _preacher_?!"

That was Carla's grandmother, who had been seated on her personal pig-drawn chariot off to one side watching the events around her with a disapproving eye and her lips wrapped around a long pipe. She was now gazing in disbelief at Padre Vincent. "That's correct, Madame," he said as he politely bowed to her. "I am _Haida_'s chaplain."

Yorla gaped, and then she turned to stare at a smiling John Buchanan, who had come over to see what was going on. "Your military travels with _**preachers**_?!"

"Why not?" the commanding officer of the Rifles calmly answered as he beckoned over to his regiment's chaplain, Captain (Reverend) Elaine Rathborne, another United Church of Canada priest, who was busy watching her spiritual charges go to work. "Just because the service personnel who came here today are prepared to help defend your world so far from their homes and families doesn't mean they shouldn't be denied spiritual comfort."

The old matriarch considered that, and then she blinked as the sounds of draft pigs echoed from a nearby road. People turned to watch as a chariot came up to the Rifles' headquarters tent, controlled by a local teamster and with Tano Tsukuhito as passenger. "Reverend Klein. Naoko-san," the giant fighter of Nan'yō said after the chariot came to a stop and he disembarked, saluting them with his hands. "I believe Hiromi-sama and Mioko-sama will be more than pleased to see you both here."

"Where's young Arami, Mister Tano?" Padre Vincent asked.

"The Prince is awaiting your presence at the Great Palace, sir."

"Let's go!" To Yorla. "You have a good day, Madame."

And with that, he was off, Naoko following him. "Who is Arami?" Yorla then asked.

"Our Matriarch's daughter, Elder," Padre Elaine answered.

That made Carla's grandmother gape. "**HER ****_DAUGHTER_****?! SHE CAME HERE WITH HER ****_CHILD_****?!**"

As the tōshi fought back snickers, Buchanan flashed the young chaplain from Selkirk an appreciative glance before he turned back to deploying his battalion…

* * *

"So it's just after lunch hour here?"

"Hai," Tsukuhito said as the chariot was guided down one of Muzlim Madiina's main thoroughfares. "No major problems so far, thank the Fates."

"That's good," Padre Vincent mused as he looked around. The native of Grand Prairie in northwest Alberta was immediately struck by how utterly quaint this beautiful city actually was. Even with the lack of visible light from a sun, the luminescence from the gills of the giant mushrooms that dotted the landscape all around him — plus artificial light from street fixtures and the portable lights on the hoods of those people who were wearing cloaks — allowed him to see much. Thinking about it, the city reminded him a lot of Kandahār in Afghanistan…save, of course, for the many years of war damage the Soviet invasion of that land, plus the long civil war that followed, unleashed. The people looked happy and prosperous, those spotting the visitors from the "worlds of light" — _Haida_'s chaplain had been listening to the conversations over the communications links — showing both curiosity and understanding, not to mention a touch of gratitude that such troops were here to help defend their planet.

"You've been in combat before," the gentle giant of Nan'yō quickly noted.

"Afghanistan," the Canadian priest answered.

The teamster perked. "Your people actually allow pastors to go into BATTLE?!"

"We have to. As Colonel Buchanan just explained to his battalion's current host, the spiritual needs of soldiers shouldn't be denied even when they're so far from home."

The native chariot driver's jaw dropped. "Aren't you afraid, Pastor?!"

A nod. "Of course I am. You have to be a total fool or completely insane to NOT be afraid in this situation. Still, should something happen that means my life will end and my time has come to face my God, it will happen. No sense in denying it."

"Sir, how do the peoples of the Galactic Federation view preachers?" Naoko then asked. "Reverend Klein here is unarmed because our homeland on Earth is signatory to a very honourable treaty that demands he be unarmed, but how is that viewed elsewhere?"

The middle-aged man hummed. "It is forbidden by treaty." He then frowned. "Though I must confess, there are those who would gladly harm pastors in the heat of battle when passions and blood are running high and common sense has left the field. I did time in the Navy, so I heard all sorts of stories about that sort of thing."

"Regrettable, but understandable," Tsukuhito mused.

"Aye, Master Tsukuhito!" the teamster affirmed. "Those intergalactic states not part of the Federation — from what I've heard — normally adhere to such things." A chuckle. "Even the Yehisrites. They turned their backs on having actual clerics administer their faith centuries ago, but they would _never_ raise a sword against an unarmed pastor." He then tensed as something came to him. "Wait! You mean to say pastors are _**hunted**_ on your planet?!" he demanded, his eyes wide with disbelief. "_Disgusting_!"

"Normally, that doesn't happen where I come from on Earth, but it has happened on other parts of the planet," _Haida_'s chaplain said. "I am unarmed because — as Naoko just told you right now — regulations demand that I remain unarmed as my home country is a signatory to a very detailed set of conventions that govern the laws of war on my planet. They recognize people like me as 'non-combatants.' Because of that, chaplains such as I are forbidden to bear arms under any circumstances."

"Well, you best have this good fellow stay close to you," the teamster said as he moved to guide his chariot onto the Palace grounds, thumbing Tsukuhito. "Or at least stay clear of the fields of fire. I've never met any Niphentaxians before, but I've heard of them. If you don't believe their 'church-of-the-day,' they'll kill you for being a heretic. Don't know about the Urusian Imperials, either."

"We won't let him be hurt, Garpa-san," Tsukuhito vowed.

The teamster laughed as he made the pigs drawing his chariot come to a stop by the main entrance to the Palace. Awaiting them was Mioko, with Arami at her side and another young woman standing nearby, looking quite odd in a frilly maid's uniform. Remembering that the students who go to the Kyoshō Academy didn't have a set school uniform as their peers elsewhere did, Padre Vincent quickly concluded that this was Sakan Somumi, also known as "Ten'i," a Grade 9 student attending the junior high division of Tsukasa Torusuke's home school; Tsukuhito had told him about her. "Hello, Mioko!" he called out as Tsukuhito stepped off the chariot, helping Naoko come off herself, and then Padre Vincent. The chaplain then grinned as he knelt down before Arami. "And who is THIS big girl right here?!" he asked.

The reborn prince of the Hàn grinned, holding her arms out. "Hug!"

Padre Vincent obliged her as Tsukuhito introduced him to Somumi. The priest from Alberta was quick to notice the young tōshi's rosary. "You're Catholic?"

"Hai," Somumi said with a bow of her head.

"Well, if you need spiritual assistance, there's an almoner aboard the _Richelieu_, as well as Catholic chaplains with le Régiment de Hull and the 19th Alberta Dragoons; the former unit came aboard _Richelieu_ and the latter came on _Paekbŏm_."

A delighted smile. "Reverend, if God deems today is the day I face His Judgement, I'm more than confident that you or any of the others who serve Him can perform the last rites as easily as those who acknowledge His Holiness as their administrative leader," Somumi stated as she calmly drew out two wicked-looking sword-like devices from _somewhere_ and brought them together to form a very beautiful longbow. After stringing the bow together, she then pulled out a quiver of arrows — again from _somewhere_ the chaplain couldn't identify — and notched an arrow into the bowstring.

"Is that necessary?" Padre Vincent asked.

"Sir, you're unarmed because your beliefs and the regulations of Her Majesty's Armed Forces of Canada demand such," the young archer from Kyoshō stated. "If someone DARES try to bring harm to you, they're coming through ME first!"

"Hear! Hear!" Tsukuhito declared.

"Mioko-san!"

Everyone turned up as a beautiful woman in standard Noukiite traveller's robes came down, followed by three others on two hovercycles. "Ah, Lum-san! Minna!" the reborn empress declared as Lum landed nearby while Benten and Oyuki came down on one machine and Ran the other. "Ready to finally see that damned curse that hurt you gone?!"

"Damn straight we do, Mioko!" Benten said as everyone disembarked. "Got you a bike, Kamen!" She nodded to the machine Ran was disembarking from in emphasis.

Kamen had hearts in her eyes. "Aw, Aneki! You shouldn't have!"

"Where's your wife, Mrs. Shigaten?" Padre Vincent asked.

"She'll be on the ground patrolling around and making sure everything is alright, Reverend," Oyuki answered for her friend. "So, shall we go see Ten-chan?"

The others nodded. "We'll call if we need you, Garpa-san," Tsukuhito stated.

"I'm here all day, Master Tsukuhito," the teamster declared…

* * *

Minutes later…

Ten moaned. "Where am I…?"

"Are you alright, Ten-chan?"

Hearing that kind voice, the young Oni blinked, and then he turned…

…before gaping in awe on seeing who was now gazing warmly at him: A lavender-haired Terran woman looking like she was from Japan, possessing caramel brown eyes and looking as if she was in her early twenties. She was dressed in a mostly green camouflage uniform with a red-and-white flag on her shoulders and some sort of rank insignia on an epaulette slip-on located on the front of her jacket, that over a badge saying **33 FD AMB** in Roman letters. "Who are you?" the young Oni asked.

A smile. "I'm Sergeant Kusanagi Yayoi, Ten-chan," she said as she reached up to gently remove something from the back of Ten's head. "There we go! Your horn's nice and regenerated, so you should be able to fly around now. Try to levitate."

Ten blinked, and then he concentrated…before he cried out in delight as he rose several centimetres into the air. "Hey! I'm okay!" He then stopped to gaze intently at the pretty woman who had given him his powers back. "Who are you, anyway…?"

"Well, I'm an Avalonian from 33 Field Ambulance in Halifax; that's the capital of Nova Scotia in Canada," Yayoi explained as she pulled out a tricorder to scan Ten and make sure there wasn't anything else wrong with him. "You probably have heard of us."

He nodded. "The bioroids Ōgi's dorks enslaved!" he then spat out. Even if he didn't believe that whole weird story about Lum and her Avalonian twin Hensō actually _**switching bodies**_ like that — even if people always said that She Who Speaks to Dragons NEVER LIED about ANYTHING! — he certainly didn't like the idea of the Niphentaxians actually ENSLAVING such pretty girls! That the Noukiites and the Yehisrites went in to clean house and put down Ōgi and his morons was a good thing to Ten. "So you all DID go to Earth!"

"Hai, we did. At least THAT way, we'll make sure that those who might threaten the Terrans would think twice before doing something that stupid," Yayoi stated.

A knock at the door. "Lady Healer Yayoi?"

"He's alright!" Yayoi called back.

"A party from _Haida_ is here now, including their pastor," the guard outside said. "The Lady Lum and the other victims of Lady Zōju's curse are also here."

"Send them in."

The door was unlocked, and then people stepped inside. "Ah! Hello there, Sergeant Kusanagi," a middle-aged man in a black uniform with light blue epaulettes bearing gold stripes — two thick ones sandwiching a thin one — declared as he handed the young girl in a pretty Chinese dress to a very tall and muscular man following him. As a teenage girl with a bow and arrow moved to a covering position at one corner of the room — even if he was still not even a grade-school student by Terran terms, Ten did know some things about combat — the older man in the black uniform came up to sit on the bed Ten had woken up on. "How are you, Ten?" he asked; the young Oni was quick to note the translator device he had attached to his jacket. "Heard you had some rough treatment since you came here."

"What about what they did to Lum-chan?!" Ten protested back.

"You mean what they did to Hensō."

Silence.

"LUM-CHAN!" Ten cried out as he flew over to a familiar figure…and then he stopped on noting her current mode of dress. "Hey! You're Hensō! You're not Lum-chan!"

"No, Ten-chan! That's Lum-san, not Hensō," Yayoi corrected.

"What makes you think that's not Lum, young man?" Padre Vincent added.

"Because Oji-san said it couldn't have happened!" Ten protested.

"Are you calling the Lady K'ekhech a LIAR?!"

That was the archer in the corner of the room. "What do YOU know?!" Ten snapped — though he was toning it down; she WAS a pretty girl after all — as he flew over closer to her. Watching him from the entrance to the holding cell, Kamen, Mienai and Damasu were quick to note how much faster Lum's cousin was moving now. "You don't know anything about that sort of…UUURRRK!" he croaked out on seeing her magatama.

"Do not presume that I am ignorant of things, Young Master Ten," Somumi stated as she took one step to glare into his eyes, which made him balk. Immediately realizing that the young Oni knew of tōshi — and clearly was scared to death of people like her — the archer from Kyoshō smirked. "I am spirit-kin to the Lady Kep'uo of Eap'ye herself! She TOLD me of how much Princess Oyuki, the Ladies Benten and Ran and your own honourable cousin SUFFERED because of what that monster Ōgi ultimately allowed to have happen to them…and how, because of your peoples' policy of _**appeasement**_ when it came to such barbarians, the parents of Lady Lum and her friends refused to accept what Hunter Commander Nassur, his honourable wife the Lady Cinba and the Lady Shogai Dakejinzō said about what they learned after it happened!" And while that wasn't exactly true, there were the "Klingon dreams" she had experienced concerning an older alien, green-haired, brown-eyed version of herself who — as she had learned from Hensō's would-be husband — ran a restaurant on the planet Kaisei. A woman whose strength rivalled that of the legendary Dragonspeaker herself, driving P'yap'ya — as the Lady Seu-Nech Yesu-Kai Hechnich'-Kep'uo of Eap'ye had been christened on her first awakening in her second life — to test herself against the other metahuman free warrior based on Okusei every chance she got. "If you think I'm going to stand here and watch you berate the Lady Lum for something that she had no control over, you have another think coming!"

"Somumi, that's enough," Padre Vincent scolded. "That sort of thing won't convince him of the truth of what happened to Lum and Hensō." To Lum. "Would you consent to a mind meld with your cousin, Lum? It would do him and you a lot of good."

Lum looked impressed. "You really DO know a lot about us! Don't you, Reverend?"

"Naoko and her sisters are now under my spiritual charge," he advised as he nodded over to Naoko, who was currently discussing things with the Yaminokuni guards concerning Hensō. "Many more of their sisters will be coming through trades training and join the ship's company soon enough. And there have been many Terrans who've become Avalonians. Of course I would know such things." To Ten. "Son, I can understand you wanting to trust your uncle about what happened to Lum and Hensō. It sounds pretty implausible on first hearing. But look at Lum's memories and see for yourself what the truth is."

Ten blinked, and then he stared at Lum for a moment before gazing on her friends and their twins. Yeah, the versions of Benten, Oyuki and Ran he believed were such were in their normal clothes; their twins were in Noukiite traveller's clothes. And the Lum he had been with on both Earth and later on Uru had denied all that the Dragonspeaker had said that day in Onishuto when that creep Ataru had punched Lum in the face and crushed her horns in front of all those people. Remembering that, Ten then growled as bursts of flame escaped his nose. If that idiot was here, he was in for a roast-…!

"**_YOU LEAVE OJI-CHAN ALONE, YOU CREEP!_**"

A second later, Ten screamed out as an OCEAN of magical lightning slammed into him from all sides. "_**ARAMI-CHAN! STOP!**_" Lum screamed out as a badly-burned Ten slammed into the floor, his eyes spiralling from an attack that made the worst Hensō had done to him over the years seem a walk in the park in comparison. "Why did you do that?!"

"He was going to hurt Oji-chan, Oba-chan!" Arami snarled as she summoned another ball of magical energy around one of her hands. As Ten gazed dizzily at this strange girl his age now in the arms of the giant man standing in the room close to the door — he then tensing on seeing the magatama earring hanging off HER ear — she then glared at him with a look that promised an eternity of pain if he stepped out of line again. "And he's gonna get TEN-FOLD back what he forced on Oji-chan during those six months he was running away from his stupid mother on Earth if he doesn't accept Oba-chan for what she is right now!" she then vowed with an evil smile.

As Lum moved to pick him up, all the Avalonians in the room then tensed.

"Arami. Stop that."

Everyone gasped, and then they turned to gaze into the shadows as a crimson-haired woman in black-and-white came out of them, one hand holding the famous _K'uktech-souang_, a weapon that was said to be so unbreakable, it could physically cut through the skin of the strongest and most invulnerable of the Scary People themselves! As Ten gasped in awe on seeing She Who Speaks to Dragons up close, the metahuman free warrior from Ryekkyuk walked over to stare at Arami. The younger girl didn't look concerned. "You know he deserves it, Et'e-yu!" she then said as she glared at Kyech.

"Yes, he did misbehave when he lived on Earth. As did Hensō and Damasu and Rei and Kamen and all the others who went to Tomobiki after the Tag Race," Kyech stated. "And yes, your uncle also misbehaved as well, regardless of how much your Auntie Negako was influencing him to do just that. But you have the power to kill him with your magic, Arami. And he was effectively abandoned by his mother when she allowed her desire for vengeance at the Angels of Fire because of the death of his father to overcome her awareness of her responsibilities to her only child. What do WE ultimately believe in when it comes to abandoned children?"

Arami shuddered as she considered that, and then she harrumphed. "He's still a creep!"

Ten winced as she turned her head away from him. As Lum moved to comfort him, Padre Vincent sighed. "Let's calm down, people. Ten can learn the truth about Hensō from her own lips once we get her shifted into her new body." To Yayoi. "Sergeant, why don't you get a couple of your friends over with the equipment necessary to drain a gestation tank so we can finally get rid of that horrid curse once and for all."

"I'll have some people come up now, Reverend," the sergeant from Halifax said before she gazed on Naoko. "Will you handle the _tre'cha_?"

Naoko nodded…

* * *

"What happened?!"

Kyech sighed as she walked out of Ten's holding cell before she turned to gaze knowingly at Shikuko; the best fighter of Rakuyō and her lover had just come up from the main wing of the Palace. "Arami got very upset at Ten, Shikuko," the Dragonspeaker explained. "He's still very angry at Ataru for hurting Hensō the day he divorced her and wanted to punish him for it." A smirk. "Either let Arami loose on him…"

"Or have the kid experience the Henryoku Handō Kōgeki," Shikuko finished.

A nod. "That would hurt him worse. Even if Ataru does have a lot of self-control, the power his Cyborg-self gives him makes him almost as dangerous as Negako."

Both of Ataru's lovers nodded; having mind-melded with their boyfriend during the times they enjoyed his physical charms, they knew of the demonic creature — an ultra-technological version of the Sagussans' _**god of death**_ of all things! — which now lurked deep in his soul and what it had done on the Plains of Morningstar. Not to mention against the pirates of Konton two months later. "Does he know now?" Miyako asked.

"Ten?" A sigh. "He doubts, Miyako…but he doesn't feel confident enough to express those doubts, fearing he will lose the protection of his relatives and be forced back into range of his mother." A shake of the head. "I will have to make Jon see what she has inadvertently done to her only child over the years. But that will have to wait. You best keep Ataru away from Ten for the time being."

"That, we can do," Shikuko said with a knowing smirk.

Nodding, Kyech then headed off. Watching the Noukiite free warrior go, both Shikuko and Miyako could only blink as they recalled what they had learned from Ataru about that woman. "We're really lucky. Aren't we, Shikuko-sama?" the latter whispered.

"We are that, Miyako-chan," the former affirmed with a nod…

…and then both jolted on hearing a painful wail escape the holding cell Kyech just walked out of. Both women then lunged to the doorway. "What's wrong?!" Shikuko demanded.

Both fighters from Rakuyō then notice a crying Ten being comforted by Lum. "Young Master Ten now knows the truth, Ryofu-san," Tsukuhito whispered.

Noting that, both girls nodded as they turned to head off…

* * *

"So he knows now, does he?"

Shikuko and Miyako nodded; they had come down to join Hiromi and Ataru in the main courtyard of the Palace. "He does," the best fighter of Rakuyō said as they all looked up to the area of the holding cells. "Arami-chan got him good and Lum-chan comforted him." She then tensed as something came to her. "Hey, wait a minute…!" she then snarled as she glared intently at the reborn emperor. "You mean…"

"The Fire Strategy, Hōsen-dono," Hiromi stated.

"The Fire Strategy?"

That was Tsukasa Torusuke, who had come up to join Hiromi and her companions. He was currently accompanied by the leaders of the other schools and their chief strategists, not to mention the Hari siblings. "Indeed, the Fire Strategy, Mōtoku-dono," the reborn emperor stated. "Surely you should realize what we're after here."

"But I though you didn't wish to unleash any casualties, even on the enemy, Hiromi-sama," Uru Hokona protested. "Why on Earth are you considering THAT?!"

A chuckle. "Hiromi hasn't lost it, Hokona-sempai," Ataru advised. "But believe me, given what your past-selves did to each other back in your first lives, all the tactical and strategic lessons of that war did get passed on to our own ancestors."

"And merged into our family Art," Hiromi finished for her brother.

"Oh! I get it, now…"

That was Ranma. "What do you mean?" Mimōko demanded.

A smirk. "It's the same thing I often do with people I'm fighting, Mō-chan. I call people names and put down their skills to make them so mad, they screw up and it helps me win the fight. That's the reason Karin-chan's writing up the challenge letter to pass on to the Oni and their pals from Phentax Two; make them so hoppin' mad that they'll come charging here as fast as they can run…and right into range of _those_ things!" Here, she nodded towards a nearby park, where K Troop, 65 Field Battery of the 10th Field Regiment was busy setting up their four huge howitzers, each the size of the primary armament of an Iowa-class battleship. "Once we cripple the ship, we beam the Avalonians on it off and force them to submit. They'd be idiots to keep fighting at that point."

"But what if they DON'T submit, Ranma-kun?!" Sonami demanded. "I know about the Fire Strategy; it was employed against the Yellow Turbans at the Battle of Kūnyáng!"

"Which is where our forces were finally broken."

Eyes locked on Hari Sumiko, who was now gazing wide-eyed at Hiromi. "What do mean, Sumiko-sempai…?" Torusuke asked before he stopped, and then he stared wide-eyed at the reborn emperor. "Holy…! You don't mean…?!"

"My goal is to _**destroy**_ their will to fight once and for all Torusuke-san. To make them forever doubt for the rest of their lives the righteousness of their cause," Hiromi stated. "If we kill them, they'll die happy, martyrs to their cause. In my eyes, they have not _**earned**_ such an honourable death! If, by any chance, something happens and we face them directly man-to-man, I wish them to be not just defeated, but _**humiliated**_ as well. I want them to feel what it is like to have all they believed in ripped down in front of their eyes! We are 'tailless monkeys' to them! No different than wild animals!" She gazed at the others. "Do you think yourselves as _**that**_, my friends?"

"Hell, no!" Futoshi Itsuku snarled.

"No fuckin' way!" Kashira Emi added as she cracked her knuckles.

The others all grimly nodded. "Good. Now I'll do all I can to prevent that from happening. But if it does happen, I want you to keep that in mind," Hiromi advised.

"There's one other thing to worry about."

People gazed on Ataru. "What's that, Ataru-kun?" Seki Haneko asked.

"The Avalonian-Urusians that are aboard this ship, Sempai," Hiromi's brother stated. "Knowing how Avalonians live their lives, there's the chance that some of them might be bond-mated to the Urusians we're gonna fight. And there might be pregnancies to think about, too. If we kill the fathers and they're psi-bonded to their lovers as a way of allowing their babies to touch their parents' souls…"

"The unborn will die as well," Hiromi breathed out.

Everyone tensed as they considered that. While tōshi were capable of a lot, there were lines none of them dared cross. To make war on helpless babies was quite low in their eyes. "Okay! We take it REAL easy with these creeps!" Tsueko warned.

"Treat them like they're all newbies," Tadasu Suguta urged. "We know what it's like to face the influence of the magatama for the first time in our lives. Treat them as you would have wished to be treated the first time you fought another tōshi and he or she was after your magatama."

The others considered that, and then they nodded. Hiromi then gazed at Ataru. He noted that, and then winked at her with a reassuring smile, which made her relax.

No.

HE would not be allowed to run loose as he had done at Morningstar Plain…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Tre'cha** — Literally "the passing-on," the Sagussan version of the Vulcan process of passing one's _katra_ onto a holding vessel as Spock demonstrated in _Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan_ (this is also the title used for the soul-transference process Avalonians use to welcome new sisters in their ranks, as Nabiki endured in the last part); **Ittō Kaisa** — Literally "First Rank Sea Field Officer," the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force name for a navy captain; **Sapper** — Rank title in the Canadian Armed Forces for a private in the Canadian Military Engineers (short-formed **Spr**); **Jōdo Shinshū** — Literally "True Pure Land School," this branch of Buddhism (first created by the monk **Shinran** [1173-1263]) is the most popular form of the faith in Japan today; **Aneki** — Informal term for one's elder sister; **K'uktech-souang** — Cleaver of the Heavens; **Henryoku Handō Kōgeki** — Paranormal Power Inverse Fire-Bomb (which is done by forming a bubble of anti-ki around an attacker to reflect any type of paranormal or metahuman attack [such as Lum's lighting, Ten's flame-breath, Ran's empathic vampiric powers or Oyuki's ice-generating powers] back on that attacker).

2) In real life, Canadian Army military police regiments are a light battalion in size, split into individual companies and platoons as required. In the universe of this story, such units have grown to two-battalion size, with a battalion to provide personnel to serve as security forces for Regular Force units and bases and a battalion to serve Militia units. In the case of **3 Military Police Regiment**, the second battalion (designated **32 Military Police Battalion**) is split into two active companies (numbered to correspond with the brigade groups they serve [**336 MP Company** in Lower Sackville and **337 MP Company** in Moncton]), a company assigned to serve as an area-wide military police force for the armouries across Atlantic Canada (**330 Garrison MP Company**), a security support company to handle POW and other auxiliary roles (**331 MP Support Company**) and a battalion headquarters and administration company to handle combat service support issues.

3) A Canadian Army **service battalion** is typically broken down into a **transportation company** to handle issues of logistics delivery, a **supply company** to handle equipment supply issues, a **maintenance company** to deal with issues handled by the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, an **administration company** to handle the battalion's internal logistics, medical and EME needs, and a **battalion headquarters company** to control the whole unit. In the universe of this story, the names of some of the sub-units were changed to reflect the pre-Unification Canadian Army corps that dealt with these issues. Further, the pre-Unification company numbers were brought back as well.

Thus, **37 Service Battalion** is broken down into the following companies:

**113 Transport Company** (land transportation duties were once handled by the **Royal Canadian Army Service Corps**),  
**1 Ordnance Company** (land equipment supply issues were once handled by the **Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps**),  
**21 Workshop Company** (the battalion's second-line maintenance team for the brigade; from the end of World War Two to 1965, all units of the **Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers** were referred to as "workshops"), and  
**37 Administration Company** (the battalion's internal combat service support team, which combine an internal transportation platoon, ordnance [supply] platoon, workshop [maintenance] platoon and medical platoon with the clerical functions once performed by the Army Service Corps, the financial control functions of the **Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps** and the mail movement functions of the **Royal Canadian Postal Corps** in the battalion orderly room). As a compromise, the company name used here is taken from the recently-disbanded **Administration Branch**, which was the catch-all branch for all personnel administration issues from 1968 to the late 1990s, when it was merged into the Logistics Branch.

4) Unlike the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps and the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps, the **Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery** and the **Canadian Military Engineers** have traditionally looked upon the company-sized **battery** (for the gunners) and **squadron** (for the sappers) as the primary tactical unit. Each battery/squadron is numbered consecutively according to date of original formation; artillery batteries run up from 1 to 215 and engineer squadrons run up from 1 to 59 according to my primary source on the history of the Canadian Army, David A. Morris' _The Canadian Militia from 1855: An Historical Summary_ (ISBN 0-919-82251-7) from 1983, which lists all units in the Canadian Army, regardless of branch of service, that ever existed (it was here that I learned of units such as the 2nd/10th Dragoons and the 19th Alberta Dragoons, for example).

When several artillery batteries or engineer squadrons are merged together into a tactical regiment (such as **10th Field Regiment, R.C.A.** or **36 Combat Engineer Regiment**), these unions may only exist for a span of years until shifting strategic requirements require changes in the regimental order.

As noted in Part 26, the numbers of the engineer squadrons in 36 CER depicted here (save for 63, 65 and 236 Squadrons) were, at one time or another, active engineer squadrons based in Nova Scotia (and 45 Field Engineer Squadron serves as such in real life to this day). In the universe of this story, the squadron numbers were increased to allow each combat engineer regiment in the Canadian Army to provide four **field squadrons** of sappers working on foot or in wheeled vehicles; an **armoured field squadron** that do the same type of jobs within tracked armoured engineering vehicles; an **engineer field park squadron** to handle issues such as obstacle crossings, demolition, explosive ordnance disposal duties (including operations meant to dispose IEDs), clearance diving and construction engineering duties; and an **administration squadron** that provides combat service support in the same manner as what an administration company provides to a service battalion as noted above.

5) The **Type 7** shuttlecraft first appeared in _The Next Generation_ first season episode "The Naked Now" as an "**okudagram**," a computer graphic designed by graphis designer **Michael Okuda**. The actual machine would appear in the first season episode "Coming Of Age."

6) The **Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist Temples of Canada** is Canada's oldest Buddhist organization, first created in 1933 by Japanese-Canadians who transplanted their faith with them when they migrated to the Dominion. The **Hamilton Buddhist Temple** is their local chapter in the Steel City of Ontario. The group is affiliated, as Padre Vincent Klein describes in this part, with the **Nishi Hongan-ji** (literally "West Temple of the Primal Vow") in Kyōto.

7) After Unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, members of the **Chaplain Branch** wore a variation of the hat badge of the old **Royal Canadian Army Chaplain Corps**, which was a Maltese cross on a wreath of maple leaves and topped with the Saint Edward's Crown, the cross bearing the Latin motto _In Hoc Signo Vinces_ ("In This Sign, You Will Conquer"), which was derived from the time the Roman emperor **Constantine the Great** (272-337 C.E.) converted to Christianity before the Battle of Milvan Bridge on 28 October 312. However, with the growing number of non-Christians joining the Forces in recent years, it was decided in 2006 to issue a new hat badge which would allow Jewish rabbis and Muslim imams to wear the symbols of their faith as the centre-piece of their badges; rabbis would wear a symbol of the **Tablets of the Law** topped with the **Star of David** while imams would bear the **Crescent Moon**. Atop that, the Chaplain Branch adopted the new motto _Vocatio Ad Servitium_ ("Called to Serve"). The branch's march past music was also updated from _Onward Christian Soldiers_ to _Ode to Joy_.

In the universe of this story, Buddhist priests will — as has been done by the chaplain services in the American armed forces — wear the eight-spoke **Wheel of Dharma** insignia as the centrepiece of their branch hat badge and collar badges. Plans are also there to make allowances for both Hindu (who will wear the Sanskrit **Om** symbol) and Shintō (who will wear a symbolized **torii** gate) priests should they join the Chaplain Branch of the Forces.

8) **Kusanagi Yayoi** is a character from the _Dōkyūsei_ dating simulation game; she never appeared in the OVAs.

9) **P'yap'ya** (**Seu-Nech Yesu-Kai Hechnich'-Kep'uo** of Eap'ye) is, of course, based on the _Koihime Musō_ version of Ten'i (real name **Ruru**). She first appeared in the sixth episode of _Shin-KM_, "Ten'i is Tested by Sōsō." Like P'yap'ya, Ruru is an excellent cook; when Sōsō Mōtoku (Karin) took her into service, the two began exchanging cooking tips.

10) The term **Scary People** is a child's way of referring to the Yizibajohei (refer to the Writer's Notes in Part 38 for the reason this sort of thing happens) across the worlds of the Galactic Federation. Yiziba itself is called the **Scary Place** by people like Ten.

11) **Ryekkyuk** is the Noukiite analogue to the capital of North Korea, **P'yŏng'yang**. During the Ait'uch Nehech dynasty, Ryekkyuk served as the planet's world-wide capital.

12) The **Cyborg** side of Ataru's personality (which first appeared in _The Senior Year_ story "Sakura's Class Reunion") is, in effect, his darker side brought out in flesh and metal as hard as neutronium. Based physically on the **Cyborg Superman** (**Hank Henshaw**) who appeared in the "Reign of the Supermen" storyline published by DC Comics during the mid-1990s, the Cyborg is an updated representation of the **Master of Entropy**, the being that typically symbolizes the ending of all things that exist (his story was explained in the _TSY_ story "Noa").

13) Ten's mother — who was never named in the _Yatsura_ manga; the name **Redet Jon** is my creation for her — first appeared in the manga story "My Mom The Firefighter" (manga episodes #160-161). Her passion for fighting fires was never properly explained in the manga, so I came up with the story of her losing her husband (a distant relative of Lum's father Invader) in fighting a blaze set by an arsonist. Given Ten's combustive halitosis, his fear of his mother going crazy on him is understandable, hence explaining his coming to Earth to live with his cousin.

14) The **Fire Strategy** concept and the **Battle of Kūnyáng** was displayed in the eighth episode of _Sōten Kōro_, "Astute Hero of the Hellfire." In real life, there was no Battle of Kūnyáng during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.


	39. The Return of the Xiàoxiàn Emperor

The Great Palace (Japan time: An hour before supper)…

"Those sure are big ships…"

Now resting in the crook of his real cousin's arm, Ten watched as the last phase of the landing operation — the beaming down of the four armoured regiments from _Haida_, _Arizona_, _Richelieu_ and _Paekbŏm_, which included the landing of the large three-gun tanks they would use in this mission — was being wrapped up. Seeing those huge machines had made the young Oni gape in awe; while he didn't really see himself joining the military when he grew up — as he was just a kid, why would he worry about silly stuff like that? — he was knowledgeable about some things. Seeing the four large starships sailing serenely across the dark skies of Muzlim Madiina was pretty impressive…especially given the fact that until those ships had been brought to Earth four months ago, the most Terrans could do was send robot space probes to Mars!

"They are that," Lum said. "I'm worried that introducing technology like that while Earth remains so divided culturally and politically would do more harm than good in the long term…but given what Ōgi did behind everyone's back in Tomobiki, it's understandable that Darling's people would prefer to control their own defences. After all, Father DID promise that if Darling won the Tag Race against Hensō, the Galactic Federation WOULD leave them alone. Is planting a _**star base self-destruct device**_ in the middle of the Tomobiki Ginza 'leaving the Terrans alone,' Ten-u?"

"They have the Men In Black, Lum-chan," Ten protested.

"True, but Chief Zed's people only number at most a hundred field agents, plus all their support personnel. And they operate under a veil of secrecy. Father was quite open in his 'invasion' of Earth, so there's no sense of trying to force the Galactic Non-Interference Treaty on the United Nations now. They won't tolerate it. After all, if it was the Terrans who 'invaded' Uru, what would people there do?"

Ten hummed. "Yeah, that's true…"

"Lum."

She turned, and then she grinned. "Hello, Rupa," she said as she took her would-have-been fiancé's hand in her own. "So how are things between you and Carla?"

"Quite…" A chuckle. "As soon as the news of what had happened to you and Hensō got to us, she had her grandmother — the infantry people are on her estate now near the Airport — invite me over for tea and a chat. Didn't have her rocket launcher with her or anything like that. She…" He then sighed. "I told her about you when we were kids. She got really jealous over it and began doing everything she could to 'win' me over. I came to hate her eventually; I spent time with the healers every time she came after me with her weapons. But…" A smirk. "She asked me one question that day: 'How could you possibly marry a _fake_?' And I…"

"You realized that she did care for you. In her own way," Lum finished.

A nod. "Yes," the crown prince of Yaminokuni admitted. "So we spent a couple months having tea parties at Elder Yorla's mansion. I told her about all the things I'd seen ever since I took over my late father's farm. She told me of all the things she had seen after her grandmother got her ship for her. We went on trips to planets like Zeiwan and Tahupraemiku…and it started happening." He chuckled as his cheeks flamed a bit, and then he sighed. "But there was still the debt between our families."

"And the debt had to be answered one way or another," the Oni-turned-Avalonian university student finished for him. "Kuhu doesn't share, so it couldn't be me."

Ten blinked. "You did that because you were mad at Hensō-chan?"

"No, I'm not really mad at her, Ten-u. She was as much a victim of this mess as I was. I'm more angry at my parents for never listening to Nassur-cha, Cinba-cha or Dake-cha after Hensō was created. After all, Kyech never lies about anything…and even if Father and Mother couldn't trust her, they COULD trust Nassur-cha at least. And they both know Lady Zōju; she's been a friend of the family for years." Lum smiled. "Atop that, I heard from Negau that Hensō was making noises about trying to find some way to get back into Darling's life again. Not to mention how people like Rei's uncle were urging her to do just that. After what he'd been through, he didn't need that."

Ten nodded as his eyes teared. "I can't believe Rei's dead…"

"You're not the only one who can't believe it."

He turned…and then smiled as Tariko came up, accompanied by Kanami. "Tariko-onēchan! Kanami-onēchan!" he called out as he floated over to the arms of Ataru's twin. "Did it hurt when you used that Lawgiver when they came to your house?"

"Well, I didn't see those I did shoot," Tariko admitted as she leaned over to kiss Ten on the forehead, which made the young Oni blush. "It was like a fighter pilot using missiles to hit a target really far away; they don't see the damage they did…but it hits them sooner or later." A shake of the head. "We didn't want Rei in our lives anymore, Ten…but we didn't want him, much less all the others Kanami and I cut down on Saturday, dead. Most of them…" A sigh. "Did they ever understand?"

"'Ours is not to question why. Ours is but to do or die,'" Kanami quoted…

…and then everyone perked as the door to the storage room where Hensō's new body had been placed in opened, revealing two of Kusanagi Yayoi's fellow medical technicians from Nova Scotia, they carrying a litter with an unmoving — yet alive — Oni woman in Noukiite traveller's clothes, her arms peacefully crossed under her breasts and covered with a blanket. "Wow…!" Ten breathed out as he tried to float close to the new bioroid's face…and then he yelped as Tariko yanked him away. "Hey!"

"Don't touch her, Ten!" Ataru's twin scolded. "Her brain's prepped to take in a soul. You touch her, _**you'll**_ be living in that body from now on! You want to be a girl?!"

Ten jerked. "No!"

"What's the matter with being a girl, Oba-chan?!"

Ten then paled on hearing that voice, and then he turned to see Arami standing nearby, guarded by a scowling Somumi and a stoic-looking Tsukuhito. Hiromi's daughter was gazing knowingly at him as she crossed her arms. "My Prince, Young Master Ten is not one of us," the gentle giant of Nan'yō then advised. "He wouldn't understand."

As Ten stared in shock at him — from what Kotatsuneko had told him about tōshi, people like Tsukuhito and Somumi were meaner than any Yehisrite warrior — Arami harrumphed as she followed the medics to the holding cell where Hensō was now asleep on the bed there, she having been sedated by Naoko minutes before to prepare for the _tre'cha_. As the others moved to observe this, Yayoi was giving instructions to two supply technicians from 37 Service Battalion's 1 Ordnance Company to dispose of the spent regeneration fluid. As Hensō's new body was carried into the holding cell, it was placed on a cot beside the bed holding Lum's original body. Naoko was there, putting on meson-lined sterile gloves to ensure she could touch the new bioroid's skin without having her own soul subjected to _tre'cha_. Also there were the other replica bioroids and their templates, not to mention Padre Vincent Klein, who was now whispering a prayer to have the curse inflicted by the Old Lady of the Oak Forest lifted from Hensō's soul once and for all. Seeing the Canadian priest do that, Ten could only smile; he found himself liking the native of Alberta, who had been quick to move in his defence when Arami unleashed her magical lightning against Ten to defend her uncle.

After nodding thanks to the medical technicians who had brought in Hensō's new body, Naoko drew out her tricorder and began a detailed scan of both bodies. "I can't pick up the curse's life-energy, but I think it's not so latched to Hensō's _mei'na_ that the _tre'cha_ would be blocked from happening." She then set the machine aside, and then she took a deep breath. "Alright…here we go," she then declared.

She removed the blanket from the new body's hands, then took one and placed it gently on Hensō's head. A sudden gasp escaped the Avalonian-born Oni as her eyes snapped open…and then, as the Avalonians in the room could all sense, they closed as the soul within that shell of flesh was sucked immediately into its new shell. The new body's eyes then snapped open, glowing briefly with the orange-red shade of the regenerative enzymes in her bloodstream before they returned to their normal blue-green shade.

"_Tcha_…oh, Lyna! What…?"

As the other replica bioroids breathed out relief, Hensō blinked several times as her mind settled into its new brain, and then she groaned as she pulled her hand back from her old body. "What happened to me…?" she moaned before she turned…

…and then gaped on seeing HERSELF gaze down on her. A moment's confusion then seized Hensō for a moment, and then her face collapsed in tears as horrid realization dawned there.

"_**ONĒ-SAN!**_"

Everyone gaped as Hensō flew into Lum's arms, wailing apologies as she buried her face into the crook of her template's neck. "Well, that settles that!" Benten breathed out in relief as she wrapped an arm around Kamen. "It's all over."

"I dunno, Benten…"

Eyes locked on Tariko, who was peering intently at Hensō's old body. "What do you mean, Darling?" Ran asked as she came up to stand beside Ataru's twin.

Tariko grunted as she set Ten onto the floor, and then she whispered, "_Kontō_!"

The soulsword — which made both Somumi and Tsukuhito jerk on seeing the signature killing manoeuvre of the Black Death displayed so openly — leapt out of the palm of her hand, and then she twisted the blade to allow its flank to pass horizontally over Hensō's old body. Instantly, bolts of bio-electricity leapt up from the body — which was STILL BREATHING, everyone realized — to lash out against the soulsword, thus making Tariko wince as the feedback poured into her. "Put that away!" Kanami urged as she moved to comfort her girlfriend. "That's one nasty curse there…"

Tariko sighed as she allowed the soulsword to fade. "Tsukuhito-sempai, would you go find Kyech, please?" she asked. "We need her expertise in this."

The gentle giant of Nan'yō nodded. "Right away, Tariko-san."

He left the room as the others gathered around the bed, including a wet-faced Hensō, who was still being comforted by Lum. "Why is the curse still active?" Ran asked.

"Remember what Obā-chan said about it, Ran-chan?" Tariko wondered. As the Seishin-turned-Avalonian housewife nodded in understanding, Ataru's twin scowled. "We'll need Kyech's power to burn this thing out of Hensō's old corpse. Or Ataru's."

Ten blinked. "Ataru? What could he do?!"

"You mean that guyver thing he can transform into, Onē-sama?" Somumi asked.

Hensō blinked. "What guyver thing?!" she demanded.

Lum sighed, and then she concentrated. Hensō paused as she felt her sister's mind link up with her own…and then her skin turned as white as a ghost's as she watched the images her sister got second-hand from friends that were at the Battle of Morningstar Plain on Okusei nearly six months before replay before her mind's eye. "Darling…!" she gasped. "Why is he touched by the **_Master_** of all things?!"

"We have a theory about that, Hensō-chan…but no hard facts," Oyuki answered.

"What theory is that, Onē-sama?" Mienai asked.

A sigh. "I must ask all those who know of this tale to never speak of it to others," the Neptunian-turned-Avalonian heir to the Throne of Kōri stated. "But after the Battle of Morningstar Plain, a classmate of Lum's did a deep mind-probe into Ataru's soul after the Lady Negako, Tariko-chan and Hiromi-chan were all given their own lives." She took a deep breath. "It is now strongly suspected that Moroboshi Ataru — of all the potentially eligible men on all the planets in the local cluster — was, sometime before his sixth birthday, selected to become the _Euk Hichheksuch Seuchhoukhek_."

As Rupa gasped in shock and the other replica bioroids tensed, Oyuki added, "As other races would know him as…_**the Chosen One of the Eternal Voyager.**_"

Silence.

"Ataru…?" Ten gasped.

"Why Darling, Oyuki-chan?" Hensō moaned out, her eyes tearing.

A shake of the head. "Ataru doesn't remember what really happened the day the Lady Noa came to him, Hensō-chan." As Hensō and Ten both gasped on hearing the name of Uru's greatest heroine, Oyuki added, "But she came to him near the start of February in 1999 on the Earth calendar. She noted how attracted he was — even at that young age — to women. He actually tried to defend the Lady Noa from some youth gang that wanted to have a 'pink party' with her if they got a chance." As all the women in the room scowled on hearing that, Oyuki then smirked. "A couple days before Valentine's Day, she asked him if he wanted to travel somewhere to meet many pretty women. He said yes; you all know how his mother treated him at times." As others — even Hensō and Ten — nodded, the heir to the Throne of Kōri breathed out, "And he went to Sagussa."

"The Avalonians' ancestral home world?" Padre Vincent asked.

"Yes, Reverend. There, a hundred thousand women — bioroids like ourselves, but created via different means — had been virtually created from the best genetic stock across two dozen planets over 10,000 years to become the new birth mothers of a potential fifth sentient race to live there." Oyuki decided it would offend the priest's sensibilities if she revealed to him HOW those women had been literally "reborn" from the corpses collected by the Gatherer — the "great dragon ship" to Noukiites — over that time period. "And while Ataru doesn't remember exactly what happened back then, he does know that the Daishi'cha — as those women were called as a group — were literal logic machines when he first found them. And they became truly living people when he returned to Earth two months later." A sigh. "He came home days before his sixth birthday…which was the day he became the fifty-seventh person to take up the Promise of Bunka Go-nen."

"They are tōshi?" Somumi asked.

"Some of the Daishi'cha's prior-selves were great warriors when they lived on their old home worlds, Somumi-san," Oyuki affirmed. "Some were not. I'm quite unsure as to how each candidate was selected, though." She tried not to smile on saying _that_.

"So why didn't Noa-sama and her friends come look in on Darling when I began living with him, Oyuki-chan?!" Hensō then demanded. "I mean, if he was the Chosen One…"

A shake of the head. "I can't answer that, Hensō-chan…"

* * *

As the adults were talking away, Arami had made her way onto the bed to gaze intently at the unmoving yet still-alive body Hensō had used until several minutes before. Ten was watching this from the side of the bed. "Hey, Arami-chan! What are you doing?!"

Arami sighed. "I'm gonna see if I can try to get rid of this curse," she said as she summoned two large balls of magic in her hands, and then she leaned down to place them on the skin of the body's left side under its breasts…

* * *

By the main gates of the Palace…

"Nice and quiet so far."

"Hopefully, it'll stay that way for a while yet," Ataru mused as he leaned over to gently kiss Shikuko on the lips before he did the same with Miyako. The three lovers were now relaxing in the other people's arms against the wall of a building close to the main gates of the Palace as they watched medical technicians from 33 Field Ambulance and supply technicians from 37 Service Battalion intermingle with the locals, distributing polarized glasses to everyone so their eyes would be protected from any burst of light from the Airport warp gate. "And doing that will allow me to properly express my admiration at what beautiful goddesses both of you truly are."

Both women purred. "Saying something like that's going to get you laid tonight, buster," Shikuko said as she reached back to gently rub one of his butt cheeks.

"We would make love to him no matter what, Shikuko-sama," Miyako advised. "All the practice sessions we've done with him so far were just _so_ enjoyable!"

"Oh, indeed they are."

They laughed, and then leaned up to kiss his cheeks…

_**KK-KRACK!**_

They jolted on hearing that sound, and then spun around to see a billow of smoke and flashes of lightning erupt from a hole now blasted through the room of one wing of the Palace. As their minds interpreted that, they were then quick to see a body glowing with lightning drift into the air out of the hole. Seeing that, Ataru grimaced. "Oh, hell! That's Hensō!" he snapped before he raced off towards the Palace.

Shikuko and Miyako raced after him…

* * *

"Owwie…!"

As Arami — who had been blasted back into her aunt's stomach by that large explosion of power — shook her head, others started to pick themselves off the floor. "_Tcha_…what in Lyna's name WAS that…?!" Hensō groaned, and then she reached over, her hand grasping someone's arm. "Oh! Sorry…" she said before turning…

…and then her eyes went VERY wide on seeing the incredibly beautiful woman whose arm she was currently holding. As Naoko grunted and shook her head, she then perked on feeling Hensō's hand on her arm, and then she looked herself before her own blue eyes went wide. "Um…it's alright, Hensō-san," she whispered back.

"Um, guys…"

Everyone tensed on hearing Ten's warning voice, and then they turned…

"Oh, my Lord…" Padre Vincent gasped.

…to gaze on an awake and fully recovered Lum — had she never been cursed in the first place — floating about a metre away from the shattered window of the holding cell, her body crackling with energy. As people took a moment to take in that sight, the being there seemed to blink for a moment before she lifted her arms to gaze at her hands. As bio-electricity danced over her skin, she then hummed. "**Very powerful, this magic…**" she declared in a haunting voice that was totally devoid of Lum's normal accent.

"Xié…?"

Eyes locked on Arami, and then looked back at the being now floating in the air outside. She had tensed on hearing that name, and then she gazed on the reborn Prince of Hóngnóng before a light smile crossed her face. "**Yes, Lìngxiōng, it is I.**"

"Kentei-sama…?!"

People looked at a white-faced Somumi, and then back at the being now possessing Lum's original body. "**Ten'i-dono…you have my thanks for protecting my sibling while she was away from her parents**," the woman who was born a man named Liú Xié eighteen centuries before declared. "**Please consider yourself relieved of your duties. If you will kindly excuse us both, Lìngxiōng and I have much to discuss at this time.**" And with that, she lashed out with a bolt of energy to snare Arami around the waist, and then she soared into the night sky, pulling her reborn elder half-brother with her.

"**_ARAMI-CHAN!_**" Tariko screamed out…

…as the closed door to the holding cell exploded inward, allowing Ataru to stumble through. Quickly getting back to his feet, he scanned the room. Save for minor burn injuries on many of the people there, no one was harmed…and one was missing. "Arami-chan…?!" he gasped out before his eyes locked on the departing glowing figure flying south from the Palace, and then he snarled as he raced off after her.

"WAIT…!" Padre Vincent called out…

…before he gaped in awe as Ataru crouched on the windowsill, then bounded off into the night after the reborn Kentei and Arami. A second later, Tariko and Kanami were off after him, as were Lum and Hensō. Soon to follow were Somumi as well as Shikuko and Miyako, who had charged into the room right after their lover. Silence then fell over the scene before Rupa turned to stare wide-eyed at the others. "Who in the Dark's name WAS that?!" he demanded.

Naoko sighed. "That, Your Highness, is a bit of a story."

By then, Benten was at the window, gazing at the departing figures. She was then quick to spot a large field of solid black way to the south, about thirty kilometres from the Palace, easily over thirty square kilometres in size. Kentei was heading right for it. "Oi, Rupa!" she called out, pointing. "What the hell's that place?!"

Rupa looked…and then he paled. "Oh, no…!"

"What?!" Benten snarled.

"It's the Dead Grove, my dear."

Eyes turned as Upa came into the room, followed by Ika and Izabel. As everyone moved to look in the direction of that zone of darkness in the distance, Benten sighed. "Okay, _what_ is the Dead Grove?" she asked, trying not to scream out those words.

"A place where life cannot exist, child," Upa declared.

Everyone paled…

* * *

Far to the south of Muzlim Madiina…

"OW!"

Arami bit back the urge to cry as she rolled onto her butt after landing on her side rather hard. Wincing on feeling a sharp pain in her left elbow, she reached over to gently touch the arm there. She then tensed as a tsunami of agony shot up her arm, and then a moan escaped her. "It hurts…!" she gasped as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"**Remain still, Lìngxiōng.**"

She then blinked as a bolt of energy came out to snare her arm for a moment before it faded. Quickly sensing that the pain in her arm was gone, Arami then looked over at Kentei, clearly upset. "Xié!" she snarled. "What are you doing?! You know Papa and Mama are gonna get mad at you when they find out you dragged me here!"

"**I suspect they will, Lìngxiōng**," Kentei calmly answered before she paused as a chilly breeze warped over her. "**Hmmm…the magic of this place is quite strong**," she then mused before pointing a hand at a nearby large mushroom…which, unlike the ones that were in and around the capital city of Yaminokuni, was totally dark; the only think the reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor of the Latter Hàn Dynasty could see was the distant dim lights of the city she found herself in when she had woken up in Lum's old body minutes before, that making the black skies to the north of her glow a deep gunmetal grey. "**We'll need some light and heat**," she then mused as lightning lashed out.

It hit the mushroom, causing the fungus to ignite and create a large bonfire to send warmth and light over the reborn princes of Hàn. "**That's better**," Kentei — gazing on her reborn half-brother, Arami didn't feel it right to call her by the name she would most likely be given once she was in an Avalonian body, "Kanami" — then said before she noted a large rock nearby. Lowering herself to the ground, she walked over to sit down on it, and then she took a deep breath before gazing at her sister.

Arami giggled — her sibling was always SO serious, even when they had been living at the palace in Luòyáng — before she sobered up. "You somehow latched onto my _mei'na_ when it was absorbed into the Dragon Jade," she then said, a touch of mirth in her voice as her eyes sparkled with delight at her reborn sibling's actions.

"**Aye. I do apologize for that, but I was not going to give up another chance to live again when the Black Death summoned your mother and aunt to burn down the forest of Nanban**," Kentei replied. "**Fate truly is strange at times, Lìngxiōng. To believe Master Shǐ was willing to sacrifice so much to save your life when the spirits guarding the Lóngyù tried to attack the Lady Naoko. What he did ultimately allowed me the chance to make use of this body and the magics tied to it.**" She then laughed as she made a motion with her hand, sending out another bolt of energy at a nearby mushroom to Arami's left rear to make it burn. "**Even more so, this place we stand in now is full of magic! It shouldn't take me long to combine it together and put it to good use.**"

"What are you going to do, Xié?"

The reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor paused as she considered that. At first, when she felt her soul sucked into the body that had last been used by Redet Hensō not moments before, all she wanted to do was get away from everyone, find a place to hide, stop and think, then consider her future options. Of course, finding a way of re-growing the body's horn buds on the forehead — thus restoring its ability to fly and use bio-electricity — had been child's play for someone like Kentei; before her own soul had been taken out of the body, Hensō had been within days if not hours of getting her powers back. The fact that Kentei's reborn half-brother had been the vessel that had allowed the last emperor of the Hàn to gain a new body for her own use — thanks to the love Liú Xié felt for Liú Biàn — had forced her to pause before she snared Arami with her power to get her clear of the Palace.

So…

"**I don't know, Lìngxiōng**," she then confessed…

* * *

Approximately four hundred metres to the north…

"She appears calm."

"Let's keep her that way, Shikuko," Ataru mused as he crouched down behind a mushroom near the edge of the Dead Grove. It was nearly pitch-black in this place, the only light available coming from the bond fire his future niece had started, not to mention the dimmer light from the direction of Muzlim Madiina. That was probably one of the reasons this place wasn't inhabited at all. The other one was a very chilly feeling in the air; Ataru couldn't sense any sort of hot water vent or other heat source nearby, so the temperature of the air here was noticeably colder than it was in the capital city. It was not too bad, but still something one could not ignore for long…and given that Kentei was now wearing Hensō's old fur-lined bikini, she would be more vulnerable to the wind than anyone else. Still, thanks to the future Moroboshi Kanami's magic, it was quite easy for him to see where his nieces were currently relaxing and chatting away; while Kentei was quite on guard, Arami's delight that her sibling was once more alive and well was clearly wearing down on the former's emotional walls. Hopefully, the burning mushroom would throw off some heat and keep them both warm.

"To believe Kentei-sama _tricked_ us like this!" Somumi hissed, her arms shuddering as she fought down the urge to fire an arrow right at the creature's head.

"Calm down, Somumi-chan!" Tariko snarled at her, which made the younger girl wince and Shikuko, Miyako, Lum and Hensō — who had arrived at this place as soon as Ataru, his twin and her girlfriend had landed here — all gape. "Put yourself in Kanami-chan's shoes, for Fate's sake! She's on an alien planet, practically alone save for Arami-chan, and she knows her only ways out of here are to steal a spaceship or surrender to Hiromi, which I doubt she'll be willing to do after what happened in Hong Kong! We need to convince her it'll be alright! If we don't, we put Arami-chan in danger!"

The others gazed at her for a moment, and then Somumi nodded as she relaxed the tension on her bow. By then, the muffled rumble of an air bike echoed through the air. Hensō turned, her left hand sparking to create a quick flash of light for the people arriving there to lock in on and land. Soon enough, the headlights of two hovercycles appeared in the black sky overhead. In a minute, Benten and Kamen had guided their machines down. Riding with the Fukunokami-turned-Avalonian were Oyuki and Ran; Kamen was carrying Padre Vincent and Naoko. "Mienai and Damasu have gone off to tell Hiromi what's happened, Darling," Kamen said as she and her sister shut down their bikes and moved to lift a pair of Zephyrite Peacemaker rifles from the cargo compartments as Naoko reached into her bag to draw out a Lawgiver and charge it. "What's going on?"

"So far, it's been quiet," Ataru whispered as he made a shushing motion with his hand. "Kanami-chan probably allowed herself to be tied to the Dragon Jade when Onē-san went into the forest north of Nanban to get hold of the souls trapped there. When Arami-chan was given her body back, Kanami-chan latched her soul onto her sister's so she could find a way to get a body instead of possessing people to get one." A nod towards Lum's twin. "With Hensō now in an Avalonian body…"

Lum nodded. "What better one than Hensō's old body? Outside whatever power Kanami-chan brought with her to the party and the energy in this place, there's the energy of Lady Zōju's curse still latched onto it. If she masters it, she'll be a handful."

"Could the poor child have been trapped by this curse?" Padre Vincent asked.

Naoko shook her head. "Unknown. Like I said before, energies of that nature are hard enough even for Sagussan levels of technology to detect. Shikuko-onēsama, how many times has Kanami-chan resurrected herself between the Three Kingdoms and now?"

Shikuko hummed. "Maybe ten times. I'm not too sure."

A nod. "Which means she might be as experienced in dealing with magic and metaphysical forces as Negako-sama herself would be," Naoko mused, shaking her head again. "This is the thing she tried to warn us about. We should have listened."

Ataru smirked. "Well, Onē-san needs to get her jollies one way or another," he noted before he turned to look at the glowing point of light and the two women now seated close to it. "Okay, we need to keep her calm and win her trust."

He gazed at the Canadian chaplain on saying that. Noting that, Padre Vincent nodded as he straightened himself. "That will be my job," he mused.

The others all gaped. "Hey, Pastor! If you think you're going over there to chat with something like _**that**_, you got another think coming!" Kamen snapped.

The chaplain smiled. "Miss Shigaten, we're dealing with a person who probably feels she has _**never**_ had any sense of self-control over her life in all the incarnations she lived," he warned. "I talked this over with some of the people from Nanban; they know her best and understand what she's been through. She has every right to feel as if the Universe itself now stands against her. We need to win her trust. I am — and I don't mean to sound the least bit arrogant saying this — quite qualified to do just that. Atop that, we have an innocent child that is now in potential mortal danger. We need to worry about her, too. Naoko, do you have any other clothes in your field pack? It is quite cold here and giving Kanami something to cover herself with would probably be a good first step."

A nod. "I have a spare set of clothes I was originally going to give Hensō."

Hensō found herself blushing at such thoughtfulness as she gazed on the would-be medic. "Perfect. Since they're genetic twins, we don't have to worry about size problems," _Haida_'s chaplain mused. "Alright, Naoko, you'll come with me. But put that pistol away first."

Naoko blinked, and then she nodded as she turned on the safety of her Lawgiver before slipping it into the bag she slung over her shoulder. With that, both began walking towards the distant beacon of light where Kentei and Arami were currently located. As they headed off, the others watched them, all save Ataru and Tariko scowling at the idea of placing an unarmed person — and a man who would _refuse_ to _ever_ take up arms! — potentially into harm's way. "I don't like this," Kamen said as she lifted her Peacemaker to the shoulder to take a scan of the target through the aiming scope.

"You don't have to, but he's experienced enough to help out," Ataru said. "Now sit down and relax. We're gonna have to wait this one out."

Kamen gazed at him, and then reluctantly nodded…

* * *

"Hello there!"

Kentei tensed as her body sparked with energy as she got up, moving to shield Arami from the source of that strange voice. "**Who's there?!**"

"Xié, wait!" Arami called out. "That's Father Vincent!"

Kentei blinked, and then relaxed. "**The Canadian priest who was there at your christening**," she mused as the energy around her faded. "**Come forth, Reverend Klein! Are you alone?!**"

"I came with a medic," Padre Vincent said. "She has clothes for you; spare clothes for Hensō she had brought with her. It's a little cold here; you might want to wear something more than just a two-piece bikini, even if it is made of fur."

Kentei considered that, and then she made a "come hither" motion with her hand. Soon enough, two people emerged, both in naval combat dress, but with one wearing a beret and bearing the badges of a military chaplain and the other with just a baseball cap on her head, a bag slung over one of her shoulders. "**Ah! You even brought the lovely Takanashi Naoko with you as well, Reverend Klein**," she noted. "**I know you would not be armed out of simple principle, but is your companion armed?**"

"She has a pistol; medics in the Forces are permitted to bear arms in defence of patients," Padre Vincent stated. "I told her to disarm the weapon. There's no need for that sort of thing in this case." He looked over. "Naoko, give her the clothes."

The would-be medic nodded as she opened her bag and moved to give the folded clothes to the reborn last emperor of the Hàn with both hands. Kentei smiled at her complete lack of fear in doing what she was doing. "**You're confident**," she noted with a smirk. "**And, I must confess, quite beautiful to the eye. I sensed something surge up within Hensō after her soul was moved into her new body, right when she laid eyes upon you for the first time. Is that natural amongst all of your kind?**"

"After the Awakening, yes," Naoko said as she back-stepped, keeping her eyes locked on Kentei as she moved to place herself in a protective position concerning both Padre Vincent and Arami. "Your sister won't experience it for some years yet."

A smirk. "**You're not scared of me.**"

Naoko's eyebrow arched. "Why should I be?" she asked. "True, you have the ability to fly now, plus fire bio-electrical bolts of energy. But your body is that of a pure-born Oni. I'm an Avalonian. I have my own advantages as well."

"Naoko…"

She winced on sensing a disapproving stare come her way from the lone man amongst them. "Sorry," she stated as she gazed on Padre Vincent, and then she turned to glare at Kentei. "But from what my empathy tells me, she's looking for ways of lashing out at people. You were right about mentioning how little she trusts anyone, sir. She knows she's trapped here. And while I know personally that Hiromi-onēsama would _**never**_ contemplate killing her, much less trapping her _mei'na_ within a magatama or other mesonium receptacle to ensure she behaves herself, there _**are**_ those amongst us now who wouldn't hesitate to do either. After all, this situation is much greater than just responding to the desires of one person. The safety and freedom of the residents of several _planets_ now rests on what happens on Yaminokuni this day."

By then, Kentei had slipped on the clothes she had been given. "**I admire truthfulness**," she then said. "**While I don't possess that remarkable empathy you were born with, Lady Naoko, I have my own ways of sniffing out lies. I appreciate that.**" She then moved to cross her legs, keeping herself floating a metre off the ground as she relaxed herself. "**So what is Father's goal in coming to this place?**"

"To break the Urusians and their Niphentaxian allies once and for all of any willpower to force themselves on Earth or the Avalonians," Naoko explained. "Just before Hiromi-onēsama went to Hong Kong to obtain the Dragon Jade, forces of both those planets I mentioned surged through a space warp from the Neptunian moon of Triton right into the Moroboshi home in Tomobiki in hopes of either killing or capturing Ataru-oniisama. They are angry at him for decreeing that none of their kind will be permitted to walk the Earth again for the next two hundred years at least. By having Hensō marry Princess Ika, which would see her live on _this_ planet, that will take away Captain Invader's 'child' once and for all time, permanently. That will hurt him badly…and hopefully ensure that the forces of Uru will not be competently led for the next few years. That will give us time to build up the Earth Defence Force to make it a lethal deterrent should the Urusians ever try to come our way again. And given that the Niphentaxians, for the most part, look on Hensō as their 'living goddess,' seeing her married and living here on Yaminokuni would hurt them just as badly."

Kentei hummed. "**You speak of things I'm not aware of, Naoko. Explain this. Why are these aliens a threat to Earth…and how would a ****_marriage_**** alter that?**"

Naoko nodded as she sat down on a rock close to Arami. "It's like this…"

* * *

The Metropolitan Fortress, 37 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters command post, thirty minutes later (Japan time: suppertime)…

"_**WHAT?!**_"

Mienai sighed. "It's true, Hiromi-san. Someone — Arami-chan believed it to be a person called 'Xié' — possessed Hensō's old body, then flew off with it into this Dead Grove Prince Rupa just told you off. Your daughter was taken with her as well. Darling, both of his lovers, his twin, Kanami-san, Lum-chan, Hensō-chan, Somumi-san, Onē-sama, Ran-chan, Benten, Kamen, Reverend Klein and Naoko-san went after them."

Hiromi blinked before she closed her eyes. "My son…!"

"Kanami will not hurt anyone if she is not attacked in turn."

Eyes locked on Kyech, and then Hiromi sighed. "But is it really Kentei?" Torusuke then asked. All of the school leaders and their chief strategists were present at this meeting; everyone had been brought here when the news of what happened to Moroboshi Arami got out over the communication nets. "If this curse…"

"I don't believe the curse Lady Zōju forced on Lum-chan is sentient, Torusuke-san," Mienai stated. "And the Lady K'ekhech did identify the being that just took poor Arami-chan away by the name 'Kanami.' Darling told me that would be the name Hiromi-san would give to her second son from her first life, the one who succeeded her on the Dragon Throne of China."

"So it _**is**_ Kentei, Sōsō," Kashira Emi stated. "Kūkurin here fuckin' nearly gutted her soul when she used the Gáe Bulg to chase her out of my wife's body back in Hong Kong, so she'd want to get even one way or another." She thumbed Sandi McLugh, who was standing now beside Hari Sumiko. "And with the forest north of our school burned down thanks to Kataikō and Kashin, with all the souls trapped in the Dragon Jade, she didn't have many places to go."

"We won't hurt her, of course," Koro Sonami said.

"No, cousin, we will not," Hiromi replied with a shake of her head, and then she took a deep breath. "Right now, this is a side issue."

"A SIDE ISSUE?!" Mioko snarled.

"Calm down, Mioko."

The reborn empress of the Hàn tensed, and then she gazed at the Dragonspeaker for a moment before she relaxed. "With Padre Vincent there, not to mention my elder daughter, there are elements present that will keep my younger child calm," Hiromi then added. "Onii-san and Onē-san are close by and they are quite experienced in dealing with the unusual. We also have Hōsen-dono, Kōdai-dono and Orai-dono there, not to mention Lum-san, Benten-san, Hensō-san and Kamen-san as well."

Torusuke perked. "You're calling Ten'i _that_?"

Hiromi stared at him. "And you _haven't_?! You disappoint me, Mōtoku-dono!"

Laughter filled the room as the leader of Kyoshō blushed. "Well, maybe when this is done, you can decree that her new style name, Majesty," Tsukasame Yoiko noted.

"So I will," Hiromi stated, and then she took a deep breath. "Chūtatsu-dono?"

Yoiko tensed. "My Emperor?"

"Your opinion of this situation as it reflects on the mission?"

A shake of the head. "Much that we all ache at the idea of your child now under potential threat from Kentei, it's a side issue, Majesty. We're here to draw the last of the Imperial Round and the surviving leaders of the Church of Lum out into battle so we can destroy them. Despite the Dead Grove being full of heavy ki and magic, there is no real threat to your children, to say anything of your brother, your sister and the others. Let's get the job done; we can deal with Kentei at our leisure later."

Mioko quaked on hearing that, though a calming hand from her lover made her stop from lashing out. "I agreed to that, Majesty," Oroka Shikumi added, nodding. "The troops want to exercise their weapons and we have the Heavens at our side. We best do it now."

"Agreed. Let's get it done and over with," Uru Hokona stated.

Hiromi then nodded. "So noted, ladies. Your opinion, Kōmei-dono?"

Eyes locked on Morokuzu Ryōko. The young strategist of Seito took a deep breath, and then she nodded. "I agree with the others. We can't allow the issue with Ryūkyō-sama and Ryūben-sama to not distract us from our overall mission." Everyone was quick to smile at Ryōko's use of _those_ terms to identify the two reborn children of the Xiàolíng Emperor, which reflected Hiromi's personal choice of battle name, "Ryūkō Kyōrei." Ryōko took a deep breath before leaning over the map of the city and its environs now spread out on the table between everyone. "Still, there is a concern I have."

"Being?"

Ryōko took up a grease pen and made a rough square around the whole urban part of Muzlim Madiina. "This is the extent of the defensive shield limits that Major Mitchell's engineers will erect to protect the city against potential fall-out from the weapons to be fired by the field guns and tanks, not to mention the stealth cruiser's weapons. The Dead Grove is here…" — she indicated a position two kilometres south of the limit of that shield boundary — "…well outside the shield zone yet within range of potential radiation fallout if any of the shells fired from the guns of the 2nd/10th Dragoons and 18 Field Battery — which are now on the ground across the Airport pond opposite from the Dead Grove itself — do not strike the ship and fall back to earth. I'm afraid that if we don't move fast to protect the people there, they'll fall victim to radiation sickness. I propose a force be formed under Mōkaku-onēsan's command to go into the Grove and position itself to take hold of everyone there and get them to safety in case this happens. As a precaution, everyone should wear clothing shielded against radiation."

"Why not simply go in and grab them now, Miss Morokuzu?" Mitchell asked.

"We're unfortunately dealing with a very powerful — and **_quite_** mistrustful — person that is now having her abilities augmented with great amounts of magical energy, Major," Ryōko stated. "Because of that, there are many unknowns in this situation. If we snare Ryūkyō-sama now, do we have a chance to subdue her? Or will she lash out and try to kill everyone in sight? We want to walk out of this with no casualties whatsoever, especially from an issue that doesn't really affect the core mission. At the same time, if we delay, there's the risk that she will gain control of the extra power the curse on Hensō-san's old body gives her, plus draw in what power the Dead Grove has. Will she be inclined to listen to reason then? Again, hard to predict."

"We just have to make sure the shells land on target," Bell then said before he gazed on his subordinate armoured and artillery commanders. "Make sure all shells are checked before they're taken from the caissons to the guns. **_No_** shot misses the target. Understood?"

Nods all around. "Why make me command this team, kid?" Emi then asked.

"Because Ryūkyō-sama in this life is most familiar with the people of Nanban," Ryōko stated. "She will be more comfortable with you than anyone else. I'm sure Reverend Klein is doing his best to convince Ryūkyō-sama to accept what has happened to us all and allow herself to have her soul shifted into a body that will genetically make her the Emperor's child in fact as well as name. I can sense he has been gifted by the God of the Christians to do his mission. But will she submit just on his word?"

"She has a point, Mōkaku-sama," Ki Kenshika noted.

The leader of Nanban nodded. "I'll need some heavy firepower with me," Emi then noted as she gazed around to look at the other tōshi in the tent. "People who didn't get their minds warped by Kentei. A team from each of the main schools?"

Nods all around. Hiromi then sighed before she turned to the small man seated in a guest chair nearby. "Patriarch Upa, I think it's high time we made a certain call to Onishuto," she then said. "Colonel Bell, are your troops ready to go?"

"Ready and willing, Director," the commander of the group troops declared. "The ammunition caissons are being landed now and all troops are doing final systems checks. We should be fully ready to commence the operation in thirty minutes."

"My dear Hiromi, are you willing to risk so many more in the Dead Grove?" Upa asked.

The tōshi all shrugged. "It's heavy ki and magic, sir," Sebone Mimōko said before she felt Ranma's hand slip into hers. "We've dealt with stuff like that before."

"Oh, hell, yeah!" Seki Haneko affirmed with a nod.

"Par for the course for us," Koeru Kumomi added as she grasped Miiko's hand.

Laughter filled the tent as all the Yaminokuni gaped at the tōshi…

* * *

The planet Uru, outside Onishuto, minutes later…

"Invader. Who the devil is this?!"

"Is that the pot calling the kettle black, Captain?"

Redet Invader jerked on seeing that cackling image appear before his screen. "_**YOU!**_" the large Oni warlord spat out. "What the hell do YOU want?!"

"Nothing at all, my dear captain," the First Patriarch of Yaminokuni replied. "I just called to inform you that your daughter has been made to see reason and will now gladly marry my younger great-grandson, Ika. We'll be holding the ceremony soon, of course."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"**_WHAT?! NEVER! HER HUSBAND WILL…!_**"

"**_MY BROTHER WILL WHAT?!_**"

Invader jolted as Upa looked left as a woman who looked very much like Ataru save for being prettier and dressing quite nicely for her age stormed into view to glare intently at her brother's would-have-been father-in-law. "Who…?"

"Moroboshi Hiromi," the woman introduced herself with a voice that was pure ice. "If you don't recall when we met on Okusei four months ago, I am Moroboshi Ataru's younger sister…and the _Matriarch_ of his clan. And unless my memory of that day your _so-called_ daughter dragged Onii-san to your planet to force him into marriage is faulty, Onii-san _**divorced**_ her in public view of _**thousands**_!" Her eyes then narrowed. "So you actually _supported_ that little attack on my family home, eh, Fat Boy?" she growled, making Invader wince on hearing the insult normally applied to him escape her lips, though he doubted she would be intimidated whatsoever by his size.

"I bet you were quite disappointed when Tariko-onēsan was able to kill over HALF of them, including your daughter's _former fiancé_, with a Lawgiver before any of them could set foot on Earth!" Hiromi then mocked. "A pity! I must confess that Onii-san still holds you with some respect even after the revelations the Lady K'ekhech made six months ago forced his hand concerning the one you now see as your daughter! He'll be quite disappointed in you, Captain." A smirk then crossed her face. "But then again, it no longer matters! _Hensō_ has seen the truth of herself. She also understands the full nature of the honour-debt your family owes the First Patriarch here. She took a very good liking to Prince Ika when they met. The horns were tagged per your customs and she accepted his desire to marry her. And _this_ time, there won't be any question of a _false_ marriage since when Onii-san tagged _Hensō_'s horns, it was during a TAG RACE! And as your _**real**_ daughter said it six months ago, a tag in a Tag Race _**does not**_ equal a marriage tag!" She shook her head. "Too bad for you and your people, not to mention Hensō's so-called 'worshippers' on Phentax Two. Soon, she'll be away from it all, in the arms of a good and noble prince, able to live and enjoy her life in peace. And your house will remain empty for as long as you and your airhead wife live." She then gazed on Upa, who had a delighted smirk on his face. "A fitting fate indeed!"

Invader jolted. "You can't believe that nonsense…!"

"_**YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEMAND I BELIEVE LIES, YOU FAT IDIOT!**_" Hiromi thundered, the force of her voice knocking Invader over. "I am an Avalonian, Invader! I am a _telepath_! I can read _**minds**_ as easily as I can read a _**book**_!" She raised her hand to wriggle her fingers in emphasis. "I have seen the truth with my own mind and soul! Onii-san has seen the truth with his own mind and soul! And I find it quite shocking that you — to say anything of Commander Shigaten and King Fuyu! — would believe the words of a _**mass murderer**_ like Ōgi _dai_-Zkuhsbagh over the words of three of the most noble warriors I have ever had the privilege of meeting! _**YOU ABANDONED YOUR ONLY CHILD, FOOL!**_" she roared again, knocking Invader — and his wife, who had just come into the living room on hearing the thunderous voice assaulting her husband's ears — down again. "And very soon, your _real_ daughter — who is also with us today — will have her justice. The one you've accepted as your daughter will be married off. And once the marriage is done, Lum-san will return to Okusei with her wife and live her life in peace knowing that all those who _**do**_ care for her accept her as she is.

"And you will _**never**_ see a single grandchild for the rest of your life."

Invader jolted as his wife moved to comfort him. "But…"

"But _nothing_!" Hiromi hissed. "Your flagship is too large to fit through the warp gate at Muzlim Madiina! And the Lady K'ekhech saw to it your family's personal cruiser was crippled to prevent you from using _that_ to come here to stop the marriage between Hensō and Prince Ika! You'll have to come to Yaminokuni the _normal_ way, which will take _months_…if not a YEAR! It will be far too late by then! Good day, Fat Boy!"

With that, the link was severed. "No…!" Invader gasped.

"BOSS!"

He jolted, and then turned as the main door to the house opened, revealing the first officer of his flagship, the battlewagon _Kashin_. "WHAT?!"

"Boss, it's your cruiser!" the one-eyed man declared. "It…"

Invader's jaw dropped in shock. "No…"

"What's going on here?"

The captain, his wife and the first officer all jolted on hearing that aged voice, and then they turned as a man in a hover-chair came into the living room…before they all jerked on seeing the raven-haired Noukiite free warrior in green-and-gold now standing behind him, one of her hands grasping the Frost Blood Blade that had been at her side in two lifetimes. "Grandpa…?" Invader then gasped.

"I just heard a most interesting story from the Lady Kachnuk here just now," Senior General (retired) Redet Traveller stated as he glared intently at his grandson, his aged green eyes now sharp and full of a terrible rage that made the younger people there all quake in fear. "A story I was able to confirm when I spoke to Lady Zōju after the Lady Kachnuk recommended I call her directly about this. What is this about you _**abandoning**_ your child, boy?! And at the damned words of a _**Niphentaxian**_, too?!"

Invader gulped…and then he tensed on hearing a _ding!_ from the communications unit. Walking over, he noted that some sort of written message was coming in now. Tapping a control to have it appear on the large screen, he then looked up…and then his jaw dropped in shock and outrage as the gist of the message sank in.

"_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! HOW DARE THEY SAY THAT…?!**_"

As Traveller blinked in confusion, Kuohu tried not to giggle…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **-cha** — Vosian and Yehisrite suffix honorific term of endearment; **Euk Hichheksuch Seuchhoukhek** — Literally "King of the World of Holy Reincarnation," this term is often shortened for brevity's sake to **Euk Hisehek**; **Daishi'cha** — Literally "great birth mother;" **Lìngxiōng** — Literally "Beautiful Elder Brother."

2) The **Gatherer** (and his on-board central computer, which Ataru nicknamed **Henry**) is quite the character in his own right from _The Senior Year_; he first appeared in "Lum's Lesson."

3) **Ryūkyō Kyōken** (**Moroboshi [****_née_**** Koro] Kanami**), also known as **Kentei**, is — as noted here — the current incarnation of **Liú Xié, the Xiàoxiàn Emperor of Hàn** (181-234 C.E.), the last emperor of the Hàn Dynasty. Born of the Consort Wáng (introduced in Part 34), Liú Xié was raised by his paternal grandmother, the **Dowager Empress Dǒng** (unknown birth date, died 189) in the wake of his mother's death. Unlike his half-brother, Liú Xié had a much more even temperament, which made him more attractive to his father to succeed him on the Dragon Throne…though Liú Hóng hadn't made a firm decision before his death, thus contributing to the infighting that rocked the Imperial Court and eventually allowed Dǒng Zhuó to seize power as chancellor. After eventually falling under the influence of Cáo Cāo, Liú Xié would remain on the throne until the year Cáo died. He would be succeeded by **Cáo Pī, the Wén Emperor of Wèi** (187-226), who made the deposed Xiàoxiàn Emperor a duke in the new kingdom of Cáo Wèi.

There are two different forms of Kentei in _Ikkitōsen_. In lieu of the manga format (which did not appear until volume #18), I'm using the anime version of him that appeared in _Xtreme Xecutor_…though, in this case, he could not possess the body of Shiba'i Chūtatsu (Tsukasame Yoiko) as he did in _Ikkitōsen-XX_.

4) The style-name Hiromi gives to Ten'i (Sakan Somumi), **Orai**, is derived from a nickname Cáo Cāo once gave Somumi's past-self, Diǎn Wěi. When Diǎn displayed his enormous strength on the battlefield, Cáo was reminded of **È Lái**, who was the bodyguard of **King Zhòu of Shāng**, one of China's mythical rulers who was said to have reigned over the Middle Kingdom from 1075-46 B.C.E. "Orai" is the way one would say the characters going into "È Lái" in Japanese.

5) The concept of Niphentaxian family name prefixes were introduced in _Lonely Souls_. To explain, before the rise of the Church of Lum (and the adoption of Urusian naming practice, which actually makes people refer to anyone — even a stranger — by given name), people made use of both their given names and a family name. To show what sort of social ranking such a person had in a particular faith, the ranking was arranged thus (from the highest level to the lowest):

**ot'ndai** — founder/supreme leader of a church  
**t'ndai** — senior layperson (i.e. the President)  
**odai** — senior priest/priestess  
**edai** — very important layperson (i.e. head of family)  
**bedai** — important layperson  
**sudai** — junior priest/priestess  
**dai** — basic honorific

As he is the founder of the Church of Lum, **Ōgi** (who first appeared in the _TSY_ story "What Price for Love?") would be given the "ot'ndai-" honorific prefix to his family name, thus making his proper name **Ōgi ot'ndai-Zkuhsbagh** (the family name is prounced "zkuss-bag"). Thus, Hiromi's referring to him with the just the basic "dai-" prefix would be seen as a horrible insult.

6) The ships referred to in the final part are a mark of the _Yatsura_ anime influence in my writings. The Urusian Defence Force Starship _Kashin_ (Mike Smith chose the name for the times the ship is mentioned in _TSY_) is the wedge-shaped craft that appeared in the first _Yatsura_ television episode "I'm Lum the Notorious" and also appeared in the first movie _Only You_. Invader's personal cruiser is the cigar-shaped craft that actually appeared in the first manga episode "A Good Catch" and would later appear in the "Boy Meets Girl" storyline…and be brought over to the fifth movie _The Final Chapter_.

As an aside, the _Kashin_'s first officer — who distantly resembles **Captain Harlock** from the series created by **Matsumoto Reiji** (born 1938), the creator of _Uchū Senkan Yamato_ — first appeared in _Only You_.

7) Lum's paternal great-grandfather, **Redet Traveller**, first appeared in the "Boy Meets Girl" storyline of the _Yatsura_ manga.


	40. A New Saint Crispin's Day

Near Uru (Japan time: suppertime)…

"Oh, Maidens…!"

"What do we do?"

The handsome Oni man in his mid-twenties could only scowl as he glared at the images his communications team had picked up just now. "That _bitch_…!"

"She is but a slave, friend Ando. A slave that's lost her way…"

"Ōgi, for ONCE in your useless life, _shut up_!" Colonel Pochik Ando snapped as he glared at the lone non-Urusian — the Avalonians that served as part of the crew had all been genetically shaped as both types of Urusian, so Ando found it quite easy to accept them as such; besides, treating them as _real_ people annoyed the hell out of the deposed president of Phentax Two and his countrymen now aboard, which made Ando happy (and ensured the Avalonians stayed loyal) — now standing on the bridge of the cruiser _Redemption_. The cruiser had been conducting stealth trials throughout most of the territory of the Union of Uru since it had been "appropriated" several months before from the dockyard at Erihana when the intelligence colonel's late father, retired Fleet Admiral Pochik Vel, had warned him to get the ship out of sight before class traitors like Lum's adopted sister Redet Negau came in to have the ship seized and destroyed before it could be put to good use. "If what we've learned of that woman is true, she is a former _emperor_ who led one of the most powerful nations on Earth back in her time! And there are potentially _thousands_ more like her supposedly on Earth; that's what this woman's sister told Milan Domo when she interviewed the Moroboshi siblings after the Battle of Morningstar Plain on Okusei! She's more than just a mere slave…!"

"Which is what she — much less any of her sisters — never deserved to be in the first place," a new voice then declared from the direction of the turbolift station.

Ōgi ot'ndai-Zkuhsbagh snarled on hearing HIS voice. "You…!"

"Oh, be quiet, you blind fool!" Tsuiro dai-Tashan snarled back before he gazed down in amusement at his current host. He ignored the looks of frank feminine speculation from several of the Avalonian-Urusians manning the bridge stations. "The last modifications have been made to the cloaking systems, friend Ando," the space naval architect — who had volunteered his services to the Urusian Imperials on _Redemption_ out of loyalty to his living "goddess" — added. "We haven't devised a way to separate the cloak from the main drive, but you'll be able to draw on both impulse and warp power in case you need it."

Ando nodded. "You have my thanks, Master Shipwright," he said, addressing the silver-haired, bespectacled grey-eyed twenty-something in the stylish clothes with the formal title. "It's amazing that you and your friends are so capable of doing these sorts of things. I always heard…"

"That we could _replicate_ but not _create_?"

The intelligence officer look flustered. "Um…y-yeah!" he sputtered out. Much that he personally didn't care for Niphentaxians — dealing with Ōgi would be enough to make any self-respecting Urusian want to ram his head against a bulkhead to chase away the headache that always came after taking with the deposed president for just _**five minutes**_ — as a whole, Ando did see himself as an honourable man. And Tsuiro and his friends had done wonders for the ship. "It's been wonderful, what you've done…"

"It is ultimately all to protect Lum-sama from something she doesn't wish to endure," Tsuiro stated. "And if such would allow the politics of your world to develop in a more civil sense, the better for the both of us. Agreed?"

A nod. "Agreed, Tsuiro."

"_If_ we are going to be rescuing Lum, of course."

Silence.

"You DARE…?!" Ōgi hissed.

"Oh, do be quiet, Ōgi!" Tsuiro snapped before he gazed in amusement at the lovely red-haired Oni-form Avalonian seated nearby. "You have doubts, Rino?"

Pochik Rino — "Mrs. Ando" as she would be addressed by Urusian custom, but she had given permission for Tsuiro and his friends to address her by given name — smiled in return. "I have a concern, Dear," she then said as she gazed fondly on her husband — that Rino and Ando were married by Urusian law had stunned Ōgi and those of his friends who had fled Phentax Two in the wake of the Avalonians' liberation and the toppling of the One True Faith by the heretics and apostates — as her brown eyes twinkled.

Gazing at her, Ando could only smile as he felt the glow his pregnant wife showed to all around her. And even if he couldn't do much with Rino, he also had a mistress — Rino's bond-mate, Jayla Seran, who had elected to "wear the pants" in their relationship and hold off on getting pregnant herself until Rino had given birth to the next heir to the headship of House Pochik — to satisfy his carnal needs and wants.

What true man in the galaxy — unless one was a Vosian and recognized to one's mate — would **_not_** like the idea of possessing _**two**_ skilled lovers?

"What is it, Rino?" he prodded.

"It appears — as we've just learned — that Matriarch Moroboshi and her brother have thrown in their lot with the First Patriarch of Yaminokuni as a way of shattering morale on Uru," Rino — whose slender body was only showing the initial signs of pregnancy — stated as she crossed her arms, giving Ando a warm smile. While she had some concerns when it came to his goals — as did all the Avalonian-Urusians now on the _Redemption_ — she did love him with all her heart and soul. And given how badly the Imperial Round had been ruthlessly cut down over the last couple days, his drive to find some way to keep himself alive and free was more than understandable. "We did overhear the reports being relayed through the Defence Force about what was recently attempted through Triton to Earth. Clearly, the Matriarch and her family wish to remove all Urusian influence off Earth once and for all, opening the doors then for the Seifukusu, the Noukiites and the Ipraedies to walk in at their leisure. We cannot tolerate that under _**any**_ circumstance. We must respond."

Ando hummed while Ōgi sent a disgusted look in Rino's direction. Watching this from his place next to his host's chair, Tsuiro could only smirk. "True," Ando mused. "Yūki, have you finished gathering all the intelligence about Yaminokuni?"

"Just finished now, Colonel," Nan Yūki — all of the Avalonians, over Ōgi's loud objections, had been accorded the right of family names when they had been woken and programmed to serve the Imperial Round of Uru; the House of Nan had been all but destroyed in the Union Revolution two centuries before — declared. She was also the lover and bond-mate of Dedron Sil, who had been slowly sliding into the camp of the Democratic Reformists under Rei's mother Seq Yedris before Yūki was (at the prompting of Ando's late boss, Azu Des, the Director of the Defence Intelligence Directorate) able to make her "see" the light. "There is, as Matriarch Moroboshi did hint to Captain Invader, a much faster way of getting to Muzlim Madiina than using normal warp travel; if we pushed our engines to the limit, it would take _**four months**_ to get to that planet." _Redemption_ had a projected maximum speed of Warp 6. "All we would require is a moon with a large enough sun shadow to warp into, then we enter a form of trans-warp space that will take us right into the Airport. The gate aperture is wide enough to take the _Redemption_ with minimal room to spare." She then tapped controls to bring up a diagram on the main view screen, and then she walked over to point out the various parts of the journey. "Travel time — if we warp to the Shingetsu sector and use the moon of the fifth planet there as the entry point — to Muzlim Madiina will be just under three hours. And if we move fast enough, we'll have the advantage of surprise on our side. The Airport has sensors that can allow them to detect an incoming ship, but they won't pick us up until five minutes before we emerge through the event horizon. And they have no means to detect what type of ship is actually coming in; the transwarp dynamics governing this sort of movement do not allow such a thing. By the time they could react, we'll be high enough over the city to shield ourselves, bombard it and force the First Patriarch to capitulate and surrender Lum to us."

"Any possible risks?" Ando asked.

"There is one grave unknown I can see," Yūki stated. "How in Lyna's name did Matriarch Moroboshi and her brother get to Yaminokuni in the first place? We've no idea what the state of things is over Earth at this time. Fortunately, the Defence Force still tries to monitor traffic in the Noukiite Outmarches. We haven't heard anything about movements into Earth's solar system, even if sensing traffic from Jiyū and Tsumetaru is at the extreme range of the sensor drones based out of Toshitto."

"The Dragonspeaker, of course," Ando's executive officer Tenwan Sakimu — who formerly commanded the battlewagon _Repia_ based out of Toshitto before he had been removed from command and was on the verge of being arrested for his Imperial sympathies when he had been rescued by Ando's crew — then stated. "She can teleport between planets, of course; she proved that when she took Moroboshi from Onishuto all the wake to Okusei after he divorced Lum. True, we don't know what happened to Ran's ship, but I strongly doubt the people of Earth have any knowledge on how to properly work the ship."

"Sakimu, Lum is with them now," Ando reminded him.

The former captain blinked, and then he hissed. "Damn…!"

"You surely don't believe that stupid story, do you?" Ōgi snarled.

Sakimu's wife, Tenwan Sunda, glared at him. Like Yūki with Sil and Rino with Ando, she loved her husband/child-mate with every fibre of her being. She was also now pregnant with her beloved's child, though it was still a few days after conception; she wouldn't show for a while yet. She had been given the name of Sakimu's former first officer on _Repia_, who had died saving his life in a mission on the abandoned Ipraedies world of Barsoom a year ago. "Mister President, it simply shocks me beyond belief that you and your kind _**never**_ took the time to really understand my people," she said with a smirk. As Tsuiro tried not to snicker on hearing her say that, she added, "The possibility of cross-_tre'cha_ is quite likely. I overheard what the Lady Zōju explained about what she did to Lum years ago when Milan Domo went to the Oak Forest to interview her. What better way to deny Lum true happiness by making her literally _disappear_?"

"It could _**not**_ have happened!" Ōgi snapped.

"You're a telepath now?!" Tsuiro asked.

The deposed president jerked as Ando and Sakimu both grinned at the ship's acting chief engineer. "Perhaps," Sunda conceded, though all of the others on the bridge were quick to sense she was just being polite to someone who clearly didn't deserve such politeness. "Still, I also know that the Hunter Commander Nassur, his wife the Lady Cinba, and the Lady Shogai Dakejinzō would _**never**_ lie about something of _**that**_ nature. And the Lady K'ekhech's reputation for truthfulness is also well-known." She relaxed in her chair. "I was close to them once two months ago on Sakusei Station when they were meeting up with Master Koruneko. They were talking about what had happened to Lum and their friends; they had just attended the dual weddings of Princess Oyuki and Ran to the Lady Admiral T'yenuo and the Lady General Kaechkyuk. I didn't touch them, so I couldn't sense their thoughts. But their emotions were as clear as day. It happened."

"So we can at least get hold of the real Lum on this trip," Ando said, ignoring Ōgi's snort of disbelief. "Do you recommend we try to kill Lum's wife?"

A shake of the head. "It would kill Lum, Colonel. The chances are extremely good that she and the Lady Nut'yek would have become _marei'cha_ at the time they took the promise oath on Okusei." She gazed at her husband. "Just as killing my husband would kill me, Rina and our baby. Still, she could be subdued. So could Ran's wife if she is present. I recommend we capture all of them if the opportunity presents itself."

A nod. "Sakimu?"

"It's risky, but I think we can pull it off," Sakimu stated.

"If we go, I recommend we go as quickly as possible," Rino added. "Speed's of the essence right now and we will have the advantage of tactical surprise."

"Agreed," Yūki added. "I believe it would be cautious to do a run to Earth to see what is there first, but the _Ashi'cha_ has a point, Colonel. Time is against us."

The senior intelligence officer then took a deep breath. "Alright, we'll go now. We'll do a pass over Earth after we've rescued Lum and her friends."

The others all nodded. "Pilot!" Sakimu called out.

"Setting course for Shingetsu now, Number One," the navigator, Aruka Rina, said with a smile as she flashed Sakimu a delighted smile; she was Sunda's bond-mate and the first officer's official mistress. "Ready to engage at your command, Colonel."

"Get us going, Rina!" Ando said.

"Yes, sir! Warping out now!"

And with that, the invisible _Redemption_ swung around and warped off…

* * *

Below decks, in the main cafeteria…

"**_HOW DARE THEY SAY THIS?!_**"

The table where Roshi dai-Rukoa — he served as Tsuiro's number two in the main engine room — had put down his meal shook after a fist slammed into it. "Hey!" the raven-haired, azure-eyed man snarled. "Do you mind?! I'm trying to eat here!"

"Disrespectful bastard!" an aged voice echoed from behind Roshi. "How DARE…?!"

"Be quiet."

A gargled intake of breath made Roshi turn and smile as Fangi t'ndai-Marthon cowered from the near-giant Oni woman scowling down at him. "Thank you so much, Sergeant Roki. I wasn't interested in listening to him while I enjoy my spice tea." Tsuiro and his friends had — unlike the other Niphentaxians who had come aboard _Redemption_ with Ōgi — all gone out of their way to adopt the local cuisine, which made them all the more acceptable to the roughly two hundred Urusians now aboard the ship.

"Well, far be it from me to interrupt your tea," Azu Roki — who had been a Marine Corps drill sergeant on Toshitto until she had been dismissed from the service three months ago for her Imperialist leanings…though Roshi knew she was actually something of a moderate when it came to the potential future of Urusian politics — said as her hazel eyes twinkled with delight. "So what's got you so upset, Samei?"

A dataPADD was flung at her. "Read that!" Uio Samei snapped.

Roki caught it, and then gazed on the message written there. As Roshi looked at her — he and his lover Hicai dai-Kaito had spent some hot and passionate nights with Azu Roki and her Avalonian-born wife, Azu Pai; both had even acted as groomsmen when Roki and Pai went to Zeiwan to have their handfasting ceremony — he was quick to see a look of total outrage cross Roki's face…before it melted into confusion. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure," Roki said as she scratched her shaggy black hair around the horn at the back of her head; like Redet Ten, Roki only had one horn-bud, which had earned her scathing insults of "tokkaebi" from her classmates in elementary school before her size and strength scared such bullies off. "It's a challenge letter. Insults the hell out of both the colonel and the captain, not to mention Imperials in general…wait!" she then called out before scanning the words there.

"What is it?" Roshi asked.

"Just a sec'! Hey, Major!"

"What is it?" a crimson-haired Seishin woman in her late twenties called back.

"You want to look at this?" the sergeant asked as she held up the PADD.

Uio Toma — she was Samei's older sister — walked over to pick up the device, and then she scanned it. Watching her, Roshi was quick to see the same sort of emotions flash across her face. "This is a challenge letter," she then said. "Or is it…?"

Roshi held out his hand. "May I, oh lovely one?"

Toma blushed. "Flattery will get you nowhere with me, Master Shipwright Roshi!" she said, though she did hand over the dataPADD. Atop being married to one of the Avalonian-Urusians — a lovely raven-haired Oni who had been named Carwan Enni on her initial birth; she was now "Mrs. Toma" by Urusian naming custom — now aboard _Redemption_, she also was lovers with Tsuiro dai-Tashan and his lover, Riha dai-Ojyo; the latter served as the senior weapons engineer aboard ship now.

"Oh, the contrary, oh most beautiful queen of the Amazons. Flattery gets me next to _everywhere_!" Roshi joked before he scanned the message on the PADD.

He then sighed as Fangi — who looked like a thirty-something version of Aisuru Satoshi; Megane was known to the Niphentaxians as the "First Holy Apostle" given his place as leader of Lum's Stormtroopers — leaned over his shoulder to gaze at the message on the PADD. He then blinked before he snarled. "_**HOW DARE THAT ROBOT INSULT US…?!**_"

**_WHAM!_**

"Thank you, Roki," Roshi said as he gazed in appreciation at his lover.

"Anytime," Roki said as she winked at him; she had just backhanded Fangi unconscious. "So what do you think?" she then asked as she nodded at the dataPADD.

"Well, it's many things here," the Niphentaxian engineer stated. "Yes, a challenge letter. And spiced in such a way that it would make both Ando and Sakimu so enraged at the insults the writer used here that they'd want satisfaction for this as quickly as possible. And it is also a denunciation of Lum-sama's parents and her family for abandoning her all at Ōgi's words." All of Tsuiro's friends had expressed their belief of what had been publicly revealed in Onishuto six months ago. "Not to mention a flat-out denunciation of the so-called 'one true faith'…!"

"You…believe in the…Goddess…as well…"

"Of course I do," Roshi said as he gazed in veiled contempt at the bruised and barely-conscious Fangi. "But I, at least, acknowledge the TRUTH about Lum-sama! She is divinely touched…but she also has her own opinions and feelings! Which have NEVER been properly acknowledged by anyone throughout the years! Least of all that oxymoron you call 'the Church of Lum!'" As Fangi gargled in outrage, Roshi then nodded to Roki. "After all, Lum-sama would NEVER approve of our people enslaving the Avalonians like they've done for the last century! She certainly never would have approved of a BIOLOGICAL WARFARE attack on Lecashuto, even if it was meant to target the Mikado! And she certainly wouldn't have behaved as badly as Hensō did when she found herself supposedly 'married' to Moroboshi Ataru!"

"_**HOW DARE YOU SPEAK SUCH…?!**_"

_**CRUNCH!**_

"Shut it, you idiot!" a lanky starfighter pilot from Toshitto, Pilot Lieutenant Mith Sijo, snarled after she transformed back from her tiger-like metamorphic form; as such, she was as large as Seq Rei when he morphed into his ushitora body and just as powerful physically. That had allowed her to back-slap Fangi across the face to smash him head-first into a wall, leaving a dent in the steel there and a streak of blood that led down to the unconscious Megane cultist. "We're trying to have something to eat here! Your loud mouth's distracting us!" And with that, she took a seat with her pregnant wife, Mith Miyu, and her equally-pregnant bond-mate, Azu Hama.

"Thanks," Roshi said before he turned back to gaze on the dataPADD. "But here's this as well," he continued before reading, "'_We call upon the true and loyal sons and daughters of Uru to rise up in righteous outrage at the many crimes committed in the Crown Princess Lum's name by those who acted supposedly in her defence. Those who — regardless of how they view the future of their world — can open their eyes and their hearts to see the truth of what is about them, then fight for that truth with all their power and passion. No true Urusian should stand still and allow these many offenses against the Lady Lum to go unanswered and not avenged_.' My…"

"Sunda did say that she sensed that Nassur, his wife and Dakejinzō all believed this story," Toma stated. "So if it's actually true…"

"Then the Terrans had all the right in the universe to open their doors and ally themselves with the Avalonians," Roshi said. "Even if Hensō — and Damasu, Mienai and Kamen — couldn't be ultimately blamed for what happened after the Tag Race, some of their behaviour on Earth really wasn't the best way to impress the people in New York City as to our trustworthiness. And don't get me started about that bomb Ōgi ordered buried in the Tomobiki Ginza, either! That was an act of pure madness!"

"We were…protecting…Lum-sama…"

The Urusians — even Toma's brother Samei, who viewed Terrans as a whole as "tailless monkeys" like many Imperials did — all glared wrathfully at the dazed Fangi. "A _**star base self-destruct device**_?! Buried in a metropolis of over TWENTY MILLION defenceless civilians?!" Toma snarled. "And with Lum — No! _Hensō_! — in the middle of all that?! If that damned thing went off, Earth would be subject to NUCLEAR WINTER! It's a damned wonder that the Lady K'ekhech didn't drop that thing over Lumukyō!"

"Now, now, Toma-vayae," a strange voice then said as Tsuiro walked into the room, followed by an equally-smiling Riha, who was a young man with black hair in a pageboy cut and dark blue eyes. "No need to call the city that! It WAS built by supporters of the Church of Hollywood long before the so-called 'one true faith' was born…"

"**_HERESY!_**" Fangi wailed before Riha's foot smashed into his face to knock him out.

"Nice kick!" Sijo called out.

Riha winked at her. "Call it 'New Hollywood' instead," Tsuiro finished as he adjusted his reading glasses before gazing at the dataPADD in Roshi's hands. "Was there anything else in that missive which might interest us, Roshi-kun?"

"Yes, there is," Roshi said. "'_We also call upon those from Phentax Two and her colony worlds who — even if they mistook the Lady Lum as a Living Angel of the Divine — also believe in truth and justice to rise up in support of this call to war against the agents of evil who would cast their dark shadows on all intelligent beings across the galaxy. Those who had doubts about the Daughters of Sagussa on Avalon from the beginning, when the Elder Ganzo warned of the impending catastrophe about to befall such a hard-working and observant people as what rose on Phentax Two, should heed these words. Thanks to the mass-murderer, liar and insane stalker Ōgi _dai_-Zkuhsbagh, the natives of the Union of Phentax Two are now not seen as the builders of the Universe as the great President Lecasur of Vos once viewed them as centuries ago. But as a race of fanatical_ terrorists _who deserve only to be_ **exterminated and enslaved themselves** _to ensure the peace and harmony of the local cluster is maintained. Heed this well_.'"

"Capital advice," Tsuiro said as he drew out a pistol from his pocket. "And one we should start to heed…right _now_." With that, he aimed and fired.

As the Urusians and Avalonians morbidly watched, the bolt slammed into Fangi's head, causing him to cry out before the disintegrating energy consumed his whole body!

Silence then fell as people processed that, and then Roki stared wide-eyed at the Niphentaxian engineer. "Um…not that we don't mind, but…"

"We just discovered that Ōgi plans to have all of you killed off so he can seize this ship and use it himself to rescue Hensō, Sergeant," Tsuiro said as he clicked on the safety of his weapon and slipped it back into his pocket. "I'm having Tute deal with the rest of them." A smirk. "Imagine the look on the 'President's' face when he finds out that those he hoped to have aid him in his 'holy crusade' are discovering the Final Mystery of the Te'a as we are now speaking. In the meantime — just to warn you all — we're on our way to Yaminokuni and we should be there in three hours. Best be ready."

The others in the room nodded as he walked out of the cafeteria, followed by a smirking Riha. Silence fell over the scene for a moment, and then Sijo smirked. "Damn! I knew I liked that guy when I first met him! Now I know why!" she mused.

The others hummed as Roshi sipped his tea. "What about Ōgi?" Roki then asked.

"Deliver him alive to the Vosians," Roshi mused. "Don't they deserve justice as well?"

The others considered that, and then they nodded…

* * *

Yaminokuni, the Dead Grove south of Muzlim Madiina (Japan time: an hour after supper)…

"Welcome to the party, everyone."

Kashira Emi blinked on hearing that calm man's voice, and then she relaxed as she, her sister, lover and Ki Kenshika crouch-walked over to stand close to Moroboshi Ataru, who's right hand was now glowing with reddish ki to act as a beacon for the Nanban warriors and their friends to home in on. "What's happening?" Emi hissed.

"So far, nice and quiet," Shikuko said as she glanced around the curve of the mushroom Ataru was seated against to gaze on the beacon of light some distance away. "Kentei seems pretty taken by Padre Vincent. We're just sitting it out until she finally sees reason. What are you guys doing here? And why the hell are you in those jumpsuits?" She nodded to the hooded, full-body CADPAT jumpsuits everyone else was wearing.

"The Boss is concerned about potential fallout from the artillery and tank shells that'll get fired on the bandits when they get here," Emi stated. "The shield the sappers are putting up doesn't stretch out this far. If any shells or shell fragments drop down on the shield, the radiation will get scattered. And here's a place it'll fall."

The others gazed at her. "Oh, shit! What do we do?!" Kamen asked.

"We got materialiser beacons with us fixed to the jumpsuits," Emi's sister Yutako explained. "We got extras for all of you. Instant something appears to be falling on the city, we hit them and get beamed up to the _Trinidad_; she'll be low enough in the atmosphere to still be covered by the dust cloud so the enemy ship won't spot her as they're flying through the warp gate, but able to use the materialisers."

Everyone there took that in, and then nodded. "Alright," Ataru said as he got up and walked over to stand behind Shikuko as he peered intently at the scene several hundred metres away. After a moment, he gazed at Ki Kenshika. "You go over yourself to her. Take extra units with you before you go there. Approach her slow; she's getting comfortable with Arami-chan and the Padre, but one bad move'll spook her."

"She always did like my pets," the reborn king of the Bānà Grotto then stated as he glanced down at all the wolves of his pack, all of whom were sniffing the strange air of this odd place and whining with a healthy mix of both fear and curiosity.

"Are your dogs going to be alright?" Lum asked.

Kenshika chuckled. "I had materialiser beacons put on their collars, Lum-san," he said, pointing to one of his wolves. "Instant the shooting starts, I'll have them beamed out. Unfortunately, they didn't have chemical warfare gear for dogs." He then indicated Emi. "Emi-chan's got a small suit for the Prince, of course."

Ataru smirked. "You better get going then, pal."

A laugh. "So I will!" Nanban's largest fighter said as he received a tossed silk bag from Emi, and then he turned to head off, his wolves trotting alongside him.

"Now what?" Emi asked.

"We wait," Ataru said. "Tell everyone not to approach closer than a hundred metres of that flame, Emi-chan. Like I said, we can't afford to spook her."

"Got it," Emi said as she picked up a small communicator unit she had received from a smiling signalman from 721 Communications Regiment before they headed out here. "South Six to all Fighter Sixes," she called out. "Check in right now."

"North Six," Tsukasa Torusuke called back.

"East Six," Mago Tsueko added.

"West Six," Koro Sonami replied.

"Centre Six," Tadasu Suguta called out.

"Righteous Six," Futoshi Itsuku said.

"Boxer Six," Kokoni Kichimi said at the same time.

Laughter echoed through the air. "Noble Six," On Tsuguta then said.

"Gold Six here as well," Hari Sumiko said. "What's going on, South?"

"Wolfman's now approaching Target Kay with his pack," Emi said. "Right now, it's all cool, guys, but Tag Man says we don't approach under a hundred metres until told otherwise. Chances are there Target Kay might get spooked. Got it?"

Torusuke: "Got it."

Tsueko: "Gotcha!"

Sonami: "We understand."

Suguta: "Understood."

Itsuku: "You got it, Red!"

Kichimi: "We're sitting tight!"

Tsuguta: "We'll remain until told otherwise."

Sumiko: "All is calm with us."

"So now we wait," Miyako said as she sat down beside Ataru.

"Spud Jimmy Two-Six to South Six."

Emi clicked on her communicator. "South Six, go."

"Be advised, Queen Sentinel One is picking up a twitch in the pond," the officer in command of the electronic warfare troop attached to the squadron sent out from 721 Regiment on the Task Force, Captain Hank Marlin, called out. "Terminal Six is analyzing now."

"Shit!" Emi spat out. "What's the ETA?"

"Wait one," Marlin advised. A minute later, he called back, "South Six, this is Spud Jimmy Two-six. We got an estimate now from Terminal Six. Bandit's estimated arrival is between one-eight-zero and two-ten minutes. Be advised."

"Three to three-and-a-half hours," Miyako stated.

"Yeah," Emi said before clicking her communicator. "Got it, Spud Jimmy. Thanks for the heads up. South Six to all Fighter Sixes. You guys got that?"

Torusuke: "We heard."

Tsueko: "Jeez! They're taking long, aren't they?!"

Sonami: "Understood."

Suguta: "We're ready and waiting, South!"

Itsuku: "Damn, you're right, Sonsaku! Fuckin' slowpokes! Go to all that trouble to throw a party and they're gonna be _**fashionably late**_!"

Kichimi: "Hey, let's chill and relax, Shigi! We'll beat 'em up even better!"

Tsuguta: "We're waiting."

Sumiko: "We are at peace and await the migrants' arrival to our temple."

Ataru snorted. "Bet the Signals guys are gonna have a collective heart attack after hearing all that, 'specially from Tsueko-chan, Itsuku-sempai and Kichimi-sempai!"

Laughter echoed through the area…

* * *

_Three hours at the earliest_, Kenshika mused to himself as he glanced back at the crowd he had just left behind. _Should be enough time to make Kentei-sama see reason and get her the hell under cover before the Oni get here!_ Grateful for his excellent hearing, honed over the years as he lived in the forests of rural Japan before he went to Nanban, he then turned and waved his pets on with him towards the light.

It was a simple encirclement plan. Despite the heavy amounts of ki that was in the air, interlaced with energy he couldn't personally recognize but Sandi McLugh — who had been attached to the Seito crowd at Sumiko's suggestion — had immediately declared a type of neutral dark magic that no doubt indicated this place could be a more benign version of Zhòuquán-xiāng in China, it all seemed safe. Remembering that place in the mountains of Qīnghǎi, he then smirked as he recalled how Sebone Mimōko's delightful new boyfriend hadn't blinked an eye as Tsueko — while they had been aboard _Haida_ after Arami had been restored to life — took a canteen of water to dump over him to make him a girl. Shampoo — who had, along with Ranma's youngest sister Kikuko, joined the Nan'yō team — had, on noting Ranma was a girl for this part of the mission, told her transformed brother-in-law she was taking her curse with proper humility and would probably impress her great-grandmother so much that Ranma might earn the chance to learn all the Nǚjiézú could teach her. While Ranma said she didn't really understand humility as it wasn't something her idiot father had ever taught her, Mimōko then grabbed her by her combat suit and dragged her someplace private. Hopefully, Tsueko would be able to keep a handle on those two…

_Tread cautiously, my son…!_

Kenshika stopped, his arms cocked automatically as he scanned off to his left. "Who's there?" he snapped out before his eyes then widened. "Gods…!"

Drifting in the darkness nearby was a man dressed in the rough robes of a barbarian king from the Southern Lands eighteen centuries ago.

A man that Ki Kenshika knew quite well.

For in his first life, this ghost was _him_…

* * *

To the east of Kentei's location…

"Three damned hours…"

"Let's be grateful for them, Onē-san," Oka Yuzuko stated as she crouched behind Tsueko as they gazed at the distant flame where Kentei and her current companions were relaxing. A quick glance through a set of night vision goggles a friendly supply technician from 37 Service Battalion had passed on to her revealed that the reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor was having a very animated talk with Padre Vincent Klein. Moroboshi Arami was now in her reborn half-brother's lap, sleeping; no doubt, being yanked several kilometres through the air at high speeds had tired the poor thing out and she had dozed off in Kentei's lap. Takanashi Naoko sat beside the chaplain, though her eyes would often focus on different places in the Dead Grove every once in a while. When she had asked Kikuko to take a look herself, the youngest of the Hayashi siblings then said that Naoko clearly was a very powerful empath and probably knew now that there were many friends in the Grove watching out for her and her companions.

"Indeed," Shampoo said; she was seated beside Tsueko. "I want the fight to start too, but I'm not trained to deal with nuclear weapons fallout."

"Doubt it'll be a problem," Tsueko noted.

"Why do you say that, Mago-guìjiě?" the Nǚjiézú warrior maiden asked.

A smile. "You know much about Avalonians like Kōtchi, Mikyōchi, Fu-chin and Mō-chan?"

A nod. "I am learning some things. I _am_ married to one, after all."

Tsueko laughed as Kikuko blushed. "Well, don't you know they always call each other 'sister?'" the leader of Nan'yō then asked.

Shampoo blinked, and then she nodded. "I did see that on occasion when we were coming here from Earth. I guess that's why Hiibā-chan and the other elders back at the village decreed they were our 'sisters in space' when we finally learned all about them before we came out on this voyage. They are as alone against the whole world — No! The whole _Universe_! — as we have often felt ourselves to be in China."

Tsueko hummed. "That's really sad, too, Shān-chan. But then again, given what sort of jerks run the country these days, it's pretty understandable…" She then closed her eyes as she whispered, "'_And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by…from this day to the ending of the world. But we in it shall be remembered…_'"

"_Henry V_, Act Four, Scene Three," Yuzuko noted.

Shampoo blinked. "What is that?"

"A play by William Shakespeare," the young strategist from Nan'yō stated. "He's an English playwright who lived during the last years of the Míng Dynasty. That play was written to honour a great battle the English fought against the French at a place called Agincourt back in 1415; King Henry the Fifth was the monarch at the time."

"Who won?"

"The English did. It was practically five-to-one odds against them; 36,000 against six thousand." As Shampoo nodded, clearly impressed with a victory won despite _those_ odds, Yuzuko added, "And the English were tired and losing troops to disease. They were force-marching through northern France to get over to their base at Calais, which was over two weeks' away when they got caught by the French close to the Agincourt Forest! Still, King Henry completely suckered the French into a tight space between Agincourt and Tramecourt Forest, put all his archers on his flanks, knocked stakes into the ground ahead of them, and just let them come! Wiped out almost a third of the French forces for only a little over a hundred English!" A nod. "_That_ was a victory!"

Shampoo gaped. "Aiyah…!"

"What are you talking about?"

They turned as Mimōko and Ranma — both looking quite refreshed even if the latter's cheeks were now as red as tomatoes — came up to them, they adjusting their combat uniforms. "Agincourt," Yuzuko said as the two relaxed on the ground close to them, trying not to blush on noting that Mimōko hadn't put back on her underwear.

Mimōko blinked. "Agincourt? Why that?"

"Hakufu-onēsan quoted the Saint Crispin's Day speech King Henry made."

"What speech?" Ranma asked.

"'_And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by…from this day to the ending of the world. But we in it shall be remembered…_'" Tsueko repeated.

"'_We few, we happy few. We band of brothers_,'" Mimōko finished. "'_For he, today, that sheds his blood with me…shall be my brother._'" She then smiled at her school's young new leader. "Didn't know you studied Shakespeare, Sonsaku."

Tsueko giggled. "I didn't. I saw the movie."

Mimōko jerked as Yuzuko fell over laughing. "Which one?" Shampoo asked.

"The one with all the blood and gore in it!" Tsueko replied. "Mama showed me the other one and I felt it was the most boring thing I ever saw!"

"Was the fighting good?"

Eyes locked on Ranma, and then more laughter filled the air…

* * *

To the west of Kentei's present position…

"Um…Sétanta-sama…"

A sigh. "Lass, my name's 'Sandi.' That fellow's been dead for many years, just like the one you took your battle name after. Stop calling me that."

"W-w-well…!"

Nearby, both Sonami and Haru Asumi were trying not to fall over laughing at the sight of a struggling Haneko now being held in Sandi's lap, the gaiscíoch clearly not bothered by the fact that the dusky-skinned tōshi was trying desperately to fight her way out of said embrace. Standing close to a mushroom near Sonami, Kumomi could only remain calm as she relaxed herself, though her lips were twitching into a delighted smile. "Haneko-san, simply accept that Sandi-san is intrigued by your attraction to her. After all, you held her hand all the way out here from the Palace."

Haneko jolted. "I thought I was holding _Gentoku_'s hand, Shiryū!"

Sonami yelped. "Lass, your Queen is nae interested in ye crawling into her knickers and giving her the time of her life," Sandi playfully growled into Haneko's ear, which made the latter's cheeks redden even more, especially with the thick Irish burr Sandi was now putting into her voice; in Japanese — thanks to the universal translators — it just sounded weird. "After all, would ye bed your own _sister_?"

"Of course not!" Haneko snapped.

"Well, Sandi-san, if you want my blessings to marry Haneko-san, you have them," Sonami said as she gazed at them, her smile quite earnest, though Sandi was quick to sense the flash of malice in her eyes. "It'll make my sleep easier at nights knowing she'll be safe in America riding with you in lieu of her being in danger in Japan!"

Haneko gaped. "Sonami! I will _not_ leave you defenceless…!"

"And what about your **_never_** telling me about Zhāoliè?"

Both Haneko and Asumi awked on hearing that snarled voice. Even Kumomi had winced on hearing that; while she was not as close to the leader of Seito as the other two girls, she had also kept quiet about the dragon's presence in Sonami's mind and soul, so she shared in the guilt. "I was protecting you…" Haneko whispered as shamed tears flowed. "Even if I believed we couldn't get out of this…!"

"Oh? Tōko-san's told me some things! Like a dozen schoolmates that were badly hurt when that thing got loose on campus, she being one of them!"

Haneko jolted, and then she sank her head in guilt. Staring at the shivering Sonami, Sandi then sighed. "You can't blame her for wanting you to be happy, Sonami. She did that once when you were wandering all over China finding a place to raise your kingdom, remember?" She reached up to gently rub Haneko's shoulder, which made the dark-haired tōshi blink in surprise, though she didn't fight the gaiscíoch's actions.

"I really _don't_ remember, Sandi-san," Sonami said as she gazed at the American. "And maybe that's a good thing. Besides, Hiromi-san came back and showed everyone another way. And here we all are, fighting side-by-side. No Rakuyō, no Seito, no Nan'yō, no Kyoshō, no Yōshū or Yoshū, no Gogun or Nanban or the rest of them, either!" She smiled as she gazed up into the dark skies overhead. "All of us. All as one."

"Aye! A band of brothers."

Sonami perked, and then she giggled. She knew her Shakespeare, too. She then hummed. "Is today Saint Crispin's Day, Sandi-san?" she asked.

"Nay," the gaiscíoch said with a shake of her head. "That's the twenty-fifth of October. This is the sixth of July back on Earth." She then hummed. "Still…"

"Still what, Alexandra-san?" Kumomi asked.

"Why can't you make this _your_ Saint Crispin's Day?"

"Would the ghosts of Agincourt mind?"

That was Haneko. Sandi sighed as she moved to lean her chin on the other woman's shoulder. "We are fighting for a purer purpose than they," the warrior from the Bronx stated. "Then again, back then, they never really understood what it was all about. All those men — even Dafydd ap Llewelyn ap Hywel, who was a Welshman and not even English, but he died to save King Henry — really understood was that their king had called them to battle. And they — with all their reasons: ransom, treasure, looting, having a good time, loyalty to the Crown and all that — went with him. And they shed their blood on Saint Crispin's Day. Even if in the end, it was ultimately for nothing — England, after all, eventually lost all her possessions in France about a century later — for them at that time, it was the greatest day of their lives."

"Still, it begs one question."

Eyes locked on Kumomi. "What?" Asumi asked.

"If the tōshi of the Three Kingdoms and the gaiscíoch of old Ireland have lived again and again over the centuries and millennia, who else has done that?"

Sonami hummed. "We have to find out, I guess…oh!"

Everyone then perked on hearing a shrill song echo through the air. They then looked up to see two glowing birds circle overhead, one with gold-tinged red feathers, the other with silver-tinged red-brown feathers. On seeing them, Haneko felt her throat dry as her face began to pale. _Sekitoma…!_ she gasped before she seemed to collapse on herself as she tried not to sob. _Oh, gods…it's my time…!_

She then jolted on feeling two strong arms lift her off Sandi's lap, though she did not resist as the gaiscíoch got up and moved to carry her off. Unseen by her, Sandi and Kumomi were quick to exchange a brief look and a nod of understanding; both Sonami and Asumi were still gazing in awe at the two phoenixes overhead. Within a minute, Haneko was carried off to a dark place some distance away, and then she was allowed to stand up and rest her back against a mushroom. She blinked, and then she looked up into the tear-streaked face of Sandy McLugh. "You know, don't you?" she whispered.

Sandi smiled. "You don't have to see this as the day of your death, Haneko."

"That's _Sekitoma_ up there, Sandi…!"

"And what makes you think that your High King will let you die?"

Haneko jolted on hearing that, and then she blinked. "Shikuko…"

"Aye," the gaiscíoch breathed out. "And from what Shikuko told me, Chìtùmǎ was really happy when she became of the same blood and flesh as your High King. What does that mean? It means that Chìtùmǎ wants the same for _you_, lass! He loves you as much as he does Shikuko. As he did in all your past lives, right from the time Yúncháng and Fèngxiān both lived." She then shrugged before she flecked her eyes up to the sky, making Haneko look up to see that Chìtùmǎ and the Donn Cúailnge were now perched at the edge of one of the mushrooms overhead, both gazing at them with looks that appeared to be approving. "Just like that stupid cow wants me to be happy as well."

The tōshi blinked. "What does the Donn's coming mean for you?"

Sandi smirked. "Nothing. I refuse to _let_ it mean something to me. Sometimes in my past lives, he was there when I died. Sometimes not. My destiny — and the destinies of my past-selves, all the way back to Sétanta in Ulster — is _mine_ to live, Haneko, not the property of _others_ to influence. That's the mistake you've made over the incarnations, my friend. Don't let that mistake happen again and you'll have a happy life."

Silence fell as the most powerful tōshi now going to Seito considered that, and then she sighed. "I want to believe, Sandi…oh, gods, I _want_ to believe…!"

She then tensed as the Gáe Bulg appeared in Sandi's hand, and then she gaped as the woman before her flipped the barbed spear around to jab the palm — while the combat suits came with gloves, no one was wearing them now — of her hand with it. Seeing the enchanted blood flow, Haneko then smiled as she drew out the Reienkyo, doing the same thing to the palm of her hand with the sharp tip of the axe-like blade of the dragon-head pole-arm. Their hands firmly grasped together as their blood intermingled, and then Haneko gasped for a minute as she felt a tsunami of ki flood her body from head to toe. She blinked as she saw tears flow down Sandi's face, and then she looked down, a surge of shame flooding her as she realized that the American fighter really _**did**_ care for her. And it wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment sort of thing, like the old Irish had been gladly willing to do to each other as was written in stories such as the _Táin Bó Cúailnge_. After all, sharing blood like this was certainly not what one did with a fellow tōshi before they faced battle. Much less a quick tryst in bed.

Still, she _had_ to be sure…

"Do you want to rest your weapon _here_, Sandi?" she then asked as she gave the other woman a smile. "Do you desire _this_ as your sweet country?"

Sandi perked on seeing Haneko point to the valley between her breasts, which was well displayed; the combat suits _were_ quite form-fitting. "If you'll have me, Haneko, I will do it anytime ye desire and gladly would allow you to do the same here." She indicated her own cleavage with the point of the Gáe Bulg, and then she shrugged. "But sadly, it's not the time to see if a pair of fertile lasses like we can enjoy the touch of the other person's friendly thighs and the other hills and valleys of our sweet countries. Yet know this, Seki Haneko: If you are hurt this day, I _will_ know about it! Your High King and your Queen are good lasses; I will not allow them to weep over your ashes!"

Haneko blinked, and then she leaned in. Sandi accepted the warm kiss that the tōshi offered her, and then she leaned her head on the other woman's forehead. "Go be with your sisters," the gaiscíoch from the Bronx said. "If both the Donn and Chìtùmǎ are here, things'll go sideways, I think. We have to be prepared."

Haneko nodded as she turned to head off, flashing Sandi a smile before she went. The latter remained in place, and then she relaxed as her dark blue eyes glowed. "**I meant what I promised her, Yúncháng**," she whispered, her voice echoing.

_I know. We all know, Lady Alexandra_, a ghostly voice echoed from nearby. _A pity I did not have the privilege to meet Master Sétanta when I was alive._

Sandi turned to gaze on the image of Guān Yǔ, who was giving her a proper salute with his hands as he bowed his head to her. "**A pity. Then again, I wonder what would have happened at Hǔláo Pass if ****_both_**** ye and Fèngxiān were gifted with the power of the Ríastrad.**" She then hummed. "**I should ask Haneko or Shikuko about that one of these days. Don't worry about your High King. Her dream comes true this day.**"

_For that, I — No! We! — thank you, oh Great Hound of Éire!_

With that, the image of the great warrior of Shǔ Hàn faded from sight…

* * *

Aboard _Haida_, two hours later (Japan time: an hour before sunset)…

"All ships now at action stations, Director."

Hiromi nodded as she gazed on the tactical image now playing on the main view screen of the operations room aboard _Haida_. It was displaying the sensor image readout of the half-dozen Bombardier CU-187 Turbo-Sentinel sensor drones now hovering over the lake that formed the warp point of Muzlim Madiina Airport. "Status of fighters?" she then asked.

"All on standby in the launch tubes," Colonel Mark Sullivan stated. "With the ETA of the enemy ship now amended, I'll get them airborne in thirty minutes." According to Elder Wahaza — his call-sign to the Canadians was "Terminal Six" — the incoming ship was moving at extraordinary fast speeds, much faster than what one would normally expect using a trans-warp tunnel to get to Yaminokuni. The estimated time of arrival of the enemy cruiser was revised to forty-five minutes.

Hiromi nodded, and then she tapped a control. "Dragon Six to South Six."

"South Six," Kashira Emi called back from the surface.

"Status of Dragons Six-One and Six-Two?"

"All still quiet, Boss. Padre is still talking to her. We're all ready."

A nod. "Alright. Dragon Six to Anvil Six."

"Anvil Six," the commanding officer of 37 Service Battalion called up from the surface.

"Status of the evacuation of all areas around the Airport?"

"We've got the sandbags and portable shield units all set up, Director," Lieutenant Colonel Olaf Meulenkamp stated. "All civilians have been pulled back one click from the edge of the lake. Spud Jimmy is keeping us appraised of the bandit's approach."

"Get your people hunkered down in thirty minutes," Hiromi said.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Dragon Six to Galley Six."

"Galley Six, go," Colonel Wayne Bell called back from the command post on the ground.

"Colonel, you may consider yourself weapons-free in thirty minutes."

"Roger that, ma'am! Galley Six to Horseshoe Six, Laurentian Six, Stampede Six, Sunshine Six and Queen Six, did you all copy same from Dragon Six?"

A chorus of affirmatives from the commanding officers of the four armoured regiments and the 10th Field Artillery Regiment. "Alright, then! All gun and tank crews will stand-to in fifteen minutes, mark! All tubes to be loaded in thirty minutes; you are weapons-free at that time, but do not fire until told! Acknowledge!" Bell added.

More acknowledgements came back. Once that was done, Colonel Bell called back that his people were all ready to go. Hiromi acknowledged that, and then she relaxed herself in her chair. Right now, _Haida_ was four hundred kilometres over the eastern edge of Muzlim Madiina. All the other starships were hovering in the dust cloud that separated the upper and lower elements of Yaminokuni's atmosphere, with _Santísima Trinidad_ virtually at the lowermost edge of the cloud right over the Dead Grove, materialisers at the ready. The field engineers were on standby, ready to flip the switches on six dozen shield generator units when called to do so. All the other troops were still moving through the city, getting people inside buildings before the enemy ship arrived and the fun began.

Now came the hardest part of all…

Waiting.

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Character notes: Both **Pochik Ando** and **Tenwan Sekimu** appeared in the "Great Father Ataru" storyline in _The Senior Year_. **Dedron Sil** — who was inspired by the character of the same name created by Lew Burton for his fanfic stories (as was Ando) — first appeared in "Noa." **Fangi** appeared in "What Price For Love?" And **Milan Domo** of the planet Kurakoa is a background character for _TSY_, who appears from time to time whenever a reporter was needed in a particular scene.

2) **Recognition** is the telekinetic-based psionic power that allows any Vosian or Vosian-descent hybrid to select his/her "perfect mate" and be loyal to that person for life. Only death can break this sort of bond. When he created the Vosians, Mike Smith was inspired by a similar concept that appeared in the cult comic book series _Elfquest_, created by **Wendy Pini** (born 1951) and **Richard Pini** (born 1950), where certain people would "recognize" a mate for reproductive purposes. Because of this, adultery and spousal abuse are virtually non-existent amongst Vosians, as is bisexuality (although homosexuals are present amongst Vosians).

3) **Sakusei Station** is the floating asteroid that Lum, Benten and Oyuki visit in the sixth _Yatsura_ movie _Always My Darling_. In Urusian space, this trading station is close to Ran's home colony of **Shingetsu**. **Koruneko** is the name I give to the Begging Cat-like character who appears in that movie; he also was a background character in _TSY_.

4) A **tokkaebi** is, in Korean folklore, a playful spirit who could, at times, inhabit inanimate objects. In effect, this sometimes makes them the equivalent of the Japanese **tsukumogami** such as the "one-legged umbrella" (or **kasa-obake**) which appeared in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Raindrops Keep Fallin'" (manga episode #38). Tokkaebi have also been depicted as being similar to oni save for having one horn on the top of the head. In _TSY_, I have a race named as such located close to a Vosian colony world that was nearly destroyed as a side-effect of the war against the **Mikado** (this was depicted in the side-story "Tales of Avalon: Damasu and Mienai").

5) The radio call-code "**(Name) Six**" indicates the commanding officer of a particular unit. While the names of the "Fighter Sixes" are quite understandable, the use of the code "**Spud Jimmy Two**" for the electronic warfare troop of the detached squadron from 721 Communication Regiment harkens to the unit's base on **Prince Edward Island** (the potato capital of Canada) and the "Jimmy" (the icon of the Roman god Mercury) that appears on the hat badge and collar badges of all members of the **Communications and Electronics Branch** (**C&E**) of the Canadian Forces.

To go along with that, the reasons behind the call-signs used here are as follows:

**Dragon Six** — Hiromi held the **Dragon Throne** of China in her first life;  
**Anvil Six** — The anvil is the symbol of the **Materiel Group** in the Canadian Forces;  
**Galley Six** — A galley appears on the provincial flag of **New Brunswick**, where 37 Canadian Brigade Group is headquartered;  
**Horseshoe Six** — The 2nd/10th Dragoons are based in the **Golden Horseshoe** region of Ontario, located on the north, west and south shores of Lake Ontario;  
**Laurentian Six** — Le Régiment de Hull is based in the **Laurentian Hills** region of Québec;  
**Stampede Six** — The 19th Alberta Dragoons are based, of course, in Alberta…where the **Calgary Stampede** occurs every year;  
**Sunshine Six** — The sun on the ocean is a part of the flag of **British Columbia**, so this call-sign is being used by the British Columbia Regiment; and  
**Queen Six** — The word "queen" in Latin is **Regina**, the name of the home city of the 10th Field Regiment R.C.A.

6) The **Bombardier CU-187 Turbo-Sentinel** unmanned aerial vehicle is an Avalonian-built version of the quite unique "flying peanut," the **Canadair CL-227 Sentinel** and its technological successor, the **Bombardier Aerospace CL-327 Guardian**. The Turbo-Sentinel, like the Sentinel and the Guardian, is hourglass-shaped with rounded tops and bottoms, the lifting propellers affixed to the middle of the hull and landing struts on the bottom. In effect a pilot-less helicopter, the CU-187 is designed to act as a remote intelligence-gathering device as do many other UAVs used in the military today. The target acquisition battery in 10th Field Regiment, **101 Locating Battery** (based in **Yorkton**, located 150 kilometres east-northeast of Regina), has eight of these devices in its UAV Troop.

Thus, the radio call-sign for 101 Locating Battery is **Queen Sentinel**.


	41. The Battle of Yaminokuni, Round 1

The Dead Grove (Japan time: a half-hour before sunset)…

"**So the enemy ship will sail into a creeping barrage of artillery and tank guns, then be forced into the heavens above the clouds to confront Father's flagship directly**," Kentei then mused as she relaxed herself. She was still only in Hensō's old bikini with the Noukiite travelling clothes over it; she did, however, grant permission for Padre Vincent and Naoko to put on the combat suits Kenshika had brought. Arami was likewise protected; she was now sleeping in her reborn half-sibling's arms. "**Once in the range of the ship guns, the Avalonians will be extracted from this ship, and then Father will demand the surrender of the remainder of the crew, correct?**"

Kenshika nodded. All the members of his wolf pack were now relaxing on the ground around the campfire, though the alpha male was sitting up and gazing off into the west, where Sandi McLugh was currently. "That is correct, Kentei-sama. If they refuse your father's most gracious demand to lay down their arms, the ship will be wrecked and the crew either taken prisoner by force or extracted from the hulk as corpses!"

The reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor considered that, and then she nodded. "My dear, I really do insist you put on a combat suit," Padre Vincent said for the third time in the last two hours, ever since Nanban's number three had come out to join them with protective gear for all. "Radiation from antimatter is quite vicious…"

"**I believe I am shielded enough, Reverend. I do thank you for your concern, but I wish to have full freedom of movement if I am attacked**," Kentei stated as she looked down at the sleeping Arami. She then smiled as she moved to hand the child over to Naoko. "**Hold her, please.**" Standing, she then walked a few paces away, gazing into the blackness overhead. She then crossed her arms as she lowered her head, closing her eyes as she took a few minutes to consider what had just been told to her over the last while. She then sighed. "**If I accept Father's offer, what happens to me?**"

"You'll be allowed to shift your _mei'na_ into a new body that will be prepared aboard _Haida_ or one of the other ships," Naoko stated. "It can be created at any physical age between six and twenty-five years Earth-time. I believe Hiromi-onēsama would like it that you'd be given a chance to experience a childhood again so that she could truly raise you as her child at her home in Tomobiki. From what she once told me, one of her greatest regrets concerning her first life was being forced to send both you and your elder brother off to be raised by others to protect you from whatever evil spirits were killing all your siblings. And from what I sense of Mioko-onēsama, she is willing to be your surrogate mother, both emotionally and through her DNA. Now that she can think for herself instead of allowing the power gifted to her by the Great Sky Lady Hucheng-ch'ekyunghechha do her thinking for her, she deeply regrets what her actions at the 2008 Great Fighters Tournament nearly did to you and your friends of Nanban."

Kentei considered that for a moment, and then she felt her shoulders droop slightly. For the last several hours, she had been simply allowed to talk and listen. No demands were made — the times Padre Vincent had urged her to put on one of the combat suits Kenshika had brought with him had been coached as requests, though she had sensed the urgency and earnest concern for her safety every time he said that — and there had been no recriminations for her past actions. "After all," the chaplain from Alberta had said. "What happened in your first life, much less the lives you lived between that time and now, does _**not**_ matter to you anymore. It is time to move on, child. That is what your father wants. That is what many tōshi desire, even if most of them are too afraid of their peers' scorn to openly speak of such things. Look at Koro Sonami! Look at Mago Tsueko! They care not for such things. They want to live happy lives! They _deserve_ happy lives! So do you, my dear! You have as much right to that as anyone!"

And while she had been prepared to do all to wait for the tōshi of the Seven Schools to lash out at each other — to allow the Fate that had haunted all their lives to play out the early moves that had ruled their ancestors' lives — the woman who once lived as a man named Liú Xié, the Xiàoxiàn Emperor of Hàn, was now finding herself in agreement to an idea that she once would have thought totally preposterous.

"**I agree in all but one stipulation**," she then said.

The others perked on hearing that, and then they relaxed, relief crossing their faces. "What exactly is that stipulation, my dear?" Padre Vincent said.

"**That Izuku Mioko be not my genetic mother**," Kentei declared.

"Then who would it be, Kentei-sama?" Kenshika asked.

A chuckle. "**Why Bokuroku-dono, my **_**real**_** mother, of course.**" Kentei then grinned at him. "**Did you ever wonder about the real name of the one you call 'Daremo?'**"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Gods…you're _kidding_ me!" Kenshika gasped, a delighted grin crossing his face.

"Who is this person, Mister Ki?" Padre Vincent asked.

An uproarious laugh escaped the giant warrior. "Just a sec'!" he said as he pulled out his communicator and tapped a control. "Wolfman to South Six! You hear me?"

"South Six," Emi called back. "What's going on, Kenshika?"

Kenshika gave Kentei a curious look, which the latter was quick to return with a curt nod. "Emi-chan, you are simply _not_ going to believe this one…!"

* * *

Muzlim Madiina, near the Palace, that moment…

"What do you think, Bunken?"

Tano Susumi — Gakushin Bunken — blinked, and then she gazed intently at the small scattering of spices and meat in the bottom of her rāmen bowl. She was currently seated with the others of Kyoshō's Three-Pillared Gods, not to mention the Angels of Chōan from Rakuyō. One other was there, dressed also in the black robes worn by the three special fighters from Kyoshō, though she currently called Nanban High School her place of education. All of them were presently relaxing in a mom-and-pop inn not so far from the Palace. "I'd call it…twenty-two minutes," the raven-haired would-be Sōtō Zen monastic then said. "Nothing bad, but there'll be a fight on the ground."

"I concur," the leader of the Angels, Omomuro Haeko — Joei — then said with a nod of her head. Like her three best friends, she was a fully trained Shintō miko who helped out at the Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku when she was not busy with schoolwork. And while there were rumours about sexual relationships between the Angels and Tadasu Suguta, the Three-Pillared Gods knew their counterparts from Rakuyō were quite diligent when it came to their personal obligations outside the world of the tōshi. Like all of the Ten Attendants, the chances had been quite good that the Angels would survive high school with next to no problems; they didn't do much to attract attention to them.

And with their reborn emperor back…

"Agreed," Haeko's number-two girl among the Angels, Kuruwa Mikawa (Kakuji), then said with a nod. "But there is something rather interesting here. Look, everyone."

The others looked to where she was pointing. "Hey, that IS weird!" Omomuro Akira (Jokō Kōmei) — he was a cousin three-times removed of Haeko's — said as his eyes narrowed.

"Yeah…" Haru Kazua (Chōkō Shungai) then said before he turned to gaze at the lone would-be nun from Nanban. "It points to you, Daremo-san."

The third-year high school student with the long rose-red hair and the lavender eyes perked before she leaned over to gaze at the bottom of Susumi's bowl. "It does," she then admitted before sitting back in her chair. "Oh, my son…?"

"Your son?" Magaki Shigeko (Hanchō) asked.

The woman known to all tōshi as "Daremo" could only smile as she gazed at her brother and sister clerics. "My name in my first life was Wáng Měiruò. In this life, I possess the proper name 'Wan Miwaka.' My true battle name is 'Ōbijaku.'" She then smiled. "History simply records me as someone else."

Silence.

"Oh, gods…Ōbijin?" Susumi gasped.

"The Consort Wáng?" Haru Sumuna (Chōsai) breathed out.

"Aye, Chōsai-san," Miwaka then returned. "When I was given the right to birth Xié, already the strange curse was upon the land, seizing the souls of those who had some sort of impact in the recent history of the Emperor's domain to be whisked into a new life through these things." She pointed to her magatama — she was now A-rank and had earned it in four previous Great Fighters Tournaments; she was a skilled quarterstaff fighter, one who always remained calm in battle, plus also showing great mercy to her opponents, even those who fought all-out against her — in emphasis. "Of course, I was afraid of the Emperor's mother and wife at the time I learned of my pregnancy with Xié, so I gladly tried anything I could to abort it. They found out…"

"And Kataikō-sama had you poisoned after Kentei was born," Kazua said, a look of disgust crossing his fleshy face.

Another nod. "Hai. And for all the times I have lived, I have secluded myself from what has happened with others like me." A sigh. "Save for this life. I was discovered early on by Shishimyō-sempai when he still lived, then invited to come to Nanban to learn how to be a proper tōshi. By then, I had elected to follow the ways of Zen, so I became something of a spiritual guide as well to the others. Shishimyō-sempai agreed to follow along with how I governed my past lives, and helped ensure no one would learn my proper battle name, much less my real name; he used his magic to help. And he told me what he had done years earlier when he used his powers to…"

"Put the Emperor's soul inside a magatama!" Akira blurted out. "Buddha…!"

A nod as the Gods and the Angels all gaped in shocked disbelief at this stunning revelation. "It was originally intended to allow me to find some way for the father of my child to live and thus, allow us to have a child so that Xié would have a new body he — or 'she' if the Fates decreed that — could use that body for his own in lieu of possessing people like he did to poor Shukuyū. But before that happened, the magatama went missing when Sempai took it to the mainland to seek out a potential host…"

"And Fate then gave us Moroboshi Ataru, the last host of the Earth Angel, sworn to the Promise of Bunka Go-nen, to help the Emperor live again, plus guide us out of the darkness," Susumi stated as she breathed out. "Whoa! That's HEAVY…!"

"But well thought out on Shishimyō-sempai's part," Haeko noted. "Indeed, none of us, in all the lives we lived, ever predicted that Reitei-sama himself would have been ensnared by the power of the magatama." She then gazed at Miwaka. "Ōbijaku, do you have any idea what started this whole madness in the first place? I'm sure the Emperor — gods, all of US, too! — would like to know the final truth of _that_ story!"

A sigh. "It was someone even more lost to history that I was, Joei-san," Miwaka then mused. "Someone who sensed the madness of the Three Kingdoms was coming. And hated the Emperor so much for being too weak enough to stop it." A shake of the head. "It is known that Master Hosan Hirosuke was in China at that time. Sempai learned in one of his past lives there was something in the Immortal Master's blood that would bestow great power to whoever used it, on threat of total insanity. We now know that something was the ebony meson that made him immortal. Perhaps…"

"Whoever this person was decided to punish the Emperor by making him live on as a disembodied spirit — not alive, yet truly not dead — to make him see what would had followed after he fell," Susumi mused. "And whatever it was that did it…"

"Did it to all of us," Akira said with a scowl. "The instant we saw Hiromi-sama for the first time on the news, we should have gone to seek her out, find out who she was, right then and there! To hell with the fact that Tomobiki was seen as Rakuyō territory. To believe we've wasted _**four whole months**_ in our own…!"

"Calm yourself, Akira," Haeko advised. "What happened then happened. And despite the tardiness of the proper initial contact with Hiromi-sama, it HAS happened and our fates have changed. Does it really matter at this time about a delay?"

"Hiromi-sama was able to save Michiji-sama's soul by letting him become Michiko-sama," Sumuna noted. "If any of us had died, the Earth Angel would have sensed it as well; don't you all remember what we learned when we saw her on _Bismarck_?"

Nods all around. At that moment, Miwaka took a deep breath. "I suggest we all go and prepare ourselves, my friends," she said, standing. "It's time."

"Are you going into the Grove?" Kazua asked.

A nod. "Of course."

"Then we're coming with you," Susumi said as they all stood up…

* * *

Aboard _Haida_, fifteen minutes later…

"Queen Six to Dragon Six."

Hiromi tapped a control. "Dragon Six, go."

"Director, we've got everything ready to go on a TOT once the bandit gets above the level of the force field," Lieutenant Colonel Ed Fiacco reported from his command post near the Metropolitan Fortress. "Galley Six is appraised of the situation. Everything on the guns is on auto-fire. Once that ship hits that mark, the whole damned galaxy will drop in on their heads. We're transmitting the fire plan up to you now."

People looked as the tactical image on the main operations table then changed. "Initial artillery salvo plan now on the board, Hiromi-onēsama," Yoshino Tomomi reported from her control station. "Doing calculation now of when the guns will fire," she then stated as she tapped controls on her board.

A moment later, a trajectory course was marked on the screen. Seeing that, Hiromi nodded. "Queen Six, you will be firing your first salvo in six minutes, twenty-eight seconds…mark!" Tomomi then declared as she tapped a control to send the readout back to the commanding officer of the 10th Field Regiment.

A second after that, Fiacco declared, "We got it."

"Colonel?"

"Yes, Director?"

Hiromi smiled. "Tell your people this: Artillery is and will always be the king of any battlefield when it is fought over ground of any type. It is a pity that when your noble Royal Regiment was formed in 1870, you were just simply accorded the battle honours _Ubique_ and _Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt_ on your hat badges. Hopefully — and I will gladly speak to her about this if the chance comes — Her Majesty might grant a dispensation for 18, 64, 65, 76, 101 and 113 Batteries to do as your British brothers sometimes do and accord honour titles to those batteries of your regiment to mark their service this day." She smirked. "Shoot straight."

Silence, and then a voice almost at the point of choking then declared, "The whole regiment heard you, Your Majesty. Thank you for your kind words."

"You have earned them."

"Thank you, ma'am."

The link with the ground forces was then cut. "They are ready to fight for you," Mioko — who had taken her place at her lover's side — whispered.

"Did hearing about Miwaka-san surprise you?" Hiromi asked.

The reborn empress blinked, and then she sighed. "I never gave her much reason to care for me back then," she admitted…which was the understatement of the century, Hiromi mused; Mioko's past-self had actually POISONED Miwaka's past-self shortly after the birth of the future Xiàoxiàn Emperor. "And I don't trust her when it comes to you. If she wants your help in having Kanami-chan restored to life, I can understand that." She glared at her. "But I will NOT share you with her, Husband. Or anyone."

"That actually makes me feel a lot better," Hiromi noted as her eyes sparkled with amusement, that making Mioko giggle. "Besides, there's no pressure to worry about matters of succession these days, so why should we worry about that?"

A nod. "True."

Taking a deep breath, Hiromi then gazed at _Haida_'s captain. Brian Gamblin nodded, and then he turned to gaze on the commander of 21 Space Wing. "Colonel Sullivan?"

Mark Sullivan tapped an icon on his pad. "Thunderbird to Porcupine One and Bluenose One. Arm all your fighters' missiles! When the bandit clears the clouds, we will pass on the attack orders at that time! Say again, arm all your missiles, but do NOT leave your current positions escorting this ship! Acknowledge!"

"Thunderbird, this is Porcupine One," Lieutenant Colonel Phillipe Jefford replied from his Starfire. "Acknowledge your order to arm missiles. Porcupine One to all Quill Pigs. Light your missiles up! Say again, light your missiles up!"

"Thunderbird, this is Bluenose One," Lieutenant Colonel Will Fowler called back from his CSF-196. "Acknowledge your order to arm missiles. Bluenose One to all Deck Swabs! Make those babies hum! Say again, ladies and gentlemen, make all those babies hum!"

The echoes of acknowledgements from the other pilots echoed through the room…

* * *

Now floating to either side of their mothership were thirty-eight CSF-196 Starfires in two groups of nineteen planes, all now painted with the flying insignia of the two fighting units that had deployed on this mission, either 433e Escadron's marching porcupine with a plaid-pattern deerstalker hat (and carrying a Sidewinder missile under one arm) or 434 Squadron's stylised racing boat keel/dart-shaped insignia over the squadron number in a black dome shape. Both squadrons were practically flying at near-full strength for this mission; it was planned that each of 21 Wing's fighting squadrons — there were plans for five squadrons using a hundred aircraft; the other aircraft would be equipment spares to be brought up in case of operational losses — would get five flights of four Starfires each for twenty aircraft a squadron. Of course, as Sullivan explained in _Haida_'s operations room hours earlier, only eighteen of the thirty-eight flight crews were actually composed of military pilots and air combat systems officers; the others were Avalonian-Canadians from _Haida_…

…and one Terran-turned-Avalonian Japanese teenager that had volunteered to fly back-seat to Ikusawa Kyōko on Starfire 192 due to the absence of one Takanashi Naoko.

"Bluenose One to Bluenose Nine-Two," Will Fowler's voice then called out over 434 Squadron's in-squadron frequency. "How are you doing back there, Numbers?"

Miyamoto Nabiki tried not to laugh at the unofficial "call sign" that had been pegged on her the instant she showed up on the flight deck an hour before in a flight suit determined to fly with her new girlfriend. "I'm scared, Skipper," she called back.

"Good! It keeps you alive. What's her bio-sign readout, Doc?"

Sasamoto Narumi — flying as ACSO on Starfire 183; Arimori Kei was the pilot — tapped a control. "Slightly higher heart rate than what the others are reading out as…but other than that, she's alright, Skipper," she said. "Meditate, Nabiki-chan!"

"Actually, I'm trying not to fall asleep here, Narumi-chan," Nabiki admitted. "The turbines on this flying roller-coaster are too damned hypnotic to me!"

Amused laughter echoed over the airwaves…and then Lieutenant Josephine Thorberg, the ACSO on Starfire 144 being flown by Captain Jessica Miller, called out, "Bogies! I've got thirty-two bogies coming from Sandy Oak right now, Skipper!"

"Just a sec'," Fowler called back as he flipped the controls on his communications headset. "Bluenose One to approaching flight from Sandy Oak. Please identify."

"Bluenose One, this is Wolfpack One with sixteen," a voice with a New York accent that reminded Nabiki of Sandi McLugh answered. "Compliments of Iceman, sir. The Wolfpack and the Screaming Eagles are present and on the field at this time."

"You're welcome to join us, Wolfpack One. Ditto with your friends from the Fighting Fifty-first," Fowler called back. "Any others coming?"

"Damn straight we're coming!" a Japanese woman's voice called back.

Nabiki gaped. "Mitaka-shōsa?!"

"Who's she, Nabiki?" Kyōko called back.

"Mitaka Arisa-shōsa from the 801st Squadron, the Airbats," Nabiki replied as a small group of F-96S Starfires came to a hover to the starboard of 434 Squadron. Painted in low-visibility grey colours similar to the paint scheme on the CSF-196s, the F-96S Starfires of Space Fighter Squadron 1 (the Wolfpack) — the United States Navy's oldest fighter aircraft unit — bore the **NZ** tail code for Carrier Air Wing 72. "It was a tactical training squadron for the Air Self-Defence Force at Iruma in Saitama until it was made part of the 24th Space Wing and assigned to _Yamato_." She then looked right to see a new group of aircraft — also wearing low visibility paint work with a light grey _Hinomaru_ on the sides and the 801st Space Tactical Fighter Squadron's bat insignia on the rudders — assume position to the right of the Wolfpack. "Damn…!"

"Tally-ho, mates!" a voice with a London East End accent then called out. "Can't let you Yanks, Canucks and Nips hog the damned show all by yourselves, you know!"

"You can say that again!" Mitaka Arisa called out from her JSF-96.

Laughter echoed over the airwaves as more planes came in from _Hood_…

* * *

The Dead Grove…

"Five minutes," Kenshika reported.

Around him, the others nodded. Kentei — who had at least agreed to put on some sunglasses — was currently gazing in the direction of the Airport.

"May God have mercy on their souls."

The reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor blinked, and then she gazed at Padre Vincent Klein as he stood there, now holding a gold Presbyterian cross in his hands as he gazed north for a moment, and then he bowed his head as he began to pray…

* * *

Somewhere in space-time…

"We're on final approach, Colonel! Ablative armour is activated!"

"Can we arm weapons?!" Sakimu demanded.

At her station, his wife shook her head. "Negative! Targeting scopes are all still out of line because of the transwarp field around us and the depressed weapons have to remain in their housings until we're fully out of the warp field," Sunda replied. "Once we're clear of the field, we'll be able to use them at that time!"

"Get ready to flip them on, Sunda!" Ando stated.

She poised her hand over the master control for the ship's weapons systems, nodding to the colonel as she braced herself. "Ready!"

"We're coming up to the event horizon!" Yūki declared.

"Alright," Ando snarled as he watched the wall of water approach _Redemption_'s bow at a very fast clip. "Get ready for some real fun, you bastards…!"

To his side, both Ōgi and Dedron Sil — who had come up to the bridge to watch events up here…and to keep an eye on the deposed Niphentaxian president; she knew of what Tsuiro had instigated a couple hours before — grimly nodded…

* * *

Muzlim Madiina, near the Airport…

"_**EVERYONE, TURN YOUR EYES AWAY! WE GOT INCOMING!**_"

People quickly spun around — with some hitting the deck and holding their helmets close to their heads — as the waters of the lake suddenly lit up like a billion candles flaring to life all at once. Seconds after that, the waters then surged up as something totally black and quite massive passed through the event horizon of the warp gate and began to ascend towards the heavens. With so much water displaced — the _Redemption_, at Earth-gravity, massed over two million metric tonnes — mini-tsunamis surged out towards the ground closest to the lakeshore, now free of potential drowning victims…yet now lined with not just a giant wall of sandbags all around, but portable shield generators manned by crews of 36 Combat Engineer Regiment, said generators forming a ring of energy up to two kilometres high all around the lake.

As _Redemption_'s aft end broke free of water, the initial tsunami made by the ship's arrival slammed into both the sandbag walls and the shield fields right beyond them. For most of the sandbag walls, they immediately collapsed as the sheer weight and force of the water smashed them down as it sought to flow onto dry land beyond. But some of the walls _**did**_ hold, which allowed the water to be reflected back towards the centre of the lake. And soon, that was joined by reflected water surging back from shields that were not the least bit compromised by such impact force.

And that reverse tsunami was focused right back on the Urusian ship!

Just as _Redemption_'s fantail got clear, the first echo of waves slammed into each other just metres behind the cruiser's stern, which wouldn't have really done it damage save for the following shockwaves of water forcing that initial reverse tsunami right up into the dark-hulled ship's stern and main engine exhausts. While the impact was pretty much absorbed by _Redemption_'s structural integrity fields — thus not shaking the crew badly — the water now splashing into the ship's engine exhausts was enough to cause the thrust being forced out those great funnels to turn back and slam into the engines units themselves, which made three of the eight instantly fail and the other five to sputter ominously as the ship's forward motion slowed…

* * *

_Redemption_, the bridge…

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Ando bellowed.

"Main Drive Engines Two, Seven and Eight are totally down, Colonel!" Rina called back as she tapped controls. "Other main drive engines damaged by water that surged up from the lake right into our fantail! Activating impulse drives now!"

Everyone gritted their teeth as a powerful roar echoed through the ship…

* * *

10th Field Regiment command post…

"Damn! Look at that!"

Ed Fiacco blinked before he gazed at his regimental sergeant-major and senior master gunner. "What the hell's happening, RSM?!"

Chief Warrant Officer (Master Gunner) William Cartwright smirked as he pointed to the images of _Redemption_ as it surged clear of the lake. "The ass end of the bogey got seriously soaked by the water reflected back on the centre of the lake when it came through, sir!" he said as he pointed out one detail. "Three of their engines look like they're down! Why, I think she'll…" He ducked as a distant roar echoed through the open entrances of the command post tent. "Oh, hell! Must have kicked in impulse!"

"Colonel, the TOT is delayed twenty-two seconds," one of the Avalonian-Canadians now serving in the regiment's signal troop who was handling the computer calculations for the artillery barrage, Signaller Joanna Kelley, then reported.

Fiacco nodded as he tapped a control on his own board. "Queen Six to all guns crews! We're delayed for twenty-two seconds! Here it comes, boys and girls!"

Everyone watched as the ship surged up higher and higher…

* * *

_Redemption_…

"Altitude now one kilometre and rising fast!" Rina yelled.

"Move to level us off at ten kilometres!" Ando declared. "Deploy weapons!"

"Weapons deploying!" Sunda called out as she tapped controls. "Thirty seconds to full warp egression before we can activate the shields, Colonel!"

"Understood!"

* * *

36 Combat Engineer Regiment command post…

"Bandit now 2200 metres clear of the event horizon," Corporal Denise Vanhalen, a signalman now connected to the command hub for the 10th Field Regiment's target acquisition and locating unit, called out. "Now 2900 metres…3450…4490…NOW!"

"Shields up!" Major Clark Mitchell barked.

The regimental sergeant-major, Master Warrant Officer Guy Wilkins, tapped a control. "The shields are up, Colonel! It's all up to the gunners now!"

Mitchell laughed as projectors were turned on, sending up waves of energy that soon formed a solid opaque blue wall in a roughly even plane over the city…

* * *

10th Field Regiment command post…

"TOT to be fired in six…five…four…three…"

"Sayonara, bastards!" Fiacco said, grinning.

"…two…one…NOW!"

And the ground shook…

* * *

The Dead Grove…

"**Most impressive**," Kentei mused.

The others all watched as four groups of sixteen heavy guns thundered to life, sending comet-like streaks of energy from their muzzles right at the desperately climbing _Redemption_. The sixty-four bolts of energy were timed to fire in such a way that they would hit the target at the very same instant; this was what artillerymen the world over called a "Time on Target" barrage. The cruiser was hit by those bolts _hard_ as the massed tank guns of the four armoured regiments having been sent out in the Task Force then opened up, their slightly smaller main pieces also firing rounds that had tracers in them, thus making it appear as solid wide beams of energy were ripping up from the ground to tear into the enemy ship. As she watched this, the reborn last emperor of the Hàn could only grimace. Damage was being done, but the ship was still surging into the sky, appearing to be tilting from a pure vertical climb to horizontal flight. "**Those guns are not having any serious effect on that ship**," she warned.

Watching this through night vision-modified binoculars, Naoko nodded. "They fitted her with ablative armour that's resistant to the power of the annihilation warheads! The gunners and tank crews have to pour it on to get through and hit the vitals!"

"What about radiation, Naoko?" Padre Vincent asked.

She tapped a control on her wrist-mounted life-monitor unit. "A slight increase in the ambient radiation, but not really life threatening," she reported.

"**Allow me.**"

Kentei made a waving motion with her hand. Instantly, a glowing energy field began to surge up from the ground to provide something of an umbrella shield over the whole of the Dead Grove. "**There. We are safe for the time being…**"

She then gasped as her eyes went wide and she collapsed to her knees, her hands then flying straight to her heart as her breathing became ragged. "Kentei-sama!" Kenshika called out as he immediately went to her side to keep her up.

Kentei blinked. "**M-m-Mother…!**"

* * *

At the northern edge of the Dead Grove…

"_**MIWAKA-SAN! LOOK OUT!**_"

Miwaka gasped as she turned around to see a large fragment of ship's hull, having been blasted clear from _Redemption_ thanks to the four guns of C Troop of 18 Battery posted in the northern side of the capital city, racing for her face. Before she could react, the large mass of Haru Kazua slammed into her, knocking her clear as the other Three-Pillared Gods and the Angels of Chōan all dove for cover.

"_**SEISHIN SHURIKEN ARASHI!**_"

A virtual _storm_ of glowing energy balls lashed out from somewhere to the south to rip into the burning ablative armour, shattering it into relatively harmless fragments as they showered the ground, none coming close to the eight clerics that had been making their way into the Grove so one of their number could be with her reborn son. As quiet fell over the scene — punctured by the steady din of field guns and tank guns sending more shells ripping into the sky — everyone then looked up to see a smiling man leaning down to help Miwaka to her feet. "Can't let a pretty lady be hurt in this, can't we?" Ataru said with a wink to Kazua as he helped Miwaka up.

"Damn straight!" Kazua said with a grin as the others smiled…

* * *

_Redemption_…

"_**WHAT'S HAPPENING?!**_"

"Colonel, we've lost over sixty percent of the ablative armour!" Sunda called out from her station as the hard crashing sounds of solid shot pieces slamming into the _Redemption_'s hull echoed throughout the bridge. "Sensors are picking up nearly four hundred anti-ship guns now posted on the ground throughout Muzlim Madiina! They're firing antimatter-based warheads at us! The armour's taking it, but the sheer number of guns is going to totally overwhelm us if we don't get out of range!"

Hearing that, Ando paled. "It's a trap…!"

"Rina! Get us up!" Sakimu then barked. "Get us over the clouds!"

"Hang on!" Rina screamed out as she tapped controls.

The _Redemption_, now belching fire and smoke from dozens of places over the hull, surged higher into the sky as it sought the safety of the dust cloud overhead…

* * *

10th Field Regiment command post…

"It's pulling into the clouds, Colonel!"

"Cease fire!" Fiacco called out.

"Yes, sir! All batteries, cease fire! Say again, all batteries, cease fire!" CWO (Mr Gnr) Cartwright then called out over the tactical link. "Queen Seven to all Tank Sixes. The bandit is climbing into the dust field. Recommend cease fire!"

"We saw it, Master Gunner!" Lieutenant Colonel Luke Salmon of the 2nd/10th called back. "Can't shoot what we can't see or scan now! Putting the safeties on the guns!"

Acknowledgements soon came in from the other armoured regiment commanders as peace and quiet finally settled over Muzlim Madiina. Noting that, the commander of the 10th Field Regiment tapped a control. "Queen Six to Thunderbird. Bandit is now in the dust cloud, heading towards your position. Hopefully, we've softened it enough for you squibs and air scouts to deal with. She's all yours, Captain."

"Queen Six, this is Thunderbird, we acknowledge same," Brian Gamblin called back…

* * *

_Redemption_…

"Fires are under control now," Pochik Rino reported from her station as the badly-smoking stealth cruiser moved to climb higher through the thick dust cloud layer that covered all of Yaminokuni. "A total of 73.9 percent of the ablative armour coating is gone. Shock damage to at least a third of the ship's mainframes. Three main engines still down and the other five damaged; Master Shipwright Tsuiro is reporting that he'll have to cold-start the rest of them to get them working again. Estimated time of repair is six hours. Cloaking device is being re-routed to the impulse drives, but some of the power conduits suffered shock damage. We have shield capability; we can turn them on as soon as we're clear of the dust cloud. No casualties, but we've also lost six main gun mounts and the anti-ship missile director is down."

Hearing that from his wife, Ando could only nod, a small sense of relief flowing through him. The stealth cruiser was badly hurt, but could easily defend herself and launch a still-respectable counterattack; _Redemption_ had been built to carry as many guns and missile launchers as could be fitted onto a cruiser hull, which was made even more possible by the deletion of the air wing normally assigned to an Urusian ship-of-the-line. The mission was still possible, but it now had acquired quite a level of complexity that he honestly hadn't been prepared for. After all, few Urusians, if they ever knew of the Yaminokuni, would never imagine they were warlike in any real way.

"Did we get a count of all those guns in the city?" he then asked.

Yūki nodded. "A total of 380 pieces, Colonel. Sixty-four heavy pieces, the remainder medium-weight guns. But what just happened clearly indicates much more."

"What do you mean?" Sil asked from her position behind Ando's chair.

A sigh. "Sil-vayae, all those guns were _waiting_ for us when we came through," Yūki said to her bond-mate. "Atop that, I was able to get readouts of the city and its environs. There were portable shield generators EVERYWHERE! Atop that, there were also barrier shields around the lake where we warped in; that's what damaged out main engines in the first place. This was a trap made with _**us**_ in mind, plain and simple! First Patriarch Upa and Matriarch Moroboshi sent that message to Captain Invader for _us_ to deliberately overhear to draw us into a trap of _their_ making and we fell for it!"

"You stupid robot! How DARE you imply…?!"

"_**SHUT UP!**_"

Everyone jolted on seeing Sil glaring murderously at Ōgi, her body sparking with energy as she held out a hand in the direction of his head, a glowing ball of photon bolts billowing in her palm and about to lash out to make a big hole in his face. "Don't you _**ever**_ insult my wife again, you worthless, brainless fool!" the young matriarch of House Dedron snarled as her dark brown eyes flared with outrage. "Yūki and her sisters are _**each**_ worth a _**thousand**_ of your kind! That your race stupidly _**refused**_ to listen to a man like Ganzo dai-Louc when it came to the Avalonians is something I will _**never**_ understand! Speak when spoken to from this moment on, _**lesser**_!" she snarled the normal title those of the old Imperial nobility used when referring to commoners. "I grow tired of your voice!"

Ōgi stammered as he collapsed to his knees; no one had ever threatened him like that, much less actually spoke so highly of the Arch-Heretic in his presence. Ando, who was smiling at his friend's actions, relaxed in his chair. "Yūki, did you get any sort of clear scans of these weapons?" he then asked. "Any idea where they came from?"

A shake of the head. "Nothing substantial, Colonel. I'm sorry. I only could see that the heavy weapons were all in towed armoured shelters. The medium weapons were in mobile armoured vehicles. Other than that, I can't say anything about a possible point of manufacture for them. The instant that shield went up over the city, it hazed out any sort of decent scans I could make." A sigh. "Not that all the ordnance being flung into the air wasn't making things bad enough for us."

The colonel then nodded. "What do we do?" Sakimu asked.

Ando closed his eyes as he considered that, and then he looked at Rina. "Pilot, get us over this cloud right away. I need shields up as soon as possible."

"Right away, Colonel," Rina said as she tapped controls.

As _Redemption_ began a slow climb through the clouds, Ando turned to Sakimu and Sil. "We'll have to take a scan around to make sure that none of Upa's destroyers are in close range, then we'll head somewhere safe to give Tsuiro a chance to repair the damage," he said. "They know we're here now, but we still have the cloak."

"We still should send demands to them to surrender Lum to us," Sil advised.

Ando nodded. Sil had been very close to Lum when they were kids and had been badly hurt when the latter chose to associate more with aliens. That had initially swung her towards the Imperial cause, though she had almost been lost when Yedris had come close to bringing her over to the Alliance. _Thank the Maidens for Yūki and her skills!_ the colonel mused as he glanced over at his intelligence officer. _Who knows what could have happened if Sil had been totally taken away by the class traitors!_

"We're coming out of the cloud now, Colonel," Rina then called out.

Everyone watched through the windows and on the view screen as the black soup they had been sailing in slowly faded into a deep bluish sky, the light of Yaminokuni's home sun falling on _Redemption_ from directly aft, allowing her to throw a good-sized shadow on the clouds underneath her keel. Once the ship was clear, Sunda tapped a control. "Shields up and holding steady, Colonel," she then announced.

"Wait!"

Eyes snapped on Yūki as they quickly noted a stunned look on her face as she stared at her readout screen. "What?" Ando exclaimed before his breath caught in his throat on seeing what was now moving past the bridge outside. "What the…?"

Everyone blinked as something painted a bright blue-grey shade began to pass _Redemption_ at a slightly faster speed than her, revealing a mass that was at least quadruple that of the Urusian cruiser. As the bridge crew all gaped at the sight, they then noted that the grey was punctuated with the black Earth Arabic number **215** under what appeared to be the main bridge on the forward superstructure, then with a rather BIG red-and-white flag under what appeared to be a large hangar bay, the white field embossed with a large red maple leaf. As the stern finally came past, the word **HAIDA** in Terran Latin script in gold on a dark blue rectangular block was seen just ahead of two massive main engine exhausts, though those were dark as she was using the nest of four impulse engines underneath the hull to push her forward with a stateliness that indicated that whoever was piloting that ship knew their business and their ship's capabilities.

"What the HELL…?!" Sakimu gasped.

"That was the _Canadian_ flag on that ship…!" Sil declared.

"But HOW…?!" Ando demanded.

* * *

Near the main engineering room…

"Tsuiro-vayae!"

Tsuiro blinked as he wiped the sweat off his brow, and then placed his glasses back on before he walked over to his lover's station. "What is it?"

"Look what's ahead of us now!" Riha said as he waived to the screen before him.

The silver-haired man blinked…before his eyes went totally wide on seeing that _**work of pure space naval architectural art**_ hovering somewhere in space close to _Redemption_. "What in Lyna's name…?" he hissed out in awe — fortunately for him and all the others who had come aboard the stealth ship after the Avalonians were liberated thanks to the Noukiites and the Yehisrites, no Urusian worked in the engine control room; none of Pochik Ando's friends really had much of a temperament when it came to maintaining their current base ship — as his eyes danced over that well-designed hull.

"Doing a detailed scan of the vessel now; it's about five kilometres ahead of us," the master shipwright's younger sister Tokom said as her fingers flew over her work station's control panel. "As you can see, she's Canadian-registered…"

"Gee! I didn't notice," Riha quipped.

"Now, now, you two," Tsuiro chastised. "Stop that!"

Both of them grinned. "I have a possible name for her, too: _Haida_. By what the ship's external cameras — those that survived those guns firing on us — picked up, the name was just forward of the main engine exhausts. Can't understand why that '215' number is on her hull under the main control bridge, though…"

"They use visual hull numbers to identify individual ships," Riha stated.

A nod. "Internal scans show about six hundred people aboard at this time," Tokom added as her blue-grey eyes danced over the readings. "An almost even mix of Terran and Terran-form Avalonian in the crew. Seems to be short-handed for a ship that big."

"Scan her internal construction," Tsuiro stated. "Any idea where she was built?"

"Just a moment," Tokom replied as she tapped controls, and then allowed the readout to come back to her. "Oh, Lyna have mercy…_**Sagussan**_ design architecture…?!"

"_**WHAT?!**_" both men cried out in shock…

* * *

_Haida_…

"We're being scanned by them now, Onē-sama," Yoshino Tomomi stated.

"How detailed the scan, Tomomi-chan?" Hiromi asked.

"Nothing really detailed…but by the looks of it, there are two actual scanning systems focused on us now," the ponytailed brunette said as she tapped controls on her own board. "One scanning system appears to be controlled from the bridge and the other…" She then blinked. "From a room close to the main engineering spaces?"

"Ayami-chan, do life scans," Hiromi then asked. "What's over there, anyway?"

"Scans commencing," Hakaru Ayami stated as she tapped controls. "Okay, total number of people aboard the target vessel is 1149," she announced. "Racial breakdown as follows: Two hundred-and-three Urusians, eight hundred-and-ten Avalonians, one Niphentaxian and…" She gaped. "A hundred-and-thirty-five…?"

"What?!" Mioko demanded.

Ayami looked over. "_**Avalonian-Niphentaxian hybrids**_, Onē-chan!"

Stunned silence fell as people took that in…

* * *

_Redemption_, near the main engineering room…

"Tsuiro."

"Yes?"

"We're being counter-scanned," Tokom warned as she reached up to shift a lock of her long raven hair away from her face. "No doubt, they know we're here now."

The master shipwright nodded. "Have there been attempts at contacting _Haida_?"

"None," Riha stated, shaking his head. "They're still in shock on the bridge."

A snort. "Well, they better get un-shocked real quickly," Tsuiro stated, not that he personally would care what happened to the Urusians now aboard _Redemption_. The task he and his friends had set out for themselves — to track down and corner Ōgi after he had fled Phentax Two in the wake of his government being toppled after the Liberation, then ensure he would never threaten anyone ever again — was practically done, now. Whoever was in command on _Haida_ — if the number of Terran-form Avalonians aboard that ship were any indication — would know of the founder of the "one true faith" and what he had been prepared to do to Earth if he felt it necessary. The Terrans — to say anything of the Vosians — would want to get their hands on Ōgi as soon as it was practicable.

"Does everyone have their emergency evacuation beacons on them?" Riha wondered.

"Just a moment," Tokom stated as she tapped a control at her station. A second later, she then smiled. "Yes, they're activated and ready."

"Enable."

"Hai."

A control was keyed…

**_To be continued…_ **

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) A **creeping barrage** is two or more curtains of fire coming down one right after the next. This was designed to ensure that the area being targetted would constantly be bombarded without letup; once the forward curtain passed by the target zone, the following curtains would sweep in to get what was missed.

2) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

The **Three-Pillared Gods** first appeared in shadow at the end of manga episode #68 and were introduced properly over the next two chapters. As stated in the writer's notes for Part 2, they are the special strike force serving Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke). They are also practicing Zen monastics, though none have yet taken permanent vows.

**Gakushin Bunken** (**Tano Susumi**) is the current incarnation of **Yuè Jìn** (unknown date of birth, died 218 C.E.). He was one of many excellent generals Cáo Cāo had under his command; Yuè would be present at the Battle of Chìbì as well as the Battles of **Jiānglǐng** (in 208) and **Xiāoyáo Ford** in 214-5. His final fate remains unknown; in _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Yuè was reported to have been killed in battle sometime after the incident at Xiāoyáo Ford. In this life, Susumi has the power to telepathically sense another person's past with a kiss. She also would later help the forces of Nan'yō and Seito try to calm things down when she realised things were getting way out of control.

**Jokō Kōmei** (**Omomuro Akira**) is the current incarnation of **Xú Huǎng** (unknown date of birth, died 227). A cavalry officer who served under **Yáng Fèng** (unknown date of birth, died 197) on the side of Dǒng Zhuó, Xú would be asked to escort the Xiàoxiàn Emperor back to Luòyáng, which is when Xú came under Cáo Cāo, making his biggest mark by defeating Guān Yǔ at the **Battle of Fánchéng** in 219. Xú would continue to serve the Cáo Clan well past the point of the formation of Cáo Wèi. In this life, Akira is an excellent staff fighter and gladly would challenge Kan'u Unchō (Seki Haneko) if opportunity presents itself (as was done in manga episode #68). Unlike many male _Ikkitōsen_ characters, he's very much in control of himself in comparison to the Three-Pillared God's resident "bad cop"…

**Chōkō Shungai** (**Haru Kazua**), who is the current incarnation of **Zhāng Hé** (unknown date of birth, died 231). Originally one of Yuán Shào's men, Zhāng switched over to Cáo Cāo's side at the Battle of Guāndù in 200…which, according to historical sources, instigated the final collapse of Yuán's army. He later became an aide to Xiàhóu Yuān during the **Hànzhōng Campaign** of 217-219. Remaining as a general of Cáo Wèi after Cáo himself died in 220, Zhāng would eventually die thanks to an ambush set up by the forces of Zhūgě Liàng. In this life, Kazua is a typical pervert; during the fight between the Gods and Seki Haneko, he loved using his monk's staff to press into her panties when she was down and defeated (not to mention almost nude, which is a common occurrence in _Ikkitōsen_).

And now their opposite numbers from Rakuyō, the **Angels of Chōan**…who, as stated in Part 2, were first created for the Anime Addventure in _The Emperor's Army_ storyline:

**Joei** (**Omomuro Haeko**) is a distant cousin of Akira's as noted above. She is the current incarnation of **Xǔ Rǒng** (unknown birth date, died 192). Xǔ was one of Dǒng Zhuó's more able generals, facing off against both Cáo Cāo and Sūn Jiān and defeating them both. After Dǒng was killed by Lǚ Bù, Xǔ came under the command of Wáng Yún and would eventually fall in the defence of Cháng'ān against the forces of Guō Sì (see below) and **Lǐ Jué** (unknown date of birth, died 198), falling in battle against them. In this life, Haeko decided early on to let bygones be bygones and made up with her past-self's old opponents. Her studies in Shintō aided her and helped her persuade her friends to follow her example. She is aware of the truth of the man known to many as "Saji Genpō" and informed Tōtaku Chūei (Tadasu Suguta) of same a couple years ago.

**Kakuji** (**Kuruwa Mikawa**) is the current incarnation of **Guō Sì** (146-197). Another of Dǒng Zhuó's generals, Guō cut his teeth against the Yellow Turbans and later on in the fight against Yuán Shào's coalition formed to bring Dǒng down. After Dǒng was killed, Guō — along with three of his peers — were denied clemency by Wáng Yún, thus making them turn against Wáng and eventually forcing him to commit suicide. Guō later joined forces with Lǐ Jué to kidnap the court of the Xiàoxiàn Emperor, but the two later came to blows and Guō was forced into the mountains to eventually be slain by one of his own subordinates. In this life, Miwaka came to understand Omomuro Haeko's desire to put the past where it belonged and began studying Shintō.

**Hanchō** (**Magaki Shigeko**) is the current incarnation of **Fán Chóu** (unknown birth date, died 195). He was another of Dǒng Zhuó's generals who wasn't given clemency after Dǒng was eliminated at the instigation of Wáng Yún. Fán was one of the two men who calmed down both Guō Sì and Lǐ Jué when both contemplated killing the Xiàoxiàn Emperor after Wáng was done away with to better solidify control over Cháng'ān, persuading the two rivals to control the emperor as their former commander once did. Fán would be executed at the order of Lǐ when the former showed mercy to a townsman he had fought in the defence of Cháng'ān. In this life, Shigeko is the one who normally makes sure those who are controlled by Kaku Bunwa (Uru Hokona) — such as Lǐ Jué's modern-self, **Rikaku** (**Sumomo Kakuji**); he first appeared in manga episode #26 — don't interfere in the Angels business.

And **Chōsai** (**Haru Sumuna**) is the current incarnation of **Zhāng Jì** (unknown birth date, died 196). Zhāng was the third general who once served under Dǒng Zhuó who never received any clemency when Dǒng was killed. Zhāng was the man who helped Fán Chóu persuade both Guō Sì and Lǐ Jué to spare the Xiàoxiàn Emperor's life when talk started up to kill him, but would later be held responsible for the Emperor's fleeing from Cháng'ān back to Luòyáng, but couldn't make up for it once Cáo Cāo came onto the scene. Zhāng would eventually be killed by the forces under **Liú Biǎo** (unknown date of birth, died 208). In this life, Sumuna is the quiet one of the Angels. She cares for her friends, but that's about it. She personally hates Liú Biǎo's modern-self, **Ryūhyō Keishō** (**Koro Uwagi**); he was first mentioned in _Long Way Home_.

As an aside, the **Hanazono Shrine** where the Angels serve as miko was first constructed in the seventeenth century and is located five hundred metres northeast of Shinjuku Station (the scene of the notice board that often appeared in _Cityhunter_ and was revised in _Angel Heart_), just east of the Shinjuku Ward Offices.

In addition, the Angels are physically based on the characters from the latest version of the _Dead or Alive_ series. Haeko would take after **Kasumi**. I model Mikawa after **Ayane**. Shigeko would be a perfect twin to **Christie**. And Sumuna would be modelled on **Sarah Bryant**.

3) Translations: **Ubique** — Literally "Everywhere," this serves as the catch-all battle honour for the Royal Canadian Artillery and the Canadian Military Engineers; **Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt** — Literally "Whither Right and Glory Lead," this is the official motto of both the Artillery and Engineers (though this motto is not displayed on sappers' hat badges as it is on gunners' hat badges); **Shōsa** — Navy lieutenant commander, Army major, Air Force squadron commander; **Signaller** — Rank title for an Army private serving in the Communications and Electronics Branch of the Canadian Forces (short-form **Sig**); **Seishin Shuriken Arashi** — Literally "Psychic Throwing Star Storm," this is a "shotgun blast" of ki balls fired out of a person's hand like canister shot from a field artillery piece.

4) The Royal Canadian Artillery and the Canadian Military Engineers — as do their counterparts across the British Commonwealth — do not earn individual battle honours and theatre honours to mark their service; it is the long-accepted practice that since artillery and engineers are required anywhere military operations happen, the _Ubique_ honour fulfils that role. However, to mark special instances where an individual battery or squadron distinguishes itself, an **honour title** can be bestowed to be born by the battery or squadron in question. For example, **4 Battery, Royal Artillery** is given the honour title "Sphinx" as it participated in British Army operations in and around Alexandria in Egypt during the Napoleonic Wars of the first two decades of the nineteenth century.

A variation of this concept is to bestow a name to a unit to mark a re-roll from one particular arm of service to another. This can best be seen with the example of the 2nd/10th Dragoons when it was converted to artillery in 1946; to mark the unit's prior service as part of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, the title of the post-1946 unit was read thusly: **57th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery (2nd/10th Dragoons)**. Such a mark of respect to one's ancestral service would not be officially recognised as an "honour title" as Hiromi speaks of to Ed Fiacco in this part.

5) Like other air forces worldwide, the Canadian Air Force allows individual squadrons to mark their aircraft to visually show which unit flies the planes. Some squadrons put on their squadron crest on the hull; this normally applies to transport squadrons. Fighter squadrons use unique logos as described here. To see what the 433e Escadron and 434 Squadron logos look like, just search for each squadron in Wikipedia and scroll to the bottom of the page to view them for yourselves.

6) An **Air Combat Systems Officer** (**ACSO**), pronounced "ak-soh," is an officer in charge of all tactical operations on aircraft when said aircraft is flying. This would include sensors, communications gear and weapons. An ACSO in a fighter aircraft like the Starfire would serve the same role as a **Weapons Systems Officer** (**WSO**, pronounced "wizzo") in the United States Air Force or a **Radar Intercept Officer** (**RIO**) in the United States Navy.

7) Aviator **call signs** are — as fans of _Top Gun_ will recognise — nicknames bestowed on fighter pilots (as well as flight officers and even enlisted ground crews) which substitute for the given name in radio conversations. Always, the call sign is bestowed by the person's co-workers in a squadron or training class; it is considered bad form to choose one's call sign oneself. Call signs normally are derived from some humerous outtake on a person's family name, though — as shown with Nabiki here — it could also allude to a person's interests or hobbies.

8) U.S.S. _Arizona_'s ship's radio call sign, **Sandy Oak**, comes from a combination of both the potential original meanings of the name in Spanish and Basque. In Basque, _artiz ona_ literally means "the good oak"…and in Spanish, _árida zona_ means "arid zone." The word **Arizona** could have also been derived from _Arizonac_, a Spanish misinterpretation of the native O'odham _alĭ ṣonak_, meaning "small spring."

9) United States Navy squadron notes:

**Space Fighter Squadron One** (**SVF-1**), nicknamed "The Wolfpack," is derived from the oldest air squadron number in the United States Navy. The original VF-1 was formed in 1922 and served as such until it was converted to a bomber until in 1934. The squadron was reborn a year later, serving for two years until being renumberd as VF-6. The squadron was reborn again in 1943, flying Grumman F6F Hellcats off carriers in the Pacific theatre for the rest of the war, then was disestablished once more. The squadron was not reformed until 1972, flying Grumman F-14A Tomcats for various carrier air wings until it was disestablished once more in 1993 with the decommissioning of its last base ship, U.S.S. _Ranger_.

**Space Fighter Squadron Fifty-one** (**SVF-51**), nicknamed "The Screaming Eagles," was first established in 1943, gaining the number 51 as the war went on. Being the first squadron to convert to jet aircraft in the Navy in 1947, the squadron remained on active service and flying multiple types of fighter aircraft until disestablishment occured in 1995. During the filming of _Top Gun_ in the mid-1980s, several of VF-51's F-14As were re-painted to reflect the fictitious squadrons the pilots in the movie were said to hail from.

10) **Mitaka Arisa** is one of the characters of _Aozora Shōjotai_ (literally "Blue Sky Girl's Squad"), known in North America under the title _801st T.T.S. Airbats_ when the OVAs were released by AD Vision. She and her friends from the Airbats appeared originally in a manga series created by **Shimizu Toshimitsu** (the man who also created the short manga series _Maico 2010_). The members of the Airbats, now known as **801st (Airbats) Space Tactical Fighter Squadron**, were shown as being reassigned to the newly-established **24th Space Wing** of the Japanese Air Self-Defence Forces in support of J.S. _Yamato_ in _Long Way Home_.

11) The two-letter **Tail codes** appearing on planes of the United States armed forces indicate the home formation or base of a particular aircraft. For the Air Force, the tail code could indicate a state's air national guard formation (usually, this would be the two-letter short-code for a state such as **AZ** for Arizona), a formation title (such as **FF** for the **1st Fighter Wing**, nicknamed "the Fighting First") or a particular base name (such as **WM** for **Whiteman Air Force Base** in Missouri). In the Navy, the tail codes are usually assigned per carrier air wing or general mission. The first letter of the code indicates which fleet the aircraft belongs to (**A** for the Atlantic Fleet, **N** for the Pacific Fleet and **T** for Navy Training Command aircraft). Thus, **Carrier Air Wing 72** (**CVW 72**) is seen as a formation under the ultimate administrative and operational command and control of **United States Pacific Command** (**USPACOM**), headquartered at Camp H.M. Smith in Halawa Heights, on the island of O'ahu in Hawai'i. Of course, U.S.S. _Arizona_ will also be ultimately controlled by USPACOM.

12) A **Master Gunner** (**Mr Gnr**) in the Canadian Forces is an Army senior non-commissioned officer who, these days, has completed the **Army Technical Warrant Officers** (**ATWO**) Course, a year-long syllabus run by the Royal Military College in Kingston that exposes warrant officers and master warrant officers to a wide scope of technology and science and how such influences operations in the field. Before 2005, the **Royal Canadian Artillery School** at CFB Gagetown offered a Master Gunner's Course which trained prospective candidates in the same things (the ATWO course, in essence, fully opened up the idea to non-gunners who were interested in learning these things). When one becomes a Master Gunner, one has the right to wear a qualification badge, which is the same as the hat badge of the Royal Canadian Artillery (a Napoleonic War-era field cannon with a rammer lying against the carriage) without the crown or the motto scrolls, under the rank badges of the lower arm sleeves.

13) The radio call sign **(Name) Seven** when used in an Army communications net indicates the senior non-commissioned officer of a unit. The deputy commanding officer is always **(Name) Five**.

14) The concept of Avalonian-Niphentaxian hybrid children was first explored in _Lonely Souls_. It also made an appearance in _The Ishinomaki Years_ and _Long Way Home_.


	42. The Battle of Yaminokuni, Round 2

The _Redemption_, above Yaminokuni (Japan time: twenty minutes after sunset)…

_"What the HELL…?!" Sakimu gasped. _

_"That was the_ Canadian _flag on that ship…!" Sil declared. _

_"But HOW…?!" Ando demanded…_

…as the bridge crew all watched _Haida_ soar on ahead until she was nearly a dot in the sky, pulling to port and up a bit to swing her away from _Redemption_'s current course. As dozens of eyes followed the gracefully-moving Canadian starship, people at the port and starboard stations then gaped on seeing very sleek star fighters, all of them coloured grey — and the nearest ones to _Redemption_ bearing the low-visibility ring-and-maple leaf roundel of the Canadian Air Force on their hulls and wings — race past the Urusian stealth cruiser. As the fighters — at least TEN SQUADRONS' worth to Ando's quick count — soared off after their mothership, everyone then noted that the Canadian starship was now heeling hard over to starboard, tilting herself to present a full broadside towards the Urusian ship. Seeing that manoeuvre, Rina immediately tapped controls. "Bringing the ship to a full stop, Colonel!" she called out.

"All forward shields reinforced, double front!" Rino added.

Yūki stared at the main monitor screen at her station. "She has targeting locks on us, both missile and particle guns," Sil's bond-mate then warned. "I count a total of eighteen main triple-gun mounts with six of them — all mounted on her port side — not aimed at us now. She also has seventy-two anti-fighter quad gun mounts, thirty-six short-range anti-aircraft missile batteries and eighteen batteries of anti-ship missiles, six of them with targeting solutions on us now. She…" She tapped controls before sighing. "She also has _a hundred-and-seventeen_ two-man fighter craft now moving in to hovering positions off both the bow and stern, all armed with eight anti-ship missiles each! The missiles have plutonium warheads!"

Silence fell over the bridge as Ando, Sakimu and Sil exchanged wide-eyed looks.

The _**Terrans**_…

…had a _**starship**_?!

With _**star fighters**_ as well?!

And it was now HERE…

…moving to stop THEM?!

"This has to be a trick…!" Sakimu then exclaimed.

Ōgi blinked before he turned to stare wide-eyed at Sakimu. "How in the name of the Goddess can _that_ be a trick, you fool?!" he demanded as he waved to the distant Canadian starship. "I WARNED you when I came here that the Avalonians took space docks from us when they were stolen from us by the Noukiites! They built that ship…!"

"Something _that_ big and _that_ well-armed in FOUR MONTHS?!" Sakimu demanded. "HOW?! Not even _your_ best shipwrights could pull something like _that_…!"

"_**ENOUGH!**_"

Both men jolted on hearing Ando's shout, and then they turned to gaze at the colonel as he stood up, walking over to stand close to his wife's station as he gazed at the image of the Canadian starship hovering a good distance ahead of his own vessel, her main guns now trained on _Redemption_ and the tiny specks of her fighters reflecting the light of Yaminokuni's sun both ahead and astern of their mothership. "This has to be a trick of some sort!" he said. "No doubt, the Noukiites had a hand in this…!"

"Can you be sure?" Ōgi prodded.

"Ōgi…" Sil growled.

He glared at her, his brown eyes now flashing with a frightening fervour that made the Oni woman blink as she realised he wasn't truly scared of her now. Before she could protest such an action, the deposed president of Phentax Two then walked over to stand beside the commander of _Redemption_. "Ando, my friend, don't let your prejudices blind you to what's now in front of us! If a middle power on Earth like Canada was given something like _that_, there is no doubt in my mind she didn't come alone!"

"Mister President, I can't scan anything else…" Yūki protested.

"Then where did THAT come from?!" Ōgi demanded.

Yūki sighed. "Sir, I may be genetically faster than most other humanoid races, but I am merely mortal! I make mistakes, too! I was too busy trying to give the colonel a proper analysis of what we faced on the ground when that ship appeared!" She sat back in her chair. "The chances are there she has a cloaking device…!"

"The Ipraedies?" Ando demanded.

"A very serious possibility…"

"Ando!"

Ando looked over to his wife. "What?!"

Rino stared at him. "We're being hailed. It's Matriarch Moroboshi."

Silence.

"You SEE!" Ōgi snapped.

"ENOUGH!" Ando roared back. "Put her on screen!"

Rino nodded as she tapped controls on her board…

* * *

The _Paekbŏm_, now in the clouds to the southwest of Muzlim Madiina…

"_**GONE?!**_"

Kim Yunjin — one of the two hundred Avalonian-Koreans who had been created to crew the first starship of the Republic of Korea Navy at the start of March — nodded as she gazed wide-eyed at her captain, _Taeryŏng_ Chang Kungbok. Despite her — as had been done with the other plank owners of the ship's crew after their arrival over the planet — now understanding what being human was about (as witness the _t'aegŭk_-shaped earring she now sported), she still had firm control over her emotions. It wasn't as firm as it should have been, Chang knew as he noted the tears in the young woman's brown eyes…but given what she had just discovered, he didn't blame her. "Ne, Taeryŏng-nim! They were all there in the engineering spaces of the enemy ship…and then they all _**disappeared**_! It was so sudden…!"

"Yunjin-a, was there any sign of teleporter use on that ship?"

That was Professor Kim Suyŏn, a civilian scientist from the Ministry of Defence who had, some years before, designed the first ever _**stealth nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile**_ as part of Project Pigyŏk, a joint North-South weapons project initiated as a secret part of President Kim Taejung's "Sunshine Policy." First postulated in the historic meeting between President Kim and Marshal Kim Chŏng'il at their 2000 summit in P'yŏng'yang, the Pigyŏk missile was designed to forever free the Korean peninsula from the influence of outsiders, especially the Americans and the Chinese. However — in the wake of the Americans discovering the missile's existence, resulting in their demand to scrap the project — Kim Suwŏn wound up being propelled back in time to the year 1572 with said device thanks to a rogue comet. Once there, she — along with special military troops from both North and South Korea — had the chance to meet the famous sea general Yi Sunshin while he was nothing more than a common thief and smuggler of ginseng (much to the total horror of the South Koreans, who looked on the famous _Ch'ungmu-gong_ as an honourable citizen of his time period). These days — after being rescued by the _Paekbŏm_ under Moroboshi Hiromi's command — she worked for the Technical Consulate of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations as a special advisor on military matters; once the civilian staff of the Earth Defence Force was officially organised, she would be taken on as a senior scientist. "Teleporter…?" Yunjin blinked before her fingers flew over the keypad at her station. A moment later, she shook her head. "No, Sŏnsaeng-nim. No teleporter use whatsoever. In fact…" She paused, and then bit her lip. "Just a minute."

Her fingers flew over the keypad. "What are you thinking?" Chang asked.

"If they really are Avalonian-Niphentaxian hybrids — and somehow bluffed their way onboard a ship chock-full of Avalonians allied to the Urusian Imperials — they must have some way to avoid any internal security scan that would pick up their mothers' DNA in their bodies," Professor Kim answered. "So why were they on that ship in the first place? I say a sabotage mission; we all know what happened to hybrid children born of Niphentaxian fathers and Avalonian mothers, don't we?" she asked.

The captain grimaced. If the horror stories about Avalonians that broke out in the world news media in March hadn't been bad enough, the revelation of the existence of tens of millions of hybrid children born of Avalonian mothers and Niphentaxian fathers — and what had been the response of the government of Phentax Two to such children — had been worlds worse. The usual response of the discovery of such children by their fathers' leaders was instant imprisonment in suspended animation on the bioroid factory then on Phentax Twelve. Along the way, genetic experiments had been done on a lot of those children — many of whom were just _**babies**_! — which matched the horrors members of the Soviet Red Army would discover had been unleashed on inmates at Auschwitz in 1945. Because of that, almost all hybrid children had elected to remain on the bioroid factory — forming their own practically autonomous community with little acknowledgement of Otako Meinyak's authority as the leader of the bioroids on the factory — or moved to remote regions of countries such as Canada, Russia, China, Brazil and Australia. There, they lived pretty much on their own, wanting to have nothing to do with anyone and often responding to attempts at integrating them into their host nations with barely-veiled loathing if not outright violence.

Few could blame the hybrids for feeling that way, of course.

"So who are these people, anyway? Where did they come from?" Chang then asked.

"I think we need to capture some of the ship's crew and interrogate them," Professor Kim proposed. "And that…" She then smirked.

He nodded. "Ŭnju-ya?"

Another of the ship's Avalonians, Yi Ŭnju, perked. "Ne, Taeryŏng-nim?"

"Have Colonel Kang and Colonel Pak get up here now!"

"Ne!"

* * *

_Redemption_…

"Good evening," Moroboshi Hiromi said in a very controlled voice before her lips twitched into a mirthless smile as she gazed on the people on the stealth cruiser's bridge. "I trust your arrival in this solar system wasn't too rough."

Ando jolted. "How…?"

"Oh, come now, Ando-san…and yes, I _do_ know who you are, sir!" Hiromi replied. "When my siblings and I finally met her on Okusei, Lum-san was more than happy to describe the arrogant fool she was forced to play with until she finally made _real_ friends in people such as Benten-san and Oyuki-san. Then again, when Lum-san's delightful sister Negau-san compiled a list of all those of the Imperial Round who had been captured or killed in the last few days, _**your**_ name was surprisingly absent. Since Urusian military regulations demands that a commanding field agent of the Defence Intelligence Directorate has automatic right of seniority aboard a warship, your commanding the vessel you're now standing on seems quite correct."

"You're remarkably well-informed," the colonel noted.

"Your people have been a threat to mine since the Tag Race last year, Ando-san. I make it my business to be well-informed about your people," the UNEDF director replied. "And even though we actually hoped your people would've respected Onii-san's message that your kind was never to come to Earth again for two centuries — an agreement your people _**broke**_ three days ago when your friends attacked my family home in Tomobiki through the Central Warp Chamber of Triton! — we are not ignorant of such things."

"We meant you no harm!" Sil stated.

Hiromi's eyes locked on the raven-haired Oni teenager before they widened slightly in recognition. "Sil-san?! I see you're here as well. I will confess that Lum-san does miss you. She'll be _very_ disappointed in you, though." She then smirked. "You actually believe that stealing — pardon me, _**attempting**_ to steal! — our planet's primary energy source just to pay off a space taxi cab driver is _**proper**_?! Especially when the person that could have stopped it actually ALLOWED that to happen as a way of forcing Onii-san to submit to her will?!" She then relaxed. "If that is your opinion of how relations between our peoples should be conducted — by BROW-BEATING us into submission every time we try to assert our independence, as Onii-san tried to do every day for the six month he was forced to endure Hensō's presence! — then you clearly are the spoiled brats Onē-sama finally concluded you were all along!" Another smirk crossed her face as the Urusians on the bridge all shuddered at that insult. "The Noukiites never tolerated that from you…and neither did the _**Yizibajohei**_!"

Wild screams of mortal fright escaped the Urusians and the lone Niphentaxian standing on the bridge as eyes darted to and fro, desperately trying to seek out the possible arrival of any of "They Who Must Never Be Named" on their ship. Hiromi was quick to note that all of the Avalonian-Urusians on the bridge were trying not to either grin in amusement or shake their heads in pity at such a childish fear. She then sat back in her chair. "Look at them all, my friends!" she then declared to the people with her in _Haida_'s operations room. "The terrible Oni…and they're mortally afraid of just a NAME!"

"_**ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?!**_" Sakimu shrilled out.

"No, Sakimu-san…if you are him, of course," Hiromi replied. "I am here to BURY your pathetic 'imperial round' deep into the earth once and for all time!" Her eyes then locked on the raven-haired Niphentaxian man standing by the captain's chair. "Not to mention a pathetic INSULT to all religions across the known universe. _There_ you are, Ōgi-san!" she then breathed out in a voice that purred with deadly intent. "What do you think now of the race your people kept chained down for so long?" She smirked. "The Elder Ganzo is now _laughing_ at you and your so-called 'one true faith!'"

"You _**monster**_…!" Ōgi hissed.

"Hai, I _**am**_ a monster." Hiromi's eyebrow arched. "But then, who is the real monster in this case? The man who ordered the slaughter of _**five million innocent people**_ just to kill off one senile old dictator who will soon be deposed once and for all?! Or the woman who — in her first life as a man — allowed his empire to fall apart because he was too busy taking in the delights of his concubines?" Her eyes narrowed as she tapped the magatama hanging off her earlobe. "I, at least, have a soul and heart that makes me regret my past-life's actions and drive me on to make restitution to those my actions and inactions caused such harm to. Do _you_ regret, Master _dai_-Zkuhsbagh?"

"_**HOW DARE YOU…?!**_" Ōgi roared.

"How dare I?!" Hiromi demanded. "_**No! How dare YOU, sir?!**_ If you think I will allow a maniac like you to run loose in this galaxy, you are very mistaken…!"

"Alright! Enough already!" Ando snapped. "Enough of this! Who's your real leader, _Matriarch_?!" he then sneered as he called her by her title. "Where's the Noukiite, Ipraedies or Seifukusu who's in real command of that ship?! I want to speak to them! I won't speak to a tailless monkey like you! I have standards…!"

"Oh, listen to the arrogant little _relav'sh_!" Hiromi snapped back, causing Ando to cry out in shock on her using the vile Urusian insult. "My heavens, I can't believe how blind you Imperials are! That your kind has been able to hang onto what power you've had for so long amazes me!" She then made a motion with her hands. "Wide room view."

The image then shrank as it revealed the whole of _Haida_'s operations room, with all of the staff now calmly staring at them from their positions. "See for yourself, Ando-san. Not a _**single**_ representative from the Imperial Dominion, the Imperial Houses or the court of Emperor Schwartz is anywhere on this ship. It's either Terran or Terran-form Avalonian. And the technology that saw this ship constructed was obtained by two very bright young people who stumbled onto a spacedock built by the predecessor race to the _**Maidens of the Eternal Voyager**_ themselves!" As _Redemption_'s bridge crew cried out on hearing that — it was well known that the technology of the Maidens was light-years ahead of that of even the Vosians, the race that were seen as the leaders when it came to the sciences — she made a motion with her hand, allowing the camera to close up on her. "So please, Ando-san, wake up to Reality. It's cruel and harsh, but it is all you truthfully have!"

"And what supposedly do I truthfully have, _Majesty_?!" Ando snarled…

* * *

_Haida_…

"«My Emperor. We're ready,»" Ayami whispered, speaking in Mandarin after she had shut off the omni-translator field in the operations room.

Hiromi smiled. "«Now.»"

"«As you wish.»"

A control was tapped, sending out a message to the _Arizona_, _Zhèng Hé_, _Hood_ and _Bismarck_…

* * *

_Hood_, the operations room…

"Retrieval signal just came in, sir!" the ship's chief yeoman of signals, Warrant Officer Class Two David Matthewson, barked out from his station in the operations room.

"Execute retrieval! Energize!" Nathan Kerr barked out.

"Aye, sir!"

A signal was passed on down to the ship's interior…

* * *

The British starship's damage control centre…

Noting the warning message from his old shipmate on H.M.S. _Ocean_, WO1 Tom Nelson tapped a control to activate materialiser targeting sensors, which had been locked minutes before on groups of Avalonian-Urusians aboard the enemy cruiser. He then tapped a control. "HQ1 to Mat Room One," he called out. "Major Parks, we have guests coming in. The lasses can control their arrival to make sure your lads are ready!"

"We were BORN ready, Buffer!" Major Scott Parks, the acting commanding officer of 41 Commando, called back from Materialiser Room One, located close to the forward main cafeteria. "We'll signal the captain when all our guests are secured!"

"Very good, sir."

"Is everything alright, Tom-san?"

Nelson perked, and then he smiled. "All's well now, Miss Miyamoto," he said as Kasumi placed a mug of English breakfast tea beside his station. "We're bringing some of the lassies from the enemy ship aboard here right now. The poor Avalonian girls that bastard Ōgi gave over to the horn-heads to crew that ship."

"Oh, dear!" Kasumi breathed out. "Best get some tea made!"

And with that, she was off to the galley next to Main Cafeteria #3. Watching her go, the senior boatswain on Britain's first battleship to bear Her Majesty's commission in fifty years could only smile. "Nice girl," he mused as he continued to monitor events…

* * *

_Redemption_…

Screams echoed through the cruiser's bridge as energy columns appeared around all the Avalonian-Urusians there, and then those screams faded as the people making them disappeared. "_**YŪKI! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!**_" Sil howled as she tried to lunge for her wife, only to collapse on the deck short of her goal as the other woman vanished before her eyes. "_**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BRING HER BACK! BRING HER BACK!**_" she shrieked out as she turned to fire a photon bolt at the view screen.

Ōgi snap-drew a pistol and sent an energy bolt into the woman's side, sending Sil flying into a chair before she collapsed to the deck with a pained moan. Seeing her shot down, Sakimu spun on the Niphentaxian. "You BASTARD…!"

He then gasped in shock as Ōgi's pistol was levelled on his face. "Don't be a fool, Sakimu!" the deposed president stated. "If the stupid woman used her powers, we'd be breathing _vacuum_ right now! THINK, for the Goddess' sake!"

"Amazing," a voice then taunted from the view screen. "You do have some brains, Ōgi-san. A pity you've never really sought to use them before!"

Ōgi spun around to glare at Hiromi before he relaxed as he holstered his weapon. "I have no desire to speak to a mere _machine_!" he said as he turned his back on her…

* * *

_Arizona_…

Nan Yūki blinked in shock as she found herself on her butt in the middle of a rectangular space with multiple pads on the deck, corresponding with the same number of pad-like devices in the deckhead above her. As she — now joined by at least twenty of her sister Avalonian-Urusians, including all the girls who had been on the bridge of the _Redemption_ when Moroboshi Hiromi had called out in that odd language — looked around, the curly-haired Oni-form Avalonian then tensed on hearing multiple _clicks!_ from somewhere to her right. Blinking as her own empathic senses picked up the presence of several people nearby, she then turned…before her breath caught in her throat.

"Now. We can do this the _nice_ way…or the _nasty_ way," the scowling United States Marine Corps gunnery sergeant — his name tag said **BLACK** — now standing behind the section of riflemen aiming Peacemakers at the platoon's worth of Avalonians having just been beamed aboard the American starship declared. "You all behave yourselves, you get to walk to Sick Bay under your own power so the corpsmen can check you all out. You DON'T behave, we make you ALL unconscious and have you put into the brig until you get the message." He then glared at them like he would glare at fresh recruits having just arrived at Parris Island. "Do you ladies all understand me?" he then evenly asked.

All the girls there — who all KNEW what a Peacemaker could do — slowly nodded as they raised their hands. "Alright, ladies. Slowly, get on your feet," Gunnery Sergeant Steven Black then declared. "Any pregnancies amongst this bunch, Doc?"

The new arrivals all perked on hearing something odd buzz from the direction of the main doors. Turning to look, Yūki then gaped on noting that a woman in a blue work uniform — an Avalonian, she could immediately sense — was aiming some sort of scanner their way, her other hand holding a device she was looking at. After a minute, said woman — who was quite attractive in a blatantly sexual way — relaxed herself. "A total of seven pregnancies in this group, Gunnery Sergeant," Kinzie Kenner stated.

"Point them out," Black stated.

Kinzie nodded as she walked in front of the kneeling Marines with their Peacemakers, and then she pointed out several people, including Yūki…

* * *

_Paekbŏm_…

"Niphentaxian-Avalonian hybrids?!"

"Ne," Captain Chang said as he indicated the cut-away image of _Redemption_ hovering over the central plotting table in the combat information centre. "They were all here until we lost track of them all." He indicated a control room by what appeared to the two Army officers — one in the brown combat dress of the Korean People's Army, the other in the green-and-black camouflage fatigues of the Republic of Korea Army — standing next to the starship's captain to be the main engineering space. "From what we can tell after doing a check of our sensor logs, something in THIS room teleported them somewhere. As to where…" A shrug. "We have no idea whatsoever."

Hearing that, both _Chungjwa_ Kang Min'gil and _Chungnyŏng_ Pak Chŏng'u exchanged knowing looks. The former was a veteran of the KPA's Special Operations Forces, having been assigned as security team co-commander at the Project Pigyŏk site buried under the mountains near the northern village of Huch'ang in Ryanggang Province close to the border with China. He was currently the commander of the KPA's special liaison mission to R.O.K.S. _Paekbŏm_. The latter, who had done time with the 707th Special Mission Battalion of the South Korean army before he was assigned to Project Pigyŏk, was now the commanding officer of the White Tigers; his battalion had been sent _en masse_ to _Paekbŏm_ to act as special infantry backup to the Canadian militia brigade that had been ordered to Yaminokuni. "Do you think we can board, Pak?" Kang wondered.

"We could…but we could use a distraction," Pak advised.

"What sort of distraction?" Chang asked.

Pak grinned. "Time to give our flyboys some target practice. Yunjin-a!"

Yunjin looked over from her station. "Ne, Pak-chungnyŏngnim?"

"Open a signal to _Haida_. I need to speak to the Director."

"Ne!"

* * *

_Redemption_…

Staring at the woman who had just managed to have all of his Avalonian crew whisked away with just a single word, Ando was quick to note that Hiromi hadn't reacted at all to Ōgi's insult towards her. Noting that the deposed Niphentaxian president was now starting to shake on realising that the enemy commander wasn't spitting vile oaths his way, the senior intelligence officer was impressed…though his heart was still raging at the idea of a _Terran_ having gotten the better of an _Urusian_! And an Urusian _Imperial_ at that! "What will you do to my wife?" he then demanded.

The reborn emperor blinked, and then she relaxed as she gave him a tranquil look. "I'm not a monster like some of your race have behaved over the centuries, Ando-san. I will never bring harm to anyone who is truly innocent, which the Avalonian members of your crew really are despite what you've probably made them believe in the months they've been under your control. If she was the lady you were standing beside on your bridge, I assure you that neither she nor your coming child will be harmed. _Barbarians_, after all, make war on defenceless children. _Civilised_ peoples do not!"

She ignored his look of outrage at her veiled insult to his cause as someone — a girl who appeared even YOUNGER than Hiromi, who looked to be in her late teen years — came up to whisper something to her. A second later, the image from _Haida_ was blanked out. "What…?" Ando gasped.

"What the hell's happening?!" Sakimu demanded.

"Call down to Engineering!" Ando barked. "Ask Tsuiro about repair status!"

The former battlewagon commander nodded as he headed over to Yūki's old station…

* * *

_Haida_…

"The main engineering control space?!"

"Ne," Pak Chŏng'u stated from _Paekbŏm_'s combat information centre. "We were able to track what looked like materialiser beams taking all the hybrids from their positions in the aft part of the enemy ship to that location. As to what could be there…"

"We need to find out," Hiromi finished for the South Korean officer.

"Ne!"

"You need a distraction, Colonel Pak?"

Hiromi turned as Mark Sullivan walked up to stand next to her. "Got all those nice fighter planes out there by your ship doing _nothing_ at this time, Colonel Sullivan," Pak stated in accented English. "Might as well put them to use."

Sullivan smirked. "With your permission, Madame Director?"

"Target only places which are not inhabited," Hiromi ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

_Redemption_, the main engineering control room…

"Master Architect Tsuiro! Are you there?!"

Silence answered Sakimu.

"Tsuiro! Damn you, your four-eyed mimic! Answer me!"

More silence.

"Tsuiro!"

Still more silence.

"**ANSWER ME!**" Sakimu screamed out…

…to no avail.

* * *

Floating off _Haida_'s stern…

"Thunderbird to all flight leaders! We have a mission for you!"

Nabiki — who was trying to still stay awake; _Note to self: Talk to those kids who built these damned things to find some way to cut out the engine noise in the cockpit!_ she then mused as she stifled back a yawn — perked on hearing Mark Sullivan's voice. "What's going on, Kyōko?" she asked her girlfriend.

Kyōko shushed her. "Listen!"

The middle Miyamoto daughter perked…and then her eyes went wide as the message came in from _Haida_. "You are to commence strafing runs on the bandit," Mark Sullivan instructed. "Say again, you are to commence strafing runs on the bandit. Thunderbird will lead off with a broadside of main guns to knock down those shields protecting the bandit's front end and shake the horn-heads on that ship up! Once the shields are down, you can then go in! Target all areas that your sensors detect are NOT inhabited! Say again, only hit the places that don't have people in them! All squadron leaders acknowledge!"

Voices called out in response from all the squadron commanders aloft today, including 434 Squadron's own Will Fowler. "Nabiki, key in targeting sensors to life scans," Kyōko then declared. "That'll give us points to aim at with our missiles."

"Right!" Nabiki said as she keyed the controls on the dataPADD before her…

* * *

_Redemption_, the bridge…

"_**NO RESPONSE?!**_"

Sakimu shook his head. "None, Ando!"

"Wait!" Ōgi called out as he pulled out a communicator unit. "I'll get Fangi down there to look in on those disrespectful heretics!" He tapped a button. "Ōgi to Fangi! Can you hear me?! We need people to look in on Tsuiro's people!"

No response. "What in the Goddess' name…?" the deposed president gasped.

"_**INCOMING!**_" Sakimu screamed out.

Ando spun around…

…just as massive heat blooms appeared all over _Haida_…

* * *

_Haida_…

"One broadside, ready to fire, Captain."

"Open fire," Brian Gamblin declared.

Lieutenant (Navy) Sally Carpenter smiled. "Aye, sir."

She tapped a button at her station…

* * *

Aboard Starfire 192 from _Haida_…

"Whoa…!" Nabiki gasped.

From twelve turrets posted on the top and bottom of the main hull at the bow, stern and starboard flanks of the Canadian starship, thirty-six long guns — each possessing a bore that was 520 millimetres wide and extended for twenty-six metres from breech to muzzle — spat out loads of mixed supercharged anti-proton and hydrogen-charged bauximite energy bolts that zeroed in on _Redemption_'s bow at half the speed of light. The Urusian cruiser seemed to glow for several seconds as the force shields protecting its wedge-shaped bow from the destructive power of _Haida_'s main guns strained to keep that horrible onslaught at bay…and then the shields all spectacularly shattered as the energy beams slammed through to rip massive holes in the cruiser's bow, drilling in several dozen metres at places before they exploded!

"Shields are down! Go, go, go!" Sullivan barked from _Haida_.

With howls of delight and choice oaths in eight languages, the active fighter units of the Task Force leapt away from their flagship's sides to home in on _Redemption_. "Bluenose One to all Deck Swabs!" Folwer barked from his aircraft. "We're targeting the area around the port hangar bay! It's just like bombing practice at Primrose Lake! All Deck Swabs, acknowledge you got the targeting package from Thunderbird!"

Chants of affirmation came from all the pilots flying under his control, including Ikusawa Kyōko. "Alright, then!" Fowler stated. "Here we go!"

And with that, the nineteen fighters of 434 Squadron dived in…

* * *

_Redemption_…

"Damn…!"

Ando moaned as he picked himself off the deck; when that broadside had slammed home, he had been pitched head-first into his chair. Looking around to see several stations now ablaze with electrical fires, he moved over to help Sakimu back to his feet. "You okay?" the colonel asked as he helped the captain stagger over to a nearby station.

"Stunned…DAMN!" the former commander of the _Repia_ gasped. "What was…?!"

His eyes then widened as he saw darts of light soar away from _Haida_ towards their ship. "_**THEY'RE STRAFING US!**_" he screamed out as he lunged over to one of the intact stations to key controls for the anti-fighter defences…

…just as the first missiles launched from Starfires flown by the 801st Space Tactical Fighter Squadron from _Yamato_ slammed into the cruiser's hull over the bridge, knocking Ando, Sakimu and a dazed Ōgi off their feet and pitching _Redemption_ sideways.

Mercifully for her, Sil was still unconscious on the deck near Yūki's station…

* * *

Approaching _Redemption_'s port side…

"Target locked in!" Nabiki called out.

"Right!" Kyōko called out as she thumbed the firing switch. "Bluenose Nine with eight…Fox Two!" she called out before pressing the trigger.

Eight rockets — each shaped like the Raytheon AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missile — leapt off their rails on the underside of the Starfire's wings as they raced at the looming heat signature ahead. A second later, the missiles slammed into the cruiser's hull forward and above the portside portal to the ship's main hangar deck, exploding on contact and venting out several compartments to the near-vacuum beyond. Around that same time, the missiles from the other Starfires being flown by 434 Squadron slammed into the stealth cruiser's hull, ripping apart gaping wounds in the outer skin and decompressing vital — though mercifully uninhabited — sectors of the ship's interior.

Once that was done, the nineteen CSF-196s flew over _Redemption_'s hull…and several silent spine-mounted anti-fighter guns that were not targeting on them…

* * *

Aboard _Redemption_, in the main engineering space…

Columns of energy allowed a dozen Terran-turned-Avalonian women to appear. All dressed in midnight-black form-fitting combat suits, six wore the _T'aegŭkki_ of the Republic of Korea while their friends wore the _In'gonggi_ of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Once the materialiser effect faded, they all looked around — reaching out with their empathy as well as their eyes — to note they were alone…although they were all nearly knocked off their feet by the impact force of missiles ripping into the cruiser's hull around them. "Damn! Are those stupid flyboys _**trying**_ to get us all killed?!" _Taewi_ Yi Nammo of the 707th Battalion snarled as she looked around the room.

"Seems like it!" her North Korean counterpart from the 18th Special Operations Brigade, _Taewi_ Paek Chunjŏng, muttered.

"Comrade Captain!"

Chunjŏng perked as _T'ŭkmu-sangsa_ Chŏng Manmyŏng pointed to what looked like some sort of storage locker on one of the bulkheads; the senior sergeant-major had a tricorder out and was now looking at it as the junior assaulters moved to cover the doors. "What did you find, Manmyŏng-a?" _Sangsa_ Ch'ang Sŏnhwa of the 707th asked as she looked over her friend's shoulder to gaze on the readout. "Oh, my God…!"

Nammo and Chunjŏng also looked at it. "_A micro-materialiser_?!" the South Korean captain exclaimed. "Buddha! What genius thought that one up?!"

"Whoever it is clearly anticipated this, Comrade Captain," Manmyŏng stated with a grin.

"We've got a problem, though," Sŏnhwa warned.

"What?!" Chunjŏng demanded.

"It's layered with _**carbonised neutronium**_, Captain," the South Korean sergeant warned with a wry smirk. "_**No**_ form of neutronium — even the artificial stuff — can go through a materialiser; the matter is too damned dense for the beams to convert to energy!"

"_**Wonderful!**_" Chunjŏng snarled.

"Wait!"

Eyes locked on Nammo. "What?!" Sŏnhwa asked.

The South Korean officer keyed the communicator on her left shoulder strap. "Any fighter pilot listening to this frequency, this is Captain Yi Nammo of the White Tigers, part of a boarding party from _Paekbŏm_!" she called out. "We're now aboard the enemy cruiser in the main engineering control space. There's a device here bearing what we think are the dematerialised bodies of all the Niphentaxian-Avalonian hybrids that sensors picked up aboard this ship, but the device is encased in neutronium and can't be beamed out using materialisers. Can anyone pick this thing up?!"

"We acknowledge your signal, Captain! Stand by!" Mark Sullivan called back from _Haida_.

"Ne!"

* * *

Starfire 196…

"Nabiki, can you scan the hangar bay of that ship?! Can you find a route for them to get from where they're at right now to where we can pick that thing up?!"

Nabiki perked, and then she nodded. "Give me a sec', Kyōko!"

"Hai!"

Her fingers flew over the dataPADD in front of her. A second later, a schematic of the _Redemption_'s interior came up before her, a target icon flashing at the location where the Korean boarding team was located. She then did a quick scan to see if people were present in any of the potential safe routes for the girls from _Paekbŏm_ to use to get that precious cargo off the stealth cruiser via their Starfire. _I can't believe we're actually going to do something crazy like this!_ the middle Miyamoto daughter thought to herself, and then she smirked. "Got a route for them to use! No one can block it!"

"Send it out to their dataPADD!" Kyōko said as she gently turned her machine around to have it begin an approach to the burning _Redemption_. "_Paekbŏm_ boarding party, this is Bluenose Nine from _Haida_. My ACSO is sending you an escape route…!"

* * *

_Arizona_, the combat information centre…

"What the hell…?"

Tom Kazanski looked over from his seat. "What is it?"

One of the people working around the main table, Operations Specialist Third Class Jacqueline Litchenburg, looked up from her dataPADD. "Captain! All life-signs on the enemy ship — save for the boarding party from _Paekbŏm_ — just vanished!"

"WHAT?!" the former F-14A pilot gasped.

"Look on the bridge, Jackie! You missed one!"

Litchenburg tensed. "What?!"

"We still got one more on the bridge of that thing!" Operations Specialist First Class (Surface Warfare/Air Warfare) Carl Brannon advised.

Kazanski blinked before he gazed on Ron Kerner. "Where the hell did they go?!"

"We better find out quick, Ice," Kerner warned.

Kazanski nodded…

* * *

_Redemption_, the bridge, minutes later…

Sil moaned as her eyes fluttered open, and then she groaned as she looked around…before her whole body froze on noting that NO ONE was on the bridge at this time. "Ando?! Sakimu?!" she called out as she slowly got to her feet…

…and then she screamed as one of the bulkheads in the back of the bridge exploded inward, showering the deck and deckhead with burning debris and sparks. As a terrified scream escaped her, she collapsed to the deck. "Yūki…help me…!"

* * *

_Arizona_, Sick Bay…

"Sil-vayae…!"

Kinzie Kenner perked on hearing that gasp from one of the pregnant Avalonian-Urusians now under the care of the American starship's medical team, and then she frowned. A brief mind-scan of this one had revealed something that was so ethically wrong for any Avalonian to have done, it simply beggared the imagination…and also indicated how much remedial psychological and ethical training these poor girls would have to undergo if they were ever going to live peaceful lives in the future. "What is it?" she asked.

Yūki blinked. "My bond-mate…she's still on _Redemption_…she's trapped…"

Kinzie took that in, and then she tapped the communications unit on the bulkhead beside her current guest's bed. "Kenner to Moroboshi on _Haida_! Onē-sama?!"

"What is it, Kinzie-chan?" Hiromi called back.

"We have a problem…"

The explanation took about two minutes. Suddenly, a new voice cut in, "Kinzie, we know about that girl," Tom Kazanski said from the American starship's combat information centre. "We'll get her out of there as quick as we can."

Kinzie nodded as Yūki breathed out in relief. "Aye, sir…"

* * *

_Redemption_…

"They _**abandoned**_ the ship?!"

"Affirmative, Captain Yi," Mark Sullivan called from _Haida_. "They cleared out just as the second wave of missiles struck the ship. How close are you to the hangar bay?"

"About thirty metres to go to the hangar, Comrade Captain!" Chŏng Manmyŏng called back, her tricorder being held out ahead of her as four of the junior troopers carried the large — and unfortunately quite _heavy_ — ball of collapsed metal behind her.

"Thirty metres!" Yi Nammo reported.

"Alright!" the Canadian air force wing commander called back. "Bluenose Nine is in the hangar deck now; there's an atmosphere there, but we're starting to get decompression explosions happening everywhere on that ship! Make it quick, girls!"

Nammo ducked as a deep booming noise echoed through the bulkheads. "We noticed!"

"Down here, everyone!" Ch'ang Sŏnhwa called out.

Everyone from _Paekbŏm_ came to an open doorway that led into a vertical chamber that dropped down at least twenty metres. "Damn it all!" Nammo moaned out on seeing this obstacle before them. "How the hell are we going to get this thing down THERE?!" she demanded.

"Fast-rope it!" Paek Chunjŏng stated. "We got rappelling…!"

"Wait!"

Eyes locked on Manmyŏng. "What?!" Nammo asked.

"Null-gravity field," the North Korean sergeant-major reported with a delighted smirk.

The others grinned. "You better move then, Comrade Sergeant!" _Hagŭp-pyŏngsa_ Yi Chŏngmyŏng then snarled; she was one of the girls carrying the micro-materialiser. "This damned thing isn't light, you know!"

Manmyŏng laughed as she got out of the way, allowing the four troopers carrying the device to shove it into the chamber. Instantly caught in a null-gravity field, the micro-materialiser began to gradually descend towards the deck far below. "Let's go, everyone!" Chunjŏng yelled out as she leapt into the air and allowed herself to fall down.

The others quickly followed her…

* * *

On the hangar deck…

"Are you sure we shouldn't open the canopy?" Nabiki asked.

"Nabiki, look up," Kyōko advised.

Her girlfriend looked up…and then she cringed on seeing the deckhead far above the parked Starfire begin to twist and warp. "Damn…!"

"We're here!" came over the communications link.

Kyōko and Nabiki looked left to see four girls carrying a rather large ball of metal at a slow trot towards them. "Okay! Put it down on the deck! I can use the tractor beam to pull it out with me! Get off this ship, you people!" the pilot barked out.

The Koreans troopers nodded as they placed the micro-materialiser on the deck…

…just as _Redemption_ seemed to buck hard around them, causing all of the warriors from _Paekbŏm_ to stagger before they all vanished in materialiser beams. "Alright!" Kyōko called out as she keyed controls to activate the tractor beam on the port wing tip to lock in on the device. "Hang on tight, Nabiki-vayae! Here we go!"

As a glowing beam of energy snared the micro-materialiser and yanked it effortlessly off the deck, Kyōko slammed on the thrusters to send the Starfire zooming out…

* * *

_Haida_…

"Oh, my God…!"

People in the operations room tensed on watching _Redemption_'s back suddenly buckle right over the hangar deck. As the stealth cruiser seemed to want to fold right in half just like the airship _Hindenburg_ did the day its hydrogen lifting gas exploded as she was trying to land at Lakehurst in New Jersey a stormy May evening in 1937, people then breathed out as a small grey dart blasted away from her starboard side. Multiple explosions that vented out what was left of the ship's breathable atmosphere to the vacuum around it as the _Redemption_ began to drift to her port, away from _Haida_.

A welcome voice then called over the loudspeakers, "Thunderbird, this is Bluenose Nine! We have the package and are now returning back. Say again, we have the package and are now returning back."

A wild whoop of relief echoed through the room as people slapped each other's backs, shook hands and embraced. "Bluenose Nine, this is Thunderbird! Well done, you two! C'mon back in so we can get that thing aboard and look it over!" Mark Sullivan called out before he took a deep breath. "Thunderbird to White Dragon! Did you get your people back?!"

"Affirmative!" Chang Kungbok called out from _Paekbŏm_. "They're all safe and sound!"

"Acknowledged. Thunderbird to Sandy Oak! What about that girl from the bridge?!"

"She's in mid-transport right now, Thunderbird," Tom Kazanski called over from _Arizona_. "I'm getting my Marines down to guard her before she's beamed in."

"Roger that, Captain!" Sullivan stated before he looked aft. "Director?"

Hiromi sighed. "Dragon Six to all Dragon Fighters! Well done to everyone! You are clear to return back to your home ships!" she called out. "To all Dragon Ships; we're almost done. We still have two hundred-and-two Urusians and Ōgi to account for before we can finally call it a day. Review your sensor logs to find out where the rest of that lot went off to. All ships, remain at action stations!"

Acknowledgements came from the other ships. "So where could they have gone?" Mioko asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," Hiromi breathed out…

**_To be continued…_ **

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Taeryŏng** — Navy captain, Army colonel, Air Force group captain (in South Korea; in North Korea, this rank is called **Sangjwa**); **T'aegŭk** — Literally "great pole," this is the Korean red-and-blue version of the Chinese white-and-black _tàijí_ yin-yang symbol of Taoism which represents the origins of the Universe as a whole; **-nim** — Korean version of the Japanese "-sama" honorific, which can also be attached at the end of titles and ranks as shown here; **-a** — Korean version of the "-chan" honorific for names ending in consonants (for vowel-ending names, it's **-ya**); **Pigyŏk** — Short for _Pigyŏk Chinch'ŏnroi_, which literally means "High Strike Earthquake of Heavenly Thunder" (see note 3); **Ch'ungmu-gong** — Duke of Loyalty and Warfare (a posthumous title bestowed to the great generals of Chŏson); **Chungjwa** — Navy commander, Army lieutenant colonel, Air Force wing commander (in North Korea; in South Korea, this rank is called **Chungnyŏng**); **Taewi** — Navy lieutenant, Army captain, Air Force flight lieutenant; **T'ŭkmu-sangsa** — Navy master chief petty officer, Army sergeant-major, Air Force chief master sergeant (in North Korea; in South Korea, this rank is called **Wonsa**); **Sangsa** — Navy senior chief petty officer, Army master sergeant, Air Force senior master sergeant; **Hagŭp-pyŏngsa** — Navy seaman, Army private 1st class, Air Force airman 1st class (in North Korea; in South Korea, this rank is called **Illbyŏng**).

2) The name I chose for _Paekbŏm_'s captain is in tribute to **Chang Pogo** (787-846 or 841 C.E. depending on source material), also known as **Kungbok** (which literally means "Bow of Good Fortune"), who was a general of **Unified Shilla** (668-935) commanding all naval forces in the **Hwanghae** (Yellow Sea) from his fortress of **Ch'ŏnghae-jin** (literally "Blue Sea Headquarters") on **Wan-do** near the southwest corner of the Korean peninsula (two characters from _The Ishinomaki Years_, twin sisters **An Karam** and **An Kŭmhŭi**, come from Wan-do). A prominent military figure of his time — who, like other warlords of eastern Asia, had his own private army! — he was about to marry into the Shilla royal family when he was assassinated thanks to the plotting of court nobles at **Gŭmsŏng** (modern day **Kyŏngju** in North Kyŏngsang Province). As a result of same, the garrison at Ch'ŏnghae-jin was disbanded. These days, General Chang is remembered as an innovative and unique military leader for his age; the Republic of Korea Navy named a locally-built Type 209 diesel-powered submarine R.O.K.S. _Chang Pogo_ (pendant **SS-061**) in his honour.

3) **Project Pigyŏk** (the project name is my creation), as well as **Kim Suyŏn**, **Kang Min'gil** and **Pak Chŏng'u** are characters and situations taken from the movie _Ch'ŏn'gun_ (literally meaning "Soldiers of Heaven"), a 2005 science fiction historical comedy/drama starring the famous comedian **Pak Chunghun** (born 1964) in the role of **Yi Sunshin** (1545-98), Korea's most famous military commander and the man who effectively saved the Chŏson Kingdom from Japanese invasions lead by **Toyotomi Hideyoshi** (1536 or 1537 [depending on source materials]-98). Admiral Yi is seen by many historians to be the Far East's version of Horatio Nelson because of his tactical and strategic genius…but ironically, failed to pass the military element of the **Kwagŏ** (the civil service examination) on his first try in 1576. This — not to mention his wars against the **Jurchen** peoples then threatening Chŏson's northern frontiers — no doubt inspired the situation that was depicted in _Ch'ŏn'gun_.

As an aside, the actual **Pigyŏk Chinch'ŏnroi** weapon was an fragmentation explosive projectile fired out of cannons which were put to use against Toyotomi's troops by one of Yi's contemporaries, **Kwŏn Yul** (1537-99). He also made use of the **Hwach'a** ("fire cart"), which was an early version of a multiple launch rocket system that fired up to 200 gunpowder-driven arrows at a target.

4) The **707th Special Mission Battalion** (short-formed **707 SMB**) of the South Korean Army, nicknamed **The White Tigers**, is that country's primary counter-terrorist and quick reaction force. Based in the city of **Sŏngnam** to the southeast of Sŏul, the White Tigers were first formed in 1981 in preparation for the Olympic Games which were held in 1988 (in reflection of what happened at the Munich Games in 1972). Unlike many other special operations forces, the White Tigers train and make use of female operatives — qualified to the same standard as others in the battalion — for use in operations where a woman's presence wouldn't be questioned (such as airline hijackings, where food and medicine could be delivered by "harmless" stewardesses onboard the captive aircraft).

5) I created the term **relav'sh** in _The Senior Year_ as the worst form of insult an Urusian can bestow on another. As to its exact meaning, I've never postulated same, but it is considered quite vulgar.

6) H.M.S. _Ocean_ (pendant **L12**, sixth ship of the name) is a landing platform helicopter-type amphibious assault ship that was commissioned in 1998 to replace two late-World War Two vintage modified light fleet carriers as a command ship for an amphibious commando group of the Royal Marines. In real life, _Ocean_ would replace H.M.S. _Ark Royal_ (pendant **R07**, fifth ship of the name) as flagship of the Royal Navy's surface combat forces in 2011 in the wake of the latter ship's decommissioning. As to what will happen in the universe of this story, though…!

7) **Bauximite** is an explosive element that I make use of in my stories as well. Like mesonium ("meson"), it is a transuranium element, but it is highly unstable on its own and normally bonds with hydrogen atoms to allow it to exist in normal mineral format. Lowering the number of the hydrogen atoms bonded to bauximite allows the latter material to become as lethally explosive as plutonium without the radiation side-effects.

8) **Primrose Lake** is another name for the **Cold Lake Air Weapons Range** north of CFB Cold Lake.

9) Korean flag notes:

The flag of the Republic of Korea is the **T'aegŭkki**, the word literally meaning "Great Pole Flag." This incorporates a _t'aegŭk_ on a white field (representing purity and cleanliness), plus four trigrams surrounding it representing the concepts of Heaven (_Kŏn_, upper left corner in the canton), Fire (_Ri_, lower left corner), Water (_Kam_, upper right corner in the fly) and Earth (_Kon_, lower right corner).

The flag of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the **In'gonggi**, which literally means "United People's Flag." This banner is also known as either the _Hongnam'ogakpyŏlgi_ ("Red-and-Blue Five-point Star Flag") or the _Ramhongsaekkonghwagukki_ ("Blue-and-Red Coloured Republic Flag"). The design incorporates the red Communist star in a white circle (harkening to the _T'aegŭkki_, which also symbolised Korean Communist rebels in the early days of the Japanese occupation of 1910-45) close to the hoist on a red horizontal field (representing revolutionary traditions), divided by thin white stripes (purity) from two bordering blue stripes (sovereignty, peace and friendship).

10) The concept of **neutronium** that I use here is the same as what appears in the classic _Star Trek_ second-season episode "The Doomsday Machine." Ironically, the word "neutronium" was actually postulated by Professor **Andreas von Antropoff** (1878-1956) in a proposed variation of the Periodic Table of Elements to represent an element composed only of neutrons and given the atomic number "0" (which would put it before hydrogen on that list). In my eyes, neutronium would be probably at the top end of the periodic scale, being the potentially densest form of matter in existence with a higher atomic number than even mesonium; due to the high gravity conditions that would allow such to come into existence, the electron shells around the atomic core would be collapsed against the core itself, thus negating the positive charge in the protons located in the core by direct contact with the negatively-charged electrons and rendering neutronium effectively energy inert…thus making it invulnerable to next to anything employed on it. **Carbonised neutronium** comes from the _Star Trek_ novel _My Enemy, My Ally_ (1984) by Diane Duane (ISBN 0-671-70421-4). This version of neutronium is artificially made and bonded with carbon to lessen the sheer mass of the neutronium. This gives it a considerable amount of moulding flexibility while still retaining the invulnerability of pure neutronium.

11) An **Operations Specialist** (**OS**) is a United States Navy rating whose members work in a warship's combat information centre. Using a wide variety of assets available to them, they are responsible for the organized collection, processing, display, competent evaluation and rapid dissemination of pertinent tactical combat information to command and control stations, upon which sound tactical decisions may be made. In effect, people like **Jacqueline Litchenburg** and **Carl Brannon** are the U.S. Navy's equivalent of people employed as **Naval Combat Information Operators** (**NCI OP**s) in the Canadian Navy such as **Kelley Saunders** (introduced in Part 31).

As an aside, the suffix rate titles "**Third Class**" and "**First Class**" indicate members of a rating who hold the rank of Petty Officer 3rd Class (PO3) and Petty Officer 1st Class (PO1) in the United States Navy respectively.

12) All enlisted members of the United States Navy are indentified by a rank title that composes one's **rate** (rank), **rating** (occupational trade) and **warfare qualification** (specific operational field the sailor can be gainfully employed in). The **Air Warfare** (**AW**) qualification indicates that people such as Carl Brannon are qualified to participate in naval aviation operations according to the needs of one's specific rating and time spent on an aviation-capable ship such as an aircraft carrier. The **Surface Warfare** (**SW**) qualification indicates that people like Carl are qualified to help participate in all vital shipboard activities on a surface vessel (such as damage control, on-board ship repairs and shipboard watch positions according to one's rate and rating).

To that end, Carl's official rank title is **Operations Specialist First Class (Surface Warfare/Air Warfare)**, which is short-formed as **OS1(SW/AW)**.

Jacqueline's official rank title is simply **Operations Specialist Third Class** or **OS3**.

13) _Paekbŏm_'s call sign, **White Dragon**, comes from the first part of Kim Ku's _nom de plume_ (which could mean either "pure" or "white") as noted in Part 13…and the Korean dragon (_yong_), which — like all other Oriental dragons — are seen as creatures of benevolence and luck.


	43. The Dead Grove, Part 1

The Dead Grove (Japan time: forty-five minutes after sunset)…

"Ōgi…why in the Maidens' Names did you do _**that**_?!"

Ōgi took a deep breath before he looked over to gaze intently at Ando and Sakimu. "Gentlemen, did you actually look forward to _dying_ on a ship that was being shot at by over a hundred _**star fighters**_?! To say anything of a _**star battleship**_ ready to rake our vessel from stem to stern along the way?!" the deposed president of Phentax Two wondered as he gazed at the two Oni officers now picking themselves off the ground of this hideously dark place nearby; Ōgi had made use of the ship's emergency evacuation system — installed by Tsuiro and his friends — to get everyone off just minutes before.

Fortunately for all of them, they had emergency penlights on their persons so they could throw some luminescence on the situation; neither of them had been gifted as Lum or Sil had with paranormal powers. "That robot Moroboshi claims as a sister gave you only one chance to lay down arms!" Ōgi added. "She's in dead earnest now…"

A low rumble filled the air overhead, which made all three of them look up as the light medium-grey hull of what looked like _Haida_ began to soar over the city off to their north (as Sakimu's atomic compass was quick to detect). With the running lights turned down low and the ship not throwing down any sort of bright light on the city below, it was hard for them to see what national flag was there, but the horizontal red and gold bands — along with the lower part of a very complex coat-of-arms, set offside to the left; they were looking at this ship's port side — was quick to catch their attention. "The Spanish…?" Ando hissed out. "Fates! How many of these damned things does Moroboshi have?!"

"Probably enough to make sure getting away from here is going to be very rough," Sakimu stated. "We may be alive now, but these people are hell-bent on stopping us and seeing us either dead or in chains!" He gazed at his friend and commander. "We have to figure out a way to make Moroboshi _back off_ and let us go in peace!" A smirk then crossed his face. "If we can find a way to seize one of these things…"

Ando chuckled. "Ambitious!"

"Perhaps we have a way, my friends."

Both gazed over at Ōgi, who was now pointing off somewhere to the northeast. Both Oni looked, and then gaped on seeing someone familiar off in the distance, illuminated by the glow of a burning mushroom.

"Lum…?" Ando gasped…

* * *

U.S.S. _Arizona_, that moment…

"Don't move, horn-head!" a snarling man's voice said.

Dedron Sil — who had just been beamed into one of the starship's materialiser rooms — jolted, and then stared wide-eyed into the VERY angry face of a gunnery sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, dressed in the standard desert-pattern Combat Utility Uniform, holding a Zephyrite Peacemaker rifle levelled right between her eyes. Sil then jerked on hearing a horrible hissing sound, and then she turned left to stare wide-eyed at a snarling alligator now being held back by an incredibly beautiful woman — a Terran-form Avalonian, no doubt — in combat dress, no rank insignia anywhere on her body, the words **U.S. MARINES** on a strip above the left breast pocket and the Marine Corps eagle-globe-and-anchor badge on the pocket itself. Seeing that monster — which was as big as the average Urusian landshark! — gazing at her with those slit golden eyes, Sil shrank back, shaking her head. Noting that, Gunnery Sergeant Steve Black grinned. "Is Nicodemus a little hungry, Private?"

Private Marilyn Mortenson — she had been modelled by her former master on Phentax Nine to resemble the famous late actress, so she had taken Marilyn Monroe's birth family name as hers when she came to Earth — smirked. "Oh, yes! He's _really_ hungry now, Gunnery Sergeant! I just wonder if he can stomach something like her!"

"No…please, get that thing away from me…no, please…!"

A corporal moved to prod her with his weapon. "You be quiet, horn-head!" he snarled with the exaggerated drawl of backwoods Tennessee in his voice. "You done gone spooked Marilyn's friend there! Mister Nicodemus don't LIKE being spooked!"

Almost in echo of his words, Nicodemus hissed as he made a step towards the shivering Sil, who cringed even further as she cried out in wild terror, waving away the hideous beast now glaring at her. Before she could summon any power to blast the monster away with her photon bolts, a hospital corpsman with a restraining collar moved in to secure it around her neck. On feeling that, she totally freaked out. "_**NO! NO! LET ME GO! PLEASE, DON'T FEED ME TO THAT LANDSHARK! NO! PLEASE! NO, I'M A GOOD GIRL…!**_"

"Oh, Lyna…!"

That was the other Avalonian-American currently on GySgt Black's team, Private Geraldine Russell, who — like Marilyn — had been fashioned in the shape of a famous actress from 1950s Hollywood. "What is it, Jane?" Black then demanded.

Geraldine — she didn't really like being called "Jane" in tribute to her namesake's more familiar public name; though Black, given his seniority in rank, was allowed to get away with it — took a deep breath. "Marilyn, hold him back," she said as she slung her weapon. "Gunny, permission to do a mind-probe?"

Black — as well as the other members of their special detachment of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion's Force Reconnaissance Company to the 72nd Marine Expeditionary Unit — blinked. Marilyn and Geraldine were two of over a thousand Avalonian-Americans who had gladly signed up to serve their new homeland as one of Uncle Sam's few and proud back in March. After graduating from Parris Island a month ago, these two — as well as several dozen others from their recruit serial — immediately volunteered for Force Reconnaissance training even before they would have been allowed to endure basic infantry training. When that happened, Commandant of the Marine Corps General James Conway gave permission for those girls to be posted to both the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion at Camp Pendleton in California and the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion at Camp Lejune in North Carolina to give them a chance to do some on-the-job training before they would be sent to the School of Infantry at Pendleton and Camp Geiger in North Carolina, across Stones Bay from Lejune. And while some older Marines commented that doing that would scare off these women — the training that GySgt Black and his friends endured to become members of the Corps' elite Force Recon units through the two-year Accession Pipeline at various schools was a gruelling regimen that turned normal riflemen into special operations soldiers potentially the equal of anyone from the Army's Delta Force or the Navy's SEAL Team Six — the officers and marines of the Force Recon companies at Pendelton and Lejune soon learned that they had just gained an incredible winfall. And while Black himself was a little old-fashioned and balked at the idea of two _women_ being under his charge and fighting with the boys, Marilyn and Geraldine had proven themselves several times over in the last four weeks they had been with their battalion, even when playing aggressor against sister Avalonian-American soldiers aspiring to join the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment or sailors training to become part of the Navy SEAL teams.

He would trust them with his life; so would all of his platoon.

But to let her do _**that**_…?!

"Gunny Black, I concur with Private Russell's suggestion," the corpsman now holding a sobbing Sil — who was no longer screaming but was curled in on herself, now moaning that she was a good girl and that she didn't want to be fed to the nasty landshark — said as he gazed down at the weeping alien woman now in their charge.

A woman, many of the others were quick to realise, who was actually a _teenager_!

Black sighed. "DAMN it, Jane! I don't want you to muck around…!"

"Gunny, I believe she's been mind-raped."

"Oh, hell!" the corporal from Tennessee, Michael Norton, breathed out.

Black gazed at Geraldine. "You sure?"

She nodded. "It feels like it, Steve."

The gunnery sergeant sighed. When either of the Avalonians called him by his given name, it was _damn_ serious; under normal circumstances, people like Geraldine and Marilyn were huge sticklers for discipline and proper respect for rank. "Mike, take her weapon! Everyone, cover her! Marilyn, safe Nicodemus! Jane, you know the drill!"

"Aye-aye, Gunny!" everyone snapped as Geraldine handed her weapon to Norton before she slipped off her gloves. Behind her, Marilyn was kneeling beside Nicodemus, whispering to the alligator as she used her telepathy and empathy to calm the beast down. Around Sil, all but Hospital Corpsman Second Class (Fleet Marine Force) Scott Hensley stepped back a metre, all levelling their weapons at Sil's head; they had practiced this sort of thing over the last month, as distasteful as it was for either Marilyn or Geraldine when they were asked to do mind-probes. With that, she knelt before Sil and reached out with a hand to touch her face, and then she closed her eyes as she concentrated.

Sil's breath sucked into her throat as her eyes went wide, and then she blinked several times before her body relaxed, and then she leaned in. As the others all watched, the raven-haired Oni landed a tender kiss on the Marine rifleman's lips before she leaned in to deepen said kiss. After a moment — which was enough to make all the men watching this, even Steve Black, blush; even after coming to understand what actually drove people like Geraldine and Marilyn, some of their more intimate practices were a _**lot**_ to take! — they slowly parted before Sil gazed at her. "You're a Marine?"

Geraldine nodded. "Yes. Private Geraldine Russell, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, United States Marine Corps, at your service." She sighed. "Confirmed, Gunny. Miss Sil is the victim of mind-rape." A scowl turned her lips down as she darkly added, "Her bond-mate forced herself on her to convert her to the Imperial cause."

Everyone's jaws dropped. "But you people don't _do_ that shit, Jane!" Norton snapped. "God! You mean to say one of the people we rescued…?!"

"Her bond-mate didn't _know_ better, _Michael_!" Geraldine called back, her golden-brown eyes flashing with annoyance, which made the corporal wince as he realised he called her by a name she didn't really like; he sure as hell couldn't stand anyone outside his own parents calling him by his full first name. "By the time Yūki was sent to convert Sil to the cause, she had been pretty much brainwashed by the Imperials to believe what she was doing was right. By her people's standards, Sil is now seen as the head of her House, a House that was traditionally pro-Imperial. Her friends on the _Redemption_ — that's the enemy ship's name, by the way — didn't want to lose her." She then took a deep breath. "I **_did_** feel some regret from Yūki in the bond, but I'd have to fully mind-probe her to see what her side of the story is before rendering any sort of judgement."

"She was made to want me…she was afraid she'll lose me…that's why she made herself pregnant with our child recently…that way, she can never lose me…!"

That was a wet-cheeked Sil, who had wrapped her legs up close to her body with her arms as she tried not to break down and weep at what had happened to her. Seeing that, Black sent a questioning look at Geraldine. The private noted that, and then she nodded. He then cleared his throat. "Scott, take that thing off her."

The corpsman nodded, smiling. Even if they were prepared to unleash all sorts of death and destruction on their enemies, they knew mercy as well. "Aye-aye, Gunny."

The power-restraining collar was then removed. Sil blinked as she felt her powers come back to her, and then she gazed gratefully at the smiling man behind him before she slowly got back to her feet. Focusing on Black, she then straightened herself. "Gunnery Sergeant Black, I am Dedron Sil of the House of Dedron of the United Tribes of Uru." She then bowed deeply to him. "I am your prisoner, sir."

He nodded, slinging his weapon over his shoulder before he saluted. "Gunnery Sergeant Steven Black, Force Reconnaissance Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, United States Marine Corps — currently on temporary detached duty as part of the 72nd Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard United States Starship _Arizona_, now assigned to the Volunteer United Nations Earth Defence Force — at your service, Miss Sil. I accept your surrender, ma'am, and grant you parole under Noukiite combat code-of-conduct laws." He lowered his arm as he gave her a warning look. "Much that I am personally sympathetic to your current situation, ma'am, please, do _not_ violate that parole."

Sil nodded, inwardly grateful that the Terrans — who, if Moroboshi Hiromi's words were an indication of their real attitudes towards Urusians, didn't care to listen to anything people like her would say — were willing to be civil. Despite all her own misgivings when it came to Noukiites as a people, they _**did**_ fight war with a powerful sense of professional etiquette; she understood what the whole concept of "parole" meant. "I understand…"

"Here," Geraldine said as she offered her hand to the young Oni. "Let's get you to Sick Bay so I can scan Yūki's mind and get her side of the story." She gazed on Norton. "Mike, could you call Padre John? We'll probably need him, too."

"No problem, Geraldine," Norton said with a nod; Lieutenant (Reverend) John McPherson, a Southern Baptist from Jackson in Mississippi, was _Arizona_'s resident chaplain.

With that, they moved to step out of the room. Sil then yelped on hearing Nicodemus hiss at her, and then she hopped behind Geraldine as she gazed warily at the alligator as they headed out. Black tried not to laugh before he gazed at Marilyn. "What the hell's the matter with that damned 'gator now?" he demanded.

As the other Marines moved to get Sil away from Nicodemus as fast as they could walk while still being dignified, Marilyn smiled. "He hated her scent," she whispered to him. Nicodemus had been seen as an honorary member of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion for years; only when Marilyn joined the unit had someone finally come along to be able to converse with the alligator. "Says she smells of sulphur." As Black gaped at her, she smirked before beckoning her pet with her. "C'mon, boy! Back to the Swamp!"

The alligator slithered off after her. Black watched them go, and then he shook his head. "Goddamned crazy 'gator," he muttered before heading off himself…

* * *

H.M.C.S. _Haida_, the operations room…

"Dragon Six, Chancellor."

Hiromi tapped a control on her dataPADD. "Yes, Captain?"

"We think we may have an idea as to what happened to the enemy ship's crew."

"Go ahead."

Emil Weber sighed from his seat in the _Bismarck_'s operations room. "We just did a full review of our sensor logs. Roughly a minute after White Dragon sent in their boarding team, a very advanced teleporter beam was sent out from the enemy vessel straight down towards Muzlim Madiina. We're trying to confirm exactly where now."

"_Could_ they have beamed down, Emil?!" the captain of _Vittorio Veneto_, _Capitano di Vascello_ Paolo Benso, then asked. "If they tried that, they'd be lost because of the dust cloud!"

"And there is the defensive shield over the city," Tom Kazanski added from _Arizona_.

"Dragon Six, Trafalgar!"

Hiromi tapped a control. "Go, Trafalgar."

"_Señorita_ Moroboshi, per your orders, we dropped ourselves down below the dust cloud to remain close to the Dead Grove south of Muzlim Madiina," the captain of _Santísima Trinidad_, _Capitán de Navío_ Francisco Uriarte, said. "We're scanning the area beyond the shield to see if they came down anywhere outside the city. We need a few minutes."

"If they made it, they'll be the luckiest sods alive!" Nathan Kerr noted from _Hood_.

"Be as quick as possible, Captain," Hiromi stated.

"_¡Sí, Señorita!_"

"Trafalgar, this is Black Devil Six," Lieutenant Colonel John Buchanan of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles then called in from his battalion command post near the Airport pond. "We copy what's happening upstairs. If you can pick out where these bastards finally got to ground, Captain Uriarte, I'll send my troops out to pick them up!"

"With pleasure, _Teniente coronel_ Buchanan!"

* * *

The Dark Grove, to the south of Kentei's position…

"Ukitsu-sama! You feel that?!"

Hearing that hissed warning from Bakari Mitsugi (Kyokō) nearby, Kokoni Kichimi tensed…and then her eyes came around to gaze somewhere to her southwest. "Yeah…" she breathed out. "We got company here." To the others. "Look around, everyone."

Nods answered her from Mitsugi as well as Koeru Kagetori (Chōkei), Kureru Tsutomu (Goton) and Tsuieru Kyōsuke (Hikei). As the four faded into the darkness away from where their leader was currently relaxing with her spiritual aide-de-camp, Herasu Mienka (Saien Shōki), Kichimi then perked. "Where the hell…?"

"Akimi-chan went off to be on her own with Shirotora-kun going after her…but they're both close by in case you need them, Kichimi-chan," Mienka stated as her brown eyes sparkled with delight. "As for the Three Stooges, however…!"

Kichimi smirked as Mienka tried not to roll her eyes. The Gogun team sent out into the Dead Grove also included the school's two other A-rank tōshi, the contemplative Wan Akimi (Ōrō Keikō) and the blatantly sexual Koro Mihyō (Ryūhyō Satokiō). Also with them were Mienka's two official husbands in her first life — and Mihyō's rivals for Mienka's heart — Tadasu Matsuri (Tōshi) and Mamori Nakamichi (Eichūdō). Given the propensity for the two C-ranks chasing after Mienka's pretty backside — they had been part of Tsutomu's group to stop Mago Tsueko at the gates of Gogun when she came to duel Kichimi and had been effortlessly blasted aside by the reborn Little Conqueror — to fight each other to see who would win the right to "date" her…

Sighing, she tapped her headset. "Boxer Six to Noble Six."

"Noble Six, go," On Tsuguta called back from somewhere to Kichimi's east.

"Please tell me Ninja-girl's new squeeze is with her."

"She is," Ebisu Kyoko's voice then cut in. "I take it two of Sad Poet's would-be lovers are misbehaving and need a little lesson in etiquette via ki-mallet?"

"That's why I'm asking you, Koshaji," Kichimi stated.

A sigh. "Sadly, she had to go after them, Ukitsu. Tell Saien-chan she can relax."

Mienka moaned. "Dōmo…but I think we're not alone here now," Kichimi warned.

A titter. "Noticed, didn't you?"

"We got Oni to fight?!" a bright voice then cut in.

Kichimi jerked, and then she groaned. "Sonsaku…!"

"Yeah, we're not alone here, Sonsaku," Futoshi Itsuku called out from his place to Kichimi's west. "Stay sharp, people. These bozos aren't here to have tea."

Affirming chants came from the other school leaders…

* * *

_Haida_…

"Director…"

"I overheard," Hiromi stated as she tried to ignore her wife's tight grip on her arm. "Dragon Six to Trafalgar," she then called out to the _Trinidad_. "What's the status of your scan of the Dead Grove? How many are down there?!"

"We just finished it, _Señorita_," Francisco Uriarte called back from his ship's operations room. "Confirm that the Urusians and _El Presidente_ Ōgi are now on the ground. Nearest group is a hundred metres southeast of your children's position."

"Bokuroku-dono, did you overhear that?!"

"Hai, Majesty!" Ki Kenshika called back.

"**Bokuroku-dono, take Lìngxiōng, Reverend Klein and Lady Naoko, then go!**" a haunting voice then barked out. "**Get them to safety! Move!**"

"HAI!"

Hiromi shuddered. "Xié…!" she hissed out.

"**Enough, Father!**" Kentei called back from the surface. "**I can defend myself!**"

"I'll stay close to Kanami-chan, Onē-sama!" Takanashi Naoko added.

"**'Kanami'…?!**" the reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor then sputtered.

Watching the reborn emperor struggle with the idea of HER children now in the range of over two hundred people — one of which would probably kill poor little Arami all on the pretext that she was a "mere machine"…if not do something WORSE to her! — who would be in a rather bad mood after having their ship shot out from under them, Brian Gamblin grimaced. "Officer of the Watch!" he barked out.

"Sir?!" Michelle Anderson called back.

"Get us down there! Pull us alongside _Trinidad_!"

"AYE, SIR!"

* * *

The Dead Grove, a half-kilometre east-southeast of Kichimi's position…

"Nicely done, Akane-chan."

Miyamoto Akane smirked as she allowed her ki-mallet to dissipate, and then she glared down at the unconscious lugs who reminded her a little too much of the idiots she had once dealt with back at Fūrinkan High before Ranma had come into her life. "My pleasure, Ryūhyō-sempai," she said as she gazed on a smirking Koro Mihyō. "I've heard of how much these two goofs always love to fight over Saien-sempai all the time."

"They are not the only ones, though," Mihyō said with a smirk and a wink.

Akane blinked, and then she sighed. "Does she know?"

"She knows. Sadly, my own lusts tend to make me come on to her too strong at times, but Mienka-chan knows of my feelings," Mihyō — a beautiful senior with a tanned body possessing Sebone Shikuko's quite generous proportions, possessing long black hair extending to mid-shoulders and dark blue eyes peeking out of a very nicely-proportioned face — then stated. "In my first life, I missed her very much when she was ransomed off and sent back to Xǔchāng thanks to Torusuke-kun's past-self…"

"FILTHY LESSER! DIE!"

Mihyō snarled as she back-handed an Oni man the size of Saotome Genma in the jaw, causing that to shatter and him to fall back on his ass as blood exploded from his mouth thanks to a few wrecked teeth. At the same moment, another Oni man — which reminded Akane a little too much of her own father Sōun — came out, levelling a pair of futuristic pistols at her face. As Akane braced herself for the attack, she then gasped as the two men she had knocked out moments before surged to their feet and nearly crushed the poor Oni's face with punches to both cheeks! "How…?" she then gasped out as the hapless fellow collapsed to the ground, blood now leaking from his nose, mouth and ears.

Both Tadasu Matsuri and Mamori Nakamichi laughed. "No offense — and we do understand what made you do that to us, Akane-chan — but Ryūhyō-sempai hits worse with her fists than you do with that mallet," the former — a spiky-haired, thin fellow with lean, hard muscles and a scarred face — stated. "Sides, they brought guns to this fight."

"And that's not right to us," the latter — a more normal-looking fellow with shaggy brown hair and expressive brown eyes — finished before he scowled as he and Matsuri both tensed. "Put it down, girl," he then warned in an icy voice.

A gargled croak of breath made Akane's head snap to her right…

…and then she jerked on seeing a shivering Seishin girl standing with her back against a mushroom, her hand trying to hold the pistol she had up and aimed in the Gogun tōshi's direction. Quickly sensing how scared the newcomer was on seeing how easily three of the Terrans here had taken out her friends, Mihyō smirked. "Think it through, cutie," she purred as she seemed to lance the younger girl — Akane put her age at around fifteen or so; as to what that meant in Urusian society, she had no idea — with a stare that was part-sexual and part-lethal. "You're not so hot with that gun and you're realising we 'tailless monkeys' are far much better at hand-to-hand than you probably once believed. See that ship up there?" she then asked as she pointed up to the hovering _Santísima Trinidad_. "We got TEN of those beauties here with us now. What do you think your chances of getting off this planet are after learning that?!"

Suddenly, the hissing _shiing!_ of a sword being drawn made the girl gasp as she felt the sharp end of a VERY beautiful katana pressed against her throat. "Do as they say, young one," Bakari Mitsugi calmly instructed as she turned to gaze at him with wide eyes. "You are no fighter by any sense of the imagination. I don't know what brought you here to this place, but there is no honour in this battle for you and your kind."

The girl jerked as her mind ran through what he had just said before she hissed out, "You would TRAP Lum into a marriage she doesn't want?!"

"Don't kill her, Mitsugi-san."

Gogun's top swordsman perked. "Daremo…?"

"Or should we really say 'Ōbijaku?'" Mihyō noted with a smirk. "Ne, Miwaka-san?"

Wan Miwaka walked out of the darkness. The Gogun fighters and Akane were quick to see her carrying an unconscious Oni girl about the age of the girl now facing Mitsugi's sword. On seeing her, the Seishin teen then croaked out, "Hiyo…?!"

"Relax. She's just stunned unconscious," the Nanban senior stated as she moved to place the dazed Joth Hiyo on the ground close by. "No fatalities, people," she then advised the other tōshi. "This one — and Mitsugi-san's friend here — are bonded to the Avalonians our friends took off that ship before the fighters engaged in some welcome target practice. If we kill any of them, we kill their lovers as well. Any unborn children, too."

The others grimly nodded as Akane walked over to take the gun away from the shaking Seishin girl's hands before she dropped it on the ground. A mallet strike later — which made Mitsugi's captive gape at such a display — said weapon was crushed. "So what do we do with these ones, Sempai?" Nakamichi asked.

"Tie them up. No doubt, the Black Devils of Manitoba are coming here as fast as Sumiko-sempai's friends can transport them into the Grove," Miwaka stated…

…before she twirled her shakujō around to belt an Oni man on the top of the head, dropping him into an unconscious heap behind her. "Lucky thing I brought some ropes with me," Mihyō stated as she pulled out bundles of heavy-duty hemp rope from somewhere. Tossing two bundles over to her rivals so they could tie up the two Oni that had been bashed down earlier, she then handed a bundle to Akane. "Last one's yours, Akane-chan. Did Kyoko-chan teach you all the wonders of hojō-jutsu and shibari yet?"

Akane's cheeks flamed to life. "SEMPAI…!"

Mihyō then yelped as Miwaka swatted her on the head with her staff. "DOWN, girl!"

The reborn Wise King of the Left snarled back, "Meanie!"

Mitsugi could only shake his head as the girl he had captive blinked in confusion…

* * *

North of Kentei's position…

"Everyone, this is South Six!" Kashira Emi called in as a large group she was with now moved towards the position where Hiromi's children were located. "Listen up, bakayaro-tachi! Daremo warned us all that we can't — I say again, we CAN'T! — kill any of the idiots we find here! If you spot them, knock them out! If it's an Oni, rip off their horns; they can't fly and if they got powers like Lum's, they go bye-bye, too! Tie them up and we'll give them to the Black Devils when they get here! Everyone…?"

"_**DIE!**_"

Before the wide-eyed Oni man with the rifle could scope out a target, Emi's sister Yutako swung with her jiàn. One of his legs instantly was ripped away just above the knee, which made his eyes go wider and his mouth open for a painful shriek. Before he could do that, the blunt end of the Sky Piercer smashed into the back of his head, which dropped him to the ground. Immediately, Sebone Shikuko knelt to physically yank his horns out of their sockets in his skull as Noberu Miyako slapped down her hand on his mouth to keep him silent. "Get a tourniquet on his leg!" Shikuko hissed.

A low sound then echoed through the air as a bolt of blood-red ki ripped out of Ataru's hand to slam into the severed limb, which heated the severed tissue — making Miyako, Shikuko and Yutako all recoil as the stench of burning flesh assaulted their noses — and cauterised the wound. After a moment, there was no blood. As a weak moan escaped the poor Oni's covered mouth, Miyako gazed up at Ataru. "I'll stay with him," she whispered as she gave him a look. "But you owe me for this one, buster!"

"Five orgasms?" Ataru coyly wondered.

All the girls around him turned to gape wide-eyed at him — with Hensō looking as if she wanted to break down and cry at losing the chance to be close to such a man — while the men in their group had a mixed look of awe and disbelief. Miyako's own eyes widened as she felt a sudden surge of raw lust rip through her as memories of their lovemaking over the last few days quickly replayed in her mind, and then she rapidly nodded, her lower lip twitching as she considered what would soon happen to her. "Is he good for that?" Emi then asked.

The Rakuyō tōshi both grinned. "He's good for _double_…" Miyako began.

"In _**one**_ three-hour period!" Shikuko finished.

Quickly sensing the truth from them — despite what the tōshi from the other schools had once thought of people like Shikuko and Miyako, they knew neither would lie about _that_ subject! — whatever disbelief was on the faces of any of the men around Ataru instantly disappeared, replaced with total awe. The girls were gaping before they turned to give the Rakuyō pair very envious looks, even Sakan Somumi, who — despite her awful past experiences with sex — did recognise that Shikuko and Miyako both loved Ataru and that he loved them both in return. "You are a pair of lucky bitches, you know that?!" Emi then said. "Fuck! Tōmi and I…!"

"Onē-san, do you REALLY have to…?" Yutako moaned.

A sudden hissing sound from Ataru made everyone clam up as people gazed at him. He was perked and alert, eyes scanning around him. "Where?" Tano Susumi whispered.

Ataru pointed to his right forward. "Three at twenty." A nod to his left side. "Two there at twenty-five." A glance to his rear. "And we got some tail-end Charlies — about four of them — at thirty. Two to the left are pretty scared, by the way."

"We'll go right," Omomuro Haeko suggested. "Susumi, you guys go left. Shikuko, Somumi, Hensō, Kamen, Benten, Lum: You go with Ataru-kun to protect Arami-chan, Kentei-sama and their companions. Emi, get the heat off our tails before the Rifles get here."

Nods all around, and then the group with Ataru raced off towards the still-burning embers of the mushroom Kentei had used her magic and lightning on many hours earlier. As they did that, both the Gods and the Angels headed off to either side as the Nanban people ducked back into the darkness to intercept their targets…

* * *

"_**LUM-SAMA!**_"

Hearing that voice, the green-haired woman perked before she turned…

…and then yelped in shock as a flying form in a silver high school gakuran with a tiger-striped cummerbund around his waist flew out of the darkness to give her an overwhelming glomp. She couldn't dodge out of the way in time before her vision was filled with the rather up-close and twisted image of a raven-haired man that closely resembled Moroboshi Ataru's classmate Mendō Shūtarō…save for his elegantly tapered ears. As she was not able to dodge, she found herself flung backwards for over a metre before she crashed against the side of a mushroom, the breath exploding from her as her head bounced off the semi-hard surface before she dropped to the ground. Before she could react, he landed effortlessly in a crouch straddling her legs. "Oh, Lum-sama! You're safe and sound!" Ōgi tearfully called out as he moved to grasp her hands…

…before a screeching noise echoed through the air as a bolt of energy slammed into the Niphentaxian right under his left armpit. He cried out in shock before he dropped to his side as unconsciousness overcame him. At that moment, a woman in a combat suit then emerged from behind a nearby mushroom. "Well, here's **_one_** idiot for the brig!" Takanashi Naoko then stated as she moved to help Kentei up…

…and then she yelped as a storm of particle laser fire shrieked out from somewhere to her right rear. Quickly diving for the ground, the green-haired bioroid spun around as she sent a fusillade of shots from her Lawgiver to rip through the darkness and the trunks of nearby mushrooms. Hearing two men scream out in fear, Naoko quickly rolled over to a kneeling position with her weapon aimed ahead of her.

Another bolt of energy zipped past her directly from her right, which made her drop as she send a fusillade in the direction of whoever was trying to shoot her now. Naoko then cried out as a bolt of energy ripped into her right thigh, burning a good amount of the suit away, not to mention her pants and skin underneath. Before whoever had hit her could aim for a more fatal target, a pair of legs covered in a pair of tiger-striped boots and dark loose-fitting slacks then dropped down in front of Naoko.

"_**STOP SHOOTING!**_"

Silence fell over the scene before a voice called out, "Lum?! Is that you?!"

Kentei fought down the urge to smirk. _What gullible idiots!_ the reborn last emperor of the Hàn mused to herself before calling out, "_Tcha_! Of course it's me, Ando!" she then spoke out in a perfect imitation of Lum's/Hensō's voice, right down even to the lilting accent. "Why are you trying to hurt my friend, idiot?!"

* * *

Nearby…

"Oh, well done, Kentei-sama!" Ki Kenshika hissed out.

He blinked on hearing the quiet chime of a materialiser; fortunately for all the people in the heart of the Dead Grove — unlike places close to the edge — the air was quite thick and didn't transmit sound as good as it did elsewhere. "Bokuroku-dono!" a voice whispered.

He looked back. "Here, Majesty!" he whispered back, beckoning with his hand.

Hiromi and Mioko crouch-walked their way from their beam-in point — Kenshika was quick to note out of the corner of his eye that _Haida_ had just joined _Trinidad_ in the skies over Muzlim Madiina — to kneel beside him. "What's happened?" Hiromi quietly asked.

"He just tried to embrace your child," Kenshika said as he indicated the unconscious Ōgi. "Naoko-chan shot him down, but got shot herself in the leg!"

Hiromi nearly croaked on hearing that before Mioko's hands squeezed her shoulders in reassurance. Leaning her head to one side to look around the mushroom Kenshika and his wolves had hidden themselves behind, the reborn emperor was then quick to notice Kentei greeting both Pochik Ando and Tenwan Sakimu…acting as if she was Lum — or rather Hensō! — herself! "Well done, sweetie…" she whispered before closing her eyes. «Naoko?»

Naoko — who was now moving to lean against a mushroom while still keeping "Lum" in her sights — perked before she relaxed. Given how much the green-haired would-be medical technician had worked with Hiromi over the last four months, that they could communicate telepathically without touching each other was understandable. «I'm okay, Onē-sama…!»

«Where're Arami-chan and Reverend Vincent?»

A grunt. «He moved to the north with her just before Ōgi appeared,» Naoko reported. «I'd put him about twenty metres away.» Naoko then concentrated, thanking her lucky stars that Ando and Sakimu were so intent on assuring themselves that "Lum" was okay, neither of them were paying attention to the Terran-form Avalonian nearby. «They're alright, but Arami-chan is really tired, Onē-sama. I…!»

Hiromi then tensed as Mioko suddenly went VERY pale. "Oh, no…!" the latter gasped.

"Hiromi!"

She reached up to the communicator affixed to her jacket collar. "Onii-san?"

A sigh. "We got a bit of a problem," Ataru warned.

Mioko tensed. "No…!"

"Relax, Mioko!" Lum then whispered. "I recognise the woman that's with Reverend Klein and Arami-chan now. She's Uio Toma. Major in the Marine Corps. She's alright."

"Is the good major alone?" Hiromi asked.

"Negative. Some guy's with her," Benten answered.

"Toma's little brother Samei," Hensō then provided with an amused giggle. "He's a typical Imperial goon-boy…but Toma's keeping him in line right now."

Hiromi then sighed as she gazed up at Mioko. The latter nodded as she then headed off into the darkness. "Onii-san, Mioko's coming your way," Hiromi called out over her communicator.

"I'll make sure she doesn't go too crazy," Ataru stated.

The reborn emperor smirked as she clicked off the link, and then she gazed on the reborn king of the Bānà Grotto. "Shall we go find the idiot that shot Naoko-chan and upbraid the dishonourable slime for attacking a _healer_, Bokuroku-dono?"

"I'm in the mood for that, My Emperor," Kenshika said with a humourless cackle…

* * *

Muzlim Madiina, by the Airport…

"Jesus H. Christ!" John Buchanan exclaimed as he gazed on the dataPADD readout before him; the information on how things were going in the Dead Grove had just been transmitted to the Royal Winnipeg Rifles' command post from the _Trinidad_ two minutes ago. "How the fuck did they all get scattered THERE of all places?!"

Looking over the colonel's shoulder, the officer commanding E (Combat Support) Company, Captain Heather Brown — she had become a Terran-turned-Avalonian two months ago after she had been appointed the first OC of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles' in-house combat support company in four decades — could only grimace. "Luck of the Te'a, Colonel," the quite attractive brunette, hazel-eyed history professor — she was part of the University of Winnipeg's Centre for Rupert's Land Studies in civilian life — stated as she gave her commanding officer a smirk. "No doubt, whoever augmented that ship's teleporters made them powerful enough to punch through the gunk over our heads." She thumbed up. "When those girls from the Bluenose Squadron get that materialiser aboard _Haida_…"

Buchanan nodded. "How many can you take down?"

"Every Avalonian in the battalion right now; the Kōshi Kasshi are ready to carry us over," Heather answered. "If the rest of you folks can follow us…"

A nod. "Professor Brown, get down there and clear that lot out," the colonel then stated. "I'll get Major Seo to send down everyone from his company right after you people. Don't take chances with prisoners either, unless the Director clears it."

She smiled as she smartly saluted him. "Roger that, Your Honour," she said to the current mayor of the town of Stonewall north of Winnipeg. "Sergeant-major!" she then barked out.

"Yes, ma'am?!" E Company's sergeant-major, Warrant Officer Don Parkland, called back.

"I'm taking every Avalonian in the battalion with me into the Grove," Heather stated as they marched out of the tent towards the parked hovercycles now being manned by the Kōshi Kasshi and the volunteer riders from the other tōshi schools under Natsukimi Makoto's charge; Tsukasame Yoiko had gone into the Grove with Tsukasa Torusuke. "Get all the members of the band gathered up with all their first aid gear and follow us in. Make sure Doctor Blackwood's medics go along for the ride! We'll…"

She stopped as her eyes picked up flashes of energy arcing into the sky far to the south. "Oh, shit…!" Heather then spat out before keying the communicator on the left strap of her web belt. "Black Devil Echo-Six to South Six! What the hell's going on down in the Grove, anyway?!" she immediately demanded.

"Some minor shooting into the sky, Echo-Six," Kashira Emi called back from the Grove. "This party's getting good. We got some serious hard-asses down here…but there are a whole bunch of scared kids here, too! Better get down here quick!"

Heather moaned. "Oh, joy…" she hissed out.

"Black Devil Echo-Six, this is Black Devil Foxtrot-Mike-Six!"

Heather tapped her communicator. "Foxtrot-Mike-Six, go!"

"I've got my people and all of Black Devil Foxtrot-Bravo at the western edge of the Grove," the commander of the detached platoon from 17 Field Ambulance assigned to augment the Rifles, Captain Natalie Blackwood, called out. "Main Triage is on the dirt road at the west end of the Grove; I've put out our position on the dataPADDs. Our tricorders haven't picked up enemy troopers close to our position."

The OC of E Company tried not to smirk on learning that the medics that were now operationally under her command had jumped the gun. "Have you sent in casualty clearance teams, Doctor Blackwood?!" Heather asked as she hopped onto Makoto's hovercycle while WO Parkland — joined by the Rifles' regimental sergeant-major, Chief Warrant Officer Carter Wallace — waved others onto the machines awaiting them.

"I've got two groups already heading in, Professor Brown," Natalie — like Heather, the trauma surgeon from Saint Boniface General Hospital was a Terran-turned-Avalonian; most of her medical technicians and both physicians assistants in her team were Avalonians as well, either Terran-turned or Terran-form — called back.

"We'll be there in a few minutes, Natalie!"

"Roger that, Heather."

* * *

Meanwhile, north-northeast of Kentei's position…

"Why did we come along on this trip?!"

"Because they murdered our parents!"

Standing behind three large mushrooms each, the members of the Three-Pillared Gods all relaxed themselves as they listened to the two Oni girls — twin sisters, both looking like they still belonged in middle school, possessing curly black-hair cut to tapers at mid-neck and hazel eyes out of cute faces, dressed fortunately in full tiger-striped bodysuits that were, at least, keeping them warm — sat near the mushroom now closest to the one Tano Susumi was hiding behind. The three senior tōshi from Kyoshō had been more than capable of sneaking up to them; there wasn't too much in the way of ground clutter to cause unwelcome noise and these two girls — they had overheard their given names, Chii and Moka — were miserable and wondering what in the name of whatever gods they believed in possessed them to go along with this whole trip that brought them to the Dead Grove. "Really?!" Moka — she was the one with her back facing Omomuro Akira — then asked. "When Amka and Tota showed me the video, I saw that both our parents went and charged out into the security forces AFTER they were given a chance to surrender!"

Chii — whose back faced Haru Kazua — blinked, and then her shoulders slumped low. "They w-wouldn't l-lie about th-that, w-would they…?"

"Amka said she'd allow me to see her memories of it," Moka whispered.

A shudder raced through the other girl, and then a pained sob escaped her, which made Moka move to comfort. Hearing that, Susumi tried not to grimace. Even if she herself did not have Avalonian powers, she was sensitive enough thanks to her empathy to realize what was going on. These girls were "casualties of the situation" as a certain American Navy SEAL-turned-cook aboard the battleship U.S.S. _Missouri_ in the early 1990s would have described it. It was the twins' _parents_ who were the Imperials; Chii and Moka had no doubt been pushed into going along with it because they were their daughters and clearly hadn't been experienced enough life to really understand and accept or reject it. Even more so, Susumi had been quick to sense the disbelief in Moka's voice. No doubt, the twins' parents were sleepers, keeping their true feelings totally suppressed from friends and neighbours before they would be needed to launch a revolution.

Still, the good news was this: Their parents' personal choices had spared both Chii and Moka from facing jail time if not an early grave. It would be simply inhumane to hold these two at the same light as the people who had commanded that ship to race to Yaminokuni from Urusian space. They would have to be approached cautiously and carefully, in the same manner Padre Vincent Klein had approached Kentei hours before. Taking a deep breath, Susumi whispered a calming prayer, and then she glanced right and left. Quick to see Akira and Kazua relaxing and doing their own prayers before they would leap into battle, she waited. They were quick to sense their friend glancing their way. She pointed to herself, then straight up to the gills of the giant mushroom overhead. Both men nodded. They braced themselves as Susumi rolled to her feet, and then crouched down low before making a very impressive ten-metre leap to the edge of the gilled fungus she had been hiding behind. Hanging on with arms and hands, she took a deep breath before rocking her legs, and then, once enough momentum was gained, she flipped her body hard, tucking herself in to make as minimal of a profile as she could. With that, she landed with feet touching the edge of the mushroom's cap. Sensing she was about to slip off, the female member of the Three-Pillared Gods forced her body forward to fall into a somersault, thus getting back on her feet on a safer part of the mushroom's cap. Once there, she took a deep breath as she calmed herself…

"_**DIE, FILTHY LESSER!**_"

…and then propelled herself forward just as two heavy bolts of energy slammed into the skin of the mushroom she had been standing on. Susumi quickly leapt over the very apex of the cap, and then threw herself into another somersault…not realising she didn't really have that much room left for that sort of manoeuvre!

"**_HEY! WHERE'D THE MUSHROOM GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…?!_**"

On the ground, Chii and Moka — who had turned to stare up into the sky on hearing those shots — screamed out as what appeared to be a black-haired girl in black robes fell right for their heads. Instantly, both Oni leapt clear…and landed right into the outstretched arms of two rather BIG fellows, who quickly moved to get them out of sight right under the edge of the cap. As the twins watched in wide-eyed awe — their own low-light devices were strong enough to give them a view of what was happening two metres in front of them — the older woman spun herself to land on her feet, and then threw herself into a front roll that had her back standing again right between the two surprised, wide-eyed Oni teenagers.

"**_I HAVE YOU NOW, YOU PATHETIC…!_**"

Before the twins could react, Susumi crouched down, allowing two heavy wood hanbō staffs to appear out of her tunic sleeves. They were put together end-to-end, making a perfect bō staff. Without hesitation, she fired it straight into the air…

_CRUNCH!_

A croak of awful pain escaped from somewhere above, and then that became a rolling moan as someone stumbled off the edge of the mushroom cap and dropped right down towards the ground. As Susumi's staff came down, she caught it single-handedly, and then twirled it just as the falling person came right to eye level.

_CRACK!_

A yelp escaped the Oni — on seeing that person's face, Susumi was quick to note this one was not much older than Chii or Moka! — and then said person dropped flat on the back before rolling over as hands reached for the crotch as the poor person curled up and began to weep in a less deep, almost feminine, voice…

Wait…!

Susumi's eyes then went VERY wide on seeing _blood_ on the end of her staff which she had used to strike her attacker through the…

_Oh, no…!_

She then set her staff aside as she moved to aid the now weeping girl — who was nicely disguised as a man: Male clothing, properly short-cut hair, a rather boyish face to help and (after a quick, efficient feel in the right locations) breast bindings like a sarashi under her top! — into a sitting position. By then, the others had approached, even Chii and Moka (Kazua had let the older twin go so he could get hold of his friend's staff; one quick sniff near the top to detect the meaty odour emanating from it made him grimace as he realised what Susumi just discovered). Staring at the shaking girl as Susumi slipped off her black outer tunic to draw around her, Chii and Moka blinked as they also realised what this person was. "Um, Shō…how come you're a girl?" the latter asked as Susumi deftly undid the fallen girl's top under the cover of her own tunic to reveal bound breasts, and then she began to slowly undo them, revealing small yet perky mounds underneath.

Shō — up close, the Kyoshō seniors were quick to see that she had very dark green hair with black lowlights and deep green eyes that were now awash in pained tears — shuddered. "What do you care, Moka…?" she wondered before a new lance of agony arced up from her now _very_ abused crotch. "It hurtssssssssssssssss…!"

Susumi smiled as she moved to draw her close. "I'm sorry…"

As the younger girl cried, the would-be monastic quickly shifted Shō onto her lap as she moved to press certain shiatsu points she knew of to cut down on the pain that was making the poor Oni feel as if someone impaled her on a big sword right through the nexus between her legs. Feeling that, Shō shuddered as the pain ebbed, and then she closed her eyes as fatigue — she had been in a near-blind panic since she was beamed down to this terrible, dark place — finally forced her into the realm of Morpheus. By then, Kazua had taken off his own tunic, handing it to Chii so she could move to cover Shō's lower half; her crotch was now becoming dark red with blood and the rip in her trousers was rather noticeable. As that was done, Susumi smiled at the older twin, reaching over to gently ruffle her hair, which made Chii freeze before she giggled, her cheeks turning quite red at that tender touch.

"Excuse me?"

Voice, female, speaking English. "Hai?" Kazua said as they all turned…

…just as a squad of Canadian soldiers — all Avalonians, the Three-Pillared Gods immediately sensed — came up from the west. Seeing them, the three would-be monastics from Kyoshō were quick to note the weapons in the hands of the younger women as the older one — a Navy petty officer 1st class as noted by the black Saint Edward's Crown on her green epaulette slip-on over the **17 FD AMB** unit marker — immediately knelt beside Susumi. "What happened?!" Petty Officer 1st Class Emily Hamilton — she had been a senior medical assistant assigned to H.M.C.S. _Chippawa_ before she was reassigned to 17 Field Ambulance when it was switched to the control of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group at the turn of the millennium, corresponding to the reassignment of first-line medical personnel to local health services units — asked as she pulled off Kazua's tunic to gaze at Shō's wound.

Akira and Kazua politely turned away, which made Chii and Moka giggle. Susumi sighed. "I thought she was a man, so I gave 'him' a 'low blow' with my staff. I've eased her pain and tried to shut down the bleeding with shiatsu…"

Hearing that, PO1 Hamilton grimaced as she pulled out her tricorder — _How the hell did we ever survive without these wonderful things?!_ she mused to herself — and did a scan of the sleeping Shō's groin. "Damn! Ripped up her hymen, the vaginal walls and the cervix good!" She gazed on Susumi. "Just like some of the weird stuff that appeared on _1000 Ways to Die_. I hate to be on your bad side, Miss Tano. Clarisse, get a DNA sample."

"Right away, PO," Corporal (Brevet) Clarisse Hodgkins said.

As she moved to take a detailed scan of Shō's DNA, Chii and Moka blinked. "Why are you doing that?" the former then asked as she tightly hugged Kazua.

"Well, even if she did plan to hurt our tōshi friend here, she is a casualty and needs medical care," Hamilton explained. "If necessary, that'll include a body swap. Her bleeding has slowed down, but if we can't stop it, she'll die on us." She moved to pump a general stimulant into Shō's neck. "Can't have that at all."

"Thank the Buddha," Susumi breathed out…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The scene with the Marines on _Arizona_ when they took Sil prisoner was partially inspired by the Recon Marines that appeared in Tom Clancy's 1989 novel _Clear and Present Danger_ (ISBN 0-399-13440-9) (I even got the name of the alligator used in that scene from the book).

2) A **Hospital Corpsman** (short-form **HM**) is the United States Navy rating equivalent to the Canadian Forces trade of Medical Technician. They serve in all Navy and Marine Corps units, as noted by Scott Hensley's enlisted warfare specialty rating, the **Fleet Marine Force Enlisted Warfare Specialist**. His rank short-form code would read **HM2(FMF)**.

3) Call sign notes:

**Chancellor** — Otto von Bismarck's position when he helped unify Germany;  
**Trafalgar** — The battle where the _Santísima Trinidad_ was eventually destroyed; and  
**Black Devil** — The nickname bestowed on the Royal Winnipeg Rifles during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885.

As an aside, the companies in the Rifles are designated over the radio by NATO phonetic letters: "Alpha," "Bravo," "Charlie," "Delta," "Echo" and "Foxtrot." The "Foxtrot-Mike" designation indicates F Company's Medical Platoon. "Foxtrot-Bravo" would indicate the Rifles' in-house band.

4) Translations: **Capitano di Vascello** — "Ship-of-the-Line Captain" in Italian, which corresponds to the Spanish rank title of **Capitán de Navío**; **Teniente coronel** — Lieutenant colonel; **Hojō-jutsu** — The martial art that teaches people how to restrain captives with ropes; **Shibari** — Literally meaning "to bind," this is the nickname for **kinbaku-bi** ("the beauty of tight binding"), which is the Japanese form of BDSM using ropes; **Bō** — A version of the **jō** fighting staff that averages 1.8 metres long (the **hanbō** or "half-bō" normally averages 90 centimetres in length).

5) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Kyokō** (**Bakari Mitsugi**) is the current incarnation of **Xǔ Gòng** (unknown dates of birth and death), who was the governor of Wú Commandery. He would oppose Sūn Cè in the early years of infighting between the various factions across the Hàn domain, but would be forced to submit to the Little Conqueror. However, Xǔ tried to force Cáo Cāo's intervention in the eastern lands with a secret memorandum advising the chancellor to have Sūn eliminated. Officers loyal to Sūn intercepted the letter and Xǔ was executed instead…though his son and two of his servants would later gain vengeance by mortally wounding Sūn when he was about to move against **Chén Dēng** (170-208 C.E.). In _Ikkitōsen_, Mitsugi first appeared in manga episode #26; he is a swordsman and was one of the people who tried to deflect Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko) from fighting Ukitsu (Kokoni Kichimi).

**Goton** (**Kureru Tsutomu**) is technically the current incarnation of **Wú Dūn** (unknown dates of birth and death), who once served under **Táo Qiān** (132-194) against the Yellow Turbans. As to what happened to Wú afterward, it is not said. Shiozaki-sensei clearly got some things mixed up with this one; the kanji he used for Goton was 呉沌, which in Chinese is pronounced "Wú Dùn"…while Wú Dūn (note the different accent mark) wrote his name as 呉敦. I conformed to the latter style as it is historically correct. In _Ikkitōsen_, Tsutomu was sent to fight Tsueko at the gates of Gogun High and was soundly defeated by her, much to the horror of Mitsugi. Tsutomu first appeared at the end of manga episode #26.

**Hikei** (**Tsuieru Kyōsuke**) has no historical basis in the histories of the Three Kingdoms. The kanji that went into his name could be read as either "Fèi Guī" or "Fèi Jìng." He is the muscular lad who distantly resembles the famous "little dragon" who founded **Jiéquándào** (AKA **Jeet Kune Do**, literally meaning "Way of the Intercepting Fist"), **Lǐ Xiǎolóng** AKA **Bruce Lee** (1940-73). Kyōsuke first appeared in manga episode #28.

And my own creations:

**Ōrō Keikō** (**Wan Akimi**) is the current incarnation of **Wáng Lǎng** (unknown date of birth, died 228), a warrior who also fought under Táo Qiān until the latter's downfall at the hands of Cáo Cāo, then — after being awarded the governorship of Guìjī (modern-day Shàoxīng in Zhèjiāng Province south of Shànghǎi on the East China Sea coast) — started up a war against Sūn Cè with the support of the Shānyuè (introduced in the writer's notes of Part 1). After being made to submit to Sūn, Wáng was invited to join the imperial government under Cáo's leadership in Xǔchāng, where he worked through the transition from the Hàn Dynasty to Cáo Wèi in 220 to his retirement prior to his death. In the universe of this story, Akimi is Gogun's second A-rank tōshi; a sophomore, she didn't involve herself in the fight between Tsueko and Kichimi due to her realising the former had really no idea what drove tōshi as a whole.

**Genbyakko** (**Ogosoka Shirotora**) is the current incarnation of **Yán Báihǔ** (dates of birth and death unknown), who was a bandit leader that allied with the Shānyuè during the years Sūn Cè campaigned in the Wú region. His final fate is unknown, though it is believed that Yán lived past Sūn's death. In the universe of this story, Shirotora was one of the C-rank tōshi who fought against Tsueko when she came to Gogun to battle Kichimi. A senior, he holds a very healthy respect for the reborn Little Conqueror. He also has a massive crush on Wan Akimi, which she really doesn't care for.

**Saien Shōki** (**Herasu Mienka**) is the current incarnation of **Cài Yǎn** (177-239), a famous composer and poetess of the Latter Hàn Dynasty who lived to see the Three Kingdoms commence in earnest. She had three husbands during her lifetime. The first was the relatively unknown **Wèi Zhòngdào** (dates of birth and death unknown) with whom she never had children. After the downfall of Dǒng Zhuó in 192, Cài was captured by **Xiōngnú** nomads and made a concubine to tribal chieftain **Liú Bào** (dates of birth and death unknown), with whom she bore two sons. She was eventually ransomed on her father's behalf by Cáo Cāo and allowed to return to civilisation, leaving her children behind. Afterward, she would marry **Dǒng Sì** (dates of birth and death unknown). Always inspired by feelings of sadness in her writing, she would eventually inspire future generations with her life's story. In this life, Mienka is an E-rank tōshi; she loathes fighting as much as Ryūbi Gentoku (Koro Sonami) does. She is also exceptionally beautiful; I physically base her on her _Dynasty Warriors 7_ self. In the universe of this story, Mienka serves as Kichimi's spiritual advisor and living conscience, in the same way that Leonard McCoy serves James T. Kirk in _Star Trek_.

Note that Mienka's battle name is based on Cài's original style name, "**Zhāojī**" (in Japanese, **Shōki**). During the **Jìn Dynasty** (265-420), her style name was posthumously changed to "**Wénjī**" to avoid confusion with Sīmǎ Yì's son **Sīmǎ Zhāo** (211-265). That is the reason Cài is often known these days as "Cài Wénjī" (in Japanese, **Saibunki**…or more properly, **Saien Bunki**).

**Tōshi** (**Tadasu Matsuri**) is the current incarnation of Cài Yǎn's second husband. Little is known of Dǒng save for the fact that after he had been charged with a capital crime, Cài went to Cáo Cāo and pleaded for her husband's life, asking if the chancellor could provide another husband to care for her if Dǒng was executed. He was spared. Throughout the incarnations, he hasn't forgot that fact…and in this life, Matsuri has a massive crush on Mienka. He is a C-rank tōshi and was one of the ones who had fallen at the gates of Gogun at the hands of Tsueko.

**Eichūdō** (**Mamori Nakamichi**) is the current incarnation of Cài Yǎn's first husband. As noted above, Wèi's relationship with Cài never produced children, a fact that haunts Nakamichi to this day. He, like Matsuri, is hopelessly in love with Mienka; the two often fight each other to "win" the right to date their reborn wife…much to Mienka's constant sorrow as she HATES boys fighting over her. Nakamichi is also a C-rank tōshi who fell in the defence of their school trying to prevent Tsueko from fighting Kichimi.

**Ryūhyō Satokiō** (**Koro Mihyō**) is the current incarnation of Cài Yǎn's lover and captor during her years living among the Xiōngnú. In Mihyō's first life, she was her tribe's literal second-in-command, the "Worthy King of the Left" (in Chinese, **Zuǒtúqí-wáng**) and crown-prince of the confederation of the Xiōngnú. In this life, Mihyō is an A-rank tōshi and the last of Gogun's top-ranked fighters beyond Kichimi and Akimi. She is also as blatantly bisexual as Ryofu Hōsen (Sebone Shikuko); as a matter of fact, Shikuko holds Mihyō in awe because the latter is said to be able to make ALL who face her — man OR woman — fall to her charms. Like Matsuri and Nakamichi, Mihyō is very much in love with Mienka…which scares the latter as much as the attraction Kan'u Unchō (Seki Haneko) feels for Koro Sonami scares her! While she was not officially of the Liú Clan in her first life, Mihyō is seen by Moroboshi Hiromi as a spiritual kinsman in this life.

6) A Canadian Army infantry battalion's **combat support company** (usually falling in as "E" Company in the battalion hierarchy) is the equivalent of an American Army infantry battalion's **weapons company**. The Rifles' E Company is composed of an anti-tank platoon with TOW missiles, a reconnaissance platoon, a heavy machine gun platoon and an assault pioneer platoon.

As an aside, the combat support company in an infantry battalion should not be mistaken for the **combat service support company** ("F" Company), which contain all the logistics, medical and EME personnel supporting the battalion.

All Militia combat support and combat service support companies, in real life, were disbanded in 1970 when it was decided to centralise all reserve force support at local Army bases.

7) The **University of Winnipeg** (**U of W** or **U Winnipeg**) is a public post-secondary institution that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and theology as well as graduate programs. U of W's founding colleges were Manitoba College (founded 1871) and Wesley College (founded 1888), which merged to form United College in 1938. The university itself was established in 1967 when United College received its charter. The **Centre for Rupert's Land Studies** facilitates scholarly research and publishing concerning the human history of the Hudson Bay watershed, known in the period from 1670-1870 as **Rupert's Land**, which was named in tribute to **Prince Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness** (1619-82), nephew of King Charles I. The Centre also functions as a clearinghouse to assist researchers with similar interests to be in touch with each other, to communicate about their research projects and findings, and to assist researchers from out of town by putting them in touch with qualified local assistants or by providing a congenial meeting spot when visiting Winnipeg.

8) **17 Field Ambulance** (**17 FD AMB**) is Manitoba's local Canadian Forces reserve health services unit, based in Winnipeg. Originally formed as "3rd Field Ambulance" after World War Two, it was re-designated "18 Medical Company" in 1954, amalgamated with the "Winnipeg Service Battalion" in 1965, then made its own unit in 1975 as "17 Medical Company." The unit became a field ambulance in the 1990s.

As an aside, Canadian Army field units no longer contain integral medical teams. After the turn of the millennium, independent medical and dental units throughout the military were pulled out of the control of their normal commands and placed under the aegis of the **Canadian Forces Health Services Group**, under the direction of the Chief of Military Personnel through the Surgeon General. While all Regular Force field ambulances and Reserve Force medical companies were now administratively controlled by the Health Services Group, such units could deploy with their old formations if operational requirements demanded it. This was meant to promote more efficiency, enhance training and save money. Integral medical platoons and troops in the field battalions and regiments were absorbed into the staff of the nearest Regular field ambulance or Reserve medical company (which were re-designated "field ambulances" to put them on roughly equal footing to their Regular Force counterparts) by the spring of 2002. In the universe of this story, when the Avalonians came, they decided to ensure reserve field ambulances were manned not just to full wartime strength, but also could help create division-level health service regiments and provide large manning pools for platoon/troop-strength health services teams to the field units, which would (when required) fall under the immediate command of the combat service support company/squadron/battery commander.

Also, the non-commissioned medical trades were restructured. One change was the re-designation of the trade of **Medical Assistant** (**MED A**) to **Medical Technician** (**MED TECH**) by the spring of 2004; this corresponded with upgrades in the training regimen that allowed military personnel to be qualified also as civilian paramedics in the various provinces. Long before then (informally by 1991 and formally four years later), the follow-on trade of **Physician Assistant** (**PHYS A**) was initiated for those at the rank of sergeant/petty officer 2nd class and above to allow them to act as independent senior medics in places where a medical officer can't be present (such as a Navy ship at sea). To become a PHYS A, a MED TECH must undergo a two-year course between the **Canadian Forces Health Services Training Centre** in Borden and affiliate civilian universities (as Emily Hamilton did via the **University of Manitoba** in Winnipeg; Manitoba was the first province to regulate physician assistants as "clinical assistants") to qualify. The end result is the awarding of a two-year Bachelor of Science degree granted by the **University of Nebraska**.

It should also be noted that all trades in the **Canadian Forces Medical Services** (**CFMS**) are considered "purple trades;" all members have the choice of environmental uniform (Navy black, Army green, Air Force blue). Hence, even if she is now in 17 Field Ambulance, Emily Hamilton is still addressed as a **Petty Officer 1st Class** (**PO1**) and not a **Warrant Officer** (**WO**). Note that when Navy personnel wear the CADPAT disruptive pattern, their rank insignia is always black thread on a plain combat green/tan background; Air Force personnel wear medium blue insignia on camouflage backgrounds. Army, of course, wear soft gold on camouflage.

9) **Saint Boniface General Hospital**, first established by the Sisters of Charity of Montréal (also known as the **Grey Nuns**) in 1871 as Western Canada's first hospital, is located on the east bank of the Red River at the Forks, where the Assiniboine River flows into the former as it flows northward towards Lake Winnipeg. This facility is Manitoba's second-largest health care facility.

10) The "Navy SEAL-turned-cook" mentioned in the narrative here is none other than **Casey Ryback** (as played by Steven Segal), who would be rated as a **Chief Mess Management Specialist (Special Warfare)** (**MSC[SEAL]**) in the movie _Under Seige_ (released in 1992). Note that the rating of Mess Management Specialist was redesignated as **Culinary Specialist** (**CS**) in 2004.

11) H.M.C.S. _Chippawa_ is Winnipeg's resident Naval Reserve Division. Founded in 1923 as the "Winnipeg Company" of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, it was upgraded to a division in 1936 and formally commissioned as a ship in the Royal Canadian Navy in 1941. The ship's name was taken from a captured American vessel that fought at the **Battle of Lake Erie** on 10 September 1813; this is the famous battle where Master Commandant **Oliver Hazard Perry** (1785-1819) — in the wake of capturing six British vessels — sent the famous signal "_We have met the enemy and they are ours_" to his area commander, Major General (and later the ninth President of the United States of America) **William Henry Harrison** (1773-1841) to report on the action.


	44. The Dead Grove, Part 2

To the south of Kentei's position (Japan time: An hour after sunset)…

"How many?" Kanami whispered.

"About six of them, all grouped ahead," Tariko quietly said as she switched off the safety of her Lawgiver, nodding to the west. The pair had separated themselves from Ataru and his companions on sensing a large concentration of Urusians nestled together about a half-kilometre away from where Kentei and Arami were. That put them right between the Gogun and Yōshū groups now forming something of a protective circle around Hiromi's children. What instantly struck Tariko as odd was that the particular group which was now holding hers and Kanami's attention hadn't moved at all from where they beamed down from the stealth cruiser they had been on. That had been peculiar, thus warranting immediate investigation. "Some scared and the others quite angry."

Ranma's twin nodded in understanding; she had been using her own ki senses — and trying out her own empathy — to scan their potential opponents. "Yeah, I can feel it," she confirmed. "One of them feels way older than the others, though," she advised.

Tariko looked herself. Her eyes then narrowed before she smirked. "Oh, my…!" she hissed out. "How in the name of the gods did **_he_** survive…?!"

"Who?!"

"Rei's uncle, Seq Yethis. He's the effective big boss of the Imperials. I met him on Okusei when their President got dragged before the Empress of Noukiios after we rescued all our sisters and cleared out all of Ōgi's morons from Tomobiki."

Kanami blinked, and then she nodded. "If he finds out…!"

"That's what I intend to do."

The redhead gazed at Ataru's twin, and then she grinned. Much that she had no real use for her genetic father these days, she had to agree that Saotome Genma was quite the martial arts teacher (proper license or not). Verbally pissing off the enemy with tons of rude insults to the point where s/he would make some stupid mistake was one of the most effective ways of doing just that! With that, she allowed herself to fade out into the cloak of the Umisen-ken as Tariko held up her pistol. After a moment, she called out, "Hey, _Mister_ Yethis! How's it feel to know your 'empire' is dead?!"

Within five seconds, a storm of energy beams thundered close to her position. Tariko automatically ducked as she felt the tremors of impacts against the stalk of the mushroom she was standing behind, though she knew the other man was firing wildly; she had tried to throw her voice a little bit. "**_THE EMPIRE WILL NEVER DIE!_**"

"General Yethis?!" another voice called out. "What are you doing here?!"

"**_QUIET!_**" Seq Yethis, the former chief-of-staff to the President of Uru, snapped as the gunfire faded. "**_FOOLISH LESSER! WHO'S OUT THERE?! SHOW YOURSELF!_**"

"GENERAL!" a third voice then yelled out. "CALM DOWN, SIR!"

The sound of a hand slapping a weapon away then echoed from nearby. Silence then followed, which was punched through with a growl. "HOW **_DARE_** YOU…?!"

Tariko spun around the corner, aimed and shot one round, which ripped through the space instantly as she ducked behind another mushroom. As she did so, a pained cry of shock echoed through the air, followed by the muffled sounds of a body hitting the ground. Getting back up, Tariko tapped her communicator. "You close?" she whispered.

_Click!_ Tariko and Kanami had agreed to keep any radio communications down to a minimum since they were sharing the frequency with hundreds of other people in the Dead Grove. After that came a whispered, "You shot the old guy in the hand."

Silence then fell as Tariko smirked, getting off line. "Thank the Fates for Zephyrite armourers," she whispered before calling out, "You hurt, Oyaji?!"

A moaned "Damn you…!" drifted back before the voice of the man who had tried to calm Yethis down called out, "Who's out there?! Identify yourself!"

Tariko smirked. "The lady that was forced to use a Lawgiver to shoot down over six hundred of your friends — including your general's nephew — three days ago back on Earth!" she called back, adding a lilt of sorrow in her voice.

And while she DID regret doing that, Tariko knew the Urusians — in the person of Hozan Lana himself when the Urusian leader was forced to visit Okusei to meet the Moroboshi siblings just before they returned to Earth for the first time as separate people; that had been done in the presence of the Empress of Noukiios, with First Mage Redet Belok of the Seifukusu and Emperor Schwartz of Ipraedos as witnesses — agreed to Ataru's carte blanche decree in the wake of the final removal of the Church of Lum observers from Tomobiki and its environs four months ago. Not to mention a five-hundred megaton _**annihilation bomb**_ that was _normally_ used by most Galactic Federation states as a self-destruct device for a starbase or isolated military post during times of heightened tensions if not all-out war.

That had been an agreement Redet Invader — who had still been stunned by how viciously Ataru had divorced Hensō…but couldn't, at the time, say a word about that; Kyech's blade was at his throat to keep him humble — did (to his credit!) agree to…especially after the Niphentaxian leader in Tomobiki had been dragged out in front of Lana and made to confess what the Church's fail-safe plans were concerning what happened if the "Great Evil" (as they then looked on Moroboshi Ataru) was able to wean the "Holy Apostles" (Mendō, Megane and the senior members of Lum's Stormtroopers) and the "Holy Friends" (Hensō's close acquaintances in Tomobiki such as Sakura and Cherry, even Shinobu) from their "goddess." Furthermore, it was an agreement the Urusians had no choice but to go along with; in the Noukiite/Yehisrite attack on Phentax Twelve, more than ninety-five percent of the Niphentaxian Navy's combat ships were destroyed by a mix of _**very**_ angry ch'uokyek and their Yehisrite counterparts, the ib'f of the Ice Mountains of Kyotos and Varakos (the remaining five percent were captured by the Avalonians and taken with them to Earth to use as temporary shelters until the people aboard them could be resettled elsewhere). With many Avalonians having been forced to serve in the Navy as artisans at the time, the knowledge loss to the "Army of Lum" when they were taken away was just as horrible; it would take _**decades**_ to rebuild it, even with the Niphentaxians' knack for instantly understanding and copying other people's technology for their own purposes.

It hadn't take Lana, Invader — and Yethis, too! — long to realize something very ugly was now dictating their lives, looming like a dark raven over their world's future: Without the Niphentaxians to support them, the local galactic cluster's balance of power had been tipped on its side. The Ipraedies would have a clear field before them if they chose to take it…and if the Dragon Empress of Noukiios hadn't intimidated Schwartz with the ugly threat of having the Great Dragons go to Aimaiyu — Ipraedos' most lucrative slave-world (which doubled as one of their largest food-producing planets) — to burn down all Ipraedies settlements on that world, destroy whatever space fleets were close by, and then personally have Schwartz taken from his castle in Ipraedos City on the homeworld itself and delivered gift-wrapped to the Yehisrites in answer to an ugly crime he perpetrated on one of their colony planets, Cademus, fifty years ago.

"You realize we will kill you for that, woman!" that voice snapped back.

"I do!" Tariko acknowledged. "But think of this: What _else_ happened that day?!"

Silence.

"My girlfriend was there with me that day at my house!" Tariko stated. "You should know of her! She's the one with the vacuum blades that wrecked the Central Warp Chamber and hospitalized the remainder of your little invasion force!"

A touch of increased fear. "What about her?!"

"She's with me tonight!" Tariko smirked, and then she triple-tapped her communicator.

_Click-click-click!_

That was the message for "Now!"

Shocked cries echoed from nearby as rocks slammed into people's hands and arms, making the remaining Urusians there — three Oni and two Seishin — all yelp in shock. Tariko then sensed one of those men leap for his weapon…

…before a cry of shock escaped him as something that was _barely_ visible ripped through the air to shatter his rifle. As the other Urusians all gaped at what just happened, Tariko smirked. "Oh, by the way! Forgot to tell you something, guys!" she then taunted. "She's _**invisible**_ right now! She's using her life-energy to keep a cloak over her body! You can't _**see**_ her! You can't _**scan**_ for her! You can't even _**sense**_ her!"

The fear went up several notches. Tariko then blinked as hissed sounds echoed from where the Urusians were now are, punctuated with snarled words that had to only have come from Yethis. A second later, her communicator beeped. "Boxer Six to Village Girl," Kokoni Kichimi called out. "I'm in visual range of your targets."

Tariko tapped her device. "Stay hidden, you idiot!" she hissed.

A chuckle. "Relax, Tariko-chan! I know how to do this!"

Ataru's twin blinked, and then she sighed. "Sempai, Sandi-san did you a big favour in helping your man get well. Don't be dumb, okay?!"

"Chill, honey," Futoshi Itsuku cut in at that moment. "We appreciate the thought. Don't worry; I'm about five metres behind Ukitsu. Why don't you let your girl permanently disarm these bastards so we can tie them up for the Black Devils?"

"Because the old fool that's there with them is their head dork," Tariko whispered back. "I make his pals surrender on their own will in front of him, I _break_ him!"

A low chuckle. "Like the way you think, girl," Itsuku complemented.

Tariko clicked her communicator off, and then she called out, "Hey, guys!"

A pause, followed by, "What?!"

"I **_won't_** kill you! Neither will my girlfriend!"

Silence.

"Why?!"

That was the voice of the fellow who had asked Yethis what he had been doing disguising himself to be amongst them. "It's simple!" Tariko mused. "Hey, what's your name, anyway?! What's your rank, too?! Better than saying 'Hey, you!'"

Another pause, and then, "First Lieutenant Horan Moss, Marine Corps! You?!"

"Moroboshi Tariko!" she returned as she relaxed herself into a crouch. "And it's really simple! You're married to an Avalonian, right?!"

A pause as she sensed confusion from the other man. "Um, yeah…!"

"Well, think of it this way, Lieutenant: I put a Lawgiver round into your head, I not only kill you, I **_also_** kill your wife! And if she's bonded, I kill her bond-mate, too! And if either of them are pregnant with kids, I guarantee they die as well!" Tariko took a deep breath. "The instant you became your girl's _surei'cha_, your life stopped being your own! It's the downside of that type of bond, Moss! She expecting?!"

Silence, and then a proud but hesitant, "Y-yeah!"

"Did your sister mean what she said?!"

That was the man who had been talking to Tariko after she had shot Yethis in the hand. "About your wives and kids being treated well?!" she asked, and then she nodded. "Yeah!" She then blinked before asking, "You one of the lucky ones, too?!"

"Yeah!" Firm and steady.

"How _dare_ you…?!"

A faint _crack!_ echoed through the darkness, followed by a grunt. Tariko tapped her control. "Talk to me, someone!" she hissed out. "What's going on?!"

"The old geezer got butt-stroked by Moss," Kichimi called back. "He's nursing a nice lump on the head and two of the others have got him covered with their weapons."

"I'm not going to interfere," the invisible Kanami then added in a low enough whisper that Tariko could barely hear her. "You got them, Tariko. Reel 'em in!"

Tariko clicked off her communicator. "You guys okay?!" she called out.

"We're fine, Miss Tariko!" the still-unnamed fellow called back, and then he paused for a moment before he called out, "What happens to us?!"

"You get turned over to the Noukiites!" Tariko called back. "You haven't done anything stupid since you got forced down here, so we'll go easy! You get a choice of planets: Kegusei or Chuttusei! If you don't know what the local names mean, they're Baiseki and Tamamono!" Those were, Ataru's twin knew, two planets controlled by Noukiios and claimed by Uru who had been settled by colonists from the latter world during the years leading up to the Union Revolution when they wanted to have nothing further to do with the Imperial Houses. The fates of those two worlds — not to mention the planet located directly between them, Kaechsei; "Machibusu" as the Urusians called it — had darkened relations between the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios and the Urusian Empire/Union for centuries. "Consider it a permanent parole! You won't be allowed to go back to Uru or whichever colony planet you came from! Besides, given how much the Democrats and the Unionists probably want your hides now, I doubt you'll have much to go back to!" She then sighed. "If you don't accept this, I guarantee it'll be Hichkyech'eng!"

Shocked gasps from some of the people there as Tariko immediately sensed stabs of sheer mortal terror flood them. Such was with good reason: Hichkyech'eng, a Class P world of solid ice and eternal winters — pretty much an Earth-sized version of Triton — was the maximum security penal colony for the Imperial Dominion. And when people were sentenced to hard time there, it was quite well known that they would be spending all of it in cryogenic suspension, undergoing chemical and electrical thought-reprogramming therapy that — in almost all of the cases — would guarantee that on final release, they would never again reoffend. Some of the races of the galaxy found the practice quite hideous and inhumane. Others, however, thought it very humane since its success record couldn't — for an instant — be disputed. Even more so, the actual star system where Hichkyech'eng was located was a classified secret not even known to most Noukiites; this virtually guaranteed that any attempt at jailbreaks would fail!

"Miss Tariko?!"

"Yeah?!"

A cough. "Sorry! Commander Bren Tai!" the man who had been speaking to Tariko the most called out. "I assume the general's going to Hichkyech'eng!"

"He is, Tai!" Tariko called back. "Make sure he **_lives_**!"

"What about Ōgi?!" Moss asked.

"Lecashuto!"

A pause, and then laughter echoed through the air, which was quickly cut off as Tariko sensed a surge of panic from Yethis. She turned to level her Lawgiver…

_KK-KRACK!_

Silence fell, and then the dull thump of a body hitting the ground echoed through the Grove. A second later, a voice then called out in clear English, "**VALOUR?!**"

"**ROAD!**" Tariko called back.

"Come out, sister!"

Tariko turned, and then she walked calmly out from behind the mushroom, heading over to where a rifle squad of eight Avalonian-Canadian infantry soldiers were now standing, all of their low-visibility beacons marking their location and barely lighting up the faces of five somewhat-surprised Urusians in tiger-striped uniforms. On the ground in the circle between the Urusians was an Oni appearing to be in his mid-fifties, with a Lincoln-like beard without moustache on his face which made Seq Yethis look somewhat like Ikari Gendō from _Shin Seiki Evangelion_. One of the riflemen was on her knees applying a sterile dressing to Yethis' hand; while the Lawgiver shot Tariko had fired did cauterize the wound, there was skin fragments flapping over the entrance and exit wounds, not to mentioned burned and exposed bones. Another of the riflemen was busy taking the remaining weapons away from the Urusians, moving to pile them off to the side some distance away. Once the last of them were secure, she went back to retrieve her weapon from her friend as the master corporal in charge of the squad called out, "Miss Hayashi, you can come out now. Destroy those weapons, please?"

The air close to Tai, a blond Oni with blue-grey eyes, then fizzled to reveal Hayashi Kanami, who didn't seem the worse for wear after what she had just done. Seeing that, all the Urusians gaped while the Avalonian-Canadians all smirked, and then Tai slowly, reluctantly, nodded. "Nice trick," he calmly stated.

Kanami stared at him, and then she turned, her right arm becoming a blur. A second later, the pile of short-range carbines and pistols all shattered into fragments as something invisible and sharp cut through them like a knife cutting through hot butter. As sparks and small fires flared from the shredded gear, Moss — a dark green-haired Seishin with sorrowful brown eyes that his wife Ayi thought were simply too cute for words — found himself nodding in admiration. "Even nicer trick," he added, smirking.

Kanami gazed at him, and then she smiled. "You guys did the right thing," she said before looking over to the squad commander. "What happens to them now?"

"We put restraints on them and wait for the medics and bandsmen to come by with a litter for the old puke," Master Corporal (Brevet) Allana Shankland — she had taken her family name from one of the three residents who had lived on Winnipeg's Valour Road (formerly Pine Street) who had won the Victoria Cross during World War One — stated. "Commander Tan, Lieutenant Moss, gentlemen, you may consider yourself under parole. We will put power-dampening collars on you; we know how much having your horns — for the Oni — physically ripped off hurts. Behave and you'll see your _surei'cha_ as soon as humanly possible; the collars come off then." She tapped her communicator. "Black Devil Charlie-Four-Romeo to Black Devil Foxtrot-Bravo Five. We have six secure. One needs a stretcher."

"Roger that, Charlie-Four-Romeo. Devil Foxtrot-Bravo Woodwind coming your way," Master Warrant Officer William Johnson, the drum major — he was one of the few non-Avalonians to come out into the Grove right away — of the Rifles' band called back.

"Roger that."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"You brought your damned BAND with you?!"

That was a wide-eyed, jaw-dropped Kokoni Kichimi; she had just come up to join everyone, Futoshi Itsuku and Herasu Mienka now at her sides. "Why not?" Allana said with a sparkle in her eyes. "They serve as stretcher bearers in the field."

The Urusians all blinked. "Smart thinking," Tai then mused…

* * *

To the west-northwest of Kentei's position…

"Gentlemen, please! We can keep this up for _days_ if we have to! Can you?!"

The three quite-dazed Oni soldiers blinked as they stared at the two calm young Terran men standing between them back-to-back, left hands cocked into fists and right ones holding glittering jiàn splattered with their opponents' blood (as the cut wounds on the Urusians' arms and legs quickly noted). "How is this possible…?!" one of the Oni, a man appearing to be in his late twenties, snarled as he tried to stagger onto his knees; one sweep of the Bǎiyǒngdāo — the specific blade was the Hǔjiàn, the Tiger Blade — now held by Tadasu Suguta had cut through the tendons on his left ankle, making him unable to stand without collapsing in agony. Flying clear of either the leader of Rakuyō or his counterpart from Kyoshō to try to strafe them with their weapons had proven next to useless; when they had tried that, both Suguta and Tsukasa Torusuke had made standing _**high-jumps**_ to catch them in the skull with spinning round-kicks. "You're just _Terrans_! You're just _lessers_! You can't be better than…!"

"Do me a favour, _relav'sh_! SHUT UP!"

Before the poor man could howl at that insult, the flat of the Quèjiàn slammed down on his skull, causing him to scream out before unconsciousness seized him and he dropped to the ground. As the other Oni spun to see Tsukasame Yoiko now standing there, the Sparrow Blade in her hand, they both then cried out as they felt the VERY sharp edges of weapons at their throats. "Drop it, laddie!" a voice snarled as a brown-haired woman came out of the shadows to glare at one of them with glowing eyes. He was quick to see the long spear in her hand, several of the seven rows of deadly points at its business end now pressing against his windpipe. "Don't…an' your head goes flying!"

"Do as my friend just told your friend," a woman with very long black hair said as she levelled what looked like a Noukiite _euchch'e_ bladed halberd on the throat of the other conscious Oni closer to Suguta and Torusuke, who both relaxed as Yoiko moved to tie down the unconscious one with some handy rope she had while Hari Haruka held her Bǎiyǒngdāo. "You have a choice: Surrender or die. Make it now."

Both men gulped, and then they dropped their weapons. Instantly, both Haru Asumi and Koeru Kumomi swept in to seize them, and then they tossed them to the ground close to Suguta's feet. Yoiko paused to do the same with the weapon the Oni she was now tying up had, and then the leader of Rakuyō brought down the Tiger Blade to shatter all three of the rifles. Seeing that, the two conscious Oni both gaped. "How…?!" the one now restrained by Seki Haneko gasped as Asumi came over with her own rope to start tying him down, as Kumomi did with the one now covered by Sandi McLugh. "They're highly advanced rifles…all you lessers have are just _swords_…!"

He gasped as Haneko gently pressed Reienkyo's edge into his throat. "I suggest for once in your useless life, you pathetic sack of worthless man-flesh, THINK before you start tossing insults around!" she then snarled. "I'm spirit-sisters to the Lady Kachnuk of K'uongno herself!" As her prisoner gasped on hearing the feared courtesy name of the Black-Haired Bandit Slayer of the Noukiite Imperial Outmarches, she added, "She may have lived just _**one**_ life before her current one on Noukiios, but that one life inspired me throughout the **_sixteen_** times I have walked in this life on Earth! We speak through our dreams all the time!" That was actually a lie, but Haneko suspected that Kuohu probably wouldn't mind. "She was there at Morningstar Plain on Okusei six months ago when her good friend, the Dragonspeaker herself, went to town on all those bandits. She killed two hundred of them herself. I've handled quite the number in _**all**_ my lifetimes, too! What do you think YOUR chances could be against me, _relav'sh_?!" she hissed out as she leaned close to him to give him a very icy smile.

He gargled as he looked at her as both Torusuke and Suguta gaped at her. "Only SIXTEEN times, Haneko?!" the former demanded as Koro Sonami came out of the darkness, her hand holding — and quite reluctantly at that, the others were quick to note — the Mustang Blade; the leader of Seito had been given it by Uru Hokona before the tōshi had come into the forest. "You sure?! By my count, you've had EIGHTEEN times at it!"

Haneko turned to wink at the leader of Kyoshō. "A couple of those times, it was Asumi's past-selves pretending to be me, Torusuke-kun!"

As the two Oni prisoners both gaped in horror and disbelief at the words being said by their captors, laughter filled through this part of the Dead Grove, and then Sonami shook her head as she rested the Mǎjiàn on her shoulder. "I think I'm rather lucky compared to you guys," she confessed as the two conscious Oni were hog-tied so they could be shoved onto the ground and covered by Haneko's and Sandi's blades as Kumomi drew out Zanryū to act as backup. "I don't remember any of my past lives…"

Torusuke smirked. "In that, you're…!"

"_**SONAMI, GET DOWN!**_"

Sonami cried out as Suguta lunged at her.

A weapon discharged.

The leader of Rakuyō croaked out as the bolt of energy slammed into his upper back. "**_TŌTAKU!_**" both Yoiko and Torusuke screamed out.

Sonami screamed as Suguta's body flew into her, knocking her down.

The weapon discharged again.

Haneko yowled as a blast of energy slammed into her right shoulder, making her drop her polearm as she fell to the ground.

On seeing a woman he personally held with great respect get hit by such a cowardly attack, Torusuke roared out as the lower veins on his arms suddenly surged up to the surface and his eyes glowed bright gold. "**_DAMN YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU…!_**" he screamed as ki exploded from every point on his body and he leapt into the air…

…just as Sandi mounted the Gáe Bulg on her foot and sent it flying! "**_HE'S MINE, TÀIZǓ!_**" the gaiscíoch from the Bronx — now possessed by the immortal power that had once thundered through her past-self's body — screamed as she watched the javelin-like weapon streak towards a crouched mass barely visible in the dark ten metres away.

_CLANG!_

Much to the shock of everyone that were conscious and witnessing that, the Gáe Bulg was sent flipping back right at a surprised Sandi as a hand covered in strips of cloth snared the howling Torusuke by the throat and flung him back onto the ground nearby.

"Stop, both of you."

Everyone jolted on hearing that accented voice, and then a hand came up to allow a flare of ki to begin to burn over where the target had been…

…revealing a shivering Oni boy who, if he was ten years old, looked actually quite mature for his age. Now standing off to the boy's left front was a woman in a hooded, black-white-and-gold two-piece Noukiite uniform, her left hand holding a weapon that looked like a far more complex and stylish version of Sebone Shikuko's own Hōten-gageki. And while the hood was up, everyone could see her glowing chestnut eyes.

"_**Dragonspeaker**_…!"

That was the Oni who had been snared by Haneko; while he had been overjoyed to see the black-haired bitch shot down, that joy had turned to despair when the silver-haired girl with the curved sword had calmly placed the tip of that blade right against his throat to make him stay still. And now that despair had turned to destitution; if the Lady Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech — the greatest warrior in all of Noukiios' five millennia of history as a unified people, the woman who fought the mad metahumans of the Unspeakable Place time and time again…even in defence of other worlds close to Noukiite space like Uru — was here, they were all lost.

"**_DIE!_**"

That was the young boy, who had levelled his weapon on Kyech and squeezed the trigger. As people watched in wide-eyed disbelief — even the now back-to-human Tsukasa Torusuke and Sandi McLugh — the storm of bolts slammed into the Noukiite's breasts and abdomen to reflect off harmlessly into the sky or into the ground. Kyech remained in place, clearly as calm as if she was engaged in a quiet constitutional out in the forest, as that thunderous din made everyone else — save for Asumi and Haruka, who were moving to help put field bandages on Suguta's and Haneko's wounds — duck. After a few seconds, the boy's rifle then clicked on an empty firing bed. Sensing that, he shuddered as his eyes turned up to stare into Kyech's glowing orbs before a gulp surged up his throat.

"She killed my father…!" he rasped before he broke down.

Kyech's eyes then went back to normal as she reached up to calmly draw off her hood, and then she crouched down in front of him. Her free hand then reached out to take the rifle away from him. He didn't resist as she held it clear, her fingers collapsing on the fore stock. The weapon was instantly shattered as the area squeezed by her hand disintegrated into shards. Seeing that made the boy jolt before he quaked as what little control he had over his emotions finally shattered. As a scream of helpless frustration escaped him, followed by him curling in on himself as he fell over to his side, Kyech reached down to gently touch a point on the side of the head. Soon, the sobs faded away, replaced by the gentle snores of deep sleep from a child who had been forced to grow up far too early even for the standards of his people. Once that was done, Kyech then turned as someone came out of the shadows to her right rear.

"Take him, please," she said as two Avalonian-Canadian musicians unfolded a stretcher.

They both nodded, smiling in understanding, as She Who Speaks to Dragons walked towards a pair of guilt-faced warriors. "What the hell's a _boy_ doing here?!" Torusuke hissed as other Avalonian-Canadians — including medics now detached to the Royal Winnipeg Rifles from the local field ambulance and members of the regimental band, who all had stretchers and first aid kits with them — moved onto the scene to help out.

"His father did not wish to risk losing him, Torusuke," Kyech explained. "The child saw his mother shot down by internal security forces before they were whisked away to the _Redemption_." A sigh. "He has more than enough reasons to hate people now."

"Will he be alright?" Sandi asked, her eyes misty with sympathy.

A nod. "One of the Avalonians aboard _Redemption_ adopted the child as her own. Once they're relocated to Kegusei, he'll have the chance to be a normal boy again."

Both the tōshi from Kanagawa and the gaiscíoch from New York nodded. Torusuke then felt Kyech's hand on his shoulder. He looked into the Noukiite's knowing eyes, and then he lowered his head. "It's so hard to control him at times," he confessed.

"Learn to have more faith in yourself and your place in this era, Torusuke," the Dragonspeaker advised him. "If you want, I'll have Seup'it' come visit you when she can spare the time. She doesn't have dragon's blood in her body like I do in mine, but she has long had to deal with the sense of dislocation finding herself reborn in this day and age have forced on many of the Flower Youth. She can teach you things that will make you feel more at home where you live now. That will give you confidence."

Torusuke blinked, and then he stared at her. "She's the one with the pigtails, right?" he asked as he made a twirling motion with his finger beside his ear.

Kyech nodded, and then she headed off to join the crowd of Avalonian-Canadians now on the scene helping with the wounded Suguta and Haneko, not to mention taking charge of the prisoners just captured by the tōshi. Among them was a lovely black-haired, hazel-eyed woman appearing in her early twenties, sergeant's stripes on her combat suit over the unit tag of 17 Field Ambulance. On seeing her, the tōshi were quick to sense she was far more emotionally than an escaped slave from the Niphentaxians who, on coming to Earth, had elected to serve the Dominion of Canada as a part-time medical technician or musician. "Give me a sitrep on casualties!" Sergeant Shayna Trickett called out.

"One badly-lacerated right deltoid muscle with surface epidermal damage on Miss Seki here, Shayna," the corporal now treating Haneko stated. "Her blood's already clotting up and moving to heal the damaged veins and minor vessels." She then looked back at the wound before she moved to bandage it. "It's not Avalonian, though."

"It's because of me," Sandi then called over. "My blood is divinely-blessed. I heal very fast from those type of wounds. Haneko will, too."

"You shared blood?" Trickett asked as she stared at the New Yorker.

The gaiscíoch then smirked. "We're warriors. And we…"

She stared to blush as her voice faded from her. "I see," Trickett then stated as a knowing smile crossed her face, and then she turned to point at Haneko's shoulder. "Watch over that one, Tina," she then advised the corporal tending to her.

"Yes, Shayna," Corporal (Brevet) Tina Moore then nodded.

"Shayna, we got a problem here!"

That was the medic currently treating Suguta, Master Corporal Tracey Starker. Unlike her fellow medical technicians, she was a Terran-turned-Avalonian who had served in Afghanistan as part of 2 Field Ambulance before leaving full-time service to pursue a degree in biochemistry from the University of Manitoba. She eventually desired to get her officer's commission and become 17 Field Ambulance's first properly-trained bioscience officer; Tracey planned to apprentice herself at the Canadian Forces School of Survival and Aeromedical Training in Winnipeg after she got her degree and won her commission. "How bad is it, girls?" Trickett stated as she knelt beside the barely-conscious leader of Rakuyō, whose head was in Sonami's lap as another medical technician, Private Carey Wilmot, finished bandaging his back; he had been tenderly shifted onto his right side.

"It's bad, Sergeant," Carey stated. "He was hit directly on the fourth thoracic vertebrae. The bone mass is eighty percent gone, the spinal column's burned through. The wound didn't go deeper, but the energy bolt lacerated his oesophagus and lower trachea." That was evident by the gargling breaths escaping Suguta's mouth, not to mention the bloody sputum that came with it. "I didn't fully look in, but…"

"His aortic arch may also be compromised, Shayna," Tracey warned.

Trickett sighed as she pulled out a medical tricorder and moved to scan the area where he had been hit while Tracey moved to gently push in two tubes leading to an oxygen machine she was setting up to help him breathe. After a minute, she then grimaced. "Okay, he doesn't move at all. You okay with him there, miss?"

Sonami jolted, and then she nodded before she stared down wide-eyed at her counterpart from Rakuyō. "Can he be helped, Sergeant?" she then whispered.

"I fully intend to do that, miss," Trickett said with a reassuring look.

"_Tre'cha_?" Carey then proposed.

"There's no need."

Eyes turned to Kyech, now standing right beside Trickett. The crimson-haired free warrior was holding out a capped vial of opaque orange liquid. Seeing that, all the pure-born Avalonians blinked before their jaws dropped. "DNA-recombination therapy, Lady K'ekhech?!" Carey asked. "But it'll be tied to Noukiite…!"

A shake of the head. "This is DNA-neutral."

Trickett blinked — while she would prefer to have Natalie Blackwood present to give her nod to such an unorthodox treatment, the physician assistant who worked in civilian life at the Selkirk and District General Hospital in the city of the same name northeast of Winnipeg sensed Kyech meant no harm — and then she took it to gaze at the fluid inside before she handed it to Tracey. "Get it into him, Tracey, stat!"

Tracey quickly broke out her field medical kit to draw out a plastic bag of sodium chloride solution, plus a sterile rubber Y-shaped intravenous feed line to hook into the bag. Once that was done, she handed it to one of the stretcher bearers, who held it up as she handed the capped end to Carey, who had already set up a feed-collar — a device that would insert the medicine solutions right into the veins without the need to do time-consuming poking and probing through the skin — on his arm. She then moved to tie the device on the higher side of Suguta's left elbow before she tapped a control to have the needle probe in to get to the brachial vein, one of the major reverse flow paths that would feed blood directly into his heart not more than fifty centimetres away. Once the feed was open, the cannula contained within the needle was pushed in, its tip moving with the blood flow up the arm towards the shoulder, thus guaranteeing the injection would mix in perfectly with the blood without forcing a blockage. By now, Suguta was so dazed with pain, he barely felt that deep probe into his arm; his eyes were fluttering as his breathing became shallower and shallower.

Once the I.V. was going, Tracey then took the regenerative solution Kyech just provided to hook it into the other tube feeding into Suguta. She then handed it to Haruka, who was more than happy to hold the tube up high to let gravity do its work. "Give him a 10 C.C. drip feed of regen," Trickett then ordered. "Carey, monitor the feed. Tracey, if his _mei'na_ seems to be ready to go AWOL on us, you know what to do."

The two medical technicians nodded as Tracey moved to kneel to Sonami's right, pulling off her gloves to prepare herself to snare Suguta's soul in case what was now happening to him didn't allow his aorta and trachea to heal and his heart finally bled out on him. Carey tapped the controls on the feed-collar to begin pumping the I.V. into the patient's body. Trickett relaxed as she tapped controls on the tricorder to monitor the progress inside his body. "Lucky thing you…" she said as she turned…

…to find no one there. "Where did she go?!" the sergeant then asked.

The others looked. "Sergeant Trickett, when it comes to the Dragonspeaker, she leaves as soon as she knows the problem's over with," one of the bandsmen, Corporal (Brevet) Valerie Maynard, then said with a knowing smile on her face.

Trickett blinked, and then she chuckled. "Okay…!" she trilled out.

"Aren't you going to call a doctor here?" Asumi then asked.

"Calm yourself, Asumi-san," Kumomi said as she patted her schoolmate's shoulder. "Trickett-gunsō is a physician assistant; that is what a medical technician in the Canadian Forces becomes on reaching sergeant's rank. She's trained for independent duty without needing to harass a doctor about it unless it's very urgent."

"Ah, yes!" Torusuke then said as he knelt. "'The best kept medical secret in the Canadian Forces,' they call people like you, Sergeant. You the only one here?"

"No, there's another one right now off to the north of the Director's children, treating a case one of your monk friends unleashed on a girl who disguised himself as a boy," Trickett said as she tapped controls on her device as the regen fluid continued to be pumped into Suguta. "These days, a medical platoon for an infantry battalion deploys with four physician assistants…though hopefully one of these days, they'll get around to allowing med techs who don't mind the administrative side of things to serve as platoon warrants while we poor schmucks get to do all the down and dirty stuff at the company level." As people laughed, she smirked. "Okay, we've got the aorta healed and the trachea almost healed. The spine and the spinal column are starting to rebuild; ditto with the oesophagus. Conversion of DNA in his cells to Terran-form Avalonian norm is eleven percent complete. How's he feeling, Tracey?"

Tracey nodded. "His soul-link is steady, Shayna. I don't think we'll lose him." She then scowled as she indicated the many bandages on the Rakuyō senior's face. "But where in God's name did he get all these scars from?!"

"He's got a dangerous soul in his magatama, Master Corporal. He cuts himself as a way of keeping the uglier urges from that soul from overcoming him," Yoiko explained.

"Who was he?" Trickett asked.

"The Shepherd of Bìngzhōu, Dǒng Zhuó," Yoiko answered. "The gent who really got everything rolling when the Emperor died and everything went out the…!"

"**_TŌTAKU-SAMA!_**"

People turned, and then Kumomi moved immediately to restrain a wide-eyed Uru Hokona from lunging over and moving to shove Sonami away from her school leader. "Be calm, Bunwa-san," the silver-haired sophomore from Seito then said. "Trickett-gunsō has the matter under control and Chūei-san is slowly recovering. If you move him while he's still healing, he'll be paralysed for life. Please, be calm!"

Hokona blinked, and then she turned to stare wide-eyed at the woman now holding her back, and then she looked once more at the man with his head peacefully nestled on Sonami's thighs. She then jolted on feeling one of the bandsmen come over to gently take her away from Kumomi, and then walk her around the people now standing and kneeling around Suguta to let her sit between Tracey and Carey. Around the group now, a couple squads of riflemen were moving through the area, weapons out as they scanned around them, ready to move if someone else was about to start shooting anew from the shadows. Also with them were people from 3 Military Police Regiment; they were easy to spot thanks to their scarlet berets and the lanyards wrapped around their left upper arms. Many of them nodded greetings to the tōshi and the small group of medics before they moved on ahead; by now, the three Oni who had been captured by Haneko, Sandi and Yoiko — plus the one's son — had been taken away to the main triage area that had been set up by the Rifles' medical platoon at the extreme western end of the Dead Grove, close to a barely-lit country road that would lead back to Muzlim Madiina.

"You're from his school?" Tracey asked.

A nod. "His chief strategist," Hokona breathed out. "I was so worried…"

"It's not going to happen, Hokona," Torusuke advised.

She closed her eyes. "I was so afraid…" she whispered. "With the Emperor here, too, if either of them fall, our souls will be lost to the darkness again…"

A firm hand squeezed her shoulder. "I don't understand what you people believe in, but I won't have _that_ talk in my triage area, young lady," Trickett then warned, though she did have something of an encouraging look in her eyes. "Stow it, okay?"

"You have…my thanks, Sergeant…"

Everyone perked. "Hey, Tōtaku! There you are!" Haruka called out.

"Welcome back, Suguta-sempai," Kumomi stated. "How do you feel?"

A soft chuckle as Suguta's deep brown eyes opened. Everyone was quick to see the quick flash of orange-red — the sign that regeneration enzymes were now forming inside his body, Trickett knew — in those lobes before they went back to their normal chocolate shade. "How would one feel when one's back is shot out…?" he whispered with a wry smile before taking several breaths. "You okay, Sonami…?"

"H-hai," the leader of Seito stammered. "Wh-wh-why…?"

He turned to gaze up at her. "I've lived eighteen lives since my first life in Luòyáng and Cháng'ān, Ryūbi," he whispered before relaxing himself. "In all those lifetimes, I always tried to find someone strong enough to unite us all so that somehow, someway, this madness that haunts all our souls will be forever stopped. Oh, yes, there were times my past-selves were selfish; who **_wouldn't_** want to be the top tōshi serving such a person in that case? But every time, I could never find that person before the monster inside me got loose and either one of Shikuko's past-selves had to take me down…or I'd suicide to let me at least die under my control. Until now." He took another deep series of breaths. "I was going to kill myself this time, too…" He then smiled. "Then Hiromi came along and called you 'cousin,' Sonami…" A shake of the head. "She vowed not to play favourites…but I could tell right away that she loves you dearly." He then took a gentle breath as he reached up to gently squeeze her hand in reassurance. "And there's a power within her. A power just as great as what you have in your own soul, Sonami. If you died and Hiromi lost control…"

"There is also whatever is in her brother's soul," Kumomi warned. "Were the Emperor to lose control of her power, Ataru-san's own power would be unleashed as well."

"What power?" Yoiko asked.

A shake of her head. "I have not been close to him long enough to fully comprehend it, Yoiko-san. Still it is something he hides very well…"

Suguta slowly nodded. "Yeah…"

"Still, you were right about one thing after we found out about those spirits that were protecting the Dragon Jade," Torusuke whispered, smiling. "We finally got the Emperor we always wanted all these lifetimes. Eh, Chūei?"

A nod. "Aye, Mōtoku…we finally did. All thanks to that nutty old sorcerer from Nanban," Suguta then whispered before taking a deep breath. "Bun'en…?"

Haruka knelt down to pat his shoulder, though he kept the bottle with the regen fluid held high to keep it flowing. "I'm here, Chūei."

"Take the Hǔjiàn," the leader of Rakuyō said. On hearing that, Yoiko smiled as she picked up the Tiger Blade and handed it to Haruka. "Make sure the Emperor…knows the truth about herself. Naoko-chan knows…but I don't think she's had a chance to tell Kyōrei-sama. Make sure she knows…what Shishimyō-sempai did for her." Another breath as he closed his eyes. "I finally figured it out…damn…"

The others then relaxed as a gentle snore seemed to escape him. As Sonami gently patted Suguta's shoulder and the others all exchanged looks, Torusuke then perked on feeling a gentle tap on his leg. He turned to stare at Shayna Trickett. The physician assistant had, by then, tapped up a message for him to read on her tricorder screen.

**DOES HE NEED TO SEE A PSYCHIATRIST?**

He then nodded before pointing at Hokona — now crying in relief at her leader's survival and being comforted by a smiling Tracey Starker — and making a "V" sign with his hand, indicating "Her, too." On seeing that, she nodded…

* * *

Just north of where Kentei was…

Pastor Vincent Klein was trying to keep calm.

It was difficult, though.

Even if his particular faith did espouse the virtues of martyrdom when it came to facing the possibility of being killed because he was a Christian, he had never really sat back and thought about the possibility of being hurt in the line of fire, not even in Afghanistan when he had been administering to personnel deployed out in the field while serving as part of Operation: Athena a couple of years before in Kandahār.

But now…

"You don't want to…"

"Be QUIET!"

His mouth closed up immediately as the shivering man before him steadied his weapon to aim directly at his forehead. The priest quietly thought of a prayer as he relaxed himself, holding the still-sleeping Moroboshi Arami close to him as he faced the other man down. Said fellow was, despite his tiger-striped clothing, clearly of the Urusian sub-race known commonly as "Seishin;" he didn't have a visible horn-bud on his head from what Padre Vincent could see. Atop that, he hadn't come alone; there was a woman, also Seishin, kneeling to the man's right rear, holding a pistol, though she wasn't aiming it at the priest. She also seemed the more in-control of the pair; as soon as Padre Vincent had been surprised by the two after he had scrambled to a safe hiding point with Arami when Ōgi had lunged out of nowhere to embrace Kentei and all the shooting started, she had been snapping at him to relax and calm down every time he seemed ready to fire upon either the chaplain or the child in his arms. She also didn't seem inclined to hurt either of the Terrans despite her being chased off her ship after it had been nearly shot to pieces by _Haida_ and the Starfires launched by her and her sisterships. No doubt, the chaplain from Alberta believed, all she wanted now was a way off the planet and away from either potential arrest or an early grave.

"Will you put that thing down, you fool?!" she then snarled at him. "Look at him! He's a _chaplain_! He's unarmed and he wouldn't even _think_ of hurting you!"

"SO WHAT?!" the man then snapped as he glared at her. "If it wasn't for that damned monster Moroboshi, we wouldn't be _stuck_ on this dirtball in the first place!"

"What will threatening a _priest_ and a _child_ do, Samei?!" she demanded. "Ando and Sakimu have Lum and she didn't like it when that girl that was with her was shot! Do you honestly believe if either of these two are hurt, Moroboshi will show _mercy_?!"

"She'll understand who her true superiors are, Toma!" he snarled back.

_Okay, we have names to work with now_, Padre Vincent mused. All he needed to do now was to give Toma time to calm Samei down and then he could try to talk to her.

"Oh, really?" she snapped before she turned to stare at the chaplain. "Please do accept my apologies for my brother's idiocy, Reverend Klein. While we do support the restoral of the Empire and the Houses on my planet, there are those amongst us who do understand that _**all**_ sentient races do have certain levels of propriety they adhere to. In only understanding _that_ can peaceful relations be maintained! My brother, forgive me, has always _forgotten_ those lessons!" As Samei shuddered and sent her a glare, Toma sighed. "Is the child alright? I can't believe she's slept through all this."

"She's quite fine," Padre Vincent answered as he gazed fondly at the dozing Arami. He then moved to take a first step with Toma. "I apologise myself, but may I have your full name, please? Just in case something happens and you get hurt. I realise you do hope to get away from this place and stay free, but the chances are there and my duties extend to you and your brother as they would to anyone on my side."

"Who says you lessers will…?!"

_WHAP!_

"OW! TOMA?!"

"Shut up!" Toma snapped after cuffing him on the back of his head with the heel of her hand. She then smiled at the chaplain. "I'm Major Uio Toma of the Urusian Marines. This is my brother, Uio Samei…who has never served anywhere in the Defence Forces despite how he acts. You, of course, are Major the Reverend Vincent Klein of the Canadian Forces Chaplain Branch, no doubt assigned to H.M.C.S. _Haida_, which is in the skies right over our heads as we speak. I don't know the child's name, though."

A sigh. This was the risky part. "Her name is Arami."

An eyebrow arched. "What's her family name?"

"Does it matter?"

Samei shuddered. "YOU ANSWER THE…!"

_WHAP!_

"_OW! TOMA?!_"

Toma sighed before she gazed knowingly at Padre Vincent. "What in the name of the Maidens would the Lady Hiromi's **_child_** be doing down here?!" she then asked.

Hearing that, Samei then gaped. "HER CHILD?! PERFE-…!"

_WHAP!_

"**_OW! TOMA?!_**"

"SHUT UP!" Toma snarled as she leaned up to glare intently into her brother's eyes. "Yes, the child is a potential hostage! But the Lady Hiromi clearly holds herself to higher standards! And may I remind you, little brother, that _your_ wife and _my_ wife — who is PREGNANT with _my_ baby girl, _your niece_, by the way! — are now being held either aboard _Haida_ or one of her sisterships! If you burn a _hair_ on this child's head, what's to stop Lady Hiromi from hurting my child in retaliation?! WELL?!"

Samei shuddered. "Why should we defer to _lessers_?!" he screeched.

Toma sighed. "Since when did we start calling Terrans _that_?! In all the history of the Empire, from the day of the Maidens' Sacrifice to the day of Syl's Fall, we NEVER EVER looked down on the Terrans! All those years we studied and watched them, we knew they were our equals even _if_ they didn't have the technology we had!" she declared. "They were SPARED by the Seifukusu! They were allowed to live their lives in peace, unmolested by the stars, when our society was RAPED and made to FORGET what had been on Uru before the Invasion! That meant that there was something special about them! We always knew that! Even the commoners who flocked to Syl's banner and forced the Union on us all understood that! We all voted FOR the Tag Race when we heard the Ipraedies were going to threaten their planet last year! And we all AGREED that the man chosen to defend Earth in the Tag Race did the right thing when he and his family discovered what the Niphentaxians were prepared to do to them…AND LUM, TOO! So STOP behaving like a _relav'sh_ and act like Mother would have wanted you to behave!" she admonished before staring once more at Padre Vincent. "Again, Reverend, my apologies for my brother's appalling lack of common decency. My mother always tried to teach Samei proper manners, but he never really cared for those lessons!"

"It's alright, my dear," the chaplain said, adjusting himself as he relaxed. "He's very scared at his current situation. I can't blame him for feeling that way. I must confess, you're holding up quite well under the present circumstances."

Toma gave him a knowing smile. "Oh, believe me, Reverend, I'm quite frightened right now. But Marine officer training on Uru is quite thorough, as I'm sure training for special operations officers on Earth would be as well," she admitted. "So tell me, Reverend: This story I once heard of the Lady Hiromi as revealed by her sister, the Lady Negako. About her being resurrected from a past life. Is it true?"

Padre Vincent felt himself relax. Now was the time to start building a bridge of understanding. "Yes. She first lived as a man eighteen centuries ago in China. Her name back then was Liú Hóng. He was posthumously declared the Xiàolíng Emperor of China's Latter Hàn Dynasty; he was the second-to-last true ruler in that line before it collapsed into the Three Kingdoms period. Somehow, someway, his soul was preserved from entering Heaven upon his death in 189 A.D. and was made to drift in some sort of wrath-like state until ten years ago, when it was inserted into a magatama-shaped earring that was later found by Moroboshi Ataru. That allowed the Emperor's soul to intermingle with Ataru's and eventually develop her own unique personality. Six months ago, the Lady K'ekhech of Noukiios discovered what was going on, and then transported Ataru to Okusei where Ganzo dai-Louc had an un-templated Avalonian body for the Emperor's soul to be inserted into. Hence, Liú Hóng became Moroboshi Hiromi."

He then paused before nodding to the sleeping Arami. "This child here is the very same way. In her first life, she was Liú Hóng's eldest son, Liú Biàn, the Prince Huái of Hóngnóng. There are thousands more like them all over Japan these days. All born during the latter days of the Hàn Dynasty…and forced for some unknown reason to live again in this very day and age. They are warriors of great skill and power who call themselves 'tōshi' as a group. They are _**all**_ fanatically loyal to their former emperor. It will displease them _**very**_ greatly if either the Director or her daughter are hurt, Major. And they see _**you**_ as the alien monsters, I'm afraid."

"Does the Lady Hiromi claim any sort of kingship?" Toma then asked.

A shake of the head. "Truthfully, no. All she was allowed to claim — when recognised by her relatives — was the matriarchy of her family, the Clan Moroboshi of the old Japanese province of Mutsu. By that, she also gained an honorary post concerning the Imperial House of Japan; I don't know all the details about that, though."

Toma took a moment to consider that, and then she nodded. "I see."

"You BELIEVE this nonsense?!" Samei snapped.

"We're both mind-bonded to our wives, remember?" she growled at him. "They showed us how they see the Te'a, remember? You think with THAT in Existence, what happened to the Lady Hiromi doesn't sound any LESS plausible?"

"So?!"

"Then, Major, I envy you and your brother."

The Uio siblings stopped to stare wide-eyed at the Terran priest. "You _envy_ us?!" Toma then asked as Samei's mouth fluttered open and shut. "Why?"

Padre Vincent smiled. Another bridge built. "For the fact that you've had the chance to actually _see_ God's Greatest Creation with your own soul," he then stated. "Ever since they came to Earth and began flocking military recruiting centres all over the planet, chaplains such as I have worked hard to understand Avalonians and their ways. I've been offered the chance to mind-meld with those of your wives' race many times over the last four months or so to see It, but I've turned it down every time."

"Why haven't you taken an Avalonian wife?" Toma asked. "Are you Catholic?"

A chuckle. "No, I'm Calvinist. I've also been married for as long as I've been an ordained priest, Major; my wife is also a chaplain in the Forces." He shrugged. "Of course, we can't serve in the same unit, especially a combat unit like _Haida_. My wife is assigned to the Canadian Forces Chaplain School and Centre in Borden."

She nodded in understanding. "I see…"

"What…time is it?"

Samei yelped on hearing that strange voice as he levelled his gun at the chaplain. Seeing that, Toma yelled as she moved to shove him clear. "_**DON'T…!**_"

His weapon discharged, which made her scream out as the bolt punched through her chest to the right of her heart and through her right lung. Toma then gargled as she collapsed to her side. Seeing her fall, Samei then screamed out as he moved to level his weapon at the chaplain. "**_DIE…!_**" he howled as his finger began to squeeze.

A thunderous yet still female roar of outrage and a flash of burning energy later, Samei cried out in shock as he found himself staring at the bloody stump where his right hand had been. A fist then swung into his field of vision to crash hard into his nose, making him fly back against the side of a mushroom before he collapsed dazed onto the ground at Izuku Mioko's feet. A second later, a bolt of energy slammed into the bleeding stump from Moroboshi Ataru's hand, cauterising the wound. By then, people were moving to comfort the bleeding and gasping Toma. "She took one through the right lung!" Shigaten Kamen said as she drew out a field dressing to place over the wound. "Don't put her on her back; it'll make the blood flood the other lung and she'll drown in her own blood!"

Immediately, Redet Lum, Redet Hensō and Sakan Somumi moved to place the wounded major in a position to allow her body to support itself without forcing her onto her back. As Sebone Shikuko got to work tying down the unconscious Samei for pickup, Mioko and Ataru were helping Padre Vincent stand up, the former reaching over to relieve the chaplain of the young child in his arms, who was now waking up and looking around, blinking in confusion. "Sorry we took so long, Padre," Ataru said as he brushed off the back of his combat suit, and then moved to scan for wounds. "We actually got into hearing range five minutes ago, but since you seemed to be doing okay with Toma-san, we decided not to interrupt."

"It seemed to be going well," he admitted, feeling a slight weakness in his knees as he realised how close he had come to being shot. "How is everything?"

"I think we've almost got them all wrapped up. Save for the bunch close to Mimōko-san," Ataru admitted, and then he tapped his communicator. "Where are you, Hiromi?"

"With Bokuroku-dono now, Onii-san," Hiromi responded. "Arami-chan?"

"I'm okay, Papa!" Arami called back.

Chuckles all around. "Director, we need special care for one of the Urusians I was speaking to," Padre Vincent stated. "She's shot through the right lung…!"

"She's stable, Hiromi!" Kamen called out.

"Thunderbird Preacher, this is Black Devil Foxtrot-Mike-Papa-One. I got your request to Dragon Six; I'm moving in on your position," PO1 Emily Hamilton called in. "Turn your homing beacon on. Do you need me to protect Dragon Six-One, Dragon Six?"

"I'm here with her now!" Mioko called out.

"Roger that, ma'am!" the Navy physician assistant from Portage la Prairie answered.

"How close are you to dealing with Ōgi and his pals, Hiromi?!" Ataru asked.

"I'll move in very soon; Kenshika-san and I've been busy eliminating those close to Ōgi, Ando and his friend," Hiromi replied. "Naoko-chan looks alright to me; it appears my son was able to get her the chance to bandage the wound on her leg. Just one last group to the east and I think we'll have them all wrapped up, Onii-san."

"This is East Six," Oka Yuzuko then called in. "We've almost got them, My Emperor. Hakufu-sama, Ranma-oniisan, Kikuko-onēsan, Shānpú-san and Shimei-onēsan are trying to take the last of them down. I expect this to be wrapped up in about ten minutes or so."

"Understood, Hakugen-dono," Hiromi called back…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Seq Yethis**, **Hozan Lana** and **Emperor Schwartz** are all characters from _The Senior Year_. Like many of the other Urusian Imperials in that story, I based Rei's uncle off the character of the same name from Lew Burton's work. **Redet Belok** first appeared in my crossover story between _TSY_ and _Sailor Moon_, _Lonely They Who Guard…_

2) **Kyotos** and **Varakos** are two of the sixteen principalities on Yehisril. The **ib'f** (the word simply means "dragon") mentioned here appeared in "What Price for Love?"

3) **Aimaiyu** was a planet which was mentioned in _TSY_; a bounty hunter from that world, **Chishiki Rogo**, made her appearance in early drafts of _The Ishinomaki Years_. What happened on the Yehisrite colony world on **Cademus** was reflected on in the _TSY_ story "Ancient Ties."

4) Translations: **Surei'cha** — Literally "the one with whom you have a child" but normally translated as "child-mate," this is the person who physically helps parent a child through sexual intercourse; **Shin Seiki Evangelion** — This phrase is a mixed Japanese and Latin term that would translate directly as "Gospel of a New Century," though fans of the series created by **Anno Hideaki** in 1995 normally translate the _shin seiki_ part as "Neon Genesis;" **Euchch'e** — Literally "sword which blocks a door from opening" (as noted in Part 19); **Tàizǔ** — Literally meaning "Great Progenitor," this is Cáo Cāo's **temple name** (in Chinese, **miào hào**), a posthumous term of two characters normally bestowed on royalty (and in this context, is the name given to the _haōryū_ within Tsukasa Torusuke's soul); **Sitrep** — Situation Report; **Stat** — From the Latin word _statim_, which implies that something must be done immediately; **Cannula** — From the Latin word meaning "little reed," this is a tube that can be inserted into a person's body; **C.C.** — Cubic centimetre (also referred to as a **millilitre** or **mL**); **AWOL** — Pronounced "Ay-whol," this is short for "Away Without Leave" or "Away Without Official Leave" and is the standard military term for people who are absent from duty (but can be used to imply things that have disappeared as well); **Gunsō** — Sergeant.

5) The planet **Hichkyech'eng** (literally meaning "New Kyech'eng") is named after the Noukiite analogue to the county of **Yodŏk** in South Hamgyŏng Province of North Korea. This is the site of **Penal Labour Colony #15**, one of the locations used by the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to imprison lifetime political prisoners. The mental reprogramming aspect of prisoner rehabilitation on Hichkyech'eng was inspired by the movie _Demolition Man_ (1993).

As an aside, the "**Class P**" designation for this world is based on the planetary classification system devised by **Geoffrey Mandel** in his _Star Trek_ reference work _Star Trek Star Charts: The Complete Atlas of Star Trek_, released in 2002 by Pocket Books (ISBN 0-7434-3770-5).

6) The story of **Valour Road** (renamed as such in 1925) in the west end of Winnipeg is simple: Three men who lived on Pine Street who joined the Canadian Army for service in World War One — Corporal **Leo Clarke VC** (1892-1916), Company Sergeant-Major **Frederick W. Hall VC** (1885-1915) and Lieutenant **Robert Shankland VC, DCM** (1887-1968) — all were awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery above and beyond the call of duty (for Clarke and Hall, the awards were posthumous). Because of this, the street all three men lived on before the war was renamed to honour their service and sacrifice.

As an aside, the DCM is the **Distinguished Conduct Medal**, the non-commissioned officer's version of the **Distinguished Service Order** (**DSO**), the British and Imperial award for meritorious service during active operations against the enemy. In 1993, the DCM was discontinued and all potential future recipients were made eligable for the DSO in the British armed forces. Companions of the DSO, from that point on, didn't need to be in active operations against the enemy to be recommended for the medal; what the DSO marks these days is outstanding acts of leadership or command. In Canada, the equivalent awards to the modern DSO would be the **Meritorious Service Cross** (**MSC**) and **Meritorious Service Medal** (**MSM**).

7) A **Drum Major** is normally the parade leader of a marching band. A person in this position is visually identified by the long mace s/he carries. In the Canadian Forces, the position is identified on dress uniforms by four upward-pointing chevrons on the lower arms, a drum embossed over the chevrons. Other positions like this in Canadian military bands include the **Pipe Major**, who is the senior bagpipe player in a Highland regiment band (the position symbol is the same as a drum major's but with a bagpipe over the chevrons)…and the **Trumpet Major** or **Bugle Major**, who is the senior bugle player in the band (the position symbol has crossed trumpets over the chevrons). As bandsmen are never expected to go into the field, they would wear their proper military ranks with their CADPATs.

As an aside, I was inspired by the 2004 novel _Grant Comes East: A Novel of the Civil War_ by **Newt Gingrich** and **William R. Forstchen** (ISBN 0-312-30937-6) and its revelation that members of marching bands in armies during the period of the Civil War served as stretcher bearers while in the field. In the Canadian Forces these days, **Musicians** (short-form **MUSCN**) are only employed in one of the six Regular Force bands active today; in the universe of this story, the number of official bands would increase as more musicians join up and more funding for them becomes available. Of course, many Canadian Forces reserve units have their own marching bands, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles being one of them.

8) The **Bǎiyǒngdāo** (in Japanese, **Hyakuhekitō** or "Hundred-Swing Sword") are five beautiful swords introduced in the _Ikkitōsen_ manga which Tōtaku Chūei (Tadasu Suguta) quests for before his final fight with Ryofu Hōsen (Sebone Shikuko) in manga chapters 23-24. Five classically-designed jiàn composed of jewels (I would make them normal jewels mixed with ebony meson), they were said to have been created at Cáo Cāo's direct order. Like the Chuánguóxǐ and the Lóngyù, the Bǎiyǒngdāo eventually made their way to Japan in the hands of various generations of tōshi; their caretaker in this generation will be introduced in the next part. The blades are individually named: **Lóngjiàn** ("Dragon Blade"), **Hǔjiàn** ("Tiger Blade"), **Quèjiàn** ("Sparrow Blade"), **Mǎjiàn** ("Mustang Blade") and **Xióngjiàn** ("Bear Blade").

9) **2 Field Ambulance** (**2 FD AMB**) is the Regular Force field medical unit that normally supports the soldiers of 2 Canadian Mechanised Brigade Group. It is based in Petawawa.

10) A **Bioscience Officer** (**BIO**) are medical associate officers in the Canadian Forces Medical Services. Their primary duty is to mitigate health threats to CF members and improve their operational performance. Fields of operations for BIO officers include Aerospace Physiology (which normally sees people in this trade posted to the **Canadian Forces School of Survival and Aeromedical Training** [**CFSSAT**] to assist with hyperbaric and hypobaric chamber operations), Industrial Hygiene (where such officers would be posted to one of the **Deployable Health Hazard Assessments Teams** at Suffield [in Alberta], Toronto and Ottawa to deal with field hygienic issues) and Project Management (where officers would be posted to places like Defence Research and Development Canada's Toronto branch to help with equipment evaluations).

In real life, BIO officers are not employed in the reserve forces. In the universe of this story, Avalonian-Canadians who are knowledgeable in what a BIO officer would normally deal with (and have joined various reserve field ambulance units) immediately began providing their expertise in various fields, both to support their home units part-time and augment various full-time units such as CFSSAT in Winnipeg. This convinced the Health Services Group to open the occupation to reserve officers, which Tracey Starker intends to become.

As an aside, the rank of **Master Corporal** (**MCpl**) (in the Navy, referred to as **Master Seaman** [**MS**]; in the Royal Canadian Artillery, called a **Master Bombardier** [**MBdr**]) is actually legally seen as an appointment even though it is given the separate NATO other rank code of OR-5 (which is the equal of an American Army sergeant) in the overall scale; **Corporals** (**Cpl**)/**Leading Seamen** (**LS**)/**Bombardiers** (**Bdr**) in the Canadian Forces are graded OR-4 and would be seen as the equal of American or British Army corporals. Per the _Queen's Regulations and Orders_ (known by the shorthand term **QR&Os**), the primary standing legal regulations governing members of the Canadian military, a master corporal still bears the legal rank of corporal though a person appointed as such would be seen as senior in rank to normal corporals and have legal authority over corporals and privates. To become a master corporal in the Regular Force, one must have their Level 5 trade qualification, have undergone the **Primary Leadership Qualification** (**PLQ**) course to gain first-level training in leadership skills and have served two years at the rank of corporal; Reserve Force units tend to follow the same concept even if promotion times may be extended due to lack of training days. In Canadian infantry battalions, rifle squads are normally commanded by sergeants with a master corporal as second-in-command; I decided in this story to drop that down to a master corporal as squad leader and a corporal as 2IC to better fit the British model of organisation (which the Canadian Army pretty much followed until Unification in 1968).


	45. The Dead Grove, Part 3

To the east of Kentei's position (Japan time: Ninety minutes after sunset)…

A hand tapped Yuzuko's shoulder. "How are things going?"

The young strategist yelped as she nearly jumped out of her clothes, and then — on remembering when she had first heard that voice — she relaxed. "You SCARED me, Akira-onēsan!" she hissed as she turned to glare on the raven-haired, brown-eyed girl in the combat suit that just snuck up to her. "Don't do that to me!" she snarled, and then she relaxed as she got back to business. "We've got a half-dozen. The others are taking their time in dealing with them; they're all pretty scared, but they're trigger-happy. I think one of them was the one who shot Naoko-chan earlier on."

Haru Akira — Chōshō Shifu — nodded in understanding. She was in the form of a second-year high school student, which would make her Mago Tsueko's physical age. In fact, as soon as this whole mission was done, she would be loaded into Tsueko's homeroom class at Nan'yō when everyone got back to Earth. Of course, all of the other people from Nan'yō who had come on the trip to Yaminokuni knew the truth…

* * *

_On the slopes of Mount Kawanori west of Tōkyō, Sunday 4 July 2010, late afternoon… _

_"Thank you for agreeing to come with me on this trip, Hiromi." _

_"You need not thank me, Suguta-san," Hiromi stated as they and Hokona made their way up the southeast slope of the tall mountain located in the northwestern part of the metropolitan prefecture, a place where all the other mountains that dotted the landscape of the town of Okutama could be seen; they had just beamed down from _Haida_ minutes before as there was no easy road access to their destination. "Let us pray Haru-obāsama is willing to listen to reason concerning our seeking out the Bǎiyǒngdāo." _

_"I doubt it," Hokona advised. "She's refused Suguta-kun before." _

_"Mostly because when I last trained under her two years ago, Sensei didn't approve of my absconding with things I had not earned," Suguta admitted, a blush appearing on the exposed areas of his skin around his bandages. "Then again…" _

_"I do not judge you, Chūei-dono. Now is _**not**_ the time for _**that**_ thinking." _

_He jolted, and then he smiled. "You are gracious to me, Majesty." _

_"You deserve it, Chūei-dono," the reborn emperor said as they came into a clearing leading right to the main gate of the Hōjō-jinja. "In the times I allowed what I have learned from Onē-sama to drive my senses, I have felt the pain you endured as you've struggled to keep the beast the sorcerers of the Qiāng forced into the soul of Lord Zhòngyǐng under control. Your love for Bunwa-dono has suffered greatly for it." On hearing Hokona gasp, Hiromi smiled. "Do not sound so surprised, Hokona-san. I can read ki as easily as Onē-sama; I just don't make use of the talent as much as she, so I lack the detailed experience and the eidetic memory she possesses." _

_The raven-haired strategist blinked, and then she blushed. "Suguta-kun…" _

_"The 'beast' as Hiromi likes to call it is was a minor battle spirit that the elders of the Qiāng tricked into slavery years before they encountered my past-self, Hokona-chan," the leader of Rakuyō said as he reached over with his free hand to grasp hers. "It's what turned a nominally-honourable man into the depraved monster history would later see him as. All my lifetimes, I've fought and fought to keep it caged, but never succeeded." He stared at her. "During the times Shikuko's past-selves have come to kill me, I've welcomed it; at least with her around, I knew it wouldn't ever go TOO far." He took a deep breath. "I can't apologise to you for what I've done to you, Hokona-chan. But when this is all over, I'll go to Negako-sama and ask for her help in putting that thing _**fully**_ down. When that happens, um…" He then blushed. _

_She stared at him, and then leapt over to swamp him with a kiss that nearly sucked all the air out of his body. Watching this, Hiromi smiled, and then she tensed on sensing a high nexus of ki standing close by, cloaked in a mask of bright childhood despite the person's true age. "Ah, Shifu-sensei. Our apologies for disturbing you today." _

_Suguta and Hokona broke apart as they turned to gaze on the raven-haired, black-eyed child in the robes of a Shintō miko nearby. Immediately, the leader of Rakuyō walked up to stand before the child-looking ninety year-old tōshi, and then — much to the shock of Haru Akira — dropped to his knees and prostrated himself before her, turning his head straight down to the ground. "Sensei, I, Tadasu Suguta, who was in my first life Dǒng Zhuó, express my deepest, sincerest regrets that forced us to part ways two years ago. I had no excuse for my actions and I do not expect your forgiveness, but I give you my apologies for my dishonourable actions. Anything save my very own life — which is now firmly under the command of our reborn emperor, Moroboshi Hiromi-sama — that you would desire in payment for those actions is yours to ask." _

_Silence. _

_More silence. _

_Still more silence. _

_And then… _

_"Susugame-kun…you crazy wizard…you actually pulled it off…!" _

_Suguta blinked, and then he looked up to see Akira's face awash with tears as she seemed to curl in on herself. "Sensei…!" he gasped as he moved to comfort. _

_Akira waved him off, and then jerked before a bloody cough exploded from her lips. As she dropped to her knees, Hiromi and Hokona raced to her side as Suguta took off his jacket to allow her to rest within in. "Damn…!" the aged tōshi hissed out before her eyes started to flutter. "Didn't expect to…lose control…!" _

_"Be calm, Obā-sama," Hiromi called out as she allowed a glowing hand to hover over her. "Take my ki. Let it keep you alive long enough to get you to _Haida_." _

_Akira blinked, and then she smiled. "Thank you…but no, Majesty…" _

_Hiromi jolted as if she had been stabbed. "No…we all survive…!" _

_"I don't need…!" _

_"_**NO! WE ALL SURVIVE!**_" _

_Everyone jolted on hearing that shout, and then Suguta and Hokona gaped on seeing Hiromi's eyes tear. Akira was also quick to see that, and then she closed her eyes as shame washed through her at the thought of making the reborn emperor — HER reborn emperor! — cry like that. Yes, she had lived a full and happy life. True, she was more than happy to let that life end. But this young woman now crying over her was Liú Hóng reborn. The father of Liú Xié, born of Wáng Měiruò, who lived today as Wan Miwaka. Last student of Haru Akira's most successful apprentice, Fumi Susugame. _

_In allowing herself to die, would she betray Susugame… _

_…and by extension, Miwaka? And her son? _

_Before Akira could think of the answer, Hokona sighed. "Sensei…" _

_The aged tōshi gazed at her. "Wh-what…?" _

_"Sensei, you were of the last FULL generation of tōshi who lived and relived the times of the fall of Hàn and the rise of Wú, Wèi and Shǔ. In your first life, you — as Zhāng Zhāo — served Sūn Cè and later Sūn Quán. Sūn Cè lives in this life; she is a sophomore at Nan'yō named Mago Tsueko. How can she lead Nan'yō without you?" _

_Hiromi looked at Hokona, and then she nodded, her face breaking out in a smile full of relief and delight. Noting that, Akira blinked before a shrug twitched her shoulder. "I graduated from school decades ago…" she complained. _

_"Hakufu-dono — from what I've seen of her so far, Shifu-dono — is quite lacking in many of the proper graces and behaviours expected of her station," Hiromi then stated as she wiped her eyes. "I think her mother — blinded as she obviously is because of the pain of the recent loss of her beloved husband — forgot her duties to her child and let her go to Nan'yō without properly preparing her for what she would face. For that, I am now forced to act to see to it she lives a full life. But I am only one person in the long term, Akira-san. With her, I will need some help." _

_Akira stared at her, and then she nodded. "You wish is my eternal command, Majesty. Will you…" Another cough. "…have need of the Hyakuhekitō?" _

_"Aye. But you need a new body now. That takes an hour to prepare," the reborn emperor said as she pulled out her communicator. "We can come later for them." _

_And with that, she put in a call to orbit…_

* * *

"What are the odds?" Akira whispered, biting her tongue.

"Six Oni against four fully-ready fighters and one just-recovered fighter," Yuzuko whispered. "You got briefed on Mimōko-onēsan's new lover."

The ninety year-old tōshi now living in the body of a teenager nodded. There were advantages and disadvantages in getting Hayashi Ranma into the Nan'yō ranks. The martial art form he followed was the sister school of the Black Death's own martial art form, so learning the ways of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū would give the Children of the Tigers of Dōng Wú a great advantage should things somehow fall apart and tōshi once more found themselves fighting tōshi. And mating the School of Indiscriminate Grappling to the styles practiced by the warriors of Nan'yō would increase the reputations of all sides. Akira _had_ met Happōsai in her youth, both before and after she had graduated from the Nan'yō Academy in the years just before the Second World War started. Despite the aged warrior's sordid reputation as a letch and a thief, he HAD achieved the equivalent of super-A rank on the tōshi scale long before the Immortal Master Hosan granted him his mastery and permission to form Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū in the tenth year of Taishō. And despite the ghastly ki-depravity affliction imposed on him by the "masters" of the Black Death years earlier, Happōsai did try his best to be honourable, especially when it came to children and students.

In some ways, Hayashi Ranma was cut out of the same cloth as his grandmaster. He was crude of speech and thought, emotionally blunt to the point of rudeness, almost totally ignorant of the ways of normal society and possessed an arrogant attitude that was bound to make people want to kill him at the snap of the proverbial finger if the right conditions were in play. Ranma also strove to be as personally honourable as he could be, fought to prevent both anger and hatred from governing his actions despite the long and hideous abuse on his own honour thanks to Saotome Genma and his wife Nodoka, gladly welcomed the chance to make friends, and did understand his current limitations and was working hard to overcome them now that both his dunderhead father and his ignorant-to-the-point-of-being-suicidal mother were finally out of the way. He was also now emotionally bound to a very bright young fighter who accepted him, curse and all, as an equal and was welcoming him into her heart and soul without the many misconceptions Ranma's former fiancée — who was a pretty bright girl in her own right; Ebisu Kyoko was quite lucky to have landed Miyamoto Akane on the rebound — had brought into their short, imposed-from-above "engagement" that had ended at the tip of Nǚ Shānpú's dàdāo.

Thinking of Ranma's current sister-in-law, Akira could only smile at the extra gift the Fates had handed down to the Children of the Tigers of Dōng Wú. The Nǚjiézú, given their long status as a "Noble Tribe" under the direct protection of the Dragon Throne, had developed very devastating martial art forms to protect themselves against all sorts of threats, forms that — in their own way — were the match of anything that was taught in Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū. And while the Nǚjiézú were understandably wary of tōshi as a whole, the bonds of loyalty they felt for the spiritual descendants of the Liú Clan that had ruled the Hàn Dynasty from start to finish could possibly make them open to the idea of extending their teachings to worthy tōshi and their blood-kin and marriage-kin (which Hayashi Kikuko was now thanks to her taking up the claim Shampoo had for Ranma's hand in marriage due to her defeats at his hands). And given Moroboshi Hiromi's plans to unite all the tōshi and tear down the barriers that had separated them in their various groups for so long, the Nǚjiézú could actually be the one thing to help even the most reluctant tōshi overcome his/her fear about turning his/her back on the "fate" and finally embrace a life free of the nightmares of the past.

Of course, to make sure this all happened, Ranma, Kikuko and Shampoo would have to survive a half-dozen Oni warriors — two metamorphs amongst them — and make it back to Earth whole and intact, both physically and emotionally.

"I'll go look in on them," she whispered.

Yuzuko nodded as Akira drew out the Lóngjiàn — when the Bǎiyǒngdāo had been brought to _Haida_ to be distributed among the tōshi leaders, Tsukasa Torusuke had refused to take up the Dragon Blade, deferring it to Akira instead; he would take up the Xióngjiàn instead — from its scabbard and raced off into the darkness…

* * *

Nearby…

_Aiyah…!_

«_That_ was unexpected. Wasn't it, Xiánqī?»

_Indeed, Àirén. When did the Urusians start developing such powers?_

«I honestly can't answer you,» Kikuko thought as she and Shampoo — both now cloaked in the null-ki field of the Umisen-ken — orbited around the now-transformed Oni warrior, keeping at least one row of mushrooms between them and him. Said warrior — who, in human form, was a very handsome, tall and broad-shouldered fellow who appeared to be about twenty or so, with spiky black hair and deep grey-blue eyes — had, when he sensed he was being tracked by enemy warriors, transformed himself into an orange-furred, tiger-striped creature looking to be a curious mix of horse (body, legs and skull) and leopard (hands and feet, tail, teeth and ears, not to mention skeletal flexibility). «Still, if Ataru-oniisan's ex-wife, ex-cousin-in-law and her ex-fiancé provide clues, I think there's been a massive outbreak of paranormal powers appearing in Oni in recent years. It'd be a pity to permanently wound this one, Xiánqī.»

_Agreed_, Shampoo thought as she flexed her fingers on the pair of fighting chúi she had built on _Haida_ before she came down to help track down the escaped Urusians from _Redemption_ at her wife's side. Quietly thanking the wonderful metal-working skills of Hibino Seina, the would-be hull technician who had fashioned the weapons for her when the warrior-maiden requested them just after her soul had been augmented thanks to the Dragon Jade and Sasamoto Narumi, Shampoo then relaxed herself as she gazed around the corner at the prowling man-beast not six metres away from her. _Can you sense if he's bonded to any of your sisters that we rescued from his ship?_

She _felt_ the smile come back through the powerful soul-bond she now shared with her wife. «He's completely single, Xiánqī. Shall we claim him?»

Shampoo blinked, and then she smiled. _Damn! I KNEW you had to be one of us in your first life, Kikuko!_ she playfully purred, and then she perked. _But what of what Ataru said about his kind never being allowed on Earth again? How do we get…?_

«Oh, Shān, enough!» Kikuko scolded. «We'll worry about the pesky details later! Right now, we need to tame this poor boy! And for that, it's time to tag horns!»

_Straight from above?_

«Hai!»

With that, both girls immediately moved to leap up to the top of the mushrooms they were standing beside, and then they silently ghosted over to the edge to gaze down on the transformed Oni below. He had stopped, moving to sniff the air as he scanned left and right. «Our use of Bǐyúshàng's ki-cloaking manoeuvre is confusing him,» Kikuko then mused. «He did pick up our scents, but since we're cloaking ourselves, he can't follow them. He didn't expect to encounter something like this.»

_How does he feel to you, Àirén?_ Shampoo asked.

«Right now, very scared,» Kikuko replied. «The idea of _Terrans_ possessing such powers is unknown to him. I think he's been as isolated as Rénxiōng was in the long term by Bǐyúshàng. We'll have to tread _very_ cautiously as we tame this one.»

_Agreed. De-cloak when we jump?_

«Hai! On three! Ichi…ni…san…GO!»

Both girls appeared in hazy waves of air as they leapt high into the sky and dove down right at the transformed Oni's head. Just as they got within a couple of metres of their goal — the tiny horn-buds behind his furry ears — his eyes went wide as he looked up, hearing the whistling of air passing their bodies. Growling, he quickly moved to get clear, but wasn't fast enough for the two Terran warriors; both Kikuko's and Shampoo's hands landed on his horns as they focused their ki into their legs to make sure they weren't damaged when they hit the ground. Crouching on impact, they then sprung to knock their target off his own legs, Shampoo going forward while Kikuko dove aft. In three quick seconds, he was flipped onto his sides as both girls finished tying his limbs in place to make sure he couldn't easily escape before they could properly restrain him. Once that was done, both exchanged a delighted look…

…and then dived out of the way as a howling scream of outrage came from somewhere behind Kikuko. "**_HOW DARE YOU DO THAT, LESSERS?!_**" erupted from the darkness, echoed with the chatter of a blaster rifle going off, sending bolts of energy flying over the restrained Oni's body as Shampoo and Kikuko spun around and let go with both a flung chúi from the former and an arcing vacuum blade from the latter.

A sharp and loud _CLANG!_ echoed through the air, followed by a cry of shock as Shampoo's chúi slammed home on his wrist, which made him drop his weapon. At the same moment, Kikuko's use of the Demon God Assault Bomb ripped through the trunk of a mushroom that he had been standing close to. The tree-sized fungi shivered for a second before it began to topple, which made him scream out before it slammed him on the head and sent him dropping down to the ground, the heavy yet soft mass of the mushroom burying him with its weight but not causing further injuries — especially of the potentially fatal kind like a broken neck, much less a crushed rib cage — as he passed out from having the air forced out of his lungs with so much weight on his back. Within seconds, two more vacuum blades from Kikuko sliced apart the mushroom so that he could be dug out and pulled free. With quick efficiency, both Kikuko and Shampoo were quick to disarm him as well as tie him up and fleck both horns off his head to ensure he couldn't fly away (they gladly put small field dressings over the holes they had just opened in his scalp to ensure that the flesh underneath would not get an aerial virus and become badly infected; they wanted him subdued but not to suffer).

Once that was done, both exchanged delighted smiles, and then they perked as they sensed someone approach them from somewhere off to Shampoo's left rear. A quick look then made them relax on seeing Haru Akira emerge from the darkness. Noting the two Oni — one of them being one of the metamorphs she had sensed — now restrained, she then nodded as she came over close to them. "Ranma-kun and Mimōko-chan are playing tag with two of the others. I'll go see if Tsueko-sama needs help with the last two. Get ready to move these two over to the muster point the Rifles set up for all the prisoners."

Both of them nodded as the once-elderly tōshi moved to head off.

"Oh, by the way…"

"What?" Kikuko asked as she and Shampoo looked over to Akira.

The older tōshi gave them a knowing look. "A _husband_ hunt?!"

Ranma's sister and her wife instantly blushed on realising they had been caught.

"You want me as a husband…?"

That surprised yet meek voice came from the first Oni that Shampoo and Kikuko had captured, who had managed to revert back to humanoid form. In doing so, he had snapped the ropes that had bound his arms and legs in place, though he didn't seem willing to reach now for the pistol that still remained in its holster on the belt wrapped around his waist. Noting that, Akira sighed as she walked over to stand close to him. Noting he wasn't doing anything, she reached down took the pistol out of its holding place, tossing it aside to make sure he couldn't surrender to later temptation. Looking back at him, she was quick to see him nervously look down somewhere on the ground. Quick to sense a rather large wave of fear and embarrassment surging up his heart, Akira knelt beside him. "What's wrong?" she asked as she reached over to touch his shoulder.

He squealed in fright as he shied away from her. "_**DON'T TOUCH ME!**_"

Akira blinked. "What's wrong?!" she snapped.

"You're an Avalonian! I can s-smell it all over y-your body! I…!" he then sputtered before his cheeks turned a bright red. "Please don't touch me!"

By then, Kikuko and Shampoo had come up to join them, the former having used a small pair of vacuum blades to destroy their shared "husband's" pistol as well as his companion's assault weapon. "Why?" the former then asked as she knelt before him, trying to gaze into his eyes. "Did the Avalonians on your ship do something to you?"

"Um, n-n-no, m-m-ma'am," he stuttered as he looked at her, his body shying away from her as the barest hint of that fresh soil-like scent that seemed to emanate from every Avalonian he had ever encountered tickled his nose. "Th-they were all v-v-very kind t-t-to me. B-b-but, y-y-you see, s-something about y-your kind makes m-me…" A gulp before he rasped something none of them could understand.

Kikuko leaned very close to him. "What did you say?" she asked…

…as her hand landed on his leg.

Feeling _that_, he jolted, his eyes going as wide as they could go before a look of total bliss then crossed his face as an orgasmic scream blew out of his mouth. He collapsed onto his back, his eyes now spiralling as drool escaped from his lips. The three women stared at him, and then Kikuko's nose slightly crinkled as a curious scent seemed to tickle her olfactory nerves. A quick glance down to his crotch…

Akira clicked her tongue as both Kikuko and Shampoo felt their cheeks turn very red. "Well, girls, I'll say this to you two," she then mused as she straightened herself. "Good luck in trying to help your hubby overcome _that_!"

As Ranma's sister and her wife considered that, she then headed off…

* * *

Some distance away…

_What in the Maidens' Names is going through this lunatic's head?!_ Tenwan Riu — the Marine first lieutenant was a close cousin of Sakimu's, as was her twin sister Kiu (who was ranked the same) — wondered as she glanced around the corner, her dark eyes scanning for the blonde-haired madwoman that was chasing after them now. _She's treating this fight as some sort of weird training exercise! Doesn't she truly realise that if Kiu or I get the chance, we'll severely injure her or kill her?!_

Like Uio Toma — the major had been the Tenwan twins' company commander before they had been forced to desert their posts a month before when co-workers had begun to openly speak to superiors and members of the Defence Forces' internal security officers about their political leanings, when Riu had arranged with Sakimu to have all three of them picked up by _Redemption_ before they could have been imprisoned — Riu and Kiu, though both quite passionate about restoring the Empire, saw themselves as civilised and did their best not to allow the general prevalent attitudes that governed their friends' behaviours to make them act like total fools. Until _Redemption_ confronted _Haida_ in the skies over Muzlim Madiina, the twins hadn't felt anything against Terrans in general. Like Toma, Riu and Kiu had been raised to believe that the natives of Earth were the social equals of Urusians in general despite their being so technologically behind Uru as a whole (not to mention their total lack of cultural or political unity). And they had also agreed to what had happened in the wake of the Dragonspeaker's intervention in Lum's marriage to her Terran husband months before in Onishuto. Of course, even if they had been trained in proper behaviour, they had been happy to sneer at and abuse that boor Ōgi and his friends every chance they got after they had come to join them. Especially after their netted themselves a pair of lovely Avalonian twins, Renning Umi and Renning Mui, as their wives/bond-mates and now soon-to-be mothers to their unborn daughters; they had actually cheered what Tsuiro dai-Tashan and his friends had unleashed before they had travelled to this dark world at the edge of the Orion Arm.

But now…

A _click!_ echoed in the earpiece fitted to Riu's left lobe. "See her?" Kiu asked, keeping her voice down as low as possible while still making herself heard.

Riu double-clicked her communicator control in return. _No!_ The twins were doing their best to keep any over-the-air conversation down to a minimum, especially now that the Spanish-flagged starship that had appeared in the skies over Muzlim Madiina — Riu had been quick to read the rather long name said ship had been given on the aft end of her main hull: _Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad_ — was moving to hover over the Dead Grove and no doubt was providing sensor information to the troops now moving into this place to capture them all. And while she personally didn't care to be captured — she had her pride, after all — she realized she was in a very tight spot given what had just happened. Her home ship now a wreck in orbit over Yaminokuni, her pregnant wife and equally-pregnant sister-in-law prisoners of the Terrans, she and her sister were stuck on the ground — Riu still didn't know who had done _that_; she would gladly gut the fool when this was finally all over and done with! — with just her blaster rifle and some survival gear in hand and no real clear way to freedom.

"Tag! You're it!"

Riu gasped as a pair of probing fingers jabbed her in the soft flesh of the undersides of her breasts, and then she spun around…to once again see no one in sight. "Damn you, you…you…you _ataru_!" she snarled as she looked left and right to see where that damned girl went off to. That was the _**fourth**_ time she had touched her in such a sensitive place, though it wasn't as bad as the first time; Riu had actually been groped on her breasts — _through_ her shirt _and_ bra! — by that girl…

"Why're you calling me Ataru-kun's name?!"

Riu spun around…

…and then cried out as her weapon was batted out of her hands by said blonde-haired and rather quite busty Terran, who was now leaning right into the Marine first lieutenant's face as she gazed at her with a very curious stare. Riu blinked several times as she tried to get over her surprise at being disarmed like that, and then she crossed her arms as she gave the other girl a glare. "I call you that because you act like Lum's former husband did after he married her!" she snarled as she used her best "pissed-off officer" voice that normally had her NCOs and troopers all quaking in their boots…yet didn't seem to faze the woman before her at all. "Would _you_ like it if I turned around and grabbed you by the breasts like you did to me?!"

The Terran smiled. "Sometimes I can't help it!" she said with embarrassment as she knocked the side of her head with her fist, and then she leaned up to tap the tips of Riu's own breasts, which made the Oni screech as she moved to protect herself with her arms. "You've really got very nice breasts, Riu-chan! And Kiu-chan's breasts are really nice, too! Then again, you are twins! I bet you have to beat off all the boys wanting to tag your horns with a stick!" She then hummed. "At least you're not like U-chan, who always wraps her breasts up in a sarashi! Thank the GODS I finally got her sports bras; she might've got breast cancer or something if she kept doing…"

She then ducked to her left as a bolt of energy ripped through the air to pass where her right shoulder had been, barely missing Riu's own shoulder as it impacted the mushroom behind her. "…that all the time," the Terran finished off without a beat before she leaned back up to gaze into Riu's wide green eyes. "Oh, I bet you're married! Right?!" she then said before ducking right as another shot from Kiu — whom Riu could now see off to her left front at about a half-dozen metres' range — zipped past. "One of the Avalonians that dork-brain Ōgi gave your friends, right?!"

Riu was trying desperately to make sense of this rather insane situation. This Terran was being shot at with intent to do serious bodily harm by her sister and she was having a _casual, normal __**conversation**_ with the twin sister of the very person trying to shoot her down from behind her! "Um…y-yes, I am!" she finally stammered as she tried to slip to her left to give Kiu a clear field of fire on this girl…

…only to have said Terran somersault to her right to stand right in front of her — which put her once more in the line of fire between Riu and Kiu! — without any sort of change of facial expression, much less showing any sort of fatigue from exerting herself like that. Seeing _that_, Kiu then snarled as she charged, using her free hand to whip out her combat knife as she aimed for the Terran's back.

Sensing that, Tsueko smirked as Kiu lashed out…

The younger of the twins then screamed as the Terran just _disappeared_ from standing in front of her, her knife now sweeping right at her sister's face!

Then both of Kiu's arms jerked as she suddenly found herself weapon-less!

"Kiu-chan, you gotta be really careful with knives!"

The twins then looked to Riu's left…

…to see Tsueko now standing nearby, holding Kiu's knife in one hand and her rifle in the other one, as calm as could be. As the Tenwan twins blinked in shock on seeing how fast their opponent could move to disarm Kiu, the young leader of Nan'yō giggled. "You know, you two are really fun to play around with!" she said as she stretched herself. "It's good exercise, but you really got to get away from using guns and knives and all that dumb stuff. If you want to be a real fighter, you gotta use your bodies." Tossing the weapons off into the night to either side of her, she then seemed to _teleport_ right over to snare both Riu and Kiu with her arms into buddy-buddy headlocks, which pushed both of their faces right into her generous breasts.

"Why are you here?" Tsueko then asked.

Riu and Kiu blinked as the unreality of the moment sank deep into their hearts, they finding it harder and harder not to simply scream out in frustration at how _mad_ this whole situation had just become. "Um…we're here to rescue Lum from being forced to marry Prince Rupa!" the former then sputtered, realising as she tried to push herself out from under the Terran's armpit that the girl was _insanely_ strong.

Tsueko then blinked. "Why do you think Lum-chan wants to marry Rupa?!" she then asked. "She's already married. She got married five months ago on Okusei!"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"_**WHAT?!**_" the Tenwan twins screamed out.

"Sure!" Tsueko said as she let them go, shrugging as she gave them both a "what did you expect" look. "Didn't you know?! Five years ago, Lum-chan's mind did that switch-a-body thing with Hensō-chan's mind and she ended up getting kicked out of her own family because of it! She moved over to Okusei where she met up with Mō-chan's spirit-sister Kuhu-chan; they fell in love and got hitched when Ataru-kun got taken there by Fu-chin's spirit-sister so that Kōtchi, Ta-chan and Negako could get their own bodies! Didn't you hear Ando talk to Kōtchi about it before you all came here?!"

The twins stared at her for a moment, and then exchanged looks before they turned back. "You mean to say that whole insane story the Lady K'ekhech told everyone in Onishuto the day Lum was supposed to marry her husband is _true_?!" Riu screamed out.

"Sure!" Tsueko said, nodding.

"So who exactly is that we were trying to rescue?!" Kiu then snarled.

The young leader of Nan'yō breathed out. "Well, that's kinda confusing right now," she said, shrugging again. "When Ataru-kun, Fu-chin, Kyū-chan and all of Shiba'i-san's friends came here, the body was being used by Hensō-chan. But Kōtchi didn't like the idea of Hensō-chan being stuck in a body with a bad magical curse on it — you probably heard about what this old lady at this Oak Forest place did, right?" she then asked the twins, who both nodded in understanding, though they were feeling quite overloaded by all the information Tsueko was giving them right now. "So Kōtchi went and arranged with Lum-chan to give Hensō-chan a new Avalonian body," Tsueko then carried on. "Naoko-chan did the soul-switch back at the Palace, but then Kōtchi's second son from her first life, Ken-chan — he doesn't have a body but Kōtchi wants to get him one just like she gave to her older son Ben-chan; he became a really, really, REALLY cute little girl named 'Arami!' — took it over and flew here to this Dead Grove place about five hours ago with poor Arami-chan hanging on to her all the way!" As the twins both gaped at her, Tsueko then sighed. "So we all came out here to let Padre Vincent — he's the preacher on _Haida_; really nice guy! — try to convince Ken-chan to go into an Avalonian body 'cause Kōtchi wants both her babies back. Then you guys showed up and we had to make sure you didn't wreck the whole city — especially all the good restaurants down by the Airport and all that! — so all of those guns scared you up into orbit where Kōtchi was. Of course, Kōtchi could tell right away that a lot of you were married with kids to the Avalonians on your ship, so she didn't want us to hurt you guys 'cause it would hurt your wives and kids, too!" A sigh. "So we're here right now having fun! What do you want to do right now?!"

Riu and Kiu both stared at her for a moment, and then they blinked before they exchanged a look. Their eyes then teared before they turned to head off into the night. Tsueko watched them go, blinking in curiosity — what had she said that had made the two Oni so sad all of a sudden? — and then she watched them come back, holding their retrieved weapons with their right hands and their knives in their other hands. Both then stood before her, yet seemed unwilling to either take up their weapons, much less do anything with them. Finally, Riu took a deep breath. "Why…?!" she asked in a voice full of pain and frustration, turning to stare into Tsueko's eyes.

"Why what, Riu-chan?" Tsueko asked.

"Why didn't Lum come back to Uru? There were many people there that would've helped her after what Ōgi did to her!" Riu demanded. "She is the hereditary Empress of Uru! Even the commoners who support the Lady Yedris see her as a future leader of our people! We would've helped her! WHY DIDN'T SHE COME BACK HOME?!"

"Because Onē-san felt she had no home anymore on Uru."

Everyone blinked, and then turned to see two women standing nearby. On seeing the green-hair, horn-buds and green-blue eyes of one of them, Riu and Kiu both gaped. "Lum…?" the former then gasped before she blinked. "You're Hensō…!"

A nod. "Tcha…!" Hensō breathed out. "Darling's sister practically told Ando the truth about what happened to Onē-san and me five years ago when she and the First Patriarch made that call to Onē-san's father announcing the wedding." She then stared at them, her own eyes tearing. "Why are you two involved?! You're both good officers! Everyone respected you for what you could do! Why join Ando?!"

Kiu tried to smile. "It was what we were always taught by our parents as the right thing to do in the end, Lu-…!" She caught herself, and then she sighed. "Hensō," she breathed out before taking a very deep breath and moving to stand before the woman to the Oni-form Avalonian's right. "Lady K'ekhech, please accept my surrender to your custody. I am your prisoner." She inverted both her rifle and knife to hand over to Kyech. "I only ask to see my wife again."

Staring at her, and then watching as Riu came up to offer her own weapons in surrender, the Dragonspeaker then smiled. "You can help."

The Tenwan twins blinked. "In what way?" Riu asked.

Kyech stared at them, and then she straightened herself. "Lady Lieutenant Riu. Lady Lieutenant Kiu. I declare you my prisoners and grant you _armed_ parole." As the two Oni both gaped in surprise at that stunning concession — "armed parole" literally meant that while they were seen as properly and correctly surrendered to the authority of the Dragonspeaker (and by extension, the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios as a whole), they still had the right to bear arms — the crimson-haired free warrior added, "You have behaved with honour and decency your whole lives. Given the power I was gifted by my blood-brother Nengmek'i in my first life, I know this to be true."

Riu and Kiu blinked as their cheeks reddened at that high compliment they had just been paid by Noukiios' greatest warrior, and then they both slung their weapons and sheathed their knives before they moved to give Kyech a proper left fist-in-right palm salute as they bowed their heads to her. "My Lady K'ekhech, we acknowledge what you have told us," Riu stated. "We only but ask that we be _not_ asked to kill our countrymen."

A shake of the head. "It is not the wish of my friend, the Venerable Lady Moroboshi Hiromi of Earth — who commands the volunteer Terran and Avalonian defenders on this world at this time — to see any of your countrymen die in this battle. You will have only need to stun them to help them be subdued," Kyech declared before taking a deep breath. "It is with sadness that I must report that your battle liege lady, the Lady Major Uio Toma, was shot by her brother Lord Samei when he threatened the lives of an unarmed cleric from Earth, the Venerable Lord Major Vincent Klein; and the reborn daughter of the Venerable Lady Hiromi, the Young Lady Moroboshi Arami." As both Riu and Kiu gasped in shock on hearing that — to attack either a PRIEST or a CHILD was low in their eyes — Kyech added, "As we speak right now, the Young Lady Arami's younger sibling, the Young Lady Moroboshi Kanami — whose spirit currently is forced to inhabit the old body of my good friend, the Crown Princess Redet Lum of Uru — now confronts your kinsman, Lord Captain Tenwan Sakimu, as well as the Lord Colonel Pochik Ando and the deposed president of the Union of Phentax Two, Ōgi ot'ndai-Zkuhsbagh, not thirty metres in that direction." She thumbed off to her right rear. "Also, two others of your group — who now confront the Venerable Lady Mago Tsueko's schoolmate, the Venerable Lady Sebone Mimōko; and her betrothed, the Wandering Young Warrior Lord Hayashi Ranma — have yet to make themselves see reason about this situation and lay down arms." She waved to Tsueko on mentioning her name, and then indicated a place off to her left.

Hearing that, Riu and Kiu exchanged looks. "Heavy stun," the former said.

"Right."

Both then clicked on their weapons' power controls, and then moved to head off, followed by Tsueko and Hensō as Kyech watched them go, a smile on her face…

* * *

About twenty metres from Kikuko's and Shampoo's position…

The air exploded from Mimōko's lungs as she was flung hard against the trunk of a mushroom. As the Nan'yō senior shuddered as she collapsed to the ground, the very muscular and tall black-haired Oni woman — given how well-developed she was, Mimōko had been immediately reminded of her own fellow "diva," Tano Tsukuhito — with the deep brown eyes could only smile as relaxed herself in a crouch about three metres away.

"Nice…!" she purred in a voice that oozed with arousal as she focused her eyes on the Terran-turned-Avalonian as Mimōko struggled to her feet. "You almost gave me an orgasm there, pretty one. Let's see if you can push me all the way!"

Hearing that, Mimōko gritted her teeth. _Oh, great! Of all the Urusians I could have faced in this damned place, I got a bitch that gets off on fighting!_ she mused before a wry smirk twisted her lips. _Just like me! Damn it!_ With that, she relaxed herself as she got back up, taking several deep breaths as she moved to regain some of her strength back. Much that she was used to dealing with larger opponents — in many small fights she had experienced over the last couple of years, she had cut her teeth on giants such as Tano Tsukuhito, Ki Kenshika and Kao Yoichi — she had been able to beat them in the end; despite their strength, they moved quite slow and thus were vulnerable to her when she got close and personal to use her submission moves on.

This particular Oni — she had, much to the Nan'yō senior's surprise, done Mimōko the courtesy and introduced herself as Marine Sergeant Azu Roki — was proving to her that great size could also come with speed and agility.

This was going to be a challenge.

Mimōko gritted her teeth, and then with a scream, charged. Roki kept her place as the Terran came at her, and then smiled as the other woman somersaulted on a hand to send both her feet racing at the Oni's head. At the last moment, the larger woman's hands grabbed her attacker by both calves, and then she dropped and spun. Mimōko screamed as she felt her whole body pitched around like a stick, and then she gasped as she was sent flying sideways into the ground, the air once more exploding from her as the sudden impact jarred her rib cage and her upper arm was nearly crushed by the weight of her body coming down on it rather hard and awkwardly. Before she could try to figure out what to do now, Roki moved to snare her other arm, and then Mimōko was yanked up right into the larger woman's embrace as she wrapped both her arms around the Terran's waist and began to squeeze her body hard, which sent a jolt of pure _agony_ through Mimōko's back as the Oni put on pressure on her lower spine.

"C'mon, honey…!" Roki said as she took a deep breath while keeping her arms in the same position, which pushed even greater pressure on Mimōko from the front. "Give it to me! Keep fighting! Don't give in yet! I'm getting warmed…!"

"**_SHUT UP!_**"

Mimōko's fists smashed into Roki's ears, which made the Oni scream out as the pressure nearly ruptured both her eardrums and sent a bout of dizziness through her mind as the impact badly rattled her ears' vestibular system and caused her sense of balance to fade. As her arms automatically pulled away from her opponent's body to help her keep erect, Mimōko exploded into motion. With several twists of her body, she was able to snare the back of the Oni's head in her crotch as she slammed her thighs down against the sides of Roki's neck, crossing her legs tight as she put all her leg strength into pressing hard on the arteries and veins in the Oni's neck, cutting off the oxygen supply to Roki's brain and inducing cerebral ischemia. At the same time, Mimōko's arms reached out to snare Roki's, snapping both of them back hard to make sure she couldn't use those limbs to try to pry the Terran's legs away from her. To make double-sure of that, one of the Nan'yō senior's reinforced set of handcuffs were deployed to lock the Oni's wrists together right over her buttocks, which made Roki cry out before she seemed to stagger for a moment, and then she chuckled.

"Not bad…!" she gasped as she tried to flex her neck muscles in a way to ease off the pressure the Terran-turned-Avalonian was forcing on her neck. "Not bad at all…"

"C'mon, Sarge!" Mimōko hissed out as she sensed what the Oni was trying to do, her own legs flexing hard to compensate for her opponent's considerable strength. "Let's call it a day, huh?! You don't have a ship anymore! All your friends are either captured or unconscious now! You've got NO way off the planet! You try to go back home, you'll be probably shot for treason! Why are you still fighting?!"

Roki grunted as she tried to pull against the manacles holding her arms in place, and then she howled before a new bout of dizziness took her. "Won't…"

"Don't be a FOOL!" Mimōko snapped. "I keep up the pressure, your brain's going to starve from lack of oxygen! You'll go through cerebral hypoxia, you won't be able to think straight or remember anything recent! Eventually, the cells in your brain start to die and you'll faint, go into a coma or have a stroke! GIVE IT UP!"

A cough. "Can't…!"

"WHY NOT?!"

"Won't…let you…destroy Lum's…life…!"

Hearing that, Mimōko relaxed herself as she allowed her telepathy and empathy to reach into her opponent's mind to seek out the truth behind those words. In an instant, the answer came to her. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed herself. "Her life was already destroyed," she said as Roki felt the pressure on her neck ease off a bit and she began to suck in air to fight off the dizziness overcoming her. "Five years ago on the Home Base asteroid. No thanks to that murdering slime Ōgi…"

Roki blinked. "Wh-wh-WHAT…?!"

"It's true!" Mimōko snapped. "Everything the Dragonspeaker said six months ago in Onishuto is TRUE! I'm dream-sisters with Lum's WIFE, for Heaven's sake! Even if I've only felt it second-hand in my dreams, I KNOW how much she's suffered because of what Ōgi did!" She then concentrated a bit more, and then she blinked as the image of a coquettish Seishin girl flashed in her mind, that mixed with thoughts and memories of very tender times. "Think of your wife, Roki! Think of how much Ōgi _sneered_ at Pai-chan when she tagged your horns, then you took her to Zeiwan to get married! Think of your baby she's got inside her now! What does that bastard think about _that_, huh?! Hell, what do you think he'd DO to that baby if he ever got the…?!"

"Okay…enough!"

Silence, and then Mimōko blinked before she relaxed herself. Untying her legs from around the Oni's neck, she flipped herself around and dropped to her feet…and then she cried out as twin jolts of agony ripped up her legs to nearly send her to her knees. Still, she was able to keep herself up enough to unlock the handcuffs restraining the Oni's arms, and then she allowed herself to collapse to the ground as she moved to roll onto her butt. "Oh, damn…!" she hissed out.

A pair of surprisingly gentle hands move to pick her up and move to shift her over to let her lie against a mushroom. Mimōko blinked, and then she gasped as those hands moved to probe her legs. A second later, those hands moved to undo her trousers, and then they gently pulled them away from her body as fingers probed the throbbing flesh of her legs. "Damn…pulled some tendons, I think," Roki then hissed out, though she was wondering why the hell the Terran wasn't wearing any sort of underwear. "Why'd you try to drop me like that if you haven't exercised your muscles properly?"

"I HAVE!" Mimōko snapped, and then she paused before a laugh escaped her. "Oh, Sebone, you moron…!" she groaned. "Damn…forgot about that…!"

Roki blinked. "'Bout what?"

A deep breath. "I became an Avalonian six days ago…was something Hensō's ex-husband arranged for my cousin and me…thought I was ready…"

Another deep breath, and then she blinked as a hand fell on her shoulder. "I envy you, Mimōko," Roki then said. "I want to be an Avalonian, too. Be like my wife. Feel things like she does…" A wry smirk. "Doubt it'll happen…"

Mimōko blinked, and then she smiled in turn. This tough alien soldier fought because she drew joy from the physical challenge fighting forced on her…but she had her standards and morals, too. In many ways, Azu Roki was very much like Sebone Mimōko. And Sebone Shikuko, too. Thinking of her wildcat cousin, the Nan'yō senior then smirked as she reached up to gently grasp the Oni's hand. "You'll become one."

Roki jolted on hearing that, and then she gazed into the other woman's turquoise eyes for a moment before she leaned in. Mimōko didn't move as the Oni gave her a tender kiss on the lips, quickly sensing that while Roki did find her quite attractive both in body and in spirit, she was also loyal to her wife and clearly was willing to respect whatever relationship her former opponent might be in now. "Thanks," the marine sergeant then said as she moved to ruffle the other woman's hair…

A snarling growl then echoed from nearby.

Roki and Mimōko both tensed, and then they turned to the latter's left to see someone stagger out of the darkness about five metres away. The Oni was quick to recognise who it was. "Sijo!" she called out. "What's…?!"

Her voice then caught in her throat on seeing the massive injuries now turning Mith Sijo's clothing dark red with blood: A severed left arm just above the elbow (the shattered arteries having been hastily tied down with a tourniquet made from her own shirt sleeve), deep slashes over the crimson-haired Oni's face and the exposed parts of her skin (including a totally destroyed right eye), badly lacerated legs — including a deep cut in the right thigh that appeared to have drilled dangerously close to the femoral artery that, if breeched, would result in the young pilot literally bleeding to death! — not to mention her left horn-bud having been ripped out of its socket and her left ear now mangled badly by what appeared to be both slash and teeth marks…! As the poor girl staggered over a couple steps, she then screamed out as her right leg suddenly exploded in a gush of blood that sent her falling flat on her face.

Instantly, Roki was at her side, yanking off her shirt to tear off an arm sleeve as she moved to put another tourniquet around the badly-bleeding leg as Sijo moaned, the pain overwhelming her. Ignoring the snarls and hissing noises from the darkness nearby, she got the heavy cloth knot in place over the pilot's wound to cut off the draining life fluids from spilling onto the ground nearby, and then she moved to feel for Sijo's pulse. Very weak, but it was still there. "Hang on, Lieutenant…!" she hissed as she moved to check over all the other wounds on the officer's body…

…just as a _very_ close hiss echoed through the air, making Roki's head snap up as she saw what had to be the most unusual thing she had experienced in her decade as a soldier for the Urusian Union: A red-haired Terran female in the same type of camouflage combat uniform that Mimōko had been sporting, _crouching_ on both arched feet and fingertips as if she was actually some sort of animal, hissing angrily as she fixed the sergeant with a stare that had no human sentience in it. Even worse, said Terran's hands were covered in blood and she held within her teeth a severed woman's arm covered in the same type of black tiger-striped orange clothing Oni servicemen always wore.

Sijo's severed arm, Roki realised as a gulp filled her throat.

"Kitty! Here, kitty-kitty! Hey! Over here, kitty! Here, kitty!"

The redhead perked on hearing that friendly voice, and then she turned to see a smiling girl with lighter-shaded hair than her own come up, waving a long plant stalk with a tip that chimed before her. Seeing that the newcomer — who had been friendly with the human feline when she had been badly hurt before her sister and the smiling crimson-haired man with the pretty green eyes, the silver diamonds with the curled snakes on his cheeks and the strange bony lumps on his head made her able to walk again, not to mention allow her (when she was male, of course) to finally mate — wanted to play with her, the redhead meowed as she dropped the severed arm of the mean horned girl that wanted to threaten her mate and litter-sisters, and then she hopped over to try to bat her paws on the chiming thing at the end of that stalk. "Good kitty!" the smiling girl then said as she moved to keep the stalk moving so that the redhead would continue to play with her. "Good kitty! See the pretty bell?! C'mon!"

As the ailurophobia-possessed Ranma continued to playfully bat away at the chiming bell Mago Tsueko got from Haru Akira, Roki could only gape in shock. She then jolted on sensing two familiar people kneel to either side of her, they drawing field aid packs as they moved to administer first aid on the barely-conscious Sijo. Quickly shaking her head clear, the sergeant then turned to Riu, who was moving to dress the pilot's shattered eye socket. "What in the Maidens' Names…?!"

"It's called the 'Cat Fist,' Roki-san," a new voice said, making Roki turn to find herself staring at a young raven-haired Terran girl with glasses, a sympathetic look on her face as Riu and Kiu worked to better stabilize Sijo and Hensō moved to call for medical assistance. "A supposedly 'invincible' martial arts technique that's nothing more than a hideous torture for anyone forced to undergo it." Oka Yuzuko then stared down at the pilot's scarred face. "Is your friend here a metamorph?"

Riu nodded. "Yes. She transforms into a creature similar to what you Terrans would think of as a tiger. Why?!" she asked, and then she warily looked over to where Ranma was crouching and _purring_ as Tsueko playfully stroked her hair.

A sigh. "That did it. Your friend probably transformed to try to subdue Ranma-oniisan, which triggered her paranoia." She ignored the Tenwan twins' and Roki's confused looks as she added, "Keep a Cat Fist victim close to a cat for an extended period of time, the human side of her brain eventually shuts down and the 'cat' side formed from the training takes over. If your friend was threatening her…"

The three conscious Oni blinked on hearing that, and then they stared at the mangled mess in Roki's arms that had once been a very good and cocky starfighter pilot who was quick with her fists, sidearm and her body's metamorphic capabilities…until she had confronted a being that had ripped her apart without mercy or pity. And had done it without taking injury in return, all three of them were quick to see as the purring Ranma turned to sniff curiously at Akira's offered hand before she allowed the older woman to pet her. "Damn…!" Kiu breathed out.

A voice then barked out, "**VALOUR?!**"

"**ROAD!**" Yuzuko barked back.

Immediately, a rifle squad from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles appeared, weapons at the ready. Quickly noting two of the Oni before them were still armed, they levelled their weapons at them. "WAIT!" Hensō then barked out as Riu and Kiu both raised their hands. "They've surrendered to us! Kyech gave them armed parole!"

Hearing that, the master corporal in charge of this section blinked, and then she slung her weapon as she walked over to where the Tenwan sisters were now. Pulling off one of her gloves, she then knelt before Riu, reaching for the other woman's face. The lieutenant didn't resist as the master corporal's fingers made contact, and then she felt the mind probe go into her. A second later, the probe faded as the rifle squad commander, Master Corporal (Brevet) Sandra Brereton, took a deep breath. "Alright, Lieutenant." She then nodded to Kiu. "Lieutenant. If the Lady K'ekhech did that for you, you'll be expected to pull your weight. We still have your two bosses to deal with, not to mention the ex-president of our former masters' race." She then gazed down at the wounded pilot in Roki's arms. "What in Lyna's name happened to her?!"

"Neko-ken, Brereton-jōgochō," Yuzuko stated. "Ranma-oniisan was subjected to it when he was seven or so. This one here transforms into a tiger and threatened her."

Sandra blinked, and then tapped her communicator. "Black Devil Charlie-One-Delta to Black Devil Foxtrot-Mike-Papa-Two. Shayna?"

"Yes, Sandi?" Shayna Trickett called back.

"You done with Centre Six?"

"He's stable. Why?"

"Real bad mauling case here, Shayna," Sandra called back. "Severed left arm above elbow, totally wrecked right eye, right leg almost chopped off at mid-thigh, massive lacerations over most of the body. She's one of the Oni that East Six's people were dealing with; Barbin's cat-side got loose and went crazy over her. I personally call this a definite Tango-Charlie candidate, but I'd like you to see it first."

A pause, and then, "'Barbin's CAT-side?!'" the physician assistant demanded.

"Trickett-gunsō, never you mind; I'll explain later," Hiromi then cut in. "Dragon Six to Trafalgar, can you focus a materialiser on Charlie-One-Delta's position?"

"_Sí_, _Señorita_ Moroboshi; we've been monitoring what's been going on the ground," Francisco Uriarte called down from _Santísima Trinidad_.

"Then beam up that injured officer," the reborn emperor ordered. "Tell Constance I authorise immediate _tre'cha_ and body replacement for the injured officer. Charlie-One-Delta, have one of your people go with her to explain things."

"Roger that, Dragon Six," Sandra said before clicking off her communicator, and then she turned to her squad, who had — on noting that the still-conscious Oni were not doing stupid things like try to grab weapons and shoot them — moved into protective positions concerning the others in the area, especially one certain redhead who was still playing with Mago Tsueko. "Rifleman Knight!" she barked. "This woman's your responsibility!" she barked out to one of her riflemen, who ran over to join them, slinging her weapon along the way. "What's her name?" she then asked.

"Pilot Lieutenant Mith Sijo," Riu provided. "She's got a wife and a mistress, both pregnant with her kids. Wife's name is Mith Miyu. Mistress is Azu Hama."

"Understood," Rifleman Ariel Knight said as she gently lifted Sijo into her arms, and then she tapped her communicator control. "Trafalgar, this is Black Devil Charlie-One-Delta-Seven. Lock in on my signal. Emergency transport to Sick Bay."

"_Sí_, _Fusilero_ Knight! Energizing now!"

Ariel and her wounded companion then vanished in a shower of sparkles. Seeing that, Riu blinked, and then she turned to gaze at Yuzuko. "You could've done this all along!" the lieutenant stated, a touch of accusation in her voice. "Hell, you could've taken us off _Redemption_ the same way you did our wives and crewmates! Why…?!"

"Because there were those amongst you that wouldn't have accepted being overwhelmed by us," the young strategist from Nan'yō answered. "The senior member of your Imperial Round was in your crew; he was down with the group that Hiromi-onēsama's sister Tariko and her lover captured. He would've always continued to believe in his superiority over other races. He needed to be _broken_ of that belief." She sighed. "Yes, there are good and honourable people among the Imperials of Uru. You three. The major that Padre Vincent is helping now. Those twin girls and that cross-dresser the Three-Pillared Gods found. The other officers Tariko-onēsan and Kanami-onēsan captured. But you needed a chance to show that. Not just to us. But to yourselves as well." She smiled. "An American general named Nathan Bedford Forrest said it this way…"

"'Keep up the scare,'" Kiu quoted; she had learned of the gambler and slave trader from Tennessee who had been the most successful general on the southern side of the War Between the States back during basic officer's training. "Or as General Forrest would've said it, 'keep up the _skeer_!'" she added, putting the right accent in her voice to make all the people around her laugh.

"Is everything okay?!"

Everyone perked, and then they looked over to see Moroboshi Tariko and Hayashi Kanami walk out of the darkness. "Hey, Ta-chan! Ka-chan!" Tsueko then called out before she turned to the still cat-like Ranma. "Ran-chan, look! There's Ka-chan!"

Ranma meowed before she turned, and then she yowled in delight on seeing her twin sister approach. With a cry of delight, she bounded over to land in Kanami's arms, which made the other redhead laugh as she moved to hug her as Ranma began to loudly purr as she rubbed the side of her head against her sister's cheek. "Hey, you big lug! Cut it out! Now, c'mon! Playtime's over with! C'mon back, Ranma…"

At that moment, Ranma then blinked as the glassy look in her sapphire eyes began to clear. "Wha…?" she breathed out before looking around, and then she blinked in confusion. "Kanami?! What happened…?!" she said as she moved to stand on her own two feet, and then she reached up with a hand to scratch the side of her head…

…and then she froze on seeing the blood all over her hand. "What the HELL…?!" Ranma gasped before she noted the blood on her other hand, and then she blinked before turning to stare wide-eyed at her sister. "Kanami…!"

"The cat got out, Ranma."

Ranma blanched on hearing that, and then she turned as Mimōko hobbled towards her. "Wha…?" she began, and then she blinked as images of what happened not minutes before flashed before her mind's eye. "No…oh, no…!" she hoarsely moaned as her eyes filled with tears, and then she felt her legs go.

Ignoring the pain in her legs, Mimōko allowed Ranma to sink into her arms as the latter's voice melted into an anguished scream that echoed through the darkness…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Chōshō Shifu** (**Haru Akira**) first appeared in manga episode #21 of _Ikkitōsen_. She was the guardian of the Bǎiyǒngdāo swords that Tōtaku Chūei (Tadasu Suguta) came looking for. Her past-self, **Zhāng Zhāo** (156-236 C.E.) — who, as Kaku Bunwa (Uru Hokona) stated here, served the Sūn Clan for quite some time — was one of the "Two Zhāngs" of the Three Kingdoms period (the other one was introduced in Part 14). In the modern era, Akira was actually quite old, but appeared to be a pre-teen child when Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko) was sent to **Hōjō-jinja** (which is a real temple, by the way) by her mother to become stronger.

2) **Qiāng** is a name which has been given to various "barbarian" tribes that have interacted with the Chinese over the centuries. In his early life, Dǒng Zhuó was a soldier who helped deal with the Qiāng and other rebellious tribes in Liángzhōu (in modern day Gānsù Province) after the start of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184. Dǒng's actions during this rebellion — matched to his earlier successes against the Qiāng — allowed him to establish a powerful base of operations in Bìngzhōu (which covers elements of modern day Héběi and Shānxī Provinces), thus allowing him made his move on the seat of power in Luòyáng after Liú Hóng's death in 189.

3) Translations: **Taishō** — Literally "Great Righteousness," this was the era name for the period 1912-26…and the posthumous name of the grandfather of Japan's current emperor, who was born as Crown Prince **Yoshihito** in 1879 (the tenth year of which is 1922); **Chúi** — A mêlée weapon that consists of a large, solid metal sphere on the end of a medium-long handle (in various _Ranma_ fanfic stories, this weapon is often mistakenly called a **bonbori**, which is a traditional Japanese paper lamp on a high stand); **Cerebral Ischemia** — A condition that exists when there is insufficient blood flowing into the brain to ensure it can function properly; **Cerebral Hypoxia** — This is the condition where too little oxygen is being sent to the brain; **Jōgochō** — Literally "superior corporal," this would be the approximate Japanese language equivalent of the Canadian military appointment of Master Corporal; **Fusilero** — Rifleman.

4) **Hibino Seina** is a character from _Grand Prix_. From the city of Kunitachi in Metropolitan Tōkyō proper, she is a sportswoman who loves to play basketball and swim.

As noted in this part, Seina plans to be a **Hull Technician** (short-form **H TECH**), who are the true "shipwrights" in the Canadian Navy. People employed in this trade maintain a warship's physical structure and stability, as well as maintain on-board plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, damage control and firefighting equipment. In effect, members of this trade serves a warship's resident carpenter, welder, metal worker and damage control expert all wrapped into one person.

5) The signals call-sign given for Ranma in this part, **Barbin**, comes from a French intersexual named **Herculine Barbin** (1838-68). As she is a rather intelligent young woman, I would believe that Rikuson Hakugen (Oka Yuzuko) would know bits of trivia like that.

6) In rifles regiments such as the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, a private is officially addressed as a **Rifleman** (short form: **Rfn**). Other branches of the Forces also have special names for the beginner non-commissioned member rank, such as the following:

**Navy** — **Ordinary Seaman** (**OS**) or **Able Seaman** (**AB**);  
**Armoured Corps** — Trooper (**Tpr**);  
**Royal Canadian Artillery** — **Gunner** (**Gnr**);  
**Guards infantry regiments** — **Guardsman** (**Gdsm**);  
**Fusilier infantry regiments** — **Fusilier** (**Fus**);  
**Electrical and Mechanical Engineer Branch** — **Craftsman** (**Cfn**);  
**Canadian Military Engineers** — **Sapper** (**Spr**); and  
**Communications and Electronics Branch** — **Signaller** (**Sig**).

Note that in the Navy, ordinary seaman do not wear rank insignia while able seamen wear one chevron.

7) Despite his later affiliation with the infamous **Ku Klux Klan** (which he would later repute when the KKK became simply too violent even for him), Lieutenant General **Nathan Bedford Forrest** (1821-77) of the Confederate Army is considered by many experts on the American Civil War to be one of the best generals of the war despite his lack of formal education (he was barely literate and had never attended the **United States Military Academy** at West Point in New York). Even both President **Jefferson Davis** (1808-89) and General **Robert E. Lee** (1807-70), when they commented on the former slave trader who earned the nickname "The Wizard of the Saddle," believed that Forrest's natural gift for warfare had not been taken full advantage of. The phrase "Keep up the scare" was one of Forrest's personal maxims.


	46. The End of the Romance

Thirty metres away…

"What in the Maidens' Names was THAT?!"

Kentei blinked as she looked over. "I don't know, Ando!" the reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor of Hàn stated, still using Lum's/Hensō's accented voice. "Maybe you should go check it out!" she then suggested. "It sounded like one of our people!"

"I'll go look," Tenwan Sakimu volunteered, cocking his weapon.

Pochik Ando blinked. "No! Stay here, Sakimu…!"

By then, the former battlewagon commander had moved past where the resting Takanashi Naoko was still lying against the trunk of a mushroom, the green-haired Terran-form Avalonian having been allowed to move there — and away from her Lawgiver, which was still on the ground close to where the unconscious Ōgi still lay — after "Lum" had persuaded Ando and Sakimu to give her the chance to dress the wound on her leg. As Sakimu moved to level his pistol — he dared not get close to Naoko's weapon due to the Lawgiver's special DNA-coded security functions; there was simply no way that either Oni could even _touch_ the Zephyrite-designed pistol, much less try to destroy it to prevent the Avalonian from using it again — at the darkness ahead of him, he then blinked as a flash of light flashed in the darkness to his right. He turned…

"_**SEISHIN SHURIKEN ARASHI!**_"

Sakimu screamed out as bolts of red energy exploded from the darkness to slam into his body, making him drop his weapon as hot knives of pain ripped through his skin from head to toe. As he staggered from the savage ki attack now being unleashed on him by Moroboshi Hiromi, Ando turned and levelled his pistol. "DIE!" he screamed…

"**Not!**"

Ando blinked…

…and then howled in pain as a virtual tsunami of lightning slammed into him!

* * *

J.S. _Yamato_, in orbit over Muzlim Madiina (Japan time: An hour before midnight)…

"Dōmo…"

The Japanese starship's executive officer, _Nitō Kaisa_ Kadomatsu Yōsuke, chuckled as he exchanged polite bows with Miyamoto Nabiki. "It's alright, Nabiki-chan," the granite-faced, raven-haired former executive officer of J.D.S. _Mirai_ stated as his dark brown eyes twinkled with amusement. "Would this convince you of a career change?"

"Yeah, Numbers," Lieutenant Colonel Will Fowler said. "Would you like to fly with these people after you get out of university?" he wondered as he thumbed _Santō Kūsa_ Mitaka Arisa; the pilots of 434 (Bluenose) Squadron and their new friends from the 801st (Airbats) Squadron were now standing on the starboard flight deck.

Everyone laughed. It was Nabiki's complaint to Ikusawa Kyōko that she needed to relieve herself which prompted Fowler to order everyone to put down on the nearest available deck; when _Haida_ had flown down into the skies over Muzlim Madiina right after the order was given to return to their ship, the Canadian pilots had elected to wait things out until they could land on their home ship. Since none of the Canadian pilots wished to hazard Yaminokuni's upper atmosphere, they had been invited by the Airbats to come aboard _Yamato_. "No, thanks. I'll stick to logistics, Fowler-chūsa," Nabiki stated as Kyōko walked towards them from the direction of the nearest washroom. "But I'll say this to you guys," she then admitted as she thumbed hers and Kyōko's Starfire. "You _**all**_ earn every last yen and dollar you're paid flying these things."

Laughter echoed over the flight deck. "Still, it is an historic occasion," Captain Jessica Miller then stated as she gazed in amusement at Nabiki.

"What's that, Jessica-san?" Kyōko asked.

"That we gave people who aren't even in the Forces call-signs after doing their first solo flight in a battle situation," the woman known to her brother and sister fighter pilots as "Slipstream" declared as she waved to those of the thirty-nine Avalonian-Canadians with them now that had flown with the Bluenose Squadron…not to mention the native-born Avalonian-Japanese who had been one of the volunteers' back-seater.

Whoops and cheers echoed from everyone as people applauded that. "Well, even if I still intend to be an intelligence officer, it was fun," Kyōko — she had been given the moniker "Ice Mom" due to her hair colour, her namesake's cooking skills and her actually driving her Starfire aboard the wrecked _Redemption_ to obtain the micro-materialiser that had been found by _Paekbŏm_'s boarding party; said device was now being examined by one of _Yamato_'s plank owners, Okano Yuka, nearby — stated.

"You want to be an intel weenie?!" Major Mark "Bullhorn" Hornblower, the commander of 434 Squadron's A Flight, demanded.

"Oi! You're getting one of us already, Mark-san!" Kyōko complained.

The Bluenosers considered that, and then they nodded. Arimori Kei — now known as "Cosplay" to the Canadian fighter pilots due to her namesake's preferred hobby, which she had told everyone about when they asked her about it — had announced after the _Redemption_ had been wrecked that she would volunteer to become a pilot when she officially was sworn into service. That had actually prompted all the pilots from 434 and 433 Squadrons — the flight crews of the Porcupine Squadron were now on the port flight deck resting up — to start prodding the other Avalonian-Canadians flying with them to consider "switching uniforms" and volunteering to serve in the Air Force. "What do you think, guys?" Fowler — he was "Artemis Fowl" to his brother and sister fighter pilots, though they would normally call him "Boss" given his rank and seniority — mused as he gazed on the other Canadian pilots and air combat systems officers present.

"Well, there's only two hundred-and-thirteen of them on _Haida_ right now, Boss," Hornblower noted. "We should be lucky to get at least _one_ of them."

"Yeah. Folks like Michelle need to learn how to pilot THEIR big plane!" Jessica added.

"And Cosplay says she likes the uniform, Fowl," Major Allan "Jackpot" Qián — he was a fourth-generation Chinese-Canadian and deputy commanding officer of 434 Squadron — noted as he gazed in amusement at Fowler, which made the other Canadian pilots all laugh. As Qián — his call-sign had been inspired by the standard translation of his family name, which literally meant "money" — was a peer of Fowler's, he was permitted to use the colonel's proper call-sign when addressing him; Fowler had been promoted to his current rank only two months before and the two had been squadron-mates since their days at the Royal Military College in Kingston. "For a girl who loves costume play — or rather, was _programmed_…" — he scowled on saying that — "…to love it — it's simpler to maintain than Army greens."

"And brighter than Navy blacks," Jessica added with a wink.

Kei blushed. "That's Navy _blue_, Captain," Kadomatsu protested.

She gazed at his shoulder boards with their three gold stripes topped with a chrysanthemum flower. "Respectfully, Commander Kadomatsu, that looks black to me."

Laughter from all the Air Force people present…which was instantly punctuated by a yelped "_**EUREKA!**_" from nearby. People looked over to where Yuka was now kneeling by the micro-materialiser Kyōko and Nabiki had brought aboard, and then Kadomatsu walked over to stand close to the crimson-haired, amethyst-eyed, bespectacled and tomboyish girl. "What did you find, Yuka-san?" the first officer asked.

Yuka smirked. "I think I may have discovered how to get everyone stuck in this thing out of it, Yōsuke-san," she said as she beamed with delight. "This button here…" — she pointed to a rather large and quite-obvious red button — "…allows a 'mass dump' of all those contained in mid-transport to an area around this device."

"I'd rather not do that until we have security in place," Kadomatsu advised.

A nod. "Understandable. However, I have keyed my tricorder into the controlling mechanism." She held up the device in question. "With it, I can bring out one person from mid-transport so you can interrogate him or her right away."

Kadomatsu nodded. "Alright. Do it."

"Hai!"

Hearing that, several of the pilots allowed their hands to drop down to their Lawgivers — as this was a combat mission, they had been allowed to carry such weapons outside their G-suits just in case — as Yuka keyed the controls on her tricorder. A second later, a shower of energy behind her allowed a silver-haired man appearing to be in his early twenties — given he had Avalonian blood in him, Nabiki mused as she hovered close to Kyōko, he could actually be much older — to materialise. As he jolted for a second before looking around, his eyebrow then arched. "Where am I?"

Kadomatsu stood and walked over to him. "This is the Japanese Starship _Yamato_," he calmly declared. "I'm Kadomatsu Yōsuke, the executive officer of this vessel."

The newcomer fixed him with a pair of very intelligent grey eyes behind reading glasses. "I would hope that when you had this ship built, Yōsuke-san, you didn't actually dive down to the bottom of the ocean to violate a _**war grave**_ like it was postulated in that anime series back in the 1970s?" Tsuiro dai-Tashan mused.

A chuckle. Even if the opening theme song for _Uchū Senkan Yamato_ was now J.S. _Yamato_'s official theme song, the very concept of actually going down to _**salvage**_ the shattered wreck of Imperial Japan's largest and most powerful battleship struck Yōsuke as quite crass. "Of course not," he said. "I assume you're one of the one hundred-and-thirty-five Niphentaxian-Avalonian hybrids we detected aboard the _Redemption_ before she was engaged by H.M.C.S. _Haida_ in battle?"

A delighted smile. "I am," the master architect stated. "Unlike many of my brother and sister hybrids that you might have had the pleasure of meeting, I was born on Gomiana some decades ago…long before the more idiotic restrictions on those like myself were initiated by my father's people. Tsuiro dai-Tashan at your service." He offered his hand, which Yōsuke took and gave a very firm shake. "Oh, my…" Tsuiro then mused. "You've been through quite a lot."

Yōsuke didn't jerk at that comment, even if he _still_ found it somewhat disturbing that people like this handsome fellow in the work jumpsuit standing before him could read his thoughts with but just a touch. "I have been," he said as he pulled his hand away. "So what were you and friends doing on _Redemption_ in the first place? Did Ōgi know about you?"

"No, he never did," Tsuiro said with a smirk. "And speaking of which, where is he right now? I'd like to go tell him about the fact that my friends were so kind as to ensure all of his friends who came aboard _Redemption_ with him some time ago to 'assist' in the freeing of the 'goddess' from her 'unwanted marriage' are now explaining their misdeeds to whatever _true_ deities exist beyond the Veil of the Te'a."

Yōsuke perked. "There were more Niphentaxians on that ship?!"

"Quite correct, Yōsuke-san. But do remember that the word that needs emphasis is '_were_.'" Tsuiro then sighed. "After all, you and your friends would have enough problems dealing with Ando and his friends. Why add to it?"

_Yamato_'s first officer then chuckled. "Well, they don't seem to be as much of a problem as we first suspected, Tsuiro-san," he noted.

Tsuiro blinked, clearly surprised by that revelation…

* * *

The Dead Grove…

As a now-nicely cooked Ando collapsed to the ground unconscious, Kentei turned to see Sakimu passed out on the ground nearby as a familiar pair of people emerged from the shadows, accompanied by a half-dozen wolves. "**Father! Bokuroku-dono!**" she called out.

Hearing her reborn second son call out to her, a relieved Hiromi walked over…

…and then she gasped as a sharp pain lanced into her right side. "_**DIE, YOU WORTHLESS ROBOT! DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!**_" a wild-eyed Ōgi — who had surged up at the moment the reborn emperor had walked past him — howled, his voice pitched high as he laughed.

"_**HIROMI-SAN!**_"

The deposed president of Phentax Two turned…

…and then screamed out as the sharp tip of the Mǎjiàn slashed across his face, ripping a fair hunk out of his left cheek and his nose! As he stumbled away from Hiromi — who was dropping to her knees as her hands reached for the wound punched into her liver — Ōgi turned to find himself staring at a Terran woman with long brown hair tied in two big ponytails and glowing eyes behind glasses. "_**THAT'S MY COUSIN YOU HURT, YOU FILTHY BARBARIAN!**_" Koro Sonami howled as she sheathed the Mustang Blade, and then she shifted the weapon in her hand like a very big baseball bat.

Ōgi staggered away as Ki Kenshika and Izuku Mioko — who had just run over from where she had been with her daughter — moved to help support Hiromi. Naoko also staggered to her feet as she lunged for her Lawgiver and her medical bag to help out. "_**IT'S JUST A ROBOT, YOU BLIND FOOL!**_" he snapped back as he moved to draw his pistol…

…only to have his wrist shattered as Sonami unleashed a snap cricket swing on his hand, that sending his pistol flying into the night. "_**BE SILENT, YOU MINDLESS MIMIC!**_" Sonami shrilled as she twirled the sheathed Mǎjiàn around. "_**YOU HAVE NO BRAIN! YOU HAVE NO SOUL! AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST YOUR**_** BETTERS**_**!**_"

Ōgi then yelped as the leader of Seito smashed in his left eye with one side of the Mustang Blade's cross guard, and then the air was punched out of his lungs as Sonami rammed the pommel right into his gut, the blow hard enough to literally pick him off his feet for a metre and send him falling down hard on his left ankle, which snapped from the impact. A wild shriek of pain escaped him as he collapsed to his side, and then he moved to cradle his shattered limb as Sonami put herself in a ready position, holding the sheathed Mǎjiàn at the ready to unleash a blow that, if used with a baseball bat, would probably equal the best power hitters of the American major leagues. "_**GET UP!**_" Sonami snarled, the haunting boom in her voice clearly indicating Zhāoliè was in full control. "_**GET UP SO I CAN SMASH YOU DOWN! TODAY, YOUR PATHETIC 'ONE TRUE FAITH' WILL DIE ONCE AND FOR ALL! THE STAIN OF YOUR KIND WILL BE ERASED FROM THE HEAVENS FOREVER!**_"

Hearing that, Ōgi screamed, "_**LUM-SAMA WILL DESTROY YOU, INFIDEL!**_"

"Oh, _**will**_ she?!"

The Niphentaxian blinked, and then slowly turned…

…to see a green-haired, blue-green eyed Oni woman in the flowing robes of a noblewoman of the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios standing near the still-burning embers of the mushroom the entity that had possessed her original body had destroyed to give heat to her beloved sibling. As Ōgi blinked in confusion on seeing Lum, the Oni then smiled as she held out her hand. Immediately, the Lady Seu-P'ye Yesu-T'ek Hechnich'-Nut'yek of Hichp'u — who had come down with the people from 3 Military Police Regiment to look in on her beloved — came up to grasp her wife's hand while gazing at the deposed president of Phentax Two with a haughty look as she shifted Lum's hand up so she could kiss it, her brown eyes sparkling with both passion and vengeance. "Tell me, Dearest," Kuhu then said as she gazed in amusement at Ōgi. "Shall you take your vengeance at last? Or do we allow the fallen of Lecashuto to have their justice?"

"_**YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK THAT VENGEANCE, LADY LUM!**_" Sonami/Zhāoliè snarled. "_**THIS FILTHY PUPPET WITH DELUSIONS OF CIVILITY STOLE YOUR**_** LIFE**_**! IT STOLE YOUR**_** FAMILY**_**! IT EVEN STOLE WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN YOUR**_** HUSBAND **_**AWAY FROM YOU! NO MATTER WHAT IT MIGHT SAY TO OTHERS, IT KNEW ALL ALONG OF THE**_** TRUTH **_**THAT BEFELL YOU AND YOUR BELOVED FRIENDS FIVE YEARS AGONE!**_" She then smirked as three other couples appeared. "_**IF YOU CARE NOT TO SOIL YOURSELF WITH THIS THING'S FILTHY ENTRAILS, MAYHAP YOUR FRIENDS MIGHT TAKE THEIR OWN VENGEANCE ON IT! AFTER ALL, THEY WERE**_** NEVER **_**THE TARGET OF THE LADY ZŌJU'S CURSE THAT'S HAUNTED YOUR LIFE SINCE YOU WERE BORN ON URU! WHAT SAY YOU, NOBLE PRINCESS OYUKI?! WHAT SAY YOU, LADY RAN?! WHAT OF THEE, LADY WARRIOR BENTEN?!**_"

Ōgi shuddered as he felt four pairs of raking eyes glare at him. "You cannot be…" he hissed out. "You cannot be…you are just machines! _Machines_!"

"Oh, be silent for once in your eternally useless life, Master _dai_-Zkuhsbagh!"

A scream escaped him as he turned to glare at Hiromi…

…only to have said scream die as he sensed many people now in the open, they all gazing at him with looks that promised a very slow and painful death if any of them physically ever got their hands on him. "Oh, fuck, _**please**_!" Futoshi Itsuku snarled as he cracked his knuckles, each sound echoing like a gunshot in this dark place. "Do it, filth! You fuckin' drew the blood of our _**emperor**_! We will _**never**_ suffer such an insult to us as long as we draw breath! DO IT, YOU FUCKIN' PIECE OF COWARDLY SHIT! _**C'MON!**_"

"_**SHIGI-DONO, ENOUGH!**_"

Everyone jolted as Hiromi was slowly helped back to her feet by Mioko and Kenshika. Staring at her, Ōgi gargled as he watched the place where he had stabbed the reborn emperor glow with energy as the wound mended up before his eyes. Taking a deep breath to allow her body to be filled with fresh oxygen, Hiromi then smiled. "You have my eternal thanks for defending my person, Shigi-dono," she said as she walked over to squeeze Itsuku's shoulder. "But my needs and desires pale before the needs and desires of those this mindless monster ordered to die on another world six years ago!" She then smirked as she glared at Ōgi. "You will _**live**_ this evening, Ōgi. I will have the Lady K'ekhech drag your carcass to _**Vos**_ once we are done here, where you'll then be imprisoned in the Imperial Dominion's embassy compound outside Lecashuto! There, representatives in both sides in the noble Confederation's most tragic civil war will be invited to sit in judgement over you! Once you are declared guilty of mass murder, you'll be _**imprisoned**_ for the rest of your natural days, left to _**rot**_ as all you tried to create on your homeworld are torn apart by members of the other faiths you persecuted when you became President! And then, once and for all time, the so-called 'one true faith' will _**DIE!**_"

"_**NEVER!**_" Ōgi howled. "_**LUM-SAMA WILL DESTROY YOU…!**_"

Fingertips landed on his face, and then the deposed president screamed out as a torrent of pure _agony_ ripped into his mind. Now kneeling beside him, a smirking Shigaten Benten remained still as she pushed her mind into his body, seizing control of his good left arm as she moved to hand him a particle pistol. Watching this, Lum then fixed her eyes on Kentei as she concentrated. «You better vacate that body now, Kanami-chan.»

The reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor of Hàn smiled as her reborn father came over to stand close to her. **«Truly cunning, Lady Lum. A pity you were not bonded to my father's brother in this life. I would have been more than honoured to consider you my aunt. If not my surrogate mother.»** She then closed one of her hands as she focused her power into that extremity. A moment later, she allowed the glittering green magatama that had been formed from her very soul to fall in her reborn father's hand as she willed the body to step clear of anyone who might be caught in the pistol's firing arc.

"Kill her…"

"Noooooooooooooooooo…!" Ōgi moaned as he helplessly watched his left arm shift the pistol over to bear on the unarmed Oni girl not six metres away as Hiromi backed away.

"Kill her…!" Benten snarled. "Squeeze the trigger…"

"No! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease…!"

"That's a good boy…click the safety off…there you go…!"

"No! No, you can't do this! Please, nooooooooooooooooo…!"

The Fukunokami smirked. "_**KILL YOUR GODDESS!**_"

"_**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!**_" the Niphentaxian screamed…

…as the pistol in his hand thundered.

No one seeing this flinched as the bolts of energy slammed into Lum's old body, ripping away the flesh and bone as it began to burn. As Ōgi's wailing scream of heartbreaking agony echoed through the Dead Grove, the dark mushrooms around them began to glow…

* * *

Muzlim Madiina, the Palace…

"Master Rupa! Master Ika! Mistress Carla! Patriarch! Look! LOOK!"

People ran to the windows to gaze to the south. Gasps then filled the room as they watched the dark patch of ground beyond the city limits come alive with light.

An occurrence that, throughout recorded Yaminokuni history, had _never_ happened!

"How is that _possible_…?" Carla breathed out.

"Are the Matriarch Moroboshi and her friends _gods_…?" Ika wondered.

"No, Ika-sama. We are no gods."

The Yaminokuni turned to see a young woman standing at a nearby doorway, a sad smile on her face. "Then what are you, Lady Ryōko?" Rupa then asked.

Morokuzu Ryōko took a deep breath as she reached up to gently brush away the tears in her eyes. "For all the incarnations we have lived, Your Highness — for all the years our souls had wandered across China and then Korea and then Japan — we have never learned the answer to that question," she said before she gave them a content look. "But now…it really no longer matters." She closed her eyes. "Let it just be said if your people ask…that we were simple, humble warriors from another world who came to your land cloaked in eternal night to bring peace and justice to you all."

With that, she deeply bowed to them, and then headed off. The ruling family of the Kingdom of Yaminokuni watched them go, and then Upa smiled.

"So be it, Lady Ryōko…"

* * *

The Dead Grove…

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooo…Lum-sama! Lum-samaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…!"

Ōgi then cried out as Benten's fist smashed into his jaw, knocking him out as she reached down to pick up the smoking pistol she forced him to use on Lum's old body. Looking at it, she smiled as she clicked on the safety and then holstered the weapon. By then, her wife, the Lady Seu-Nuk Yesu-Kye Hechnich'-T'achkaech of Ait'uch Nehech and Eap'ye, was moving to embrace her from the side. "I wanted him to die slow and die painfully, Su," the Fukunokami confessed to her wife before she stared at Hiromi with tearing eyes. "But you were right all along, Hiromi. The dead of Lecashuto — and the living — need their justice, too." She then took a deep breath. "_**HEY, KYECH!**_"

"You need not shout, Benten. I'm right here."

People jerked on hearing that calm voice, and then they turned as She Who Speaks to Dragons walked over to the unconscious Niphentaxian. As Kyech calmly picked Ōgi up and tossed him over her shoulder, Hiromi smiled. "You have my deepest apologies for forcing you to deal with that trash, Lady K'ekhech," she said as she gave the Noukiite free warrior a proper salute for Kyech's people with her hands. "When you speak at last to the good and honourable representatives of the noble Confederation of Vos on your arrival in Lecashuto, please extend to them the condolences of all of Earth and all of New Avalon for the butchery of their helpless citizens years ago."

A nod and a pleased smile; on seeing that, Hiromi was quick to sense that Kyech had something else in mind. As to what it could be, the reborn emperor of the Hàn simply had no idea; only her sister Negako had the skills to penetrate the thick psionic veil the Dragonspeaker of the Tri-Kingdoms always held over her emotions. "So I shall, Venerable Lady Hiromi," Kyech then stated. "But first…"

Everyone then gasped as her eyes glowed, the shadows forming around them as she glared at the burning corpse of Lum's old body. "_**CURSE, BEGONE!**_" she thundered with a voice that nearly shattered the eardrums of all around her. "_**YOU FAILED YOUR TASK AND MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS HAVE GUARANTEED YOUR VICTIM'S BOND WITH HER HEART-MATE! HAUNT US NO MORE WITH YOUR FAILED ATTEMPTS AT DESTROYING LUM'S HEART! I SAY THEE, BEGONE!**_"

As people watched, a frustrated, barely human scream seemed to escape something dark billowing from the corpse before it faded into nothingness. With that, Kyech smiled as her eyes returned to normal and then she gazed on the couple off to Hiromi's right rear. "I am glad it is both you and Miyako that hold his heart now, Shikuko," the Dragonspeaker then said, her eyes misting. "Love him where At'at'at' and I could not."

With a flash of flame and energy, she vanished with Ōgi's unconscious body. Watching her go, all the tōshi straightened themselves as they bowed to the departing Noukiite free warrior, and then they turned to gaze on Moroboshi Ataru and Sebone Shikuko, who were now holding each other close. Sensing all their looks, the two then blinked before they turned as another couple came out of the shadows, hand-in-hand, followed by the warriors of Nan'yō, Ataru's and Ranma's twin sisters, and the paroled prisoners they had taken under their charge. "You okay, Ranma?" Ataru asked as people were quick to see the blood on Ranma's hands, even if one was now being held by Shikuko's cousin.

A sigh. "Can Negako help me control the c-c-cat?" Ranma then asked.

Ataru, Tariko and Hiromi exchanged looks, and then they nodded. "You will be helped, Ranma-san," the reborn emperor then stated.

"What happened to him?" Kokoni Kichimi asked.

"The Neko-ken, Kichimi-san," On Tsuguta stated. "Akane-san told us of it."

Horrified gasps ran through those tōshi that hadn't known what the warriors of Nan'yō had learned a week before. "What fuckin' RETARD taught you THAT?!" Uru Hokona snarled, forgetting her normally impeccable manners as her whole body shook with outrage.

"Our former father, Hokona-san," Kikuko said as she grasped Shampoo's hand.

"Unfortunately, one of Riu-san's and Kiu-san's friends could transform into a tiger-like creature," Mimōko explained. "She did it in front of Ranma and he lost all control over himself. She was nearly mauled to death because of it." An icy smile then crossed her face. "I arranged with Captain Uriarte on the _Trinidad_ to preserve Sijo-san's old body so that — when we get back to Earth — we find that fat fool and drag him into the morgue so he could see it for himself! _Not to mention_ plaster pictures of that body all throughout the media with words explaining what sort of _**monster**_ Saotome Genma truthfully is! Once that's done, there's no way in hell that he'll be able to show his face — as a human — anywhere in polite society ever again!"

Hearing that, people then roared with laughter. By then, Hiromi had walked over to take the Mǎjiàn from Sonami, who clearly was back in control over herself. Seeing Ōgi's blood on the scabbard, the cross guard and the pommel, the reborn emperor shook her head. "Cousin, _honestly_!" she then said before gazing at Sonami, who ducked Hiromi's scathing stare. "Using a noble sword like this as a _**cricket bat**_?! Really!"

"I hate the damned things, Hiromi!" the leader of Seito whined.

Hiromi blinked, and then she smiled as she reached over with her free hand to squeeze Sonami's shoulder. "You're not _supposed_ to like them, Sonami."

Sonami gazed at her, and then she nodded. "Well, since this is pretty much all over with and we've won, I say let's get out of here, get back to our ships, wash up and sleep!" she proposed to all the others around her. "After all, Ika-sama is getting married and we were invited to the wedding!"

Laughter and cheers then filled the crowd before the leader of Yoshū called out, "_**WAIT A MINUTE!**_" As people stared at him, On Tsuguta took a deep breath before he gave them a shrug. "Forgive me, everyone, but can this truly be called a _victory_?!"

"Of course it's a victory, Shō-chan!"

Eyes then locked on Mago Tsueko. "What do you mean, Sonsaku?" Kichimi asked.

The young leader of Nan'yō then smiled.

_Tell it to them, my fiery daughter! Let them know…!_

Not visibly acknowledging the voice of Sūn Cè in her head — it had been the first time ever that Tsueko had actually heard the voice of the original Little Conqueror in her soul — she took a deep breath before she gazed apologetically over at Sandi McLugh. "Um, sorry about this, Kū-chin!" she said with a giggle before she gazed on the others.

_And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,  
From this day to the ending of the world,_

People's breaths caught in their throat as Tsueko held out her fist towards her opposite numbers in Seito and Kyoshō. Seeing that, Sonami walked over.

_But we in it shall be remembered.  
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers._

The leader of Seito then held out her fist to touch Tsueko's at a 120 degree angle before she smiled as she added, "And sisters, too!"

Eyes then locked on Tsukasa Torusuke. Smiling, the leader of Kyoshō then handed the Xióngjiàn to Tsukasame Yoiko before walking over to extend his fist, making the triumvirate of the Dragons of the Three Kingdoms complete.

_For he — _and she! — _today that sheds his — _and her! — _blood with me  
Shall be my brother!_

He then winked at his opposite numbers from Nan'yō and Seito. "And my sister!"

Silence fell, and then Itsuku came up to stand to Tsueko's left, reaching over with his hand to grasp her arm. "I've never heard something so righteous!"

"Amen to that!" Kichimi added as she stood to Tsueko's right, placing her hand atop her boyfriend's as she wrapped her arm around Tsueko's shoulder.

The leader of Yoshū then came up to stand to Torusuke's left, back-to-back with Kichimi. "We were brothers once," Tsuguta said as he placed a hand on Torusuke's arm.

"We were always brothers. And sisters!" Hokona then added as she came up to stand to Torusuke's right, reaching over to place her hand atop Tsuguta's.

Then Kashira Emi came up to stand to Sonami's right, placing her hand atop that of her counterpart from Seito. "It's time to stop wandering in the wilderness."

Hari Sumiko then came up to place a hand on Sonami's shoulder as she stood to her left, and then she placed her other hand on the younger girl's arm. "Once we were all torn asunder. Let today be the day we stand before the Dào as one!"

Nods all around, and then they turned as once to gaze on Hiromi. Silence fell, and then the reborn emperor sighed. "I am an emperor of nothing, my friends."

"Not to us, Hiromi," Torusuke stated.

"One final Imperial Decree, My Emperor?" Hokona pleaded.

Hiromi blinked, and then she tensed on feeling a hand squeeze her shoulder. Turning to see Wan Miwaka standing there, she blinked before pulling up her hand that held onto the magatama containing the soul of their only child from their first lives. They gazed at the glowing jewel in the reborn emperor's hand, and then gazed at each other. "We will talk of this soon, Hiromi," Miwaka then promised her.

"I will not force myself on you, Miwaka-san," Hiromi vowed, and then she shrugged. "Though I would hope I can help raise Kanami-chan."

"Let me have some time alone with Mioko-san," the Nanban senior then said as she gazed in amusement at Mioko. "We can come to a ladies' agreement on this."

"Watch out, sis! You're in trouble!" Tariko then heckled.

Hiromi jolted. "ONĒ-SAN!"

Laughter filled the crowd around them, and then people fell silent as they gazed expectantly on Hiromi. The matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan then looked on all the tōshi. "Hàn Cháo is no more." She focused on Sonami. "Shǔ Hàn is gone." To Torusuke. "Cáo Wèi is gone." To Tsueko. "Dōng Wú is no more." To Yoiko. "And yes, even Jìn Cháo is no more." A deep breath. "For so long, all of you have been ruled by the ghosts of the past. Yet you all came out _**willingly**_ when I asked you to so we could face something that would care not what we once were eighteen centuries ago back in the Middle Kingdom we called home. Not just us, but all those around us. We can no longer isolate ourselves from the world around us, my friends." She smiled. "Thus, let us say this with one voice and let it be heard throughout history…" A deep breath.

"_**THE 'ROMANCE' OF THE THREE KINGDOMS IS ENDED! SO WE DECREE, SO MOTE IT BE!**_"

A roar echoed through the Dead Grove from everyone else, "_**SO MOTE IT BE!**_"

People then fell silent as they sensed things appear around them.

"Go now, I beg you all," Hiromi then whispered, her eyes tearing. "Haunt your children no more. Know that you are remembered, but let them live their lives."

As people watched, the ghosts of eighteen centuries ago all seemed to bow to her as they gave her a proper salute with their hands, and then they faded…

* * *

"May God have mercy on all their noble souls."

Everyone blinked, and then they turned. "Reverend Klein!" Hiromi called out.

"PAPA!"

Whoops and cheers echoed through the crowd as Arami — who had been placed in the company of the priest from Alberta when Mioko had sensed Hiromi was in trouble — ran over to leap into Hiromi's arms, and then the young girl reached for the glowing magatama in the reborn emperor's hand. Holding in her palm, Arami smiled. "Xié…"

"No, my child," Hiromi then said. "We cannot call her that anymore."

Arami looked up, her eyes sparkling with knowledge. "What do we call her, Papa?!"

"'Kanami!'" Miwaka clearly declared with a smile.

Another whoop of cheers echoed through the Dead Grove, and then a voice barked out in clear English, "_**ROYAL WINNIPEG RIFLES, ATTEN-…TION!**_"

All the tōshi gasped on seeing they were now surrounded by hundreds of smiling women in combat uniforms, weapons slung over their shoulders. Standing close to Padre Vincent, Captain Heather Brown reached to her beret. "_**RIFLES, REMOVE…HEAD DRESS!**_" Once her people did that, she grinned. "To the survivors of the Three Kingdoms of China, their friends, family and loved ones…_**THREE CHEERS! HIP-HIP…!**_"

"_**HURRAH!**_" over two hundred voices screamed out as one.

"_**HIP-HIP…!**_"

"_**HURRAH!**_"

"_**HIP-HIP…!**_"

"_**HURRAH!**_"

As everyone encircled by the militiamen from Manitoba all gasped and bowed to those who had just cheered them, Heather grinned. "Rifles, _**CARRY ON!**_" she barked out before replacing her beret, and then walking over to stand to attention before Hiromi, giving the younger woman a sharp salute. Around them, the other Canadian militiamen returned back to their duties. "Director Moroboshi, begging to report to you that we're doing the final sweep of the Dark Grove as of this time. We've got most of the prisoners all rounded up and we're moving them now to the muster point. We should be ready to march back to Muzlim Madiina within the next half-hour." She then glanced over at Riu and Kiu. "Those Urusian personnel with you now have to surrender their weapons, ma'am. It'll look pretty odd to have them march back with us armed."

Hiromi nodded, and then she gazed at the Tenwan twins. "Ladies, please surrender your arms to the captain's representative. Go find those of your friends who honourably surrendered to us, so that you can carry out those of your friends who were wounded so we can get them to competent medical care." She gave Riu and Kiu a knowing look. "I'm sure you'll want to make _**very**_ sure Major Toma is transported to the healers."

Both Oni officers nodded, grinning at the reborn emperor's courtesy to them, and then turned their weapons over to Warrant Officer Don Parkland, who had finally joined his company commander in the field minutes before. By then, small teams of military policemen from the Rifles' security platoon — they were actually reserve members of 1 Military Police Regiment, which served as the primary security force for the Canadian Army from the Lakehead of Ontario near Thunder Bay west to the Pacific Coast — were moving to handcuff and subdue both Ando and Sakimu. "Wait…WAIT!" the former then screamed out before he found the gaping hole of a Lawgiver muzzle right in his face.

Holding said weapon, Takanashi Naoko scowled. "I would suggest you behave yourself, Ando!" she coldly declared. "We took casualties because of your men. The noble warriors of Manitoba and those who follow Hiromi-onēsama to this place today are in a vengeful mood!"

Hearing that, Ando gulped before he turned to stare at Lum. "Lum, _**WHY**_?!" he pleaded. "Why did you leave us?! We could've helped you after what Ōgi did to you! We all cared for you! Why couldn't you embrace your destiny?!"

"Isn't it obvious, Ando?!"

He blinked as Azu Roki came up to stand protectively close to Lum. "Her _**family**_ betrayed her!" the marine sergeant said. "And if her own _**flesh-and-blood**_ could do that, how in the Maidens' Names could she trust _**any**_ of us?!" As Ando gaped at her, the giant warrior turned to gaze at Lum's wife before she gave her a proper Noukiite fist-in-palm salute. "Lady Nut'yek, thank you so much for being there for her when we couldn't be." She then turned to gaze on Aruka Ran and her wife the Lady Major-General Seu-Susa Yesu-Ch'ech Hechnich'-Kaechkyuk of Eap'ye, saluting them as well. "Lady General Kaechkyuk, thank you for being there for the Lady Ran, blood-descendant and spirit-descendant of the Maidens of Aruka, when we could not be there for her." She bowed her head to the Noukiites. "Heaven's most sincere blessings upon you all."

Kuhu and Tachp'uch grinned as they returned her salute. "And to you as well, Lady Sergeant Roki," the former then declared. "Live with your beloved. Remember well the more _important_ things in life from this day onward."

"Aye!" the latter then said before she turned to glare intently at Ando with that one-eyed stare. "As for you, _lesser_, I suggest you behave yourself from this point on!" Before the intelligence officer could scream out on hearing _that_ insult applied to him, Tachp'uch grinned. "If you do not, I guarantee you'll be spending time on _**ice**_ as a guest of the High Warlord of Her Imperial Majesty's Commandery of _Hichkyech'eng_!" As Ando turned sheet-white on hearing _that_ threat, the general nodded at the senior of the military policemen there, Sergeant Sandra Murchinson, a full-time Terran-turned-Avalonian originally from Saskatoon. "Now Lady Constable Sergeant, I would suggest you remove this piece of filth away from these noble warriors! While I know you must behave to standards decreed by your Lord Provost Marshal in Her Majesty's Most Noble Castle Village of Ottawa, I suspect you'll be wanting to be rid of him quickly!"

"Indeed we do, Lady General," Murchinson said before she straightened herself and saluted her. "Heaven's most sincere blessings on you, ma'am."

Tachp'uch laughed as she returned that salute in the Noukiite way. "And with you as well, Lady Constable Sergeant! May you serve your Dominion well!"

As Ando and a silent Sakimu were dragged off, Hiromi then tensed on feeling a hand on her shoulder. "What troubles you, Mōtoku-dono?" she then asked.

The leader of Kyoshō could only grin. "I will say this, Majesty: Fate truly gave us most noble and most honourable allies for the future."

"True," the reborn emperor said. "Then again, we may _not_ have been so lucky."

Torusuke nodded in understanding…

* * *

Muzlim Madiina, the Metropolitan Fortress, 37 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters command post, minutes later…

"Black Devil Echo-Six to Galley Six."

Colonel Wayne Bell perked on hearing that, and then he tapped the dataPADD before him. "Devil Echo-Six, this is Galley Six, go ahead," he called back.

"Galley Six, this is Black Devil Echo-Six. Sundown! I say again, Sundown!"

Hearing that, all the troops in the tent exchanged looks before they whooped and cheered. Bell exchanged a nod and relieved look with Chief Constable Sanza, and then he tapped the PADD. "Devil Echo-Six, this is Galley Six, acknowledge your call of Sundown." That was the predetermined code-phrase chosen to state that all the Urusians who had beamed down from _Redemption_ had been captured and were now being processed by the military police. "Turn full site control in the Grove over to Major Seo and his people so they can do a final sweep of the Grove and secure any prisoners we may have missed, Captain Brown." That was impossible given the presence of _Haida_ and _Trinidad_ — with their hypersensitive sensory suites — in the skies over the city, but it was better to be safe now than sorry later. "State your intentions for your battalion, Professor."

"Colonel, we'll be marching along the West Grove Road back into Muzlim Madiina," Heather Brown replied. "Nice casual route step back." Hearing that made Bell laugh; he knew what the actual quick march pace for a rifles regiment was. "'Sides, it was pretty chilly in the Grove, so we could use a good walk to warm up."

"You sure about that, Sensei?" Natsukimi Makoto's voice then broke in. "We got all the air bikes with us. We can give you people a lift into town."

"Thanks but no thanks, Makoto. It's appreciated," Heather called back.

Major Michael Seo — who was seated across from Bell — sent the colonel from Moncton a questioning look. Noting that, the commander of 37 CBG nodded. The military police company commander — he was a Regular Force military police officer originally from Toronto — tapped his own dataPADD. "Makoto, this Mike Seo. Can you at least keep a platoon of riders available while my people finish the sweep of the Grove?"

"Sure thing, Mike," Makoto stated. "It's a nice night to ride."

"Don't get too cold up there, Ton," Torusuke then called up from the Grove.

"Cold?! Oi, Mōtoku! Didn't you get the text?! It's a _**state of mind**_!"

Hearing that, all the Canadians roared with laughter as the few native Yaminokuni present gazed in confusion at them, wondering what was so funny…

* * *

The road west of the Grove (Japan time: Wednesday 7 July, after midnight)…

"How do you feel, Major?"

Uio Toma moaned as Doctor Natalie Blackwood finished examining her wound. "I would not recommend getting your lung shot out, Captain," the crimson-haired Seishin woman rasped through her oxygen mask as she gave the crimson-haired, green-eyed native of Winnipeg's Saint Boniface Ward an appreciative smile. "It's not pleasant…but I have to complement Warrant Officer Hamilton for her emergency first aid knowledge."

PO1 Emily Hamilton chuckled. "Respectfully, Major, I'm a petty officer, not a warrant officer." She pointed to the black crown on her combat epaulette slip-on. "I'm Navy, not Army…even if I technically work now for an Army field ambulance battalion."

"Oh, that's right," Azu Roki said as she gave the physician assistant from Portage la Prairie an appraising look and an approving nod. "I heard they do that in Canada. You're one of the so-called 'purple tradesmen,' right?"

"That's me," Hamilton answered. "A sharp-dressed girl in a sea of green!"

Natalie laughed, and then she gazed on the tricorder in her hand. "Well, we might as well get you on to second-line care, Major. Emily?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Have Major Toma transferred to _Haida_," the doctor instructed. "Prep her for immediate body-swap. Also arrange to have her wife located and brought to her side from whichever ship took her off the _Redemption_. Look in on their baby, too."

Toma — not to mention the Tenwan twins, Roki and several other paroled Urusian prisoners now gathered around her — all gaped. "Why…?" Del Chii — one of the young twins who had been found by the Three-Pillared Gods — then asked. "I mean, I can understand why you did that for Sijo and Shō, Sensei, but…"

"The Director has allowed it," Natalie stated before she gave Chii and her twin Moka a knowing look. "You're both bonded, aren't you?" she rhetorically asked. As they both nodded — they hadn't realised that the doctor was herself an Avalonian-Canadian — Natalie then smiled. "Well, much that we won't force a choice on the girls who were with you on _Redemption_, many of them might elect to come live on Earth. Where does that leave people like you? What if your bond-mates want to live on Earth?"

"Good point," Kiu noted. "Hensō's ex-husband used Paragraph Ten of the Tag Race Treaty on us when he found out what Ōgi instigated in his home town. Unless we become Avalonians ourselves, we can't live with our bond-mates."

"Would that be allowed, Captain?" Karth Elass — she was the Seishin girl who had been caught by several Gogun tōshi and Miyamoto Akane at the start of the incident in the Dead Grove; she had been brought here with her friend Joth Hiyo (now recovered from the staff blow Wan Miwaka had given her) by a smiling Bakari Mitsugi — then asked. "I mean, even if we really can't go back to Uru right now…"

"Elass, how old are you?" Hamilton asked.

A shrug. "Sixteen by your terms."

"And that's a Grade 10 student where we come from," the Navy physician assistant said as she moved to strap down Toma on the stretcher she was on, a couple junior medical technicians assisting her. "I don't know what life is normally like on Uru for girls your age…but on Earth, you'd still be in school. You shouldn't HAVE to worry about the things your parents and their friends forced on you. You should be deciding for YOURSELF what your life's course is going to take. You already have made a choice by bonding with one of the Avalonians who was brought onto _Redemption_. You want your freedom of choice taken away from you?"

Elass shook her head. "Of course not!"

"Well, at least we'll be gainfully employed," Toma mused.

"How's that, Major?" Kiu asked.

"Much that everyone who came here from Earth on their first deep space deployment made it through, they lucked out this time, Lieutenant. Next time, they might not be so lucky."

The other Urusians all nodded in grim understanding. "Okay, Major, you're all set," Hamilton then stated as she nodded to her assistants as they moved to lift the stretcher off the ground. "Let's get you up to _Haida_."

The others moved back to allow Toma to be carried off…

* * *

Ten minutes later…

"Are you sure you don't need a lift back up to the ship, Naoko?"

Takanashi Naoko — who was now relaxing in the very chariot that had taken her from the Space Dhow she had flown down to Muzlim Madiina with Padre Vincent Klein hours before to the Palace; Tano Tsukuhito was there to see to her safety, as was Garpa (who had been the chariot teamster that had taken Naoko and the priest to the Palace from the Airport) — smiled as she reached over to gently squeeze Hensō's hand. "I'll be fine, Kamen-san. I have to go retrieve the Space Dhow I brought down here and bring it back up anyway."

Kamen looked at her, and then she smirked knowingly before she gunned her hovercycle and drove off back towards Muzlim Madiina. Following her was Benten, with Su riding with her; the other victims of the Lady Zōju's curse five years ago, their wives and their replicas had already beamed directly aboard _Haida_ from the Grove alongside Padre Vincent. "So how does a Space Dhow fly, anyway?" Hensō then asked.

Naoko smirked. "You'll have to wait and find out, Hensō-vayae."

The Oni-form Avalonian blushed on being called _that_ as Tsukuhito and Garpa exchanged a knowing look before the latter flicked his reins to guide the chariot up the West Grove Road towards the capital city. As the chariot moved on, the gentle giant of Nan'yō gazed back on the passengers; Garpa had made sure there was a seat for the wounded Naoko to relax on. Seeing Hensō hover protectively close to the woman she was clearly quite attracted to — even if he didn't have empathy, Tsukuhito was experienced enough in reading people's faces to perceive what was going on — the largest of his school's "divas" could only smile. "You got what you wanted in the end, Hensō-san," he said.

Hensō gazed at him, and then she sighed. "Not exactly what I wanted, Sempai."

A nod. "You mean Ataru-kun?"

"Tcha!" she breathed out. "Much that I still love Darling — as much as I know he still loves me — what happened back in Onishuto…" A sigh. "Kyech-san did the right thing. But…" She looked down as her eyes teared. "For four months, I just felt abandoned. Not just by Darling but by everyone else. Even if they said they couldn't believe what Kyech-san had said outside the Cathedral…when it was _**known**_ that she wouldn't lie to anyone about anything…!" A shake of the head.

"You _**were**_ abandoned, Hensō," Naoko stated. "And you've got every right to be angry at people." A smile. "Still, at least you're trying to see their viewpoints as well. You really never did that before when you were living with Ataru-oniisama and his family."

Hensō nodded in agreement. "Where will you stay?" Garpa wondered.

"Earth, of course," Lum's sister said as she moved to sit on the edge of the chariot cabin. "Not in Japan. Not now. After all…" She gazed on Naoko.

"I'll be busy doing some things," Naoko warned.

"Medical technician. I saw," Tsukuhito mused.

The would-be medic blinked, and then she sighed. "No, Onii-sama. I'll do something else."

On her saying that, her earring then began to glow. "Eh…?" Tsukuhito gasped on sensing a surge of ki from the Terran-form Avalonian behind him, and then he turned…before stopping on seeing the luminescence eminating from Naoko's maple leaf-shaped earring fade. Looking closely at it, he was quick to see that the green earring didn't bear the Staff of Aesculapius insignia marking her as a future medical technician.

It now bore a simple fouled anchor crowned by a British naval coronet.

Noting that, Tsukuhito hummed.

He'd have to speak to someone from _Haida_ to learn what THAT trade badge represented…

* * *

Back at the muster point…

"_**SAY WHAT?!**_" Tsueko moaned.

Heather Brown laughed. "It's true, Miss Mago. We're a rifles regiment. We don't carry colours since back in the old days, rifle units were special strike troops. Sort of like the special forces troopers countries use today." She then pointed to her hat badge. "Our battle honours are on our hat badge; we don't need to carry around two big flags with us on parades, though we do have a camp flag. We won't wave it as we're marching back; we don't have the Freedom of the City, so it would be quite wrong to fly our symbols in the open without permission from the lord mayor."

"What else is different, Captain?" Sonami asked.

"Well, we also match at 140 paces per minute as our equivalent to the 'quick march' used by other regiments," the captain then said. "But tonight we'll just take a nice, casual route step back since we're heading back with wounded accompanying us."

Tsueko blinked, and then she nodded. "Oh, okay!"

By then, the Avalonian-Canadians — with the odd normal Canadian such as E Company's sergeant-major, the band director and the drum major — of the Rifles (and attached personnel from 17 Field Ambulance and 1 Military Police Regiment) had now formed into platoons and companies in order of designation, with the Regimental Band and Battalion Headquarters Company at the extreme right of the line. Mixed among them were the tōshi and friends who had gone into the Dead Grove hours before. Standing in the middle of that mass between C and D Companies were the leaders of the Seven Battle Schools and their friends (the tōshi from Rakuyō had the litter holding a slowly recovering Tadasu Suguta in their hands), along with those paroled prisoners who had not been taken up to _Haida_ due to injury. The leader of Rakuyō was currently undergoing a final check by Sergeant Shayla Trickett; Suguta had stated he would not accept any special treatment and would rejoin his schoolmates in the city before returning back to his guest quarters on the _Zhèng Hé_ to rest and recuperate. "Well, your body's fully healed and you should be undergoing the Awakening sometime this evening," the physician assistant said before showing the tricorder result to Natalie Blackwood, who was nodding in approval. "If you're going to sleep with your man, Hokona, I would advise you to keep the intimacies to a minimum," she then said as she smiled at Uru Hokona, who was now holding her boyfriend's hand.

"I'll remember that, Shayla-san," the strategist of Rakuyō promised, her cheeks now red with embarrassment.

Laughter filled the air. "I have an extra present I wish to bestow on those of my sisters who came down here tonight, but I wonder if I should hold off on that until we get back home, Trickett-gunsō," Hiromi stated, and then she gazed at the Rifles' acting medical officer. "Blackwood-sensei, you, your wonderful assistants and your dedicated medical technicians have displayed the quiet dignity for which the Canadian Forces Medical Services are renowned the world over for. Were she still alive, I believe Her Majesty the Queen Mother would be very proud of you all."

The doctor from Saint Boniface General blinked, and then she saluted her. "On behalf of my platoon-mates, I thank you for your words, Director. I pray you will say same to our brothers and sisters from Nova Scotia and elsewhere that came out this day."

Hiromi smiled. "So I shall."

"Doctor Blackwood?"

She turned, and then returned Heather Brown's salute. "Yes, Professor?"

"May I ask you, ma'am, to take the medical officer's traditional place in the march and assume command of Headquarters Company?" the infantry officer then asked, smiling.

A nod and salute. "Captain, it will be my pleasure," she said. "Sergeant Trickett, please inform Petty Officer Hamilton that she's commanding the platoon."

Trickett saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"

As the doctor headed off, a middle-aged man with a classical handlebar moustache — waxed properly at forty-five degree angles above the plane of his mouth, of course — came up to salute Hiromi and the child in her arms. "Director Moroboshi, forgive me for disturbing you, ma'am," Master Warrant Officer (Drum Major) William Johnson said.

"Yes, sir?" Hiromi said with a smile.

"As we're taking the _casual_ route back to the city, what music would you like the band to play as we head in?" the senior musician of the Rifles then asked.

The reborn emperor smiled. "The one song all my sisters who joined your noble regiment — not to mention all those across Earth who gladly took the oath to defend their new homelands — adopted as their own, sir." She nodded. "_Soldiers_."

He saluted again. "An excellent choice, Director. Excuse me, please."

With that, he was off. Those tōshi standing around Hiromi all blinked in confusion. "What song is that, Husband?" Mioko then asked. "I've never heard it before."

"Wait for it, Beloved," Hiromi advised. "You might recognise it."

By then, the last of the troops had fallen in. Noting that, Heather Brown slung her weapon over her shoulder, and then she called for the regiment to stand to attention. After ordering all the troops to sling their arms, she then barked out for a right turn. Once that was done — the tōshi were awed by how sharp the militiamen all moved with their bodies — the infantry captain/history professor then called out, "Royal Winnipeg Rifles, returning on the first leg back home, _**INTO ROUTE STEP, FORWARD…MARCH!**_"

Everyone headed off at the perfect 120 paces-per-minute quick march movement that was drilled into every Canadian serviceman, Regular and Reserve, right from the first day of basic training. As they went, the band up front quickly struck up a mournful tune with their instruments, one which was immediately recognised by Mago Tsueko. "Oh, I _**know**_ this song!" she said as she moved to scoop a squealing Arami from Hiromi's arms so she could hold the reborn emperor's hand. "C'mon, Kōtchi! Let's sing…!"

And over eight hundred people raised their voice in song…

_Do I hear what I think I'm hearing?  
Do I see the signs I think I see…  
Or is this just a fantasy?  
Is it true that the beast is waking,  
Stirring in his restless sleep tonight  
In the pale moonlight?  
In the grip of this cold December,  
You and I have reason to remember… _

_Soldiers write the songs  
That soldiers sing the songs  
That you and I don't sing!  
They blow their horns  
And march along.  
They drum their drums  
And look so strong.  
You'd think that nothing  
In the world was wrong! _

_Soldiers write the songs  
That soldiers sing the songs  
That you and I won't sing!  
Let's not look the other way.  
Taking a chance…  
'Cause if the bugler starts to play,  
We too must dance…! _

_What's that sound, what's that dreadful rumble?  
Won't somebody tell me what I hear…  
In the distance but drawing near?  
Is it only a storm approaching,  
All that thunder and the blinding light…  
In the winter night?  
In the grip of this cold December,  
You and I have reason to remember…_

* * *

At the end of the long line of soldiers, tōshi, paroled prisoners and everyone else, two couples and a threesome walked to bring up the rear. "It almost came out of you tonight," Shikuko mused as she gazed knowingly at Ataru. "Didn't it?"

"Yeah," he admitted with a reluctant nod. "But don't tell Hiromi that, okay?"

"Why not?" Ranma asked.

"It's something we have to deal with," Tariko said as she squeezed Kanami's hand in reassurance. "It's nothing concerning martial arts or anything like that, but it seems to have a place in our lives." She then smirked. "'Sides, do you blame us?"

"What do you mean, Tariko-san?" Mimōko asked.

Tariko sighed. "Well, we know she's your emperor reborn," she admitted before she exchanged looks with her twin brother. "But to us, she's our _**sister**_."

"She's got a point," Ranma mused.

The tōshi took that in, and then they nodded. "So what's this song again?" Shikuko then asked as she firmly gripped her lovers' hands.

"It's an ABBA tune back from their last studio album, _The Visitors_," Ataru said. "Here, listen to the chorus," he then bade as the band up front swung into the second chorus of the piece, and then both he and Tariko began to sing…

_Soldiers write the songs  
That soldiers sing the songs  
That you and I don't sing!  
They blow their horns  
And march along.  
They drum their drums  
And look so strong.  
You'd think that nothing  
In the world was wrong! _

_Soldiers write the songs  
That soldiers sing the songs  
That you and I won't sing!  
Let's not look the other way.  
Taking a chance…  
'Cause if the bugler starts to play,  
We too must dance! _

_Soldiers write the songs  
That soldiers sing the songs  
That you and I won't sing!  
Let's not look the other way.  
Taking a chance…  
'Cause if the bugler starts to play,  
We too must dance…! _

**_To be continued…_ **

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Nitō Kaisa** — Literally "Second Rank Sea Field Officer," the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force equivalent title to the rank of commander; **Santō Kūsa** — Literally "Third Rank Air Field Officer," the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force equivalent title to the rank of major.

2) **Okano Yuka** is a character from the _NOëL_ series of dating simulation games, which first appeared in 1996 in _NOëL - __Not Digital_, created by Pioneer LDC for the PlayStation format. She would later appear in _NOëL 3 - Mission on the Line_, which was released in 1998 for the PlayStation and later the Sega Saturn. Like _Grand Prix_, _NOëL_ did not get much in the way of following in the face of games like _Tokimeki Memorial_ and _Sentimental Graffiti_, but the artwork attracted me to it right from the start, so I include Yuka and other _NOëL_ characters in my works from time to time. All the time, Yuka is portrayed as a very technologically educated girl; she's always messing around with electronics of all types every chance she gets.

3) **1 Military Police Regiment** (short-form **1 MP REGT**) is, as stated in this part, western Canada's counterpart to 3 Military Police Regiment in Atlantic Canada and 2 Military Police Regiment in Ontario. The unit is headquartered in Edmonton. In the reality of this story, this regiment is structured the same way as 3 MP REGT is structured as described in the writer's notes to Part 40. As an infantry battalion in the Canadian Army has its own internal "regimental police" force which is augmented by military police personnel, the platoon detached to assist the infantrymen from Manitoba in this mission was drawn from **138 Military Police Company** (**138 MP COY**), based in Winnipeg.

4) The word **cháo** translates to "dynasty." Thus, _Hàn Cháo_ literally means "Hàn Dynasty." The **Jìn Dynasty** was the time in Chinese history from 265-420 C.E., formed by the Sīmǎ family to replace Cáo Wèi in 265. By then, Shǔ Hàn had already fallen to Wèi (in 263); Dōng Wú would eventually fall to Jìn in 280, thus reunifying the country and putting a formal end to the Three Kingdoms period. The Jìn Dynasty wouldn't, however, keep the peace; the **War of the Eight Princes** nearly shattered China again from 291-306. By the end of that period, northern China had slid into the age of the **Sixteen Kingdoms**, which tore apart the region until the founding of the Northern Dynasties in 439. The remaining elements of the Jìn Dynasty would rule the south until it collapsed into the Southern Dynasty period in 420. The **Northern and Southern Dynasties** would wrestle for control over China until 589, when the **Suí Dynasty** finally reunited the Middle Kingdom and ended four centuries of bloody civil conflict…though it wouldn't remain in power for long. Thanks to the ruthless tenor of its rule, the Suí would eventually be replaced by the **Táng Dynasty** in 618. That particular time in Chinese history would last for almost three centuries.

5) The code-phrase **Sundown** was taken from Gordon Lightfoot's most popular song ever. As stated in the notes for Part 35, _Sundown_ was released in 1974. It was Lightfoot's only release that reached the Number One position on the American _**Billboard**_** Hot 100** list of most popular songs (this was for the week of 29 June 1974), succeeding the anti-war song _Billy Don't Be a Hero_ by **Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods** and being succeeded in turn by the disco tune _Rock the Boat_ by the **Hues Corporation**.

6) From 1980-84, I was a student at Canada's only military-theme boy's boarding private school, **Robert Land Academy** (**RLA**), located six kilometres west of the hamlet of Wellandport in the township of **West Lincoln** of Niagara Region in Ontario (about 15 kilometres west of my hometown of Welland). Unlike American military private schools, RLA is structured mostly to help with problem children; the military theme — which I do admit was the main factor that made me join the Canadian Forces part-time in the winter of 1985 and full-time later that year — is used as a way of instilling discipline for those who have no sense of self-control and fail academically because of it. The phrase "**state of mind**" used by Kakōton Genjō (Natsukimi Makoto) in this part when it came to dealing with cold was one the academy sergeants-major often used to make us turn our minds away from succumbing to the cold when we were standing out on the parade squadron…especially when we weren't wearing gloves on our hands and the wind was up.

7) The "trade badge" that appears on Takanashi Naoko's earring is meant to symbolise her deciding to become a **Maritime Surface and Sub-Surface** (**MARS**) officer (the description of the trade was given in the writer's notes for Part 31). It should be noted that Navy officers in the Canadian Forces do not have trade symbols as Air Force officers do. Prior to 1955, officers in the Royal Canadian Navy (following Royal Navy tradition) wore a distinctive coloured cloth between the stripes of their rank insignia (a naval engineer would, for example, wear purple cloth with his rank) as a way of identifying their specific occupation. In 1955, officers switched over to a basic black background for all operational trades; non-operational officers such as doctors were still allowed to wear such distinctive cloth with their rank. To this day, Canadian Navy medical officers always wear scarlet cloth between the stripes of their rank on their sleeves and shoulder boards. Medical Services officers who are not doctors such as nursing officers, pharmacists, health care administration officers, social workers, physiotherapists and bioscience officers all wear dull cherry-shaded cloth between their rank stripes.

8) The hat badge of the **Royal Winnipeg Rifles** is designed to act pretty much — as Heather Brown explained to Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko) and Ryūbi Gentoku (Koro Sonami) in this part — as a miniature version of a normal infantry regiment's **Regimental Colour** (the flag that normally bears a regiment's battle honours to mark its past achievements). The hat badge is composed of a Maltese Cross in the centre bearing an annulus (a ring) with the regiment's name on it, said ring surrounding the image of a rampant devil with a pitchfork over a scroll bearing the regiment's motto. Atop the cross is a tablet (a rectangular box) with the battle honours for the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 there. The Saint Edward's Crown is mounted above said tablet. Surrounding the cross is a wreath of thirteen maple leaves; wrapped around each leaf are scrolls with two battle honours each.

Since hat badges average about five centimetres (two inches) high, reading the battle honours on those badges would pretty much require a very sharp set of eyes…or possibly a magnifying glass. To get around that, rifles regiments also emblazon their battle honours on the drums of their bands, which provide a much larger canvas for them to be displayed.

9) Since regiments in the armoured troops/cavalry and infantry throughout the British Commonwealth do not carry their stands of colours into the field these days, a **camp flag** was devised as a way to mark where members of the unit could be located. For the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, their camp flag is dark green overall — such a colour was typical of uniforms worn by members of British rifles regiments in the old days; this ensured that they couldn't be seen by potential enemy soldiers — the running black devil-with-pitchfork centrepiece of the regiment's hat badge in the middle of the flag and thin black stripes on the top hoist and lower fly corners of the flag.

10) The **Freedom of the City** is a special award granted to a military unit by a particular city or town. In effect, it allows a military unit to march through the streets of the city "with drums beating, with colours flying and with bayonets fixed." It is considered the highest civic honour that can be bestowed on a military unit by any city or town in the Commonwealth of Nations.

11) The late **Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother** (1900-2002) was the **Colonel-in-Chief** of the Canadian Forces Medical Service from 1977 until her death (and colonel-in-chief of the CFMS' predecessor service in the Canadian Army, the **Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps**, from 1953 to 1974 when the Medical Branch of the Forces was finally and formally established). To be the colonel-in-chief of an army unit is to be its official Royal patron; a colonel-in-chief (which actually does not have to be a member to the Royal Family, as note when the former Governor General of Canada, **Adrienne Clarkson** [born 1939], became Colonel-in-Chief of the **Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry**, Canada's second infantry regiment) is the personal ceremonial link between said unit and the Sovereign. The Navy equivalent to this title is **Commodore-in-Chief**; the Air Force equivalent is **Air Commodore-in-Chief**.

12) The song _Soldiers_ — as Ataru explained at the end of this part — appeared on the eighth and last studio album released by Sweden's most famous musical group, **ABBA**, in 1981; the song itself was the fourth track on _The Visitors_. While having never got a chance to even appear as a B-side song for a singles release, _Soldiers_ is one of my favourite songs from ABBA and has the right sort of marching drum beat in the background that could possibly appeal to military bands.


	47. The Evolution of Tōshi

Muzlim Madiina, near the Airport (Japan time: Just before dawn)…

"Oh, my! That was one long walk!"

"I never thought soldiers could march like that for so long without stopping!"

"Not one of them dropped! We just did THIRTY KILOMETRES! Without a freakin' break!"

"Don't be surprised, ladies."

Hearing that amused comment from Sandi McLugh, the "Seito quartet" of Koro Sonami, Seki Haneko, Haru Asumi and Koeru Kumomi turned to gazed on the gaiscíoch from New York. "What do you mean by that, Sandi-san?" Kumomi wondered before she took a deep pull of the bottle of Gatorade that had been handed to her by a smiling medic from 33 Field Ambulance when the Royal Winnipeg Rifles came onto Elder Yorla's estate.

"Avalonians have been volunteering to serve in the National Guard of the several states since they started living in America back in March, Kumomi," Sandi reported as she moved to sit on the soft lawn to enjoy her sports drink. Everyone was relaxing and watching as the Rifles all massed by company and platoon as they were debriefed by their officers before they would be dismissed and allowed to return to the _Bismarck_ so they could get some needed sleep and prepare for the voyage back to Earth; already, the headquarters tent was down and the other tents and equipment were being packed up for transport to the German starship. "Fleshed out the old Rainbow Division back to full strength again within a month…and then they turned around and formed 'ghost' units to give New York State alone TWO WHOLE ADDITIONAL DIVISIONS if we ever had to mobilise all-out for war; SIXTY EXTRA DIVISIONS for the whole country! State governors are humming and hawing about whether or not to reactivate some of the old Civil War units — sort of like what folks in Massachusetts did two years ago with the 54th Massachusetts Regiment — so there'd be some perpetual continuity with what Avalonian-Americans are doing these days." A smirk. "Don't see a day pass back home where people are out exercising somewhere in the Big Apple and in all the suburbs in the Tri-State Area. They don't even get _paid_ to parade, either!"

The Japanese girls all nodded in appreciation. "We don't have as large of a reserve of military personnel as America does," Kumomi noted as she set Zanryū aside, then sipped from her bottle of Gatorade. "Service in the military is not respected these days in Japan, not like it was before World War Two." She then "looked" up to the hovering starships in the skies overhead. "But with _Yamato_ now in the military…"

"That'll change!" Asumi snorted before taking a deep pull on her own drink.

"If the idiot pacifists in the Diet don't raise a massive stink over what _Yamato_ actually is," Haneko noted before sipping her own Gatorade.

The others nodded. "Battleship _**and**_ aircraft carrier," Sonami noted. "Both types of vessels would spiritually be forbidden under Article Nine of the Constitution."

"Fret not about that, dear cousin. It shall not be a problem."

Everyone turned on hearing that familiar voice, and then they moved to stand before Hiromi waved them down. The reborn emperor then took her own seat beside Sonami. "So how are your children, Hiromi-sama?" Kumomi then asked, quickly sensing that Hiromi was still nursing a sore right side from where Ōgi had stabbed her hours before. Then again, given that the reborn emperor had to fall out of the march and be beamed aboard _Haida_ an hour after it had begun with an opening wound — with both Izuku Mioko, their daughter Arami and Wan Miwaka going up with her — it was quite understandable she would still walk with some tenderness.

"Kanami-chan — and yes, my friends, that is the name my reborn younger son accepted for herself when she awoke on _Haida_ a couple hours ago — is now sleeping with Arami-chan in my cabin." Hiromi then shuddered. "As for my wife and Miwaka-san…"

"Miwaka-san loves you still, Hiromi-sama," Kumomi noted.

A sigh. "I've done nothing to earn such love, either in my first life or this one, Kumomi-san," Hiromi admitted. "Back then, she was just a willing chamber to give birth to a potential heir to the Dragon Throne. Once she had given birth, she was disposed of by Mioko's past-self out of jealousy. These days, she plans to become a nun."

"A nun with a daughter," Sandi noted. "Doubt it'll be allowed."

"Aye, that's true!" Hiromi purred out with an Irish-like lilt to her voice, which made the gaiscíoch laugh out loud. "So what do you plan to do with yourself, Sandi-san? School will re-start for you in September; you'll be in your last year at Ulster Riverdale or so Sumiko-sempai told me. I know you now desire Haneko-san…"

"Which I'm quite glad for!" Sonami stated.

Haneko gasped. "Sonami!" she moaned out, her eyes tearing.

"It's like I said back in the Grove," Seito's leader stated as she gazed on the older woman. "I want you **_safe_**, Haneko-san. Is it so wrong to feel that way?" She then took a deep breath. "I thought about things as we were walking back here. I'm finding it easier now to forgive you for not telling me about Zhāoliè…" She fixed Haneko with a warning look. "Though you STILL should have told me! At least HINTED to me something was wrong! Even if I found it hard to accept…"

A sigh. "I'm so sorry, Sonami…!" Haneko said as she bowed her head. "But…!"

"Ah! There you all are!"

Everyone perked, and then they looked over. "Hey, Miiko!" Asumi called out as Hayashi Miiko walked over to join them. "How were things here?!"

"Not a single thing was damaged in our patrol zone, Asumi-san," Ranma's sister said as she knelt on the ground beside Kumomi, immediately reaching for her hand. While the volunteer teams from the Seven Schools and Nanban High were having their fun in the Dead Grove, the majority of the tōshi who had come from Earth had been spread out across Muzlim Madiina to ensure that the civilians weren't hurt by the _Redemption_ crashing through the Airport warp gate like it had done. "And only a few people wound up blinded by the light from the enemy ship when it came through. We got them to the healers quickly enough. No permanent cases of blindness, thank the gods."

"As was reported to me by all the other school leaders that remained behind," Hiromi mused. "Thank the Fates for that. There was no need to disrupt the lives of the good people in this beautiful city." A frown. "Pity some just don't realise that."

"Aye, oh High King!" Sandi drawled out. "You speak the truth there."

The others nodded. "So save for the marriage, all is finished here," Kumomi noted.

"Aye," the reborn emperor of the Hàn breathed out.

Local time in Muzlim Madiina was currently two hours after midnight, though most of the people in the Yaminokuni capital were still up and celebrating the victory — _**without fatalities!**_ — against the Urusian Imperials and the Niphentaxians. An hour before, First Patriarch Upa announced that "Prince" Ika and Redet Izabel would be married at suppertime later that day, which was sixteen hours away; Earth and Yaminokuni had very similar day lengths. Because of that, the Canadians were now in the midst of packing up their gear and moving out for the trip home. The armoured regiments were all back aboard _Haida_, _Arizona_, _Paekbŏm_ and _Richelieu_. Next to go back up would be the 10th Field Regiment to _Hood_. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles would then go next back up to _Bismarck_, followed by 36 Combat Engineer Regiment to _Santísima Trinidad_, and then the combat service support personnel to the other ships. By the time the ceremony was held at the Wedding Hall at the Palace — when Redet Invader and his wife were expected to arrive; the two were being brought to Yaminokuni aboard the small warp sloop jointly owned by Haneko's and Asumi's Noukiite "dream sisters," Seu-Euch Yesu-A Hechnich'-Kachnuk and Seu-Nuk Yesu-K'i Hechnich'-Kingch'eng of K'uongno — there would be no sign as to the past presence of the Terrans on the dark world. Save for the Moroboshi siblings and some friends, whose transit here could be explained by the presence of Damasu's small scout ship.

_Hopefully, we can keep the witless dullards on Uru still in the dark about what Ayami-chan and Tsukihana-kun created for a while yet to come_, Hiromi noted.

"Majesty."

The reborn emperor blinked, and then turned to gaze up at a pretty blue-eyed girl with her spiky raven hair held down by a headband, now standing nearby. She was dressed in the gold-and-white seifuku of Nan'yō's middle school division and had a serene look on her face which instantly reminded Hiromi of Morokuzu Ryōko. She soon remembered why. "Shiyu-dono. It does our heart well to see you here. How are you this fine day?"

Morokuzu Kinmi — Shokatsukin Shiyu — nearly passed out in disbelief. _The Emperor knows ME?!_ the girl nearly squealed out loud. And it was understandable. For young, impressionable tōshi learning of the power they had inherited with the magatama — which was accompanied with all the facts, stories, personal beliefs, myths and legends about their past-selves — to stand in the presence of _**Reitei**_ herself evoked the same awe, devotion and respect that the average soldier of the Army of Northern Virginia would have once displayed towards General Robert E. Lee. "You are too courteous to me, My Emperor!" she stated, trying not to talk a mile a minute, and then she perked. "Um…d-d-did Kōmei-ch-ch-chan tell you about m-m-me…?"

A chuckle. "Stop stuttering, Kinmi-san. It's unbecoming of you!" Hiromi admonished, which made Kinmi jerk as the girls from Seito and Sandi snickered. "And no, Ryōko-san did not tell you of me. Thanks to the precision Onē-sama forced on Onii-san so he could be used to gather the necessary anti-ki she could employ to create her own body before Elder Ganzo's intervention negated that need, he — and I by extension — acquired a virtual living computer when it came to things of a decidedly female nature." She then winked at Kinmi. "I used it to memorise all your names — real name and battle name alike — when I took time to observe things at the various schools over the last four months." Another wink. "You even attracted Onē-sama's attention, Kinmi-san."

Kinmi jerked as a wave of mortal terror washed over her. Along with all the legends and stories about tōshi also came the stories of the Black Death and what such a being was capable of doing if the chance ever arose. "N-n-n-NEGAKO-SAMA's attention…?!" she sputtered.

"Hai. Your ki control is quite exceptional…and unlike your younger sister, you never had to deal with a haōryū actually fused to your soul. Onē-sama will want to teach you some finer points when it comes to ki manipulation. When we get back home and summer vacation comes along, I'll introduce you two. If you're interested."

"You'll have to do it, Shiyu-dono," Miiko added.

Kinmi looked over. "I don't understand, Kunrō-sama…"

A smirk crossed the redhead's face. "Kinmi-san, I can sense what you've just done to yourself. I would assume Tsukihana-kun arranged same for Ryōko-san just now."

Hiromi jolted, and then spun around to peer intently at the Nan'yō middle school senior for a moment before her eyes widened as elements of the younger girl's ki pattern became quite apparent. "Kinmi-san…!" she breathed out. "Are you alright?!"

The Terran-turned-Avalonian tōshi ki adept now attending Nan'yō then smiled. "Hai, Hiromi-sama, I'm fine. The Awakening was monitored by one of the Avalonian nurses on _Bismarck_; I didn't have any problems with it. Neither did Ryōko-chan; she was even able to allow herself to come to a spiritual agreement with Fúlóng after her soul was shifted over. Just like what happened between Mimōko-sempai and Zǐmíng when she became an Avalonian on Thursday last," she said as she held up her right hand, allowing her ki to flood that limb, which made it glow brightly. As the Seito girls gaped and Sandi nodded in approval, Kinmi relaxed herself. "I even advanced my standing." She then indicated her magatama, which was now B-rank gold; she had been D-rank before.

"Congratulations, Kinmi-chan," Haneko stated. "Will you consider pursuing a medical career after you graduate from school? You'll be perfect for it now."

Kinmi smiled. "Well, I'm sure I could convince Hana-sensei to take me on as an apprentice when I move up into the senior years as a part-time job, Haneko-sempai. If I have the patience for it, I might consider it a career…"

"Hiromi, how many un-templated bodies are aboard the ships?" Sonami asked.

Hiromi sighed. "Normally, each ship keeps a hundred spare bodies for emergencies. If all the girls who came out tonight desire a new body, we'll require the factory itself to answer such a need. I hope people are willing to be patient."

"Majesty! At least let your own cousin here undergo this!"

Hiromi smirked. "Unchō-dono, you need never ask me something like _that_ when it comes to my own spiritual kin," she admonished a now-blushing Haneko…and then she took a deep breath before shrugging. "Well, since it seems to be starting, might as well take the opportunity. I'm sure there are those ladies out there who would elect to wait if the bodies run out before we can fulfill everyone's needs."

"Of that, Hiromi-sama, you can guarantee," Kumomi noted as everyone stood up…

* * *

Aboard _Bismarck_, an hour later…

"How are you, Hakufu?"

Mago Tsueko breathed out as she tried to find her centre. She was now standing in the German starship's forward observation lounge. "I'm okay, Kōkin," the new leader of Nan'yō said as she took in a very deep breath, and then she allowed the ki that was building inside her to gently surge away from her skin, creating a battle aura around her. "Wow…this is so weird! All that I can _**see**_ now…!"

The other tōshi all tensed. "Try not to go too crazy, Sonsaku," Mimōko warned. "You don't want to let loose with a ki blast to blow the dome off the ship."

Tsueko blinked, and then she looked up. "Yeah. The Germans wouldn't like that. Kōtchi wouldn't like it either." She then relaxed herself as the ki field around her faded. "That was so weird. Talking to Shàobà like that…" She then gazed on Mimōko. "Was it that way with you and Zǐmíng when you got your new body?"

The older woman nodded. "Hai. Zǐmíng actually warned both Shikuko and I about people like Sandi-san when my soul finally awoke to the presence of the Te'a." She then smirked. "This is going to change everything for all of us. I doubt few will refuse this."

"What about guys like Kōkin-kun?" Oroka Shikumi — who, for the first time in over two years, didn't have to put ki-charged bandages over her body to hide the wounds she had received during the rebellion of the Kōshi Kasshi against the Seven Schools — then asked, thumbing Meguru Ichiyu. "I don't think guys like them would want to undergo a sex-change."

"Well, there is the DNA recombinant drug formula Kyech-san provided for Tōtaku after he got shot in the back in the Grove," Mimōko noted. "I'm sure the Noukiite embassy here has access to the formula. If not, we could get samples of it when Kuhu's friends all come here for the wedding later on today here in town." She then smirked.

"What?!" Oka Yuzuko demanded.

"I was just wondering what might happen when guys like Kōkin and Gakushū get that stuff pumped into them," the raven-haired senior noted with an amused smirk. "Sagussans were always genetically bisexual. It was proper back on that planet long ago for males to form _marei'cha_ couples as well before they would contact female couples to have children."

"I couldn't imagine doing that as a boy," Ichiyu confessed.

Laughter filled the room…and then people perked as a delicious scent passed their noses. "Hey, guys!" a familiar Kansai-accented voice called out. "How are you all?!"

"**_U-CHAN!_**"

Everyone then gaped as Tsueko literally back-flipped herself to land behind Kuonji Ukyō, snaring the okonomiyaki chef around the waist. As Ranma's former fiancée awked at that close embrace, she nearly let go of the large tray of piping hot okonomiyaki she brought over for everyone. Fortunately, Yuzuko was quick on the ball and snared the tray before anything was dropped to the deck. "Fu-chan!" Ukyō croaked out as she tried to shove the other girl away from her. "What the hell are…?!"

Their eyes then locked with the other's.

Silence fell as time seemed to freeze. For the more ki-adept of the Nan'yō students in the lounge — people such as Mimōko, Shikumi, Yuzuko and to a lesser extent Ichiyu — they were quick to sense the massive surge of ki that now flowed out of Tsueko's body to embrace Ukyō with a shroud of comforting warmth and pure love that was breathtaking in its intensity. Fortunately for the chef from Kansai, Tsueko had enough control over herself to not give in to the primal urges that were now surging up from the depths of her soul and literally pillow Ukyō silly right in front of everyone else.

"Tsueko…"

"Ukyō…"

_**That**_ made everyone else in the lounge gape.

Hearing the torrent of attraction in Tsueko's voice was understandable.

But to hear it from _Ukyō_ as well…?

Mimōko's eyes then narrowed before those eyes went very wide as the familiar sensations of ki only an Avalonian can make came to her. "U-chan…when did you do this?!"

"And why?!" Yuzuko added.

The others in the lounge gasped before they all peered intently at the transformed Kuonji Ukyō. "Blame Kōgetsuei-kun," the chef from Kansai admitted as she allowed herself to relax in Tsueko's arms. "He came over here from _Haida_ with Kōmei-chan to have her made into an Avalonian after everything all calmed down in that dark place south of the city you guys were at. Kōmei-chan's big sister Shiyu-chan goes to Nan'yō — she's a third-year middle school student — so he went to find her, then dragged them both into Sick Bay here on _Bismarck_ to get it done. I was there delivering food to the medics. When they were growing Shiyu-chan's and Kōmei-chan's new body, the girls offered to do it for me, too. Way of paying back what I taught them all…"

"Are you sure you're okay about this, Ukyō-san?" Ichiyu wondered.

Ukyō blinked. "What? You mean Fu-chan's mom?" A snort; Ukyō had met Mago Haeko several times since the latter had moved with her daughter to Kimitsu. Despite the older woman's skill and experience in the martial arts, Ukyō had ways of dealing with her…especially when it came to Haeko's reaction to being called "old;" Ukyō always brained Haeko with her big baker's peel every time the older woman freaked out around her. "Relax. I can deal with her."

"But what about Daikyō, U-chan?" Mimōko asked. "What if she — or he — shows up?"

Everyone tensed on hearing the modern battle name which would be applied to the reborn elder daughter of the legendary Hàn Dynasty jurist Qiáo Xuán…who, all those in the lounge knew, lived today as the headmaster of the Kyoshō Academy, Hashi Kurosuke (Kyōgen Kōso). Such a person, the tōshi all knew, would be driven by the soul of Qiáo Dàměi to find the current incarnation of Sūn Cè to marry…as the reborn soul of Qiáo Xìxiǎo would be driven to find the current incarnation of Zhōu Yú. And if both of those people were alive in this incarnation, the relationship that was now beginning between Mago Tsueko and Kuonji Ukyō — to say anything of the relationship that was also beginning between Meguru Ichiyu and Takadono Osami — was going to run into rough seas.

"It doesn't matter."

Everyone blinked. "Sonsaku…" Mimōko exhaled.

A smirk crossed Tsueko's face. "Isn't this what Kōtchi wants for all of us, guys? For us to stop being governed by all the dumb things our past-selves did?"

People gazed at her, and then they exchanged looks…

* * *

_Arizona_, that moment…

"Ah, Shikei-dono! It does my heart well to see you up and about."

Hearing that wonderful voice with its lilting tones and classical speech, Kashira Tōko found herself blushing from her head to her toes before she turned to gaze at Hiromi as she moved to finish dressing. "You are simply too kind to me, Majesty," the Seito senior stated with a polite nod as she moved to adjust her seifuku top's tie. "I assume Gentoku-sama and her friends are now undergoing body-swaps at this time?"

"The bodies will soon emerge from gestation," Hiromi stated. "I trust those girls who desire such but couldn't be serviced today were not upset at being left out, Tōko-san."

"I organised a lottery for everyone outside Sonami, Haneko-san, Kumomi-san and Asumi-chan to select those who would undergo such conversions now," Tōko admitted as she followed the reborn emperor out of her recovery room to relax in the general examination room to wait for the former's official release from the care of the United States Navy Medical Corps. "Everyone wouldn't hear of not allowing any of them to undergo it now." As Hiromi gave her a curious look, Tōko blushed. "I didn't cheat on it."

"I suspected not," Hiromi noted. "It does my heart well to know that you elected to remain at Seito. I know your past-self's story…and that you were considering a transfer to Kyoshō when your parents died." Her eyes narrowed on saying that.

Tōko blinked…and then her eyes widened in shock. "That was **_you_**…?!"

A nod. "I assume one of Taeru-san's friends told you what happened."

The Seito senior nodded. "Matsuhara-kun did," she stated as her brown eyes teared. "How could Tō-san DO such a thing, Hiromi-sama?! Yes, I find Sonami attractive! Who on Earth wouldn't find someone as pure as her attractive?! But to…!"

Hiromi immediately drew the other woman into her arms. "Still, I am sorry that I had to do _**that**_ to your parents, Tōko-san," she said as her own eyes teared. "Even if their actions were repulsive, it still left you an orphan. That is always wrong."

A shake of the head. "No…I'm okay, Hiromi…I'm okay…"

Gentle sobs escaped her as Hiromi remained in place, allowing Tōko to weep as her memory turned back ten weeks to a nice spring day in Chichibu…

* * *

_Near the Tōgen Abbey, Wednesday 28 April 2010, mid-afternoon… _

_"I'm so sorry, Gentoku…" _

_As the now-dizzy Koro Sonami felt her body collapse under her, she tried to focus her eyes on the slump-shouldered senior student now turning to walk away from her. "Mō-san…" she gasped as footfalls echoed around her, indicating that a small group of people were now moving to close in on her from all sides. "Wh-why…?" _

_Hearing that gasped plea, Kashira Tōko turned to stare at her with eyes that were now full of tears. Of shame? Of relief? Of regret…? She couldn't tell. "It is our fate, Gentoku…" the senior then whispered before she turned away. "Because it is_ my _fate in the end. I turn away from Seito to embrace Kyoshō…" _

_"And when you had your fill of the darker side of what Kyoshō offers, you will try to return back to Seito, Shikei-dono. But when you do, Chūtatsu-dono will strike you down," a strange yet comforting voice then echoed from somewhere to Sonami's right rear. "A most wasted life your past-self followed eighteen hundred years ago. And you believe Lord Zǐqìng's example is the guide to a_ good _life? How disappointing." _

_Sonami blinked in confusion as the people around her — even Tōko — turned to see who had just spoken. "So who's the stupid bitch that just decided to stick her nose in something that doesn't involve her?!" a growling man's voice then challenged. _

_"A pity you don't realise what you're really dealing with,_ Yuku-san_," that voice — it felt so comforting to Sonami — then mused, though said voice dripped with scorn on her saying that name. "Allow me to introduce you to Gentoku-dono's _other_ side, so to speak." As something in the air seemed to literally hiss like a snake, that voice barked out, "__**COME FORTH, LORD ZHĀOLIÈ!**_** SEISHIN-HASAI HI-KŌSEN****_!_**_" _

_Sonami jolted before something slammed into the back of her head… _

_…and then darkness came. _

_Before the eternal fire in her soul erupted in her eyes. _

_"Oh, no…!" _

_"Oh, YES, Shikei-dono!" that voice echoed from somewhere now to Tōko's left as the small hit-squad of Kyoshō tōshi led by Yuku Taeru (Ukin Bunsoku) all frantically looked around to find where their mysterious antagonist was. "Know the _true_ price of betrayal of your heart. Not only does the innermost part of my kinsman's soul truly sees how much you care for her deep down…but so does my kinsman's most remarkable soul-guest. The True Heavenly King of Shǔ Hàn, the Sky Lord Zhāoliè himself!" _

_And then the howling laughter began… _

_As Tōko, Taeru and the other Kyoshō fighters all found themselves turning inward to stare in wide-eyed disbelief at what was now happening to Seito's leader, Sonami slowly rose to her feet, billowing golden ki flowing from every pore on her body as her uniform began to burn away to reveal her quite well-developed body underneath. And while the all-male team under Taeru were quick to find themselves unashamedly drooling at the shapely breasts and the curvy hips the Seito sophomore possessed, Tōko was turning sheet-white as she recalled all the _other_ times this horrible scene had happened at or near Seito. A scene that resulted in week-long stays in the intensive care ward of Chichibu City Hospital as people recovered from blood loss, multiple shattered bones and horrid internal injuries that could only have come from a monster in human form. A tōshi possessed by one of the Haōryū, the Conquering Dragons of Heaven. _

_As Koro Sonami was so possessed now. _

_Reaching her full height, the giggling Sonami/Zhāoliè looked around with her glowing eyes as she tried to find the very nice person who had awoken her from deep within her host's subconscious. The nice person that called her host "kinsman" and spoke with a deep passion that only came from an understanding of the most basic of truths. Hmmmm…a curious scent from near the raven-haired girl that had given Sonami her first ever lesbian wet dream days ago. The very girl that now had_ **betrayed** _her…! _

_"__**Do not be angry at your host's future heart-mate, kinsman**__," that voice then said with a frightening rumble that made Tōko and her allies all gasp in horror as it suddenly dawned on them that they now potentially faced_ **two** _dragons and not just one. And given what they had heard what happened when their own leader was possessed by the crimson monster Tàizǔ and how much that resulted in broken bodies and wounded souls…! "__**'Twas not her true, heart-felt decision to force herself to leave Chéngdū for the more colder climes of Xǔchāng. 'Twas the petty fears and heartless ambitions of this one's sire and dam that now force her down the dark path of her past-self's life…!**__" _

_"_**SHUT UP!**_" _

_Eyes locked on Taeru as he shuddered. "I don't know WHO the FUCK you are, lady!" the master of the sansetsu-kon snarled. "But you're butting in on our lord's business! Get away from here now, let us take Ryūbi and you won't get hurt!" _

_An amused chuckle. "What makes you think that you can hurt me?" _

_Hearing that, he laughed as he moved to lick one section of his three-part staff-like weapon. "Oh, wait until you see what I can do, lady…" he hissed as his brown eyes flashed with a deadly fervour. "So c'mon out and…!"_

KK-KRACK!

_Sonami screamed out as something punched into her right shoulder and through her body, ripping out the other side to slam into the ground several metres away. Stunned silence then fell as the tōshi morbidly watched the possessed leader of Seito croak out in pain as blood began leaking from her mouth and nose. Her glowing eyes began to fade as she focused on a horrified Tōko, who was shaking her head in denial over what she had just witnessed. "__**Tōko…my beloved…my treasure…!**__" _

_Her eyes then closed as she collapsed. "_**SONAMI!**_" Tōko screamed as she lunged over to catch the nude and bleeding girl before she hit the ground._

KK-KRACK!

_Around her, all the other Kyoshō tōshi gasped in disbelief as an arc of blood then exploded from a deep crease in the raven-haired senior's head. Her eyes went wide before the hot pain overwhelmed her and she collapsed to the ground short of Sonami as the sophomore herself fainted. As the particularly acidic stench of cordite then filled the air around the hill, Taeru turned to see the muscular man in the business suit walk out from behind a tree, a Winchester Model 70 sporting rifle in hand and smoke coming out of the barrel. Beside him was a woman dressed in a formal business suit, looking very much like Tōko herself save for more stylish hair. Both of them had very neutral looks on their faces, which made the tōshi all gape in shock. _

_"Why…?!" Taeru then demanded as he kept his eyes locked on the rifle in Katsura Tamasuke's hands. He hadn't had to deal with someone armed with one of those things before, but he had trained himself in case he had to one day deal with riot police. _

_"Because my foolish daughter's loyalties are still too ripped apart because of this monster, Yuku-san," Tamasuke calmly stated as he exchanged a knowing look with his wife Noriko. "You don't know this, but Tōko's been having most inappropriate dreams about this creature since she first met her at the start of the winter term!" _

_"So what?!" one of Taeru's friends demanded. "That's normal!" _

_"Not for me, it isn't!" the older man snarled as he stared in disgust at the downed Sonami, whose twin shoulder wounds from the .264 Winchester Magnum round that Tamasuke had fired through her body were beginning to heal thanks to the power of the dragon now within her. Sadly, the deep wound in Tōko's head was still bleeding, though her father had aimed well enough to only cause surface damage. "I won't have my daughter become a dyke! Once she ends her foolishness with all your worthless kind at the end of the school year, she'll have a very good husband waiting for her…!" _

_"A pity you will not_ live _to see her graduate." _

_Hearing that voice from somewhere behind him, Tamasuke snarled as he moved to bring his weapon to bear. "_**HEY, LADY! WHOEVER YOU ARE, DUCK!**_" Taeru screamed. _

_"Target, Katsura Tamasuke: Kill-disintegrate!" _

_"_Target, Katsura Tamasuke: Kill-disintegrate_." _

_As people blinked on hearing that cold computer voice, a Lawgiver thundered… _

_As Taeru and the other tōshi watched in morbid curiosity, a bolt of bright energy ripped out of nowhere to slam straight into Tamasuke's stomach. As the stench of burning flesh then flooded everyone's nostrils, an anguished scream escaped him as the fire exploded in every direction, searing through his flesh and clothes in seconds until nothing was left of him, not even ashes. The Winchester rifle, however, remained intact as it fell to the ground, fortunately not triggering its action as Tamasuke hadn't ejected and reloaded it before he had been struck down. Silence fell as the tōshi all took that in, and then Noriko began to scream. _

_"Oh, do be silent, you!" that voice snarled… _

_…as the tōshi saw someone in jeans and a jean jacket come almost literally out of_ thin air_, her right hand holding a very complex pistol with a smoking barrel, said weapon now aimed at the head of Tōko's mother. Noriko's scream caught in her throat as she looked at this scowling girl with the futuristic weapon. On seeing her, the Kyoshō warriors blinked before Taeru's eyes widened in recognition. "Well, I'll be damned…!" he breathed out before nodding respectfully. "Moroboshi Hiromi, I presume." _

_"Hai. Forgive me if I don't give you my battle name at this time, Bunsoku-dono. Understand, I do _not_ do this out of disrespect for you and your brother warriors of Kyoshō," Hiromi declared. "Do any of you how to make proper use of that rifle?" _

_"I do," one of the other tōshi — a brutish and well-built dark-skinned man with a bald head and dark blue eyes named Haru Matsuhara (Chōshō Shikyō) — then stated as he walked over, drawing out a handkerchief as he picked up the Winchester with it, and then he moved to expertly unload the weapon, slipping the last three rounds and the expended cartridge casing for the shot that had cut Tōko's forehead into his pockets. _

_"Good. Here, Shikyō-dono…catch!" _

_And with that, the casing that had been used for the shot that had downed Sonami was tossed over. "Thanks," Matsuhara said. "What would you want us to do, Hiromi-san?" _

_"Abort your mission," Hiromi calmly stated. "Go back to Kyoshō and inform Mōtoku-dono of what you have seen today. Take the weapon with you to show it to him. I believe on hearing this, he will gladly think it over before moving to strike at Gentoku-dono again. Also inform him of Shikei-dono's parents' actions. Their base_ betrayal _of their daughter's love and loyalty to them which helped force her decision to transfer to Kyoshō. Lucky thing I learned when I was on Okusei with Onē-sama, Onii-san and Onē-san what filial piety_ **truly** _means!" _

_She then took a deep breath as she gave Taeru a sad look, which made him wince at the sincerity of the words that followed: "For the time being, I would ask you kindly to not mention my name to him, Bunsoku-dono. I do this because I fear that what I was in my first life will hurt all of you; I wish not to allow that to happen. As for her…" She then smiled as the Lawgiver's muzzle swung over to bear directly on Katsura Noriko's face. "Target, Katsura Noriko: Kill-disintegrate," she said with the same flat emotional tone she would use in ordering a nice bowl of gyūdon at a local Yoshinoya restaurant. _

_Noriko cried out as the weapon's computer repeated that fatal command…_

* * *

Minutes later, Hiromi walked a wet-faced Tōko out of the American starship's medical station, and then she moved to sit her down on one of the lounge chairs in the corridor beyond to await what was happening with the Seito quartet and the lone gaiscíoch from New York who had accompanied the tōshi of Kantō on this mission. They were then quick to sense a powerful presence nearby. "I see you were able to have your own DNA enhanced, Mōtoku-dono," the reborn emperor stated as she gazed knowingly at Tsukasa Torusuke, who had Bakari Choko standing protectively close to him.

The leader of Kyoshō smirked. "The Noukiite embassy in Muzlim Madiina had the DNA-recombinant therapy formula in their computers, Majesty. The Lady General Kaechkyuk was pleased to arrange to have that transmitted up to the ships so it could be quickly synthesised; there were blood samples from all the Avalonians serving on the ships to act as the formula base and the ruby meson needed to curb the normal tendencies of the regenerative enzymes to rebuild cells exactly as they were in the donor's body." He then smiled. "'Sides, having Tàizǔ inside me made it much easier for my body to accept the new DNA. Sort of like what happened when Suguta got shot by that boy."

A nod. "I sensed that when Kenshika-san and I were busy making sure Ando and his friends had no support in trying to suppress Kanami-chan when she was possessing Lum-san's original body. I hope the poor child is being cared for."

"He is," Torusuke stated. "His adopted mother's a good woman and his father — once he gets out of Hichkyech'eng, of course — should be no problem in the future."

Both he and Hiromi laughed at that. "'Hichkyech'eng,' Torusuke-kun?" Tōko asked.

"Noukiios' top-tier prison planet, Tōko-san. Like Rura Penthe in _The Undiscovered Country_…mixed with the CryoPrison in _Demolition Man_. Anyone that goes in there gets their brains literally re-wired to ensure they'll never offend again," Torusuke provided; he had read up on some things concerning the Noukiites on the voyage to Yaminokuni.

"Is that a good thing, Mō-kun?!" Choko wondered, her eyes wide with shock.

Hiromi gazed on the tall volleyball player/amateur textile artist. "Choko-san, while the ethics of having a criminal's very _**thought processes**_ literally changed to eliminate whatever threat they may present to outside society may sound a little drastic to us, the treatment WAS accepted by majority vote of the population of the Imperial Dominion in a plebiscite that was ordered by the Kyaksae Emperor after the treatment was perfected three centuries ago." A smirk. "After it was tested on Urusian prisoners in the wake of the Venerable Master Neuch'ahi's successful campaign to expunge the Urusian attempts at trying to subjugate Noukiios to the will of the Imperial Round in Onishuto."

The others all laughed…and then Hiromi and Torusuke tensed on feeling a massive flood of ki emanate from Sick Bay. "Mō-kun, what is it?" Choko asked; it took both her and Tōko a bit to pick up on what was now happening, but they soon were able to sense it.

"It's alright, Choko-chan," Torusuke said. "They're doing the soul-shifts now. Given that Sonami and Kumomi have haōryū in them, the ki release is going to be big."

"That is only the start of it, my friend," Hiromi warned.

"Why do you say that?" Tōko asked.

A smirk. "Obviously, you've never learned the history behind books such as the _Táin Bó Cúailnge_, Tōko-san," Hiromi mused as she gazed in amusement at the Seito senior. "Cú Chulainn's real name was Sétanta mac Súaltam…but his TRUE father was Lugh mac Ethlenn, who was a deified High King of the Emerald Isle and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. That made Master Sétanta back then — and thus, by extension, makes Sandi-san these days — a demigod in the pre-Christian Western tradition."

"What of Sandi's blood in her old body?" Torusuke asked.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Hiromi mused. "When bodies are cremated on these ships, they're subjected to hypercharged ebony meson to ensure any residual magic or the like is taken out of them before the ashes are disposed of." She then smirked. "Besides, given that Sandi-san will live through such a procedure…"

She then nearly choked as a MASSIVE amount of ki seemed to explode from Sick Bay for a moment, and then it died down. As Tōko and Choko nearly turned white with horror at the sheer level of strength that outburst of energy implied, Torusuke chuckled. "I see your point, Hiromi," he mused as he gave the reborn emperor a knowing look.

Hiromi laughed…

* * *

Minutes after that, the door leading to Sick Bay opened to allow five girls to emerge, all stretching themselves as they moved to work the kinks out of their new bodies. They then perked on sensing four pairs of eyes gaze on them from nearby. "I trust you are all well, my friends," Hiromi noted as she crossed her arms.

"Hai, Hiromi-sama, we're fine," Kumomi said as she shifted her head to and fro. "We'll need a chance to get our new bodies into reasonable shape, but it can be done. I don't believe we wish to endure what Mimōko-san faced when she was in the Grove facing off against Roki-gunsō."

"Let's just hope that some idiot doesn't try to take advantage of any of us while we're trying to get our bodies into better shape," Asumi noted as she moved to sit down on a couch. "We're all pretty stiff."

"Fret not about that, Asumi-san," Hiromi said as the others relaxed. "I doubt that any of the others will wish to take advantage of you people."

"With respect, Hiromi-sama, there are those who will see our stiffness as a weakness and take advantage of it," Haneko warned. "And much that attacking people like your cousin and Torusuke-kun here would be suicidal at the best of times…"

"Luck can easily go against some people," Torusuke finished for Seito's top fighter.

Haneko nodded. "Oh, fret not about that, Haneko-san," Hiromi repeated herself. "I'll make sure the Kuromoroboshi and Onē-sama will keep an eye on things until you're all in top form. You have the Great Fighters Tournament to face soon. None of you wish to miss that, do you not?" She gazed on Sandi. "Will you wish to attend the Tournament, Sandi-san?"

"If I don't get deported first," the American noted. "That damned cow yanked me out of New York and dropped me off with Sumiko and her friends without giving me the chance to get my passport or my international driver's permit. It's been luck — and the fact that the Kōshi Kasshi are so respected across Kantō — that hasn't seen me pulled over."

Hiromi hummed, and then she waved it off. "If necessary, we can…"

An explosion of flame nearby then produced a beautiful phoenix with dark reddish-brown feathers, who then quickly came to a landing on Sandi's shoulder. As all the tōshi gasped on seeing the Donn Cúailnge up close, the gaiscíoch from the Bronx was quick to note what he was carrying in his beak. "Ye daft cow!" she snarled as she took the blue booklet bearing the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States on its front in hand.

"Mind if I see that?" Asumi asked, holding her hand out.

Sandi passed it over. Opening it, Asumi scanned the inside cover. "'_The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection_,'" she then read the message placed there. "I always get a kick out of reading these things!" she snickered as she flipped through the pages…and then stopped on hitting the first page where visas would be stamped. "Holy…" she then gasped.

"What is it?" Kumomi asked.

Asumi flipped the passport around so the others could see. "This was date-stamped at Narita Airport effective Monday!" she declared.

Hiromi gazed at it, and then she reached over to run a finger on the sticker that was placed in the passport indicating the ninety-day entrance permit. "Ah! This was actually done at the Mahora Academy; there's a faint magical trace here. No doubt, Sandi-san was cleared to be in the country by the Kantō Magical Association."

Sandi blinked several times, and then she glared at the Donn. "Why?" she demanded.

The reborn Brown Bull of Cooley cooed in amusement, and then he vanished in a ball of fire. As the tōshi all blinked, their American friend moaned. "See if I bloody hell help that daft bull anytime soon!" she muttered under her breath.

Everyone stared at her, and then people laughed. "Well, at least you have your motorcycle rider's permit here as well," Haneko noted as she reached over to pull the large booklet that had been tucked in the back of Sandi's passport. Everyone was quick to see the title **INTERNATIONAL DRIVING PERMIT** and the seal of the American Automobile Association on the front. Haneko took the passport from Asumi, then handed both to Sandi. "I'll have to get my passport and a driver's permit. Fortunately, riding a motorcycle is permitted for those over sixteen in Japan; you have to be eighteen to drive a car." She gazed on the Reienkyo, which she had placed against the bulkhead nearby. "But how on Earth am I going to bring THAT into the States? Given how things are these days…"

The others nodded; the Seito girls had been aboard _Arizona_ when some religious wing-nut had tried a kamikaze run on the American starship — with the **_President_** aboard! — in the skies over Phoenix with a business jet packed full of homemade explosives, that being stopped at the last moment in the first combat mission ever flown by an Avro CSF-105 Arrow. "Dinnae fret about that, love," Sandi noted as she slipped her passport and driver's permit into her jacket pocket. "I'll teach you how to store that big polearm of yours in ki space like I do the Gáe Bulg; it's not as difficult as ye might suspect."

"Let's hope the customs folks in America aren't ki adepts," Asumi noted.

More laughter filled the space, and then people perked as a familiar redhead came up to join them. "Ah, I see you're bright and beautiful now, Kumomi-vayae," Miiko stated as she gave Kumomi a sultry look. "I've some snacks for you to enjoy before we get to the business of forever changing our fates by engaging in the _tamgh va ragh_. Come along now, Dearest."

And with that, she snared the silver-haired sophomore by one arm and nearly dragged her off to the nearest turbolift station. Kumomi sputtered along the way, but the others were quick to note that she wasn't fighting what Miiko was doing for her. After they had left, Haneko gazed on Hiromi. "'_Tamgh va ragh_?'" she asked.

Hiromi giggled. "Literally, it means 'dance love for me,' Haneko-san. It's the Sagussan euphemism for — to quote what was often said in the _Táin_ and other such delightful works of the Ulster Cycle — enjoying the sweet countries where a good warrior may rest one's weapon after a long day in the field smiting one's enemies."

Sandi laughed while the other tōshi — save a madly-blushing Bakari Choko, who was picking up on the sexual innuendo despite the classical language being used by the reborn emperor — fought back their snickers. "And speaking of which — with your leave, My Emperor — the Lady Alexandra and I will be doing just that," Haneko said as she reached over to grasp her new girlfriend's hand, and then she stood. Reaching over for the Reienkyo, she winked at the reborn emperor of the Hàn. "Let's see if our thighs will be quite friendly enough for the desires of a pair of fighting bulls like us."

More laughter escaped people as Sandi wrapped an arm around Haneko and delivered a lung-sucking kiss right to the other woman's lips. As they sauntered off back to the latter's cabin a couple decks below, Sonami then reached over to gently pull Tōko closer to her. On feeling that touch, the older woman's cheeks reddened. "Sonami-sama…you have the choice of any bull in Seito!" she then teased.

"Of all of them, I'll pick a game young bull like you, Tōko-vayae," Sonami purred.

She then turned Tōko's head around so they could tenderly kiss before they headed off. The others watched them go, and then Asumi sighed. "Hope the hell that Sonshōkō don't show up anytime in their future," she mused. "Sonami and Tōko don't need that."

"I wouldn't be so worried," Torusuke noted.

"Why's that, Torusuke-san?" Hiromi asked.

"With the way we tend to reincarnate cross-gender all the time?"

The others perked, and then the reborn emperor smirked. "Aye, that's true." She then sighed. "Still, there's an easier way to confirm if Sonshōkō-dono came back."

"How's that?" Asumi asked.

"Quite simple, Asumi-san: Ask Tsueko-san. She's not as witless as many are so quick to judge her given how carefree she lives her life. She WOULD know if she has siblings!"

The others jolted, and then they laughed…save for a still-blushing Choko…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The "Rainbow Division" Sandi speaks of at the start of this part is the **42nd Infantry Division** (short-form **42 ID**) of the United States Army. This division is called that because of its distinctive formation insignia: A top left quarter arc of red, gold and blue bordered in green. The division served in both world wars, its component parts being drawn from twenty-six states and the District of Columbia in the Great War and from across the nation in the Second World War. Tasked to become part of the **National Guard** (the state-run reserve armed forces of the United States), 42 ID was originally allocated to the **New York Army National Guard** (**NY ARNG**), but — due to the number of reserve troops dropping after the end of the Cold War — expanded to include troops of the former **26th Infantry Division** based in Massachusetts and the **50th Armoured Division** from New Jersey.

In real life these days, 42 ID encompasses National Guard units from all of New England, New York state and New Jersey. In the universe of this story, the two "ghost" divisions Sandi mentioned that would augment the NY ARNG once authorised would be the reborn **27th Infantry Division** (which was reduced to brigade size and made part of the Rainbow Division in the late 1960s) and the **86th Infantry Division (Mountain)** (a wartime-only division whose near-namesake, the **86th Infantry Brigade [Mountain]**, is a subordinate formation of 42 ID based in neighbouring Vermont).

2) Fans of the 1989 film _Glory_ starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes and Morgan Freeman will recognise the historical regiment from Massachusetts that Sandi also spoke of: The **54th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry**…which now exists as the **54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment (Selected Honour Guard)** of the Bay State's Army National Guard. The original 54th Regiment was the second unit authorised in the Civil War to have African-Americans serve within it (the first was the **1st South Carolina Volunteers**, a regiment of freed Southern slaves) to help quell the rebellion of the would-be Confederate States from Washington's control. Made most famous by the near-destruction of the regiment at the **Second Battle of Fort Wagner** near Charleston in South Carolina on 18 July 1863, the 54th served right through to the end of the war. Like other "coloured" troops of the Union, the actions of the 54th were not immediately recognised during and after the Reconstruction years; the first African-American historically recognised as having done something to be awarded the **Medal of Honour**, Sergeant **William Harvey Carney** (1840-1908) of the 54th, didn't receive said medal for forty years after his deeds at Fort Wagner qualified him for America's top award. Thanks to the movie _Glory_, the regiment eventually earned the nickname "The Glory Regiment."

The modern 54th Regiment was founded in 2008 as a purely ceremonial unit to render military honors at funerals and various state functions; the regiment was accorded the right to march at President Barack Obama's inauguration parade on 20 January 2009. In the universe of this story, the regiment was expanded to a full battalion-sized unit by Avalonian-Americans which — as the 1st and 4th Battalions of the **3rd United States Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)** do in Washington — still performs military honours when requested…while also remaining ready to mobilise a full fighting infantry battalion when required. The battalion — to be designated **1st Battalion, 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Selected Honour Guard)** — is planned to become part of a reformed 26th Infantry Division (which today exists as a brigade of the 42nd Infantry Division).

While other American Army National Guard regiments nationwide claim perpetuation from Civil War regiments, the 54th Regiment is the ONLY unit active today bearing its old state-based title as its official name.

3) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Shokatsukin Shiyu** (**Morokuzu Kinmi**) first appeared in manga episode #76. In that story, she used her ki power to help Taishiji Shigi (Futoshi Itsuku) recover from his being stabbed in the back at the end of manga chapter #11…and would later nearly sacrifice herself to save Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko) from the poisonous influence of the reborn Little Conqueror's own dragon. While this was never discussed in the manga, her relationship to Shokatsuryō Kōmei (Morokuzu Ryōko) is quite obvious; Kinmi's past-self, **Zhūgě Jǐn** (174-241 C.E.) was Zhūgě Liàng's older brother even if the former served Dōng Wú and the latter served Shǔ Hàn. Zhūgě Jǐn was made to serve Wú in the wake of Cáo Cāo invading the territory where his family home was located. Zhūgě would eventually become Sūn Quán's personal secretary. Though his relationship with his more famous brother did cause some concerns, Sūn always held Zhūgě with high regard.

**Ukin Bunsoku** (**Yuku Taeru**) first appeared in manga episode #40. He is the reincarnation of **Yú Jìn** (unknown date of birth, died 221), one of the more successful generals to fight under Cáo Cāo. Originally gaining prominence under the command of Cáo's subordinate **Wáng Lǎng** (unknown date of birth, died 228), Yú eventually gained a reputation for ruthlessness and cunning; he gladly saw a friend who had once surrendered to Cáo and then later rebelled, **Chāng Xī** (unknown date of birth, died circa 200), put to death per Cáo's standing orders. Yú would eventually be captured by the forces of Sūn Quán, held there until Cáo Cāo himself died and Sūn swore allegiance to Cáo Pī. By then, Yú was infirm and would die a year later. In this life, Taeru is a master of the sansetsu-kon and one of Kyoshō's more passionate fighters. He's also quite the pervert, but was easily bested by Kan'u Unchō (Seki Haneko).

As an aside, the **Sansetsu-kon** is a three-sectional staff used as a flail-type weapon. In Chinese, this is known as a _sānjié-gùn_. This is a rather bigger version than a three-part variation of the nunchaku.

Now, the characters I introduce or comment on here:

Like many of the characters from _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, I've had to inject in my own names to certain people as their proper names have been lost to history; look what I did for the Língsī Empress (today living as Izuku Mioko) and the Consort Wáng (now living as Wan Miwaka), for example. I did same for the **Two Qiáo Sisters** — known more popularly as **Dà Qiáo** (literally "the older Qiáo") and **Xiǎo Qiáo** ("the younger Qiáo") — first mentioned in Part 37: The given names I invented for these girls are **Qiáo Dàměi** and **Qiáo Xìxiǎo** respectively, using both native readings of the 美 character in combination with the 大 ("_dà_") and 小 ("_xiǎo_") characters to create the meanings "great beauty" and "small beauty."

As an aside, Kyōgen Kōso (Hashi Kurosuke) DOES have two teenage daughters in the universe of this story. Qiáo Dàměi — known to tōshi as **Daikyō** — bears the birth-name **Hashi Taemi**…while Qiáo Xìxiǎo (as noted in Part 25) was born as **Hashi Sasami** and is known to her fellow tōshi as **Shōkyō**. Note that the Hashi sisters' proper battle names should actually read "**Kyōdaimi**" and "**Kyōmishō**" respectively.

**Chōshō Shikyō** (**Haru Matsuhara**) is my name for the bald, dusky-skinned tōshi that was part of the kidnapping group that came after Sonami in the extra episode that introduced Tōko in volume 14 of _Ikkitōsen_; he is the current incarnation of **Zhāng Sōng** (unknown date of birth, died 213 C.E.). Zhāng was a former advisor of Liú Yān's son Liú Zhāng who would actually plot to have his lord replaced as governor of Yízhōu by none other than Liú Bèi himself! Zhāng was also a good friend of Tōko's past-self Mèng Dá (who joined Zhāng in conspiring against their lord); in this life, Matsuhara joined Taeru and his friends to help kidnap Sonami from Seito partially out of friendship to Tōko…and partially out of a belief that Sonami would be a better leader of _Kyoshō_ than Sōsō Mōtoku (Tsukasa Torusuke)! In one of the many wonderful nuances of relations between the various warlords in China at that time, Zhāng didn't particularly care for Cáo Cāo; thus — since there is no analogue of Liú Zhāng alive in this incarnation — Matsuhara sometimes envisions Torusuke these days as the bad guy that needs to be replaced.

And **Sonshōkō** is one of several Japanese names (others include "Sonfujin," "Sonjin" and "Sonjinken") for the youngest child of Sūn Jiān. This woman is known more commonly as **Sūn Fūrén** (literally "Lady Sūn") to historians; her other names include "Sūn Rén" (according to the _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_), "Sūn Rénxiàn" (as noted in the unofficial historical text _Hànjìn Chūnqiū_)…or **Sūn Shàngxiāng**, which is the name most often applied to her in popular culture today (as note the character that appears in the various _Dynasty Warriors_ games). I decided to use the "Sūn Rén" name for this person when I devised her birth name in this incarnation, **Mago Noriko**. And yes, this girl is Tsueko's kid sister; she would be a sixth-year elementary school student at the time of this story.

4) The incident shown in flashback here is a redoing of the attempted capture of Ryūbi Gentoku (Koro Sonami) by Kyoshō tōshi thanks to the help of Mōtatsu Shikei (Kashira Tōko) as depicted in the first extra story contained in Volume 14 of _Ikkitōsen_.

5) **Neuch'ahi** (birth-name **Ye-Etech Chuch'a-Ik'a**) is a character I introduced in _The Ishinomaki Years_; he appears in the first story of that series at this website. He is a half-Noukiite, half-Vosian wandering warrior whom I modelled after the version of **Zatōichi** depicted by **Kitano Takeshi** (born 1947) in the 2003 film _Zatōichi_ as directed by Kitano and produced by Mori Masayuki and Saitō Tsunehisa. And yes, like "Anma-san" in that movie and in previous incarnations, the Venerable Neuch'ahi is also blind. In the universe of this story, he is properly referred to as "the Most Venerable **Ye-Etech Chuch'a-Ik'a Hechnich'-Neucha'hi** of Nehech." And, thanks to his part-Vosian ancestry, he is still alive today even if he is over three centuries old!

6) The **Great Seal of the United States** is the device used to authenticate certain documents issued by the federal government in Washington. The obverse (front) of the Seal also doubles as the national Coat of Arms of the Republic (this is the badge that includes the eagle holding the olive branch in one talon and thirteen arrows in the other talon, the shield of the Union atop it and the beak holding one of the mottoes of the Republic, _E Pluribus Unum_ ["Out of Many, One"]). The reverse (back) shows a glory (the Eye of God) breaking through a clouds in a blue sky over an incomplete pyramid bearing the Roman year date MDCCLXXVI (1776) and the mottoes _Annuit Coeptis_ ("He Approves of the Undertakings") and _Novis Ordo Seclorum_ ("New Order of the Ages").

7) Quick Sagussan language pronunciation note: If a vowel is followed by "**-gh**," the vowel sound is long. _Tamgh va ragh_ would be said similar to "TAME vah RAY." The "-gh," in effect, serves as the final silent "-e" convention does in English…and it has no sound of its own.

8) I was first introduced to the _Táin Bó Cúailnge_ thanks to one of my favourite history books: _How The Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe_ (ISBN 0-385-41848-5), first released in 1995 and written by **Thomas Cahill** (born 1940). It was a constant companion for me while I lived and worked in South Korea as an English teacher from 1996-2005.


	48. The Imperial Family Reborn

_Haida_, Main Cafeteria #3 (Japan time: After breakfast)…

"At least they're still serving breakfast."

"Amen to that…oh! Mioko-onēsama!"

Izuku Mioko — who had been seated at the end of one of the tables within the aft-of-athwartships main lounge, enjoying a quiet cup of tea — perked on hearing that, and then she turned as Ikusawa Kyōko and Miyamoto Nabiki came up to them, cups of coffee in hand. "Oh, ladies…" the reborn empress of the Hàn breathed out as she relaxed in her chair. "Did you get some sleep after you came back aboard?"

"Fortunately, yes," Nabiki stated as she and Kyōko sat down beside the would-be Rakuyō student. "I'm dreading running into Kasumi-onēchan anytime soon. She didn't know I went out with Kyōko here on one of the Starfires, but the rumours are getting out."

Mioko nodded. "Tsuguta-san heard what happened from Colonel Fowler. I dare say that once the news gets out amongst the fighters of Yoshū, your entrance in that school is more than assured." As Nabiki perked, Mioko then lightly smiled. "As for your sister, well…" A sigh. "Having two big sisters myself, I happen to know that all big sisters on the planet consider it their prerogative to be worrywarts when it comes to their little sisters." A smile. "Still, yours is a martial arts family, so she should be able to take it in stride. How are Akane-san and Karin-san?"

"Well, after Karin-chan mounted a copy of the challenge letter she wrote to the Oni and the Niphentaxians so she could put it up in her bedroom and look at it in the future, she crashed out in one of the spare bedrooms near where Lum-san and her wife were staying here," Nabiki said. "As for Akane-chan, she's probably with Kyoko-san right now. Either on _Hood_ or on the ground; they're moving the guns of the 10th Field Regiment up to the ship right now."

"How is Arami-chan, Onē-sama? And Kanami-chan?" Kyōko then asked.

A sigh. "They're alright. Still sleeping in our cabin; Kanami was rather exhausted magically when she first awoke in her new body and Arami-chan was tired after all the fun she endured down in the Grove. Somumi-chan is watching over them like hawks right now while Miwaka-san takes care of some business in Sick Bay."

Nabiki perked. "Business?"

"You should be able to sense it by now, Nabiki-san."

The middle Miyamoto daughter blinked, and then she nodded. She had passed by Sick Bay just before she and Kyōko went to their cabin and crashed out after landing their aircraft aboard _Haida_. There had been a lineup of both Kōshi Kasshi and Nanban tōshi — all girls — waiting to go inside. And she had sensed that Kashira Emi was now an Avalonian. Given the number of spare Avalonian bodies that had been aboard the Canadian starship before she sailed out for Yaminokuni, it had been quite easy to conclude. "How are you feeling about that?" she then asked. "Multiple-partner relationships are allowed in Avalonian society."

"I want her away from Hiromi, Nabiki-san," the reborn empress of the Hàn then hissed out as her eyes teared. "My dreams have always been to be with my husband…and ONLY my husband. No sharing her with concubines, mistresses or anyone else." Mioko then bleakly gazed on the other woman. "Do you blame me for feeling that way?"

A smirk. "Nope." Nabiki then sipped her coffee. "Still, given that Kanami-chan is Hiromi-san's daughter as well, your girlfriend has as much right to be involved in her upbringing as she does your own daughter." At Mioko's nod, she added, "Seems that a lot of you tōshi never really sat back to think over what might happen once the 'romance' finally came to an end and the whole 'fate of the sacred beads' business no longer played ice hockey with all your lives. There's not just you and Miwaka-sempai who have something of a claim on Hiromi-san. I know that Hiromi-san's first wife from that life is alive, too."

Mioko tensed. "Sōkōgō?"

"She goes by her proper battle name: 'Sōhōfū,'" Nabiki provided, glad that she had done such deep research on the tōshi when Akane had expressed interest in learning all she could about them. "She's Sumai Takara. A freshman at Rakuyō."

The reborn empress of the Hàn nodded as she sipped her tea. She remembered Sumai Takara from when she had attended Chōan Junior High before the power gifted to her by Hucheng-ch'ekyunghechha when she was a child had overwhelmed her at the 2008 Great Fighters Tournament and the Ten Attendants had to put her and her sister Susuko under magical suspended animation for nearly two years while they tried to discover what happened in hopes of freeing the Izuku sisters from that influence. As Mioko drew up the image of Takara — then a mousy, timid little blonde-haired girl with pale blue eyes that hadn't even reached D-rank by the time of that tournament — she felt a scowl cross her face. It was bad enough that she had to contend with the likes of Wan Miwaka, whose child from their first lives back in China had gone on to become the last emperor of the Hàn. But to bring in her very _**predecessor**_ as Hiromi's true wife in that life…?!

"What else do you know about her?" the reborn empress then asked.

"Keeps a low profile mostly. Part of the Ryofu faction at Rakuyō, but she doesn't do anything to raise a stink with Tōtaku's direct supporters there. Performed adequately at the 2009 Tournament; she advanced to C-rank at that time. Other than that, nothing at all." Nabiki smirked. "She hides what she once was to everyone else, but I caught onto the truth about her about a half-year ago. Much that the Attendants did all they could to make the tōshi stop thinking about you and your sister, they never affected anything on the Internet. Someone who is a normal friend of a Rakuyō student — don't know who that student is, though — overheard that person reveal that he or she knew Sōhōfū is actually Sōkōgō; it was later put out on the 'Ikkitōsen' chat room that covers what goes on with tōshi. With you — the woman who was Hiromi-san's second wife back in your first lives in China — missing, it was speculated Sōkōgō had eliminated you and was moving behind the scenes to reassert herself as the Empress."

Mioko snorted at that fact; she had been B-rank two years ago…and with the power she had now, she didn't have to fear from even the strongest of the A-ranks such as Seki Haneko or the Sebone cousins. "Which is plain ridiculous," Kyōko then noted.

"Don't be so judgemental, Kyōko-chan," Mioko stated. "Even back when I was at Chōan, all the talk about the 'fate' and how it was to influence our lives was always in the air. And granted, I never really cared to find out if any potential 'rival' for my husband's heart was out there — none of us knew what Shishimyō-sempai ultimately did — but now that it has happened…" A sigh. "In a way, you're right, Nabiki-san. None of us actually sat back to imagine what might have happened if the 'romance' actually did come to an end. None of us imagined what might have happened if my husband came back to us as we all so desperately wanted." A sip of the tea. "We were very lucky that my husband's soul interacted with such an ultimately kind-hearted man like Moroboshi Ataru before she became her own person. Yes, Ataru-san can fight and kill; he did it when he was on Okusei with the Lady K'ekhech…not to mention that business with those alien pirates in March. But he prefers to love someone, not end their life. That has influenced my husband well."

Nabiki nodded; she remembered what had been said the day before about the raid of the Konton pirates. And she had — before she had been effectively cut off from Marubeya Momoe by Ataru's sister Negako back in April — heard that something really awful had happened to Ataru while he was on Okusei in the company of the Dragonspeaker. Knowing that Ataru — and here, Nabiki found herself agreeing to Mioko's general assessment of the man — could and HAD ended people's lives before was a pretty chilling thought. Maybe it was for the best that Hensō had been forced out of Ataru's life six months before; if Ataru had discovered things — the Niphentaxians and that bomb that was in the Tomobiki Ginza, for example — more recently…

Nabiki then jerked. _Don't wish for such bad things!_ she admonished herself.

"What do you want, Nabiki-san?"

The middle Miyamoto daughter perked on hearing that, and then she gazed on Mioko, who was giving her a knowing look. "You're good at reading people," she complimented.

"Live for the amount of lives I've done, you pick up on it sooner or later," the reborn empress stated as she sipped her tea. "You gave me information concerning Sōhōfū. You don't strike me as a person who would do anything like that for free. And I'm a person who prides myself on repaying favours done to me. What do you want?"

"Job security," Nabiki answered, which made Mioko laugh and Kyōko snicker. "You said it earlier: My flying with Kyōko here would probably impress Tsuguta-kun and his friends enough that I would be able to transfer to Yoshū with little problems. Given that I have a new body — and that Shānpú's great-grandmother made sure I wouldn't ever go into berserker mode as Kyoko-san believes Akane might have become in time without any serious training — I believe I can survive at Yoshū. But what happens next?"

A nod. "What are your intentions, Kyōko-chan?" Mioko then asked.

"To become an intelligence officer…"

Both Nabiki and Mioko then gasped as Kyōko's earring suddenly glowed. As they watched, the naval communicator's winged lightning bolt insignia with the crossed signal flags that was etched on the maple leaf-shaped device melted into a ball, and then it grew spikes as it reformed into the stylised sixteen-point North Star badge of a member of the Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch. Once that was done, the ki burst finally faded into nothingness, and then Kyōko blinked; she had sensed her companions' looks but hadn't understood why. "What just happened?" the azure-haired woman asked.

Nabiki looked. "Well, I'm sure Joan-san will be happy to see that," she noted.

Kyōko blinked…and then she reached up to her left lobe to slip off her earring. As Nabiki tensed on seeing that — she knew about the twenty-four hour prohibition when it came to taking those things off after the Avalonian-Canadian plank owners on _Haida_ had their souls enhanced via the Dragon Jade — her girlfriend moved to look at her badge…and then she gaped. "The trade insignia changed…"

"Intelligence operator," Nabiki mused. "Or intelligence officer."

Hearing that, Kyōko sighed. "Guess I'm going to Kingston sooner rather than later."

"And so will I," her girlfriend noted as she leaned over to kiss Kyōko on the cheek, and then she took the earring to return it back to the latter's lobe. "And that's what I need to worry about now, Mioko-san," she then said as she looked on Hiromi's lover. "I'm prepared to attend university in Japan…but if my girlfriend is going to be living in Canada, I want to be with her. That means going most likely to Queen's University in Kingston, just across Cataraqui Bay from where the School of Military Intelligence is. My grandfather may not be able to support it. There's going to be a civilian side to the Earth Defence Force. I want in."

Mioko hummed. "I believe I can speak to Dearest about that…"

* * *

The flag officer's quarters…

"Majesty…"

Hiromi blinked as she slowly walked into the bedroom of hers and Mioko's cabin, and then she waved down Sakan Somumi — who had been seated beside the bed now containing a peacefully dozing pair of beautiful children — before she relaxed herself on a nearby couch close to the door leading into a private office space. "I fear I overexerted myself yet again, Orai-dono," she confessed, keeping her voice down as she leaned back into her seat. "Fortunately, I ran into Kōmei-dono's delightful sister Shiyu-dono and she gave me a bit of a ki boost while we were waiting for my cousin and her friends to undergo their body-swaps." She gazed on the young archer from Kyoshō. "How are you?"

Somumi tried not to break down and cry on hearing the older woman address her as "Orai." Unlike many from the Three Kingdoms period, Diǎn Wěi never had a style name of his own…thus Somumi had been simply known as "Ten'i" when she had awoken to her gifts and embraced the life of a tōshi in earnest. That Hiromi had willingly called her "Orai" — in reflection to what Cáo Cāo had done to Diǎn ages ago, honouring him by comparing him to the Dìxīn Emperor of Shāng's legendary bodyguard È Lái — had done more for the younger girl's spirits than anything any tōshi had ever done, even Tsukasame Yoiko. And even more so — as Somumi had come to realise as soon as her soul was in her new body — Hiromi called her that out of simple respect and courtesy; the reborn emperor of the Hàn didn't want to use Somumi as Yoiko had done in the past. While Somumi still had strong feelings for Yoiko — the young archer, in her desperation to be loved in the wake of her late father's ugly actions which led to her murdering him in self-defence, had been friendless until she had been welcomed as a part of Yoiko's faction at Kyoshō…ironically, right after Somumi had taken off the older woman's lower legs! — she was now finding the reborn emperor someone she could be loyal to.

But then again…wasn't that just proper in the end?

After all, every tōshi — at least all those that Somumi knew of — always believed that if Reitei ever returned, they would at last live in a united kingdom.

And while THIS incarnation of the Xiàolíng Emperor of the Latter Hàn Dynasty was perhaps the most unique tōshi alive today…

…that she HAD returned proved to Sakan Somumi that there truly WAS a God.

_His Will be done_, she automatically intoned on thinking that. _Hallelujah!_

"I am adjusting," the young archer then answered. "I'm seeing things differently now. I realise I was ultimately taken in by Shiba'i-onēsama because she needed my physical strength and archery skills to press her ends. But…" A smirk. "That was our way until you came back to us, My Emperor. And while I still love her…"

"You desire not to be so blindly slavish about it in the future."

A nod. "Hai." Somumi then sighed. "Onē-sama…"

Hiromi was quick to sense what the younger girl needed now. "Come here."

Instantly, the younger girl was in the reborn emperor's arms, weeping as she hugged Hiromi tight…though Somumi did keep her arm away from the older woman's right side where Ōgi had stabbed her. As Somumi cried, Hiromi shifted her hand up to gently stroke the younger girl's hair as her late mother had probably done, her own eyes tearing in sympathy as she sensed memories flash through Somumi's mind.

Memories of blood…

Memories of shattered bodies…

Memories of blind fear leading to an outburst of uncontrolled fury…

Memories of three middle school girls who — out of their own feelings towards one Tsukasame Yoiko — had pressed Sakan Somumi way too far…

…and paid the ultimate price for their arrogant stupidity.

A knock echoed at the door. "Enter," Hiromi gently called out.

The door opened, revealing a smiling Tano Tsukuhito; the gentle giant of Nan'yō had come back aboard the Canadian starship to continue watching over the reborn Prince Huái of Hóngnóng…and, by extension, the reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor of Hàn as well. Noting that, Hiromi could only smirk. It was amazing how the tōshi of the Seven Schools — even after learning of what "Kentei" had done to their brothers and sisters of Nanban over the last couple of years and what she planned to do to everyone else if the chance came — had forgiven the newly-reborn Moroboshi Kanami for her past actions and accepted her as one of their own. "Forgive me for disturbing you, My Emperor," he quietly said. "Chūtatsu-dono is here and desires to speak to you."

Hiromi nodded. "Help me up, Orai-dono," she asked.

Somumi moved to do just that…

* * *

"My Emperor, I didn't realise you were still weakened from your wound."

"Ah, pay it no mind, Chūtatsu-dono," Hiromi said as she was helped into her chair. "I desperately need sleep, but until I'm sure those who came with these ships to fight against our foes are safely back aboard and within their beds, I'll stay up."

Hearing that, Kyoshō's master tactician and second-in-command could only smile. _You are doing everything to repent from your first life's actions that unleashed the Fate of the Magatama on us all, Hiromi-sama_, she mused to herself. _Even if your goal is to see us all become masters of our destinies and making lives for ourselves, everything you do also strengthens the bonds of love, loyalty and friendship between all of us._ She sighed. _That is a good thing. Now I must walk my own path of repentance…!_

"Would you like some tea, Kyōrei-sama?" Tsukuhito then asked. "Seina-chan is in the pantry nearby preparing some light snacks for your daughters."

"Tell her to prepare my usual, Gakushū-dono," Hiromi stated.

A deep bow. "Hai. Excuse me, please."

And with that, he walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, Yoiko then breathed out. "You should get some sleep, Hiromi-san," she then said as she gazed on the reborn emperor. "Yes, I know — we all know — how you feel about what happened in your first life and how that drives you in this life to do all to atone for your past life's sins. But even Negako-sama would, I think, advise you to stop and rest when you need it. Especially if you're wounded."

A chuckle. "In all honestly, Onē-sama would quite thoroughly chastise me for not keeping a critical eye on Ōgi when I was moving to keep Kanami-chan safe, Yoiko-san," Hiromi noted. "After all, Naoko-chan only stunned him." A sigh. "Besides, even if it was a liver wound, it wasn't as bad as it might have been. Morokuzu Kinmi-san was able to give me some of her ki to enhance my strength while I ensured Sonami-san and her friends got their body-swaps." At her visitor's understanding nod, a smirk crossed the reborn emperor's face. "And even still, I'm on guard right now…"

"Mioko-san and Miwaka-san, you mean?"

"Hai. And there is Sumai Takara-san from Rakuyō — she's a freshman in Shikuko-san's group there — to concern myself with." At Yoiko's and Somumi's confused looks, Hiromi then chuckled. "You would know her as Sōhōfū. She was my first wife back then."

Both Kyoshō women gaped. "Sōkōgō?!" Yoiko gasped.

"Aye."

The peach-haired master strategist breathed out. "I never knew that," she admitted.

"I did recognise her when I scouted out the schools over the last four months to see how you were all doing," Hiromi admitted. "Like I felt for Miwaka when I realised she was alive during one of the few times I flew close to Nanban and sensed her — and Mioko as well when I sensed her 'living' with Susumi-san and Yuzumi-san — I felt I had no right to impose myself on Takara. Look what happened to her in her first life."

Yoiko nodded. "Yet you still love and care for them," she noted. "You're not using any honorifics with their names, like you do with everyone else."

A tired sigh. "Aye. Perhaps an echo of how I felt like, behaved and dreamt of when I was part of that wonderful gestalt of souls that was in Onii-san's head before Kyech-san came to Uru that day to end that farce of an 'engagement' between Onii-san and Hensō-san." She then perked. "Oh, speaking of which, what of Hensō-san's friends?"

"We can take them into Kyoshō," Yoiko reported. "Given how they latched onto Makoto-kun, Yoisuke-kun and Haruka-kun like they did, there's no sense in doing otherwise. Besides, it gives the school two metahuman fighters to our ranks…not to mention three people with intricate knowledge of the galaxy surrounding Earth. That is as valuable to us right now as a legion of A-ranks. It would be to anyone else." She sighed. "I think we would welcome Hensō in…but I did sense what was happening between her and Naoko-chan before Tsukuhito-kun had them taken from the Grove back to Muzlim Madiina. Since Naoko-chan intends to be a navy operations officer…"

Hiromi perked. "What?!"

A giggle. "Didn't you know?"

The reborn emperor blinked, and then she sighed. "Honestly, I didn't. I desired to leave them alone and allow them to start developing their relationship, so I haven't spoken to Naoko-chan since we were all in the Grove. How did you find out?"

"I passed her in the corridor close to Cafeteria #3 when I came aboard. She had just fetched some tea for herself and Hensō. Her earring didn't have the medical technician caduceus badge on it, but an anchor with a naval crown over it. I asked Anderson-taii about that and she concluded it must represent a badge for her particular trade."

"Maritime Surface and Sub-surface officer," Hiromi concluded. "They have no trade badge per se as that wasn't done in the Royal Canadian Navy before that incredible madness called 'Unification' was inflicted on all of Her Majesty's loyal sailors, soldiers and air service personnel in the Dominion at the time over forty years ago." As Yoiko and Somumi smirked on hearing the reborn emperor's classical language, their host then sighed. "Well, that will definitely please Master Voyager Brian very much. He believed Naoko-chan would make a perfect MARS officer and lamented the idea of losing her to the Medical Services. 'Waste of a good talent,' his words were."

Her guests laughed, and then they perked as the door to the outside corridor opened, revealing Tsukuhito with a tea set. "Um, Yoiko-san…?" he began.

Yoiko smirked. "There's a reason for that, Tsukuhito-kun," she announced before calling out, "Girls! Come on in and present yourself to Hiromi-sama!"

Hiromi turned…

…and then blinked in confusion as three girls Somumi's age walked into the room. She then tensed on hearing a shocked gasp escape the young archer, and then she focused on the newcomers for a second before her eyes widened in recognition. "How…?"

Yoiko beckoned the newcomers to stand in a line against the bulkhead to her right. "I saved their magatama after they had fallen, which — when I used my dragon's power to keep their souls safe…and out of the Nanban forest as we later learned — ensured I could bring them back to life when the chance presented itself. I didn't know at the time how I was going to do it when I did that for them; most likely, I might have sought out one of the Attendants to get their help in this. But with the Avalonians now living with us…" A chuckle before she nodded thanks as Tsukuhito placed a cup of sencha on the table before her. "I had Haruka-kun fetch the box with their magatama and the blood samples I got from their bodies before we flew here on Damasu's ship, then gave it to Narumi-chan for safekeeping. Fortunately, the medical team from the 2nd/10th Dragoons remembered to bring some spare bodies of their own when they came aboard the ship — they were stored in one of the cargo bays here — so it was quite easy to restore them to life when everyone engaged in the rush to have body-swaps done."

"Why are they so quiet, Onē-sama?" Somumi whispered before nodding thanks as Tsukuhito handed her a cup of tea. "They feel even colder than Hiromi-onēsama's friends were before Negako-sama helped Naoko-san become human with the Dragon Jade."

"The shock of being revived from being literally dead for nearly a year, Somumi-chan," Yoiko explained as she gazed on the three still girls standing nearby. "Yes, they have all the memories of their lives up to the point where you went berserk on them after they tried to rape you in the cemetery close to Kyoshō." On sensing a burst of outrage escape Hiromi, Yoiko then sighed. "They all feel quite guilty about their actions, My Emperor," she then stated, bowing her eyes. "That is part of the reason they're like this now," she added as she gazed forlornly at the three girls in question.

Hiromi blinked as Tsukuhito handed her a cup of Noukiite-style spiced ginseng tea, and then she sighed as she took a sip of the tangy brew. _You cannot judge them for their actions, Hiromi_, she mused to herself as she relaxed and focused her soul to find her centre again. Once that was done, she then gazed on Somumi. "How do you feel about them?"

The archer blinked, and then she sighed. "They love Onē-sama as I love Onē-sama," she said, which made the three girls blink and gaze her way. Hiromi was quick to see their eyes start to tear as she picked up the surprise and shock now billowing deep in their hearts on sensing the tone of forgiveness in Somumi's voice when it came to their attempted rape of her a year ago. "That's what ultimately drove them to do what they did to me." She then lowered her eyes in shame. "I was quite powerful back then. I should have been able to break free of what they were doing to me without…"

"Somumi-…chan…why…?"

That was the girl with the brown hair tied in ponytails behind her ears. Gazing on her, Hiromi was quick to sense the storm of emotions within her reawakened soul — guilt, fear, confusion, an understandable sense of dislocation — as she focused on the archer standing to Hiromi's right rear. "What is your name?" the reborn emperor asked.

The girl blinked, and then she bowed her head, making a fist-in-palm salute. "My Emperor, I am Sōken, born as Sumai Noriko," she declared in a quiet voice, and then she waved to her friends. "This is Kōsei, born as Mato Narumi…" — she was a girl with long raven hair and blue eyes — "…and Gizōku, born as Takai Tsugumi." Tsugumi was a girl with black hair in a pageboy cut and brown eyes. "We are — er, were — second year middle school students at Kyoshō. And…" Her cheeks reddened.

"Admirers of Yoiko-san, I take it," Hiromi finished.

The blush deepened. "Hai…"

A sigh. "Sit down, you three."

Noriko, Narumi and Tsugumi all sat down at the table between Hiromi and Yoiko. The reborn emperor took a deep breath. "If I recall correctly, your past-selves served with Shikuko-san's past-self until the Battle of Xiàpī, when they switched sides to serve under Torusuke-san's past-self." As the three girls nodded, Hiromi then smirked. "Decided not to bother with Rakuyō and went straight to Kyoshō, I take it."

"Hai, Hiromi-sama," Narumi meekly whispered.

"How are you three feeling now?"

They blinked, and then they lowered their heads. "Beyond grateful to Yoiko-sempai for saving us from the Nanban Forest, Hiromi-sama," Tsugumi muttered. "And ashamed of our actions concerning Somumi-chan that led to us nearly…w-well…"

"Dying," Hiromi flatly stated.

A nod. "H-h-hai…" Tsugumi sputtered.

A sigh. "Do you three realise how _**lucky**_ you are?" she asked. "If Yoiko-san hadn't done what she did, your souls would've been sucked into the forest north of Nanban, each stripped of your sense of self…and eventually wind up being bonded to three of the girls serving on these ships." Hiromi sighed. "You attacked a woman whose strength was well known to you. You also knew what had happened to her at the hands of the monster that had been her father. What possessed you to do something like THAT to her?"

"She was stalking Yoiko-sempai!" Narumi declared, surprising the others in the room with the fervour in her voice. "It was…freaky! She always was pining after old men…and then she started following Sempai around! We didn't want Sempai to put up to that! We had to stop her! We…" She then broke down and cried.

Hiromi blinked as Somumi instantly moved to Narumi's side, drawing the other girl into her arms as both wept. Within a heartbeat, Noriko and Tsugumi had added their own embraces to that group hug as all four girls began to vent out their pain and sorrow over what had happened a year before. Watching this, Hiromi sighed as she sipped her tea, her eyes focusing on Yoiko for a moment, and then she breathed out. "Orai-dono, why don't you take your friends to the cabin next door," the reborn emperor then said. "I think you four all need a chance to spend some private time healing your own wounds."

Somumi gazed at Hiromi, and then she nodded in understanding…

* * *

A few minutes later, Hiromi slowly walked back into the bedroom, moving to sit down on the couch after noting that both Arami and Kanami were still fast asleep. Yoiko followed her into the room; Tsukuhito was busy clearing the tea cups in the meeting room. "So what was all that for anyway?" the reborn emperor wondered.

"My own atonement," the high school sophomore from Kyoshō admitted as she sat beside her host. "I knew about Somumi-chan's interest in me. I encouraged the others to punish her for it any way they could. I told them about what her father had done to her; that's why Somumi-chan had no friends at the time since she had her father's blood on her hands…even if it was for a righteous reason." As Hiromi stared neutrally at her, Yoiko lowered her eyes. "Hai, it was wrong in the end…but I wanted to have a faction of my own at Kyoshō and I wanted the strongest people into it. I knew I was playing with people's lives and knew that Somumi-chan would probably go all out on them once they pushed her far enough…but that's the way it has been for us throughout all the incarnations we've lived as the Fate dominated us all."

"You wanted those who followed you to have souls of unbreakable steel."

A nod. "Hai."

A sigh. "That you all have lived through _**that**_…" Hiromi then smirked. "Well, at least there was something good about this particular episode."

Yoiko blinked. "How so?"

"Torusuke-san rubbed off on you," the reborn emperor stated. "Sīmǎ Yì was said to be always on the lookout for himself…yet when you and Torusuke-san came together as a couple, you came to experience his ability to care for those who served him, treat them as family. One of the things he did that never was properly reflected in Master Luó Guànzhōng's novel. And you obviously tried to emulate it as much as you could."

A light smile. "He never allowed his past-self's fears towards my past-self get in the way when we began to fall hard for each other in middle school," Yoiko admitted. "He was also afraid of what might happen if he totally lost control of himself and Tàizǔ was unleashed. I've never had that problem with Gāozǔ in this life…even if I didn't have as much control over that power as Koeru Kumomi gained when she mastered the power Shùnpíng gave her." A smirk. "Torusuke actually encouraged me to build my own faction at the school. Do everything I could to prepare myself to take over when my time came to lead. He wanted to make sure Kyoshō would remain strong even if he died. Again, it sounds crazy to those who haven't lived the lives we do, but…"

A nod. "Well, at least you'll never have to worry about that anymore," Hiromi mused, and then she gazed at Yoiko. "You're hoping that Mioko will give way a bit and allow Miwaka — and perhaps Takara as well — to have a chance with me as well."

Yoiko smirked. "Much that it might seem crass to make such comments about your love-life, there has to be spiritual unity and harmony in your household, Hiromi-san. By backing off like you've done until recently, you showed those of us who did realise who you were that you wouldn't show any preference. But now that you are involved with us, you have to be seen by the others as accepting of _**all**_ those who would desire you in an intimate way even if your own heart pushes you towards Mioko-san. Doing that will make everyone want to turn away from the Fate and build lives for themselves." She nodded to the sleeping children on the bed. "Besides…do you want to break them apart?"

"No. I did that once…and look what happened."

Hearing the pain in her host's voice, Yoiko reached over to squeeze Hiromi's hand…

* * *

Stepping out of the cabin a few minutes later, Yoiko took a deep breath before she turned to gaze on the cabin next door. Using her own ki senses, she reached out…and then smirked as she felt the growing passions between her younger subordinates as they strove to heal their shared pain with a good romp in the bed. _If only all our problems could be solved so easily_, the Terran-turned-Avalonian high school sophomore from Kanagawa mused to herself as she turned to head towards the nearby turbolift station to head to the nearest materialiser room and beam over to the _Yamato_.

She then paused, and then she headed to the port side of the deck…

* * *

Sick Bay Flats, fifteen minutes later…

Wan Miwaka stepped out into the corridor, pausing to adjust the black cloak she wore around her, and then she took a deep breath before turning to head to the nearest turbolift station so she could get back up to the aft superstructure and her child.

And that child's genetic "father"…

…who was someone she was finding herself falling head-over-heels in love with.

Thinking about that, the Nanban senior tried desperately to not grin like a total idiot as she walked up to the landing, pressing a bulkhead control to summon a car.

She hadn't really planned on it, of course.

Nope. She hadn't planned on it at all.

All that she had planned to do — once Fumi Susugame had told her what he had done ten years before concerning the placing of the wandering soul of the Xiàolíng Emperor in a magatama — was to find some way to give her child's father a body of his own, have a baby with said father, then take the reborn Liú Xié somewhere quiet and safe and away from other tōshi so he could have a life totally to himself and free of the past.

That the magatama bearing Liú Hóng's soul had gone missing shortly after it had been created — when Susugame had gone to Tōkyō to find a suitable host — was really of no concern. That the soul of Xié's father was finally free of the ghastly imprisonment that Susugame had found him in within the eternal vastness of the Dào — the Te'a to any Avalonian — was good enough. Clearly, the Fates wanted Miwaka to be patient and hold off until she was ready to take on being a mother full-time.

At least Susugame had been spot on when he — just before he died prior to the 2007 Great Fighters Tournament — told her that he had sensed the soul of Liú Hóng was mated to the soul of a decent man…and was thoroughly protected from outside influence.

Indeed, Moroboshi Ataru was a fundamentally decent man.

And Moroboshi Negako — unlike many tōshi, Miwaka viewed the spiritual child of Master Hosan Hirosuke as almost all magicals and mystics did, calling her the "Earth Angel" in lieu of that "Black Death" nonsense — was the most powerful guardian one could ever ask for.

And while she personally had cursed herself when she learned who Moroboshi Hiromi had once been — after all, Hiromi's name was written in kanji as 宏美; any tōshi that had seen that would have been a total idiot to NOT recognise where that first symbol came from and what it really meant — nearly FOUR MONTHS after her existence was revealed and the world learned the truth of the "person with four souls in his body" that had fought a ten-day marathon against alien invaders in the summer of 2009, she had sensed even before getting her new body that Hiromi was clearly attracted to her.

Even in the face of Izuku Mioko also being in Hiromi's life as well.

Sighing as the turbolift came to her station and she walked into the car, calling out "Deck A12 Starboard," Miwaka relaxed herself as she reached into the depths of her soul to find her centre and calm herself down. Personally, the Nanban senior didn't want to interfere with the relationship that was developing between the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor and the reborn Língsī Empress right now. Hiromi was clearly smitten with Mioko and had been since she first learned who and what the latter had been in her first life…and one had to be as emotionless as a computer and as heartless as a wild animal to NOT note how loyal and devout the latter was to the former even with her having the power of a three thousand year-old **_alien dragon_** now fused to her soul.

So…

Miwaka sighed as the turbolift came to a stop and the doors opened…

…to reveal a neutral-looking Mioko standing in her path.

Miwaka stopped as she gazed on the younger girl…and then she winced on seeing — and _**feeling**_ as well — the loathing deep within Mioko's grey-brown eyes. "Um…"

"Okay," someone then declared. "We're gonna put a stop to this right now."

Fingers lashed out to tap paralysis points on both tōshi's shoulders, and then they were lifted right off the deck and pulled somewhere to _Haida_'s port…

* * *

Minutes later…

"Tariko! What are you…?!"

"Shut it, Mioko!"

"Tariko-chan! This is really…!"

"**_I SAID 'BE QUIET,' MIWAKA!_**** KONTŌ****_!_**"

Both tōshi yelped as a burning, golden blade leapt out of the palm of Tariko's right hand, instantly cowering — though not being able to physically move — from a weapon that was guaranteed to **_kill_** on contact. After a moment of blissful silence from her would-be sisters-in-law, Ataru's twin then dispersed the soulsword before she sat back in her chair; everyone was now in the lounge next to the bedroom she was sharing with Hayashi Kanami. Ranma's twin was standing protectively close to her girlfriend, arms crossed and a neutral look on her face. "Now, much that I understand why you two are tempted to fight it out between each other when it comes to Hiromi — especially you…" — she focused on Mioko by saying that — "…I'm not in the mood to put up to it. And I sure as hell will not sit back while my _**nieces**_ are subjected to that sort of bullshit, either!" As both Mioko and Miwaka gasped in shock on sensing what Tariko was potentially implying, their host's eyes narrowed. "Don't deny it, girls. You know what things are like when parents start fighting in front of their kids. Don't you?"

Hearing that, the two tōshi winced…and then they deflated as they realised the ugly truth behind their host's words. And given what rumours and reports had leaked out of Tomobiki concerning what life was really like inside the Moroboshi home, that Tariko was moving to put a stop to it now was more than understandable. Even if it hadn't progressed to the ugly extreme it might have — especially since both Mioko and Miwaka both knew from mind-melding with Hiromi how much Ataru's parents were, in a way, still suffering from the loss of his twin brother Kaeru…even now, fourteen years after his death and the inexplicable disappearance of his body — all was clearly not well in Hiromi's home. And Tariko was in no mood to see it become any worse.

"I want my child's co-parent in her life, Tariko-chan," Miwaka then confessed. "Hiromi has every right to be in Kanami-chan's life! I know that! And I know how much Hiromi loves Mioko! I can understand that! But I'm falling in love with her, too…!"

Mioko gasped. "**_NO! SHE'S MINE! YOU BACK OFF…UURRRK!_**"

That was because of Tariko's soulsword hovering mere centimetres away from Mioko's nose, the waves of killing-cold energy emanating from that deadly blade nearly freezing her face. "I said to shut it, Mioko!" Ataru's twin snarled. "Or so heaven help me, I'm going to soulsword that dragon out of your ass! Got me?!"

Mioko's eyes squeezed shut as tears of pure fright began streaking down her cheeks. Noting that, Tariko sighed as she dispersed her weapon again before she sat back in her chair. "Okay. You're in love with Hiromi. I can buy that, Miwaka," she said as she gazed on the Nanban senior. "And yes, you want to have Hiromi help raise Kanami-chan. Hey, that's swell! I'm all for it! But do you — much less you…!" — she focused on Mioko — "…have any idea what's going to happen if you both move in lock, stock and barrel into the house with the rest of us?" A sigh. "Baka Kā-san already has enough problems with Ataru being lovers with both Shikuko and Miyako. And while she'll be probably tickled pink that she's now a grandmother two times over, that the second granddaughter came from a DIFFERENT WOMAN than Hiromi's 'accepted' girlfriend is not going to make her very happy at all! After all, she wants a _normal_ life in a _normal_ household in a _normal_ town!" A smirk. "She hasn't gotten that so far."

Mioko's and Miwaka's eyes went wide as their minds wrapped around what Tariko was ultimately implying. "But this is the way Fate turned out to be!" the latter then declared. "How in the name of the Buddha does she expect it to be different?!"

"In a way, she does," Tariko admitted. "But she'll never admit that sort of thing in public. It implies that she has no control over her house, which is something that she wants to hang on to any which way possible. And if she feels she can do anything to take control back — no matter how much she hurts people doing that — she'll do it."

"What would that mean for Hiromi's kids, Tariko?" Kanami asked.

Ataru's twin considered that for a moment, and then she sighed. "She'll probably do what I've heard grandmothers love to do when it comes to grandchildren they feel aren't being raised to their standards," she noted. "She'll want to butt in every which way she can to make sure that Kanami-chan and Arami-chan are raised 'properly.' No doubt find some way to cut any influence one of the extra mothers has on her child…" — her eyes focused on Miwaka on saying that, which made the Nanban senior pale as she realised she would be the "extra" mother in such a scenario — "…and try to do everything she can to keep things _in Ordnung_ in her eyes. Which will ultimately not do either of you, much less your daughters, a world of good." A smirk. "I can tell you right now, the message concerning Kanami-chan was just sent out."

Both tōshi gasped on hearing that…

* * *

Aboard P.R.C.S. _Zhèng Hé_, in crew quarters on Deck 15…

_My beautiful boy…soon, you will live again…_

For Sumai Takara — "Sōhōfū" to her friends — the last few days had been an emotional roller-coaster the likes of which she hadn't felt since the day in the first term of her third year of elementary school that she first dreamt of her life as Sòng Bǎofēng.

To learn that her husband from her first life was _**alive**_…

To learn that the soul of the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn — whose magatama had been found a decade ago by none other than _**Moroboshi Ataru**_, the Saviour of Earth himself! — had been allowed to live as his very own sister, Moroboshi Hiromi…

To learn that Hiromi had, since she had come to Earth in her own body for the first time, had elected _**not**_ to impose herself on all her former subjects…

To learn that Hiromi had been trying to conceive of some way to help her former subjects forever escape the dark fate the magatama forced on them all…

And to learn that Hiromi had, because she didn't want to risk _**anything**_ that could have come to hurt any of her former subjects, adamantly _**refused**_ to seek out the woman she loved with all her heart and soul — Takara's successor as Hiromi's wife in their first lives, who lived now as Izuku Mioko — until Sebone Mimōko's wonderful and gallant new boyfriend had interceded directly to help them come back together.

Which meant…

_Even if Hiromi-sama would desire Mioko-sempai more, she surely would allow our child a chance to live her own life_, she mused to herself as she paced to and fro near the bed she had used while aboard the Chinese starship. _Granted, in our first lives, my husband didn't favour me over his other lovers, though he was pleased when we had a child together._ On thinking of that, Takara's pale blue eyes then teared. _A child that wasn't allowed to live much past the day I was tossed out of the Palace…!_

Surely, Hiromi wouldn't let the past influence her in _**this**_!

_In this life, I am quite beautiful if Hiromi-sama's view of beauty was in any way influenced by her noble brother's viewpoints_, she then mused to herself as she turned to gaze at her nude body thanks to the full-length mirror in her guest cabin. Like many of her female classmates from Rakuyō aboard the _Zhèng Hé_, she had taken advantage of the chance to become a bioroid when the tōshi had returned to the ships of the Task Force, but even becoming a Terran-turned-Avalonian had not really changed how she looked to others. Quite well-formed for a sixteen year-old, she had dirty blonde hair cut square at mid-neck and eyes which were similar to those now possessed by the woman who had been a beloved friend in the Palace in their first lives, Wan Miwaka.

_Back then, I was not as well-favoured by the Emperor given how I was snap-promoted to be Empress without his consent by those who opposed the Attendants not a year after I was brought into the Palace to be an imperial consort. And even if I did bear the Emperor a son who might have had the chance to live and succeed him hadn't the intrigues of the Palace see me denounced, dethroned and banished, I doubt Hiromi-sama would wish to have anything to do with me now. She never pushed herself on Mioko-sempai despite her wanting her so badly! She would never do that to me, even if…!_

She then sniffed as tears flowed down her cheeks. _I want her…!_

A deep breath then escaped her.

_But would Mioko-sempai and Miwaka-sempai share Hiromi-sama with me…?_

A knock at the door. "Sōhōfū?" a male voice called out from the shared common room that connected to Takara's bedroom, as well as the five other bedrooms in this particular section of the starship. "Are you decent?! You have a visitor!"

Takara gasped. Even if she had little to do with him in the half-year she had been attending Rakuyō — she had first encountered the reborn Shepherd of Bīngzhōu when she had been invited as a spectator to the previous year's Great Fighters Tournament by former classmates from Chōan Junior High — she recognised that voice. And even if the man had just been exorcised of the awful demons that had drive him since his first life, she had a healthy dose of both respect and fear for one Tadasu Suguta. "Just a moment, Tōtaku-sama!" she called back as she reached for a yukata. "I was washing up!"

"Take your time!" he called back.

Quickly dressing herself, she took a deep breath, and then moved to unlock and open her door. "Sorry about that, Tōtaku-sama…!" she said, bowing…

…before her breath caught in her throat to see Suguta, as well as her girlfriend — not to mention all of the people using the neighbouring bedrooms — all KNEELING before her, heads bowed and hands held out in the classic civilian salute of old China!

"Forgive us for disturbing you, My Empress, but our Emperor's noble brother wished to speak to you concerning the other magatama you carry on your person, bearing the soul of your own son from your first life," Hokona then stated.

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"I don't claim that title, Sempai…"

Everyone then stared at her, and then Suguta stood, pulling out a handkerchief to offer to her so she could wipe her eyes of the tears that had now sprung up on her realising that her school leader, his lover and her friends now knew the truth about her. "Takara-san, don't feel that way," he stated as she took the offered cloth and moved to wipe her eyes down. "Even though we see her now as the emperor we all, to one extent or another, always dreamt of throughout all our lives over the last eighteen centuries, Hiromi has always said this: 'I am an emperor of nothing.' And she won't force herself on you even if she most likely has been made to accept the fact that Miwaka-san has as much rights to her bed as Mioko-san does." He then reached out to give her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder. "You love her, don't you?"

A sniff. "H-hai…but…!"

"You won't know if you don't try, Takara-chan," Hokona then said as she got up to squeeze her other shoulder in reassurance. "And you won't know if you don't go over there and meet her directly. She's known all along about whom and what you once were. And like she did with Mioko-san and Miwaka-san, she elected not to seek you out since she — as well as fearing the possibility that her open interaction with us would provoke things she didn't want to see happen — felt herself unworthy of you."

Takara jolted. "UNWORTHY OF ME?!" she gasped. "No! It is _**I**_…!"

She found herself in the older woman's embrace, which made her shudder before a sob escaped her as she buried her face into the crook of Hokona's neck. The raven-haired senior shushed the sobbing freshman as she held her close. "I know…I know," she said in a soothing voice. "You're scared. And she's scared, too. But you two have something binding you two together no matter what." As Takara shuddered before she pulled away to gaze into the older woman's eyes, Hokona smiled as she reached under the flap of the freshman's gown to pull out the necklace she always wore, that holding a single green magatama that until now, no one at Rakuyō knew she had.

"Right now, Hiromi-sama wants _**all**_ her babies to live," Hokona said. "You want your child to live. As to what happens after that, that's for both of you to decide on your own…but I know Hiromi-sama won't do _**anything**_ that would later come to hurt any of her children. And I don't think Mioko-sama or Miwaka-sama will do that, either." She then pulled up Takara's hand to help her grasp the magatama bearing her lost child's soul. "So you have a chance. But the chance will flee if you don't take it!"

"If you eventually discover that things won't work out between Hiromi and yourself, your child will always be safe at Rakuyō, Takara-san," Suguta added as he gently squeezed her shoulder in reassurance. "We have all chosen to walk away from the darkness. But soon, the next generation of tōshi will arise. And they will ALL be consumed by the darkness if we don't do something to protect them NOW! By bringing Yayoi-chan back to life — by bringing ALL of Hiromi's children back! — we will show our prodigy that _**there is another way than the darkness**_! We ALL need to draw together to do it _**now**_ before it's too late, Takara-san. We need your help."

Takara blinked, and then she sniffed. "'Yayoi'…?!"

"Ataru-kun thought up the name for her," Hokona stated. "It seemed proper."

Hearing that, the freshman blinked, and then she sniffed, a smile crossing her face. "I best prepare myself to go to the _Haida_ and present our child to my husband."

The others in the room all whooped on hearing that…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Sōhōfū** (**Sumai Takara**) — known more commonly in Japanese as **Sōkōgō** — is, as noted here, the current incarnation of the first wife of the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn, **Empress Sòng** (unknown date of birth, died 178 C.E.). Unlike the Língsī Empress — due to her being deposed from her position of empress consort thanks to palace intrigue — Empress Sòng was never given a posthumous name. However, like her successor as Liú Hóng's wife, the real name of the Empress Sòng is unknown. To that end, I created the name **Sòng Bǎofēng** for Takara's past-self. The given name is written with the characters 宝酆, which literally means "treasure of Fēng" (the Empress's father was **Sòng Fēng**; **Fēng** was also the name of a state that existed in China during the **Zhōu Dynasty** [1046-256 B.C.E.]). It is unknown if Empress Sòng ever gave birth to a child; that she had a child before her death is my invention.

As an aside, Takara's given name is derived from the _kun'yomi_ reading of the 宝 kanji. She is physically based on a younger version of **Kitami Reika** of _Bible Black_ when she was attending high school.

2) The **Dìxīn Emperor of Shāng** is the formal name given to King Zhòu (who was mentioned in the writer's notes for Part 41).

3) The "Seina" mentioned by Gakushū (Tano Tsukuhito) here is **Yamaguchi Seina**, a character from _Ojōsama Express_. I chose her to become one of _Haida_'s stewards as she is depicted in a potential future scene running a café named after her when she reunites with the player character.

4) A **Caduceus** (the word is based on the Greek word _kērukeion_, meaning "herald's staff") is a badge showing a rod with twin snakes wrapped around it, often also displayed with wings at the head of the staff. The staff carried by the Greek god Mercury in mythology and the classical symbol of heralds, this device is mistakenly used as a medical symbol due to its similarity to the Staff of Aesculapius (which is a single snake on a rod); in proper usage, a caduceus is a recognized symbol of commerce and negotiation, where a balanced exchange and reciprocity of information occurs and is seen as ideal.

5) The incident concerning Ten'i Orai (Sakan Somumi) being nearly raped by three of her schoolmates in the cemetery near Kyoshō — where she ended up taking off the lower legs of Shiba'i Chūtatsu (Tsukasame Yoiko) in a fit of madness — is depicted in manga episode #96 of _Ikkitōsen_. The names I give the girls involved in that incident — **Sōken** (**Sumai Noriko**), **Kōsei** (**Mato Narumi**) and **Gizōku** (**Takai Tsugumi**) — are based on three of Lǚ Bù's former subordinates that rebelled against him at the Battle of Xiàpī. Respectively, these three girls were — in their first lives — **Sòng Xiàn**, **Hóu Chéng** and **Wèi Xù** (unknown dates of birth or death for all). Their only real claim to fame in history was their betraying Lǚ to Cáo Cāo…though, in Chapter 25 of _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Sòng and Wèi were said to have died in the **Battle of Bómǎ** in the spring of 200 C.E. during Cáo's campaign against Yuán Shào.

6) Ataru's twin brother **Moroboshi Kaeru** was introduced in _The Senior Year_ story "My Darlings United."

7) Translation: **In Ordnung** — Literally "in order"…which is normally seen as part of the German phrase _alles in Ordnung_ ("Everything is in order").


	49. The Lost Child of the Xiàolíng Emperor

Meanwhile, back in a certain house in Tomobiki (local time: mid-morning)…

"**_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I WISH I NEVER HAD THEM! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_**"

In the middle of the dōjō, Negako tensed on hearing that screaming wail emit from the main house. Taking a deep breath — she had overheard the message come in from _Haida_ concerning the rebirth of the Xiàoxiàn Emperor of Hàn as Moroboshi Kanami, with the reborn Wáng Měiruò (now Wan Miwaka) serving as Kanami's genetic mother in that case, over the dataPADD in her bedroom at one corner of the dōjō building — the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū stood up from her meditations and walked into the house. She made her way to the living room. "She just learned of Kanami?" Negako asked.

Tsukasa Setsumi — who had been sent from the _Fëdor F. Ušakóv_ with the news — gave a shrug. "Hai, Negako-sama. She should be happy she's a grandmother again, but…!"

Negako waved the raven-haired university student down, and then she leaned down to gaze neutrally into Moroboshi Kinshō's face. Ataru's mother — who was still moaning over what she had just learned and what that might imply for the image of the Moroboshi family in Tomobiki — ignored Negako as she continued to sob. After a minute of that, Negako then sighed before she turned to Setsumi. "Setsumi, relay whatever news concerning the restoration of any of Hiromi's other children to life only to me," she then ordered. "It appears that no matter what is done to make Kinshō finally learn to be a proper mother, she refuses to incorporate those lessons. Thus, she will soon face her seniority with NO filial support whatsoever from her children."

Setsumi blinked. "What does THAT mean?!"

"She will grow old and die alone."

"**_UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURK…!_**"

Both women turned to see Ataru's mother now frozen as solid granite, cracks appearing in her skin as a look of total horror crossed her face. On noting that, Setsumi could only shake her head. "The Emperor wishes to reform her court HERE?!" she demanded.

"Well, there is the Hinata-sō near Yokosuka," Negako mused. "That will place Hiromi and all of us close to the naval base there, which would please the Self-Defence Forces and the United Nations quite thoroughly. And given how all of the tōshi from the Seven Schools and Nanban are flocking to Hiromi's banner, any questions of her residing in what is technically considered Kyoshō territory should not cause conflict."

Setsumi blinked. "Is that where Urashima Keitarō-kun serves as the landlord?"

"That is correct. You have encountered Keitarō before?"

A smirk. "Negako-sama, _**everyone**_ of university age in Kantō knows of Keitarō-kun!"

"True. If we move there, Narusegawa Naru and Aoyama Motoko will both need to be cured of their psychological addiction of striking Keitarō with considerable force once and for all. Arami, Kanami — and Hiromi's other children — need not witness that sort of thing. In the meantime, you should return to the _Ušakóv_. I will be meditating."

A nod. "Hai!"

With that, both women left the room, leaving Ataru's mother frozen in place. "Who will…care for me…when I'm old…and grey…?" she moaned…

* * *

_Haida_, now in orbit over Yaminokuni, inside Sick Bay…

"So there's nothing that can be done for him?"

The Noukiite doctor hovering over Shampoo's and Kikuko's shared "husband" could only shake his head. "Not at this time, I'm afraid," K'u-Seu Chusu-Mu Hechnich'-Kaechseu of Ait'uch Nehech — "Hichkai" to his friends — confessed as he reached over with a ki-sheathed finger to touch the sleep point on Reyshan Meyo's forehead to make him pass out. The healer had arrived an hour before, having sailed to Yaminokuni on his own hyper-warp sloop, which could easily pace the ships of the Task Force for speed alone. "I've heard of cases like this. Ever since the Mother of All Fight Scenes on Uru over two centuries ago, Oni scientists have explored all sorts of options towards forming some sort of metahuman defence against the Yizibajohei. From what I saw of his DNA profile, it appears this fellow's a victim of natal gene-splicing."

Watching this from the other side of the diagnostic bed now holding the unconscious Oni metamorph that Shampoo and her wife had encountered in the Dead Grove, Doctor Stan Gossip gaped. "My God! They experimented with him when he was in his mother's WOMB?! What type of sick barbarian would do something like that?!"

"The type of barbarians, my friend, who really don't care for healer's oaths," Hichkai stated as he wryly grinned at the military doctor from Hamilton in Ontario. "Who see their loyalty first to helping reform their decrepit empire…and only when that loyalty is fulfilled do they care for the welfare of their patients." As Doctor Gossip scowled on hearing that, the Noukiite healer shook his head. "It's disgusting, I agree. Still, most true healers on Uru want nothing to do with such beings. Hopefully, Lum's adopted sister would have found them and eliminated them when she unleashed her purges."

"But there is a reason to fear They Who Must Never Be Named, Master Healer."

Hichkai turned as Uio Toma came up to them, accompanied by her wife Enni. As Shampoo and Kikuko shifted over to chat away with the Seishin-form Avalonian Toma had married — who simply glowed to all who could see with the life growing inside her — the Noukiite healer reached over to gently tap a couple nikuk' points on her face. As Toma's eyes fluttered for a second as she felt energy flow into her from that contact, Hichkai nodded. "Aye, that's true, Lady Major. But even you must agree that forcing any form of metahuman or paranormal powers on an unborn foetus is clearly wrong."

Toma nodded…and then she tensed on hearing a polite cough. She turned to see _Haida_'s senior military police serviceman standing nearby. "What is it, Warrant Glas?" she asked as she walked over to join Don Glas by the entrance of the isolation unit where Meyo had been shifted into after he had been processed by the people of 3 Military Police Regiment…and his problems with premature ejaculation were noted after a couple Avalonian-Canadians got in physical contact with him.

"Sorry to bother you, Major, but Captain Gamblin will see you now," Glas stated with a polite nod of his head. "I'll take you up there right now. Your wife can stay in the chiefs and petty officers mess; Petty Officer Drake is waiting outside for her."

She nodded. After Enni was turned over to Glas' shipmate to be escorted to the lounge for the senior non-commissioned members aboard _Haida_, they made their way to a turbolift station. "Captain's Flats," Glas called out after they stepped into a car.

As they went up into the forward superstructure, Toma could only smile. While fanatic Imperials like her brother Samei — thinking about the stupid brat that had shot her in the Grove when he panicked after Moroboshi Arami had woken up in the arms of Padre Vincent Klein, Toma tried not to glower too much — would be simply stunned at the lenient treatment received by she and the others from _Redemption_ who had been granted parole by the Canadians pending their own personal decision to either migrate to Earth or to either of the Noukiite colony worlds that had large expat Urusian populations, she had been personally relieved to learn that these people were capable of civilised behaviour. When she had woken in _Haida_'s Sick Bay in her new Avalonian body, the major had — after she was given a clean bill of health by Doctor Gossip — been reunited with Enni, who had been brought over from _Bismarck_ by two smiling German Army feldjäger…not to mention a clear bill of health for Toma's wife and their coming child from the German starship's senior doctor, _Flottillenarzt_ Ellenne Ibrahim.

After that was done, Toma met up with Padre Vincent again, who escorted her and her wife to _Haida_'s regulating office, where they were interviewed by Don Glas in the presence of the ship's coxswain, CPO1 Jacques Beaulieu. There had been no acrimony or anything hostile displayed by the Air Force military policeman, much less the Navy electrical technician who was the senior serviceman on the Canadian starship, when the interrogation — Glas had coached it as an "interview," but both Glas and Toma knew what it really was — was carried out. Given that Toma now could only see Samei as her next of kin outside Enni — who would automatically be given free resettling rights on Earth given she was Avalonian by birth — there was nothing that was keeping the major from ever considering going back to Uru. And migrating to either Baiseki or Tamamono — Toma knew those names were not the proper terms for those planets, but she still thought of them that way as they were settled mostly by Urusians even if they were governed by Noukiios — was out; she would never be trusted by the local military forces there and both planets were still under the control of military commandery warlords and not properly-trained civilian governors like other planets in the Outmarches.

So Toma knew she would be going to Earth as well.

Still…

"Computer, stop car," she then called out.

The turbolift stopped. "Something wrong?" Glas asked.

Toma was quick to sense a slight increase of tension in him, so she moved to calm him down. "Warrant Officer Glas, a question: Whose idea was it to entice people like myself to consider moving to Earth?" she asked as she gazed on her escort.

The native of Goose Bay in Labrador smiled. "Believe it or not, it was Director Moroboshi's friend Mister Tsukasa Torusuke," he explained. "The tall fellow with the red hair and brown eyes; he's the student council president at the Kyoshō Academy."

"Is Lord Torusuke like the Lady Hiromi? Resurrected from the Three Kingdoms?"

A nod. "He is. His battle name is 'Sōsō Mōtoku,' if that helps."

Toma blinked as the ship's translation fields helped turn the Japanese words into their Mandarin equivalent…and then her eyes went wide. "_**Cáo Cāo?!**_" she exclaimed.

"You know him?" Glas asked.

The Urusian-turned-Avalonian major laughed. "Computer, continue," she called out. As the car moved up, she added, "Lady Hiromi is quite lucky to have such a wise man as he advising her on things. He was a genius in both warfare and administration back in those days. Humble when it was required, but bold and ruthless when necessary." A sigh. "If Ando had known the truth about what he was facing…"

"Something tells me he would still have charged on ahead," Glas noted as the car came to a stop and the doors opened onto the corridor leading past the entrances to the senior officer's cabins. "No offense, Major, but my friends on the ground who were in the Grove just couldn't ignore how arrogant some of your friends were."

A nod. "And we paid for it. In all honesty, we didn't have any idea of these ships whatsoever. Where exactly was _Haida_ built? And by whom?"

"In the Den'sha system near Spotak; it was an abandoned spacedock the old Sagussans left there when their Clone Rights War — you know about that?" At Toma's nod, Glas came up to the closed door leading into the captain's reception room and tapped a control to announce their presence. "Warrant Officer Glas with Major Toma," he said to the computer there, and then he sighed. "As for who built them…"

The door opened, revealing Ki Tsukihana. "Now, Captain, you really got to stop trying to brute-force the dataPADDs," the young genius from Chichibu warned. "You keep doing that and you'll never be able to do anything administratively while you're on this ship. Please be careful; dataPADDs don't grow on trees, you know!" He then smiled at Glas and Toma before he headed into the corridor for the turbolift station.

"That was one of them," Glas said with a chuckle on seeing Toma's wide eyes; she had probably never imagined a _Terran_ child actually being involved in a project like constructing _Haida_ and her sisterships.

"Get in here, Warrant," a voice then beckoned.

Glas chuckled as he walked inside, then straightened to attention as he politely bowed his head to the man inside; as he didn't have his wedge cap or beret on and this was considered "below decks" by Canadian Navy tradition, no hand salute was made. "Still having problems with touch screens, Captain?" he wondered as Toma bowed to their host.

"Damn straight I do! I'm still trying to get used to keys on a keypad," Brian Gamblin grumbled as he gazed wrathfully at the flat-screen device in front of him. "How do kids these days use these damned things?! I'll never understand technology!"

Toma smirked as her host waved her to a chair to his right. Glas took a seat to Gamblin's left. "And you took command of this ship?" the major wondered.

"Ever since I graduated from the Perisher, Major, I've commanded — in order — a diesel attack submarine, a submarine squadron, a steam destroyer escort, a helicopter frigate, a helicopter destroyer and a surface replenishment ship. With five ship command postings, I was seen as a natural for it," Gamblin explained as he pointed to the red ribbon with the three thin white stripes on it below his submariner's dolphins, which was embossed with two silver rosettes.

On seeing that, Toma's eyes went wide. "That's your long service decoration, isn't it?"

"The CD; the Canadian Forces Decoration," Gamblin provided.

"Twelve years good service to get the ribbon. Ten years for each bar to it," Glas added. "I'm a CD with one bar. The captain here's one of a few with two bars. You have to have joined REAL young to qualify for three bars before retiring."

"They might ask me to do just that," Gamblin noted, which made Glas laugh. "So, Major, what brings you over to see me? Nothing wrong with your treatment, I hope."

"No, sir," Toma said. "I'm actually here to speak to you about Padre Vincent's conduct down in the Grove. How he kept himself quite calm and collected — while protecting the Young Lady Arami, of course — in the face of my brother's gun."

"I see," the captain noted as Glas' eyes went wide. "What are you recommending?"

"An award for his valour, of course," she answered. "Were the padre Urusian — even if we don't have codified religions as your people do, we do have spiritual healers that serve very much as a military chaplain would in your service — I would have put Padre Vincent right in for our highest military award, the Star of Aruka." As the Canadians both gaped at her, she added, "He was calm and collected in the potential face of death, sought to keep the situation forced on him from going out of control…and most of all, was determined to protect an innocent child who had been forced right into the middle of a battlefield. Atop that, his desire to help both Samei and myself — as he said it, he was prepared to offer spiritual aide to both of us were we wounded — shows he was prepared to perform his duty in quite an extreme circumstance."

Gamblin blinked. "What do you think, Don?"

Glas breathed out. "Definitely an MMV, sir," he noted, making reference to the third of Canada's recently-introduced valour decorations, the Medal of Military Valour. "Possibly even an SMV." That was the Star of Military Valour, the award that was ranked higher on the order of precedence for Canadian military decorations.

Gamblin nodded. "True…but we could go one step further…"

Glas gaped. "The _**Victoria Cross**_?!"

"Why not?" the captain mused. "There is historical precedence in awarding that to a chaplain, Don. Ask anyone who comes from Hamilton about Major John Foote. When he was attached to the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry during World War Two, he DID allow himself to be taken prisoner on the beaches of Dieppe during Operation: Jubilee. He wasn't going to abandon those of his flock who had to be left behind."

The warrant officer blinked, and then he sighed. "Well, yeah, that's true…!"

"Have you awarded the Cross recently?" Toma asked, her eyes wide at the idea of a _**chaplain**_ — a man who, legally and morally, could _**not**_ bear arms on the field of battle — being taken prisoner…and even more so, _**allowing**_ himself to be taken prisoner.

"Not since World War Two," Gamblin answered, and then he reached to the communications terminal built into the desk; unlike the dataPADD — the submariner had found himself agreeing to Hayashi Miiko's statement concerning those contraptions in the operations room before the Task Force sailed out from Earth — the use of the communications network on the ship was KISS-simple. Even better, Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami had put in a private messaging network for ship captains; given what was now on the table before _Haida_'s captain, he didn't need the rumour mill to start up concerning nominating Vincent Klein — who would probably turn down ANY medal for his actions in the Grove — for Canada's highest military decoration. "Gamblin to Kerr. Nate, you up?"

A groan answered him. "Just got up. Needed to put myself down for a couple hours," Nathan Kerr called over from _Hood_. "Something the matter?"

"Can you come over right away? There's something I need to ask you."

"What about, sir?" The show of respect for the older man was understandable; Kerr — the native of Glasgow had commanded H.M.S. _Illustrious_, one of Britain's two active aircraft carriers, before being assigned to _Hood_ — had only put in about twenty-four years in the Royal Navy, close to a decade less than Gamblin's thirty-three years in the Canadian Navy.

"The awarding of a Victoria Cross to my ship's chaplain."

Stunned silence fell for a moment, and then Kerr breathed out, "Oh, my God…!"

"I overheard that," Tom Kazanski called over from _Arizona_. "I want to hear this, too."

Gamblin hummed as he considered that, and then he perked. _Weren't there four priests in the American Army who got the Medal of Honour for staying aboard a sinking transport back in World War Two and helping people get off the ship…?_ he wondered before nodding. "Appreciate it, Tom. I would like total discretion on this, though."

"More than understandable," Kerr noted…

* * *

Main Cafeteria #2 (Japan time: An hour before lunch)…

"So you and your friends came aboard as a way of bringing Ōgi to heel and seeing him brought to justice?!" Azu Roki demanded as she and her wife Pai gaped in shock at Tsuiro dai-Tashan. "And none of them ever suspected you were half-Avalonian?!"

"No, Roki, they didn't," the silver-haired master architect — he had actually been apprenticed and later accredited to a construction firm on Gomiana — confessed. "Meson does work wonders, I confess." He reached into his jumpsuit pocket to pull out a small glowing crystal. "Charged in such a way to defeat the ship's bio-scanners until we got control of the programming computers. Once we did that, we made them blind to each of us. Atop that, these crystals allowed us to have a psi-null field around us so that people like yourself, Pai, couldn't pick up what we were even by touching us."

Pai — a pixie-cute girl modelled after someone in her late teens, possessing deep blue eyes and curly red hair; on seeing her, several of the troopers of the 2nd/10th Dragoons began to joke that Frieda from the _Peanuts_ comic strip was now aboard and that she shouldn't be forced to wear headgear so as to not ruin her naturally curly hair — smiled as she sipped her spiced tea. "Well, at least we all came out it alive and well," she noted before reaching over to gently squeeze her wife's hand. "And in some cases…"

"Much better than before," Roshi dai-Rukoa said as he winked at Roki.

The Oni-turned-Avalonian Urusian Marine sergeant blushed as everyone at the table laughed. In the wake of the rescue of the micro-materialiser by Miyamoto Nabiki and Ikusawa Kyōko from the wreckage of the _Redemption_, all the Niphentaxian-Avalonian hybrids who had been aboard the stealth cruiser were recovered from suspension aboard _Yamato_, then — after both a detailed examination by the Japanese starship's medical team and a thorough interrogation by both Agents Jay and Kay of the Men In Black; _Charming fellows, both of them_, Tsuiro mused on remembering the two Americans — they were all cleared to migrate to Earth to join their mothers' people. With that — and after learning about how the Type One space battleships had been built in the first place — the hybrids all came aboard _Haida_ to get a chance to meet Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami. After getting the opportunity to study the Canadian starship's design in detail, Tsuiro had to admit that the two former prisoners of the Ipraedies had done it right on their first attempt…even with the considerable help of the central computer of the factory satellite that had been abandoned over Den'sha Two all those years ago as the War of Clone Rights was gutting Sagussa. While there were some improvements that could be worked into the design, Tsuiro would wait until he had established his own credentials with the United Nations before making proposals.

"So you all will be gainfully employed when we get back to Earth," Nabiki — who had placed herself at the neighbouring table with Kyōko — noted. "Do you still have relatives — your mothers for example — back on Gomiana?"

"All our mothers were eventually taken back to the Phentax system well before the Liberation occurred. Most likely, they're on Earth now," Tsuiro explained. "By that time, all of us had reached adulthood and established lives for ourselves on Gomiana. Given the general lawlessness of the planet — think of the culture there as a planet-wide version of a frontier settlement in America after their Civil War ended, without the racism towards African-Americans and native Americans — there was no way for them to trace us down even if they did learn of our existence. And while we could have helped Elder Ganzo blow the whistle on the existence of our mothers, we had more pressing needs before us. Putting food on the table, having a roof over our heads, making sure we were healthy and able to live our lives. We didn't understand until after the Liberation how our mothers were bound to the bioroid factory itself until Thoughtmistress-prime Negako and the Lady K'ekhech destroyed that part of the central programming complex before they initiated the emergency recall of all the bioroids from every planet in the system and the Niphentaxian fleet."

"That's true," one of the Avalonian-Canadians in the 2nd/10th Dragoons, Master Corporal (Brevet) Holly Sanderhausen, admitted from where she was sitting close to Nabiki and her girlfriend. "When I was on Phentax Four, I never once entertained the idea of actually running away from my master. Then the day of the Liberation came…and suddenly, something just snapped in my head." She then winked. "Just before I found myself beamed onto one of the evacuation ships, I took a knife and stabbed my master in the heart for all the abuse he forced on me. Even killed his wife, too." The others had been quick to note the plastic-like scars that were on the woman's arms, scars that would take time to heal even with the regenerative enzymes in her blood stream; Niphentaxians had often used inhibitor drugs to prevent such enzymes from working properly in the bodies of their slaves.

Others nodded. "I have to admit, Ōgi's people were total idiots," Nabiki noted. "You people were created at the prime of health. You had the ability to bear children. As Tsuiro-kun and his friends clearly demonstrate, any children born of such a union has all the psionic powers. Why the hell were they so hell-bent on keeping you as slaves?"

"Simple reason, Nabiki-san," Tsuiro answered. "Long before the factory was discovered by Elder Ganzo and his friends, the 'church system' of governance was in place. If you were a Niphentaxian, you had to believe in a 'faith' that was — for the most part — forced on you by your countrymen. Apostasy was a capital crime offense on that world. To even SAY that the various 'churches' were fundamentally hollow and brought no true spiritual benefit to the 'worshippers' was a cardinal sin. After all, the various 'big brothers' and the 'inner parties' of their 'faiths' — to borrow the analogy from _Nineteen Eighty-four_ — couldn't keep control over the population if they were questioning things." A smirk. "When the first generation of Avalonians in over thirteen millennia was created, they instantly questioned what was going on. Fortunately, some of Elder Ganzo's friends discovered how to lock 'loyalty programming' into them to make sure they behaved. And once all the benefits of having a race of custom-built beauties sank in, the demand exploded."

"And it became a running battle to make sure that no attempt at disturbing the status quo could get off the ground," the master architect's sister Tokom added. "Hence, the reason they declared Elder Ganzo the 'Arch-Heretic' and put a price on his head."

"Fortunately, all the good bounty hunters such as Nassur and Shogai Dakejinzō were busy elsewhere when he fled Phentax Two with his production line to bring it to Noukiite space," Roshi's lover Hicai dai-Kaito mused. "Once the Flower Youth were all reborn and started making waves, his presence on Okusei — which was protected by Noukiite asylum laws against religious persecution — was upgraded to 'special permanent guest of the Imperial Dominion' status. Any action against him would be seen as an act of war. Nassur and Dakejinzō would _**never**_ take out contracts asking to bring Elder Ganzo back to Phentax Two. Nothing anyone in New Hollywood…" — all the Avalonians in the room laughed on hearing the old name for the capital city of Phentax Two, which had been renamed "Lumukyō" six years before — "…could say or do to stop Elder Ganzo from doing whatever he wanted mattered anymore, no matter how much they tried. Even more so, Lady K'ekhech got all her friends from Yiziba…" — he gave Roki a scolding look as the sergeant yelped on hearing _**that**_ planet's name — "…to have a micro-Mother of All Fight Scenes there to make them suffer shortly afterward. They even rescued thousands of Avalonians to have them moved to Yiziba." Again, another yelp from Roki made the Terrans in the room stare in curiosity at the big Oni sergeant. "They can't be Gifted, not like…"

"Hey, little girl! What are you doin' here?!"

Hearing the voice of one of the Nanban tōshi seated nearby, people turned…

…and then they blinked on seeing the six year-old girl now peeking out from behind the bar that was fitted to the midships side of the room. Noting she had a green magatama hanging off her left ear, all the tōshi in the room blinked in confusion. They all knew this wasn't either Moroboshi Arami or Moroboshi Kanami. The former had green-streaked brown hair and the latter had her mother's rusty red hair; this girl here had a head of flaxen blonde hair with brown eyes peeking out of a face that simply was just too cute for words. She was dressed in a child's version of the Tomobiki High School summer seifuku of a white tunic with red tie and red-trimmed blue collars over a blue skirt. On sensing dozens of eyes focus her way, the girl then yelped as she ducked behind the bar.

Immediately, Ki Kenshika got up and walked over to kneel close to the bar, his wolves — who had been snacking on meat provided to them by the cooks — moving with him to sit protectively close to their master as they focused on the hidden girl. Noting that the wild hunter of Nanban was simply relaxing there and waiting, Roki — who had immediately got up to intercept the giant fighter as he moved in on the newcomer — then relaxed before Pai forced her back to her seat. Everyone then allowed total silence — save for the many muffled noises of the ship around them — to descend onto the room…

…until the growl of an empty stomach made people gape.

As many fought down the urge to laugh at that outburst of noise — it was easy for most to pick up where it had just come from — a chuckle from nearby made people look over as someone walked out of the shadows. "Ya-…yo-…i-…cha-…n!" Moroboshi Ataru then chanted as he nimbly mounted the bar, then twirled himself around to gaze down at his newly-woken niece with a pleased grin and raked eyebrows.

People were quick to sense the burst of pure delight emanating from the girl as she came out from where she was hiding from, arms out. "HUG!"

Laughter filled the cafeteria as Ataru reached down to scoop Yayoi into his arms, and then he moved to allow her to relax in his arms. On seeing her, hoots and whoops escaped all the people there as the Japanese present all crooned out, "_**KAWAII!**_"

At that moment, the door to the cafeteria swooped open to reveal a blonde woman with silvery-grey eyes, dressed now in a deerstalker hat and plaid clothing that wouldn't seem out of place in a _Sherlock Holmes_ movie; she even came with a spy glass in one of her hands…and her wand in her other hand. Instantly, she came up to focus on Yayoi. "Ahah!" Luna Lovegood then declared. "The crumpled-horned snorkack! You've evaded my father and I for years, but I've got you now, my pretty!"

Yayoi laughed as people whooped and cheered, and then she squealed as Ataru tickled her. By then, a cook from the 2nd/10th was coming up with a tall fruity milkshake for the newest member of the Moroboshi Clan. As Yayoi began slurping it up, Ataru reached over to the entertainment system to click on some music. By then, many of the tōshi in the room were moving to gather close to her. "Who is this child, Ataru-kun?!" Hari Sumiko then asked. "Is she the Princess Wànnián?! How on Earth did…?"

"No, she's not that one, Sumiko-sempai," Ataru answered. "Yayoi-chan here is actually Prince Yì. He was the son of the Empress Sòng. He was poisoned when she was thrown out of the palace in Luòyáng to make sure her family couldn't influence the court anymore." As many of the tōshi gasped in shock and horror, he gazed down on Yayoi, who was concentrating on her milkshake. "This is the first time she's been in a body of her own for 1,832 years; all the reincarnations of her mother never got the chance to have a child of her own before they themselves died."

"Damn…!" Kashira Emi breathed out.

"Until the Avalonians came along," Nabiki noted from nearby.

"Hai," Ataru said, and then he turned as the door opened, revealing Sumai Takara. "Hey, Takara-chan! All ready to learn some things?!" he asked.

The tōshi all turned to gaze on the reborn Sòng Bǎofēng, and then Kenshika immediately went to his knee, bringing his hands together in salute. "My Empress!"

The other tōshi in the room dropped down as they also saluted Takara, who instantly turned red in embarrassment as she bowed her head in return. Watching this, Yayoi then looked over. "Mama! Why are they doing that?!"

Everyone all stared at the reborn child prince of the Hàn, and then Nabiki shrieked out in laughter, which made all the others in the room guffaw. Watching this, Luna hummed as she slipped her wand into her jacket. "They seem to accept it quite well, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do," Ataru said as he lowered his voice. "Who knows? Maybe in a few years, you can finally do away with that stupid secrecy statute of yours."

The daughter of the owner of the _Quibbler_ nodded. "Good point…"

* * *

Flag officer's quarters, minutes later…

"Hiromi-sama is asleep now, Ataru-kun, as are Arami-sama and Kanami-sama."

Ataru nodded as he relaxed himself in Hiromi's chair in the meeting room beside the reborn emperor's personal bedroom. Yayoi was seated to his right, still enjoying her milkshake. Takara — who looked quite nervous right now — was seated to his left. Also present were Hari Sumiko and Kashira Emi, not to mention Nabiki and Kyōko. Luna was also in the room with her Quick-Quotes Quill as she moved to record this particular event for later publication in the next issue of the _Quibbler_. Having joined them from their shared cabin on the other side of Deck A12 were Sebone Shikuko and Noberu Miyako.

As Tano Tsukuhito stepped out of the room to get tea made up, Hiromi's brother relaxed. "Okay," he breathed out. "As we are talking, Mioko-chan and Miwaka-sempai are busy trying to stare each other down in Tariko's room. Nothing Tariko's tried to do to make Mioko-chan bend concerning Miwaka-sempai hasn't really worked, not even threatening her with a soulsword." As Sumiko and Emi both winced on hearing that, he smirked. "I knew that wouldn't work."

"So how do you intend to make peace between Hiromi-sama's would-be lovers, Ataru-kun?" Sumiko then asked. "While I understand Mioko-sama's and Miwaka-san's desire to have the co-parent of their children in their lives given the needs of both their daughters now that they are alive and well — and I'm sure Takara-sama feels the same way concerning Yayoi-chan here — your sister is quite determined to NOT live the life she lived back in Luòyáng. That means not having multiple lovers."

"A pity your sister doesn't live in magical society in Britain, Ataru," Luna mused. "Having official mistresses is allowed, even in same-sex relationships."

"You actually acknowledge same-sex relationships, Lovegood-sensei?" Nabiki asked. "I always heard European wand-magicals were all stuck in the Victorian Era."

A sigh. "In a way, they still are, Nabiki-chan," the reporter/magical naturalist from County Devon mused, clearly unbothered that the middle Miyamoto daughter did know of the hidden magical societies located across Earth. Then again, given that the former Saotome Ranma — who would have been Nabiki's brother-in-law — had been cursed by the pools of _**Zhòuquán-xiāng**_ of all places would have shaken up any normal person's worldview quite spectacularly. Luna knew that all the British servicemen aboard _Hood_ had been given a blanket exception to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy by a special Magical Royal Proclamation that went into effect with the ship's commissioning over London on Monday morning…so it stood to reason that the people on the other ships of the Task Force would have been given blanket exceptions to the Statute by their home nations' heads-of-state as well. And the tōshi as a whole would know about magic; their very existences were quite magical and magic was a commonly accepted thing in the days of the Three Kingdoms of China.

Thinking about that, Luna grinned. With _**that**_ Magical Royal Proclamation in place, there could be no objections from the Ministry of Magic…even if senior leaders such as Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt, Senior Undersecretary Percy Weasley — and most importantly of all, Harry Potter himself, who had become the youngest Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement ever six years before thanks to his prowess with magic…and his fame as the "Boy-Who-Lived" (and now the "Man-Who-Won" thanks to his victory over Voldemort and the Death Eaters in the late summer of 1997) — were fully supportive of _Hood_'s overall mission and were all aware of the many Avalonians now living in Britain. After all, Harry's maternal first cousin once removed Margaret Dursley had been adopted by two Avalonian-Britons when they had discovered the poor girl being abused at 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging by her grandparents back in March.

"But in other ways, we are remarkably advanced in comparison to our mundane countrymen," she added. "Same-sex relationships were openly acknowledged a century ago. My late headmaster at Hogwarts was gay and it didn't bat an eye…even if his choice of lovers then was wanting in many ways."

"Gellert Grindelwald, I heard," Sumiko noted. "Indeed, a very unpleasant fellow."

"The bakayaro who started up the magical side of World War Two in Europe, was it?" Emi asked.

"Hai, Emi-chan, the same man."

"Well, that is beside the point," Kyōko noted. "Onii-sama, how on Earth are we not only going to make Onē-sama accept ALL the girls who are interested in her, but to make all of them accept each other? Much that I admire Onē-sama's desire to be loyal to Mioko-onēsama, both Takara-onēsama and Miwaka-onēsama have legitimate reasons to be close to Onē-sama. And I know Onē-sama would fret herself right into a heart attack when it comes to her daughters. Never mind your useless parents; you're all almost of age and could walk out of that house anytime you want because Negako-sama's your true legal guardian. But the needs for Yayoi-chan, Arami-chan and Kanami-chan come first!"

"Agreed," Ataru stated. "So there's only one solution open to us right now." A smirk then crossed his face as the door opened to allow Tsukuhito to come inside. "Mioko-chan's the hard case here. Threats really won't work against her and it's really not Tariko's style. Atop that, Hiromi — while she does love and care for all the girls who shared her futon back in Luòyáng — won't do anything to hurt their feelings; that was the reason she stayed away from Mioko-chan even when she learned she was still alive and well." A sigh. "So we need the Gojūni Sanji to help out here."

The gentle giant of Nan'yō perked. "'Fifty-two Mountain Temples?' What's that?" Tsukuhito asked.

Ataru smirked. "Our Art's _**tantric**_ forms, Sempai." As people in the room gaped at him and Shikuko and Miyako grinned, he held up his hands to wiggle his fingers. "A little ki manipulation would even turn a big bad dragon like Mioko-chan into a mewling kitten within three minutes. As I always like to say — to paraphrase the late Michael Jackson-sensei — 'I'm a lover, not a fighter.' So instead of resorting to the same sort of testosterone-charged idiocy that's warped people's lives over the years, let's win them over with _**passion**_." He winked. "Fortunately for me, I know how to fast-load the knowledge into another person's head, so Takara-chan can get at it right away."

Everyone stared at him, and then they laughed.

Save for Yayoi, of course.

She was slurping away with her milkshake as the adults talked their silly stuff…

* * *

_Bismarck_, the forward observation lounge…

"How's he doing?"

Sebone Mimōko perked on hearing that concerned question from the okonomiyaki chef that had just joined her at one end of the lounge located on the upper weather deck of the German starship, and then she sighed. "Deep down, he's okay. He was relieved when Sijo-san came out of Sick Bay in her new body, but he still hates losing control like that." Another sigh. "I've seen this sort of thing loads of times before, U-chan. Hell, I've _felt_ it loads of times before. Let's just let him cool off and give him time to come to grips with what happened, and then he'll be fine."

Kuonji Ukyō nodded in understanding. Staring at the quiet man seated off alongside the edge of the great dome protecting them from the near-vacuum of space, the Kyōto native could only feel her eyes tear as she recalled what she saw when Mith Sijo's shattered body had been beamed aboard _Santísima Trinidad_ when she had been there (the okonomiyaki chef had been teaching the Avalonian-Spaniard would-be cooks how to adopt the versatile Japanese dish to accept Spanish-style ingredients). The sight of a girl that had been physically _**shredded**_ by ki-claws to rip off a horn, an eye, half an arm and nearly tear off one of the legs…! Fortunately for her, she had been close to one of the lavatories, so Ukyō didn't have to travel far before throwing up her breakfast.

And now…

"So where's this Sijo now?" Ukyō asked.

"In the brig here," Mimōko answered. "Once she recovered and was given a chance to be with her wife and mistress, Riu-san, Kiu-san and Roki-san just laid into her for being so stupid in the first place." A smirk. "From what her wife Miyu told me, Sijo's a pretty cocky bitch. Like my own cousin, but a couple degrees worse. She's been trained to use her morphing powers since she was old enough to walk and fly. Supposedly, the drill sergeant that ran her basic officer's training course cried when she said she wanted to be a starfighter pilot instead of going into the Marines like the twins, Toma-san and Roki-san did. She's a good pilot and all when she's in the cockpit, but she's one hell of a hard case when it comes to discipline problems."

"Sorta like Starbuck from _Battlestar Galactica_, you mean?" Ukyō asked.

A nod. "Yeah, sorta like that…"

"Excuse me? Mimōko-san?"

She smiled as three people came up, escorted by two feldjäger in their duty uniforms, side arms visible and on their belts. The two women accompanying the older girl in the back were easy to identify as Avalonians despite the months they spent after getting out of gestation under the control of the Urusian Imperials; there was a brightness in their eyes and a curiosity etched into their faces even if they had been willing to fight on the side of their beloveds in a mission that was ethically questionable at best. They were now holding the hands of the woman who's DNA had given them children via parthenogenesis. Gazing at Mith Sijo for the first time ever since she had been brought aboard from _Trinidad_ as she had been technically taken prisoner by the people of the Nan'yō Academy, Mimōko was quick to see the lost look on the pilot's face; when she had emerged from having her soul switched into her new body, Sijo was all smiles and laughing as she found herself accompanied by her wife and mistress, saying words of reassurance as she held their hands even as they were escorted away under guard.

Yeah, Sijo was _**too**_ much like Shikuko for Mimōko's comfort.

_Hopefully, Roki-san and the twins finally knocked some sense into her_, the Nan'yō senior mused as she walked over to place a comforting hand on Sijo's shoulder. As the pilot perked and looked at her, Mimōko gazed at the escorting feldjäger. "Gentlemen, please. We need some time alone in the lounge with her."

A curt nod. "We'll be outside waiting if you require us, _Fräulein_ Sebone," one of them said as both politely bowed to her before they turned to head back into the main hull to stand guard by the closed doors leading into the lounge.

"_Danke_," Mimōko said in German as they headed off, and then she waited for them to close the door behind them before she pulled her hand back as she stared intently at Sijo. "Do you fuckin' realise how close you came to _**dying**_ last night?!" she demanded.

Sijo stiffened. "Hey, look, lady…!"

"No, _**you**_ look, you fool!" Mimōko snarled. "I've been there! I've done that! I have the fuckin' scars _**and**_ got a damned dragon shoved into my eye as a result of it! Spare me the macho bullshit, okay?!" She then took a deep sigh. "If Hiromi-san had been even an _iota_ less merciful than she was, not only would you be dead now, so would your girls here _**and**_ the babies they've got inside them, too! Think about them, huh?! You bonded with them both six months ago, just before you knocked them up! Didn't you realise by NOW what could've happened if Ranma had sliced you to ribbons and the girls from the Rifles or your friends hadn't got to you in time before you bled out?!"

Sijo jerked. "I had to fight…"

"I know. You got involved in this for the same reason Toma, the Tenwan twins and Roki got involved. You cared for Lum, you couldn't really accept what Kyech told everyone in Onishuto six months ago…and when you learned about the wedding between Hensō and Ika, you saw a chance to be heroes and get her out of something she clearly didn't want," Mimōko said. "That speaks a lot about you. You _**do**_ care for those people you see as friends and family. You're a hell of a lot better than some of the jerks we had to deal with last night, especially your general and that bastard Ōgi."

The pilot sighed. "Is it true?"

"What?"

"You got the Dragonspeaker to truck that lifeless _relav'sh_ to Vos?"

A nod. "She's probably there right now waiting for people to note the flag is flying over the compound, and then they'll send couriers over to find out what's going on," Mimōko said, and then she took a deep breath. "Sijo-san, look. You've got two choices before you now. You either go with the Noukiites when they come later today to pick you up, get transported to Kegusei, get a piece of land to call your own and you can settle down with your girls and raise a family. For that, feel damned lucky. We all know that for the most part, grunts like us don't get the chance to really understand the reasons things happen until it's too late and a load of our buddies are dead. Hiromi-san didn't want the first mission for the Earth Defence Force to be coated in a bloodbath. But at the same time, she wanted to make sure that any threats from Uru were eliminated. _Especially_ since we're in talks with the Seifukusu now to get some planets to start settling people on because Earth can only take so much more before we have a big natural disaster on our hands." A sigh. "There's the other choice, too."

"You mean like what you offered the major and the lieutenants?" Sijo asked. "We disguise ourselves as Terrans and move to Earth; since we're Avalonians in blood, we wouldn't be excluded because of what Hensō's ex said after that shit with the annihilation bomb went down?" As Mimōko nodded, the pilot took a deep breath. "I dunno…"

"Do you want to be just a farmer, Si-chan?" Ukyō asked. "I don't think if you go with the Noukiites, they'll trust you to drive a space fighter."

Sijo smirked. "You Terrans'd be stupid to do that to me, too."

"Why?! What's so damned good about what the Imperials could offer Uru?"

The pilot then blinked before she shrugged. "I dunno to be honest with you," she admitted as she ran a hand through her spiky red-tinged black hair, a flash of fire appearing in her dark brown eyes. "All I know is that my parents wanted to bring the Empire back. They pressed me to be the best when I went into the military. They loved it when I got my wings and qualified to fly deep space patrols. We've had to deal with shit like pirates from Konton and the Ipraedies for a long time." A sniff. "I joined up with Ando since working on _Redemption_ seemed pretty cool even if she didn't have her own fighters. I managed to meet my girls because of that, too." She gently squeezed the hands she was holding as she leaned over to kiss Miyu's cheek, and then turned to do the same to Azu Hama; both women were Oni-form Avalonians and shaped quite similarly even if the former was a redhead with green eyes and the latter was pink-haired with grey eyes. Both were also quite visibly showing — and glowing — with the lives now growing inside their bodies; Urusians normally had ten-month pregnancies and Sijo's wife and mistress were on the down-slope of that. "And then a few days ago, I watched on the news nets when my parents were shot down like rabid landsharks by the bastards now running the Intelligence Directorate. Weren't even given a chance to properly surrender; they were just shot down just like _that_!" She snapped her fingers. "I didn't know shit about what Yethis pulled on your leader's family. I lost my parents, plain, pure and simple. I hadn't even had the chance to tell them they were going to be grandparents! How in the Maidens' Names was **_I_** supposed to feel, huh?!"

Mimōko blinked, and then she sighed. "Yeah, I can understand that. I'm sorry about your parents," she then said as she reached over to squeeze the pilot's shoulders. "Look, right now, you don't have much to go back to on Uru. You don't have much to go to on Kegusei. You obviously don't mind the idea of living on Earth and you're in a body now that guarantees you'll have a home on Earth. Same with your lovers. But don't let the past bury you, huh? I've had to live through that shit for many lifetimes…and only _**now**_, eighteen hundred years after I died for the first time, have I come to realise how stupid I've been all along. Don't fall into that trap, okay? Do it for your girls, do it for your daughters…and do it for you."

Sijo blinked, and then she swatted the Nan'yō senior on the shoulder before she walked past her, heading into the lounge and moving to walk over to where Ranma was sitting. Mimōko watched her go, and then she relaxed; her empathy was quick to sense that the pilot wasn't going to start something stupid with her boyfriend, but she clearly wanted to get a buddy-buddy thing going if the wandering martial artist was going to give her a chance. Hopefully, despite what Ranma had been through over the last couple of weeks — _Hell! The whole of his damned LIFE!_ Mimōko then raged deep inside her — his ability to forgive would come up and he could welcome Mith Sijo into his life as a new friend.

Ranma didn't react as the pilot moved to sit down beside him, she relaxing in the couch as she gazed outside to see the other ships of the Task Force floating serenely over the atmosphere of Yaminokuni, with _Redemption_ being slowly taken apart way off to the German starship's starboard. Staring at her old home ship for a moment, she then sighed. "You guys really came up with a pretty good ambush. We didn't see it coming."

He perked, and then he reached over to gently grasp her hand to squeeze it. "You okay?" he asked as he stared at her. "You really got chopped up bad."

A shrug. "I'll probably have some doozy nightmares about it, but it's nothing different from the times I've seen buddies from flight school burn out in space or on landings because they went star-crazy or something like that," she admitted, her eyes misting for a moment. "I've cried over a whole bunch of good pals. Even my first lover. She cracked up and became a smear on the runway at Toshitto-Five one day."

"Sorry to hear that."

A shrug. "Ah, it's nothing. I actually named my wife after her." Sijo turned to gaze warmly at Miyu before she gave Ranma's hand a squeeze. "Never thought Terrans could do shit like what people said your old man did to you. Why'd he do it?"

"He wanted it quick, fast and easy," he admitted as he pulled his hand away from her and relaxed himself in his seat, gazing into the black night overhead. "Martial arts don't come that way even if he thought he was a proper sensei and all that. It's just like learning how to fly a fighter, right?" As she nodded, he took in a breath. "Oyaji wants to retire now. Says he's had enough of wandering on the road. Doesn't give a shit about how many people he's stolen from while we were out there, lied to and all that crap." He stared at her. "You know, I appreciate you letting us keep your old body in the freezer. Oyaji's got no legal leg to stand on concerning me, but he still don't accept a damned thing that's been done to him by Obaba and the grandmaster of my Art. We've been bashing him and bashing him to make him open his damned eyes up and he still don't get it!" He then smirked. "Well, he'll get it _this_ time."

"Because of me?"

A nod. "And this, too."

Sijo then watched as Ranma reached over to pick up a glass of cold water, and then dumped it over himself to transform. As the Oni's eyes went wide on seeing a handsome man become a virtual supermodel, the martial artist sighed as she moved to wipe down her hair; she didn't use enough water to make a mess of the couch since she didn't want to get the _Bismarck_'s crew mad at her. As the redhead relaxed herself, Sijo then whistled. "Oh, Maidens, you are so damned _beautiful_!" she breathed out. "Your girl is one lucky lady to have something like you in her life!"

"I'm lucky to have her," Ranma admitted. "Hey, listen. Are you going to stay on Earth when we go back home or are you moving off to Kegusei?"

A snort. "Earth, where else? I'm no damned farmer."

A nod. "Great. Look, after we get back and rest up, Fu-chan — that's Mago Tsueko; she's the boss of Mimōko's school — wants to invite us all up to this nice onsen spring up near Kamikōchi; it's the Fukuchi Onsen. It'll be quiet this time of year since school won't let out for summer for another couple of weeks. We'll go up there for a week and soak up the water. Fu-chan's invited the twins, Major Toma and Roki-chan — their families, too — to come up with us, plus a few others. You wanna come?"

Sijo hummed. "Never been to a hot spring before," she admitted. "We don't have things like that on Uru even if all our water comes from underground seas. No active fault lines on the planet, so there's no places for lava to vent out to make those types of springs." A nod. "Well, what the hell, eh? Might as well go there!"

Ranma gazed at her…and then she blinked as the Oni's eyes narrowed for a moment before she leaned over to gently devour the Terran's lips with her own. As Ranma's eyes went very wide on feeling that, she then sensed Sijo's words push into her mind. «You owe me, buster!» the pilot warned. «I've got my pride, too. I don't like accepting a loss, even if everyone says I was stupid to press it with you when you were going nuts like that down dirtside.» She then pulled away. "Even if I'm married and you got a girl, I'm going to get you alone one day and blow your mind away, pretty lady," she huskily growled as her eyes suddenly switched to the narrow slits one would see in the eyes of a cat on a very bright day. As Ranma gasped, the Oni licked her lips before she stood up. "Remember that, Red. You're gonna be _mine_ one day!"

And with that, she headed off. Ranma watched her go, and then she moaned as she sank into her chair. "Crazy chick…!" she breathed out as she closed her eyes.

Footsteps. "She was just jerking your chain, Ranma."

She looked up as Mimōko leaned over her. "Didn't feel like it, Mimōko," Ranma confessed, and then she shrugged. "Then again, I can see where she's coming from. She's a fighter pilot. She ain't been trained to lose. Yeah, her martial arts skills suck, especially when you compare them to Roki-chan's, but her pride's probably what's been keeping her alive and well until today. You can't take that from her, you know."

The Nan'yō senior hummed for a moment, and then she leaned down to gently kiss her lover's forehead. "Well, even if I should be jealous right now about a girl — and a _married_ one at that! — trying to poach _**my lover**_, I can understand that. But we're gonna have to find a way to defang or cage the cat once and for all, Ranma." She ignored the slight shudder in her lover's body as she added, "That's a pretty mean weakness you've got there and knowing how much of a liar your old man is, I wouldn't put it past him now to try to pull something to get you legally declared mentally incompetent or something like that, then try to blame it on your grandmother to make her give up custody of you." She sighed. "Hopefully, by forcing him to see what you did to Sijo-san's old body might make him realise how much of a fool he's been…"

"Doubt it," Ranma cut in.

"So we'll have to spin-doctor it to such a way that _**no one**_ in Japan — not even his old training buddy Tendō — will ever want to help him again," Mimōko finished.

A smirk. "Well, if _Ryomō Shimei_ is planning it, Oyaji is seriously screwed!"

A purr. "Oooh! Talk like that's gonna get you laid tonight, buster."

The two gazed at each other, and then Ranma sighed. "I talked to Shān's great-grandma. She wants to train me, but she's got her laws, too." She blinked as she reached up to gently stroke Mimōko's cheek. "Would you mind it if I did that?"

"You're the same person no matter what body you have, Hayashi Ranma," Mimōko said as she reached down to gently wrap her arms around her lover's neck. "I know it. I can feel it every time I touch you. And if you spend a month frozen as a girl, that's okay. You're doing it to improve yourself and your understanding of your body, just like any other serious martial artist does." She then smirked. "Besides, if your old man finds out you let yourself be frozen as a girl, that's another thing that'll piss him off and make him go do more stupid things to dig him into such a deep hole, he'll never be able to get out of it without finally having to accept your terms. Ditto with your mother. It's your life and you're taking control of it, Ranma."

Ranma hummed. "I don't want to lose Ofukuro forever…"

"You got something in mind?"

A nod. "Yeah. What d'you think of this…?"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The "**grow old and die alone**" joke was devised for _The Senior Year_ as a counter to the "**I wish I never had him**" laments Ataru's mother often made whenever something odd happened and Ataru was in the middle of it (regardless of cause). This is derived from the scene in the first _Yatsura_ movie _Only You_, where Ataru's mother — while Ataru himself was preparing to meet Elle — lamented that no one would be there for her to care for her in her elderly years. I always thought that comment was a good source for a counter to Kinshō's emotional abuse of her only son.

2) As to how the Moroboshi siblings know **Urashima Keitarō** and the other _Love Hina_ cast, that will be revealled in a future story.

3) Translations: **Nikuk'** — Literally "finger pressure," this is the Noukiite version of shiatsu; **Feldjäger** — Literally meaning "field hunter," they serve as the military police of the **Bundeswehr** (literally "Federal Defence Force"), the German armed forces; **Flottillenarzt** — Literally "Doctor of Flotillas," this is a medical doctor in the **Marine** (the German Navy) with the rank of commander (in German, _Fregattenkapitän_ or "Frigate Captain"), who would administratively be part of the **Zentraler Sanitätsdienst** ("Joint Medical Service"), the _Bundeswehr_'s version of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group; **Perisher** — The nickname for the **Submarine Command Course** (short-form **SMCC**) run by the Royal Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy to train prospective commanding officers for duty aboard a submarine (called as such because of its notorious failure rate; if one fails at the Perisher, one can NEVER serve on a submarine again); **KISS** — Literally "Keep It Simple, Stupid."

4) The **Canadian Military Valour Decorations** — composed of the **Victoria Cross** (**VC**), the **Star of Military Valour** (**SMV**) and the **Medal of Military Valour** (**MMV**) — are Canada's three-tier awards for gallantry to military personnel at times of war or any officially-recognised operation in the presence of the "enemy" (which is defined as a "hostile armed force, and includes armed mutineers, armed rebels, armed rioters and armed pirates"). These three medals were officially established in 1993. Up to 2011, sixteen servicemen (including one American Navy SEAL) have been awarded the SMV and fifty-five have been awarded the MMV. To date, the Canadian VC has not been awarded to anyone.

5) The story concerning **Major the Reverend John Weir Foote VC, CD** (1904-88) and what happened to him during the **Dieppe Raid** (or **Operation: Jubilee**) on 19 August 1942 is a true story. If you wish to read the whole story, just Google his name or the name of the regiment he was affiliated with, the **Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)**, to get it.

6) H.M.S. _Illustrious_ (pendant **R06**, fifth ship of the name) is the second of the Invincible-class helicopter carriers built for the Royal Navy in the late 1970s. Commissioned too late for service in the **Falklands War** of 1982, "Lusty" (as she is nicknamed) has served operationally all over the world. She remained in commission after her sistership _Ark Royal_ was decommissioned in 2011 and — upon her decommissioning in the next few years — will be made a memorial.

7) Brian Gamblin got it wrong concerning the four American Army chaplains who died on a troopship in World War Two. The story of the **Four Chaplains** (Lieutenants **George L. Fox** [1900-43], **Alexander D. Goode** [1911-43], **Clark V. Poling** [1910-43] and **John P. Washington** [1908-43]) is this: They were travelling on United States Army Transport _Dorchester_ when she was torpedoed by the German U-boat _U-223_ in the early morning of 3 February 1943. All four of the chaplains mentioned above helped other passengers get off the ship, giving up their life preservers to others so they could be saved. None of their bodies were recovered; the last anyone heard of them was their praying on the sinking ship's deck. In honour of their sacrifice, they were posthumously awarded a special medal, the **Chaplain's Medal for Heroism** (also known as the "Four Chaplains' Medal") by joint resolution of the United States Congress on 14 July 1960. This medal was awarded in lieu of the **Medal of Honour** because of its stringent requirements that required heroism performed under fire for it to be awarded. However, in the eyes of the American government, the Chaplain's Medal for Heroism is seen as having equal weight and importance as the Medal of Honour.

As an aside, all four men were posthumously awarded the **Distinguished Service Cross** (the second-highest award for valour in the United States Army below the Medal of Honour) and the **Purple Heart** (the standard decoration for personnel wounded or killed in action).

8) I base Roki Pai here on the teenage version of **Frieda** as depicted by the on-line manga artist **gNAW**. All you have to go is Google "Peanuts Manga" to see how good those pictures are.

9) The total number of children the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn fathered is not known. Three who made it to the history books include two sons (Liú Biàn [reborn in this story as Moroboshi Arami] and Liú Xié [reborn here as Moroboshi Kanami]) and a daughter (the **Princess Wànnián**, real name unknown). However, it is documented that there were many other children born from Liú Hóng through his concubines, all who died in childhood. I set the number at thirteen children. **Moroboshi Yayoi** (who possessed the original name **Liú Yì**, thus making her battle name **Ryūi**) is meant to represent the unknown children of Liú Hóng. S/he is named in tribute to **Liú Yì, the Marquess of Běixīang** (unknown date of birth, died 125 C.E.), who briefly ruled China after the death of **Liú Hù, the Xiàoān Emperor of Hàn** (94-125, ruled 106-125) until dying of illness himself and being succeeded by his predecessor's own son **Liú Bǎo, the Xiàoshùn Emperor of Hàn** (115-144, ruled from 125-144). The original Liú Yì was Liú Hóng's first cousin once removed through the latter's great-great-grandfather and the former's grandfather, **Liú Dá, the Xiàozhāng Emperor of Hàn** (57-88, ruled from 75-88).

10) As fans of _Harry Potter_ know, the **International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy** (promulgated in 1689 and made law by 1692) is the international regulation which manages relations between magicals and normals. In effect, the Statute forbids any revelation of the existence of magicals to non-related (by blood or marriage) normals, save for senior government officials who need to know that secret. However, as I envisioned in my _Icemaidens_ stories, British magical law is dependant on the Crown to have the full weight of the magic of the land fall on those it effects. The Statue was approved by the **Separation Act of 1692**, which forms the cornerstone of the magical constitution of the United Kingdom to this very day. Royal approval for the Separation Act was granted by **King William III** (1650-1702, reigned 1689-1702) and his wife **Queen Mary II** (1662-94, reigned with her husband from 1689-94) in the **Magical Royal Proclamation of 1692**, thus bestowing the full weight of magic to the Separation Act and helping enforce it. Thus, while most magicals controlled by **Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic** (as the MoM is referred to properly in my stories) may not be aware that they are legally Her Majesty's Magical Subjects, they are subjected magically to any Magical Royal Proclamation released by the Crown.

As an aside, the aftereffects of H.M.S. _Hood_'s acceptance into the Royal Navy and how such would affect magical societies will be covered in _Wizards and Avalonians_.

11) The incident concerning Harry's relative was covered in _Long Way Home_.

12) The **Gojūni Sanji** is my take-off on a running joke from _The Destroyer_ series of novels created by **Warren Murphy** (born 1933) and **Richard Sapir** (1936-87) in 1971. There, practitioners of the Art of the House of **Sinanju** like Master **Chiun** make use of the "Steps to Sexual Fulfillment" (whose total number has never been set in stone; 37 is the average number given in the stories). I borrowed the idea for my Anime Add-venture stories; Ryomō Shimei (Sebone Mimōko) got a taste of it in the _Faking It - Great Guardians_ storyline. A wonderful story that describes how the original Sinanju (which should be properly Romanised as "Shinanju") techniques work is _Harry Potter and the Sun Source_ by **Clell65619** (Clell Harmon), marked as one of my favourites here at the website.


	50. Awakenings and New Lives

_Hood_, near Sick Bay (Japan time: lunchtime)…

"Lyna's Soul! How long is that girl going to take a shower?!"

Hearing that exclamation from Leilani Dowding, Nell McAndrew smirked. "She underwent the Awakening as soon as she woke up in her new body, Lei," the would-be medical assistant advised as she sat back on her bed. The would-be CIS specialist had come over to visit her sister to ensure all was well with the British starship's current guests. "Actually didn't have to help her go through with that." A smirk. "She's already masturbated herself into **_two_** orgasms," she added.

Hearing that, Leilani gaped. "Lyna! Hasn't she EVER had a lover?!"

"Actually, no."

Both Avalonian-Britons turned to gaze on a grinning Miyamoto Akane. She was lying on Nell's bed on her stomach, completely nude save for a towel covering her rump. Ebisu Kyoko — covered only in a towel, though she knew Nell and Leilani wouldn't blink about seeing her nude — was busy working her girlfriend's muscles; they had been busy exercising their new bodies as soon as they had woken up in the ship's cockpit after they had been selected to undergo a body-swap through a special lottery organised by Kari Toyomichi for the female students of Yoshū after everyone returned to the starship from Muzlim Madiina and had just taken a shower in their own shared cabin nearby. Akane had been chosen for that chance even if she hadn't taken classes at Yoshū…and since Kasumi was her older sister, it was simply seen as improper by the tōshi to not give the elder Miyamoto daughter the chance to become an Avalonian as well. Fortunately, the medics assigned to the 10th Field Regiment from 16 Field Ambulance had brought with them twenty extra un-templated bodies to be used in emergencies. While they didn't have to be used for that, they had been used.

Kasumi had been the last one to undergo a body-swap.

And now…

"Why not, Onē-sama?" Leilani asked. "She's a lovely woman…"

"She was also brow-beaten by Tō-chan to stay at home and be our unpaid slave in the kitchen and elsewhere, Leilani-chan," Akane said, the guilt and regret in her voice concerning that quite obvious to her hosts. "Never once given the chance to do anything else other than cook, clean, do the laundry, help fix up the dōjō or the house, shop for groceries…" She shook her head. "Every guy who ever tried to show interest in her, Tō-chan chased away. The only man who couldn't be chased away was Tōfū-sensei as he was our local chiropractor and family doctor…but he went berserk every time he laid eyes on her, so Tō-chan never really saw him as a potential suitor to Onē-chan." A tired sigh. "Not that Nabiki-nēchan or I ever did anything to help encourage Onē-chan to get out of the house every once in a while. Strange as this will sound, Ranma was the only person that ever helped Onē-chan do chores around the house, even with his idiot father yelling at him for being so 'unmanly'…"

"_De'ne_!" Nell spat out as her blue eyes narrowed in disgust. "Even if you're now living with your grandfather, I'd be tempted to swoop down and get her out of Tōkyō. If we became bond-mates, I'd move her to Britain right then and there. She could go to university and become a doctor like she's always wanted to do!"

Akane perked. "Would you do that?!" she asked.

The blonde near-lookalike of the famous Page Three model/amateur marathon runner from Leeds — the tōshi from Yoshū had learned that the people who had created Nell and her 199 sisters now aboard _Hood_ four months before once had masters who had been BIG fans of Page Three girls — gaped at her, and then she sighed, her cheeks reddening. "Well, if it happens, I would do it, of course. But I didn't feel anything for Onē-sama after she woke up in her new body. And even if it does happen between us, I'll soon be off to _Raleigh_ for basic training, then to Aldershot for ten months of medical assistant training before I come back aboard to assume my duties. Would it be right to have Onē-sama live in Britain? Especially with Nabiki-onēsama soon to be living in Canada?"

"Maybe introduce Onē-sama to one of the Canadian medics?" Leilani proposed.

Nell hummed. "Narumi or Ayu, you mean?"

"Both of them would be off to Borden after their time at the Fleet Schools in Halifax or Esquimalt," Leilani noted. "There are medical hospitals affiliated with major Canadian universities in Ontario. Onē-sama could get her doctorate and even seek a commission in the Canadian Forces — after obtaining Canadian citizenship, of course — if she leans that way…or become a civilian doctor and still work for the military in a support capacity; they'll be choosing a new place to set up _Haida_'s ground base like they'll do for _Hood_ and all the other ships in the Force, which automatically means the whole gamut of base jobs have to be created to support it. If Nabiki-onēsama intends to work for the civilian side of the Earth Defence Force — after all, why would Hiromi-onēsama allow her to get into _Haida_'s main computer room in the first place? — it might actually do much for Kasumi-onēsama's spirits if she did something similar."

"You guys sure think things out, don't you?" Akane breathed out.

"Well, those of our sisters who've welcomed normal Terrans into helping out with their settling on Earth always made sure things ran smoothly. It's just being pol-…!"

Leilani's and Nell's eyes then widened as they gazed in the direction of the latter's bathroom. "What is it?" Kyoko then asked before she smirked. "Oh, gods…!"

"Third orgasm," Leilani breathed out.

Nell sighed. "I'm calling Nabiki-onēsama."

With that, the would-be medical assistant headed out of the room to one of the unused cabins nearby so she could make the call over to _Haida_…

* * *

_Haida_, a minute later…

"_Three_ orgasms?!"

If Nabiki's jaw wasn't any lower, it would be on the deck right now.

"I'm afraid so, Onē-sama," Nell McAndrew stated from the terminal she was using on _Hood_. "She just underwent her own body-swap about a half-hour ago. There was some gestation enzyme residue on her skin — someone from 16 Field Ambulance forgot to do a proper cleansing protocol on her body once it got out of the tank — and she had to take a shower to get it off her. Lucky thing we normally use sonic showers on these ships; if she was using water, she'd go through half the ship's supply before she was done."

"And you felt the orgasms?" Nabiki asked.

A chuckle. "You can't ignore _that_ sort of feeling, Onē-sama. I almost had an orgasm myself when her first one came. She's going crazy in there."

"So why aren't you pursuing her yourself, Nell?"

Nell blushed at Ikusawa Kyōko's question as Nabiki snickered. "Well, I would be quite tempted…but nothing clicked in when I helped do her post-wake up examination, so I may not be her type even if we're wanting to pursue similar careers, Kyōko," the Avalonian-Briton explained. "Besides, I look at it this way: With your girlfriend soon to be going to a Canadian university since you decided to become an intelligence officer, wouldn't it be logical for Kasumi-onēsama to form a bond-mating with one of _Haida_'s crew? That way, she can attend one of the medical schools in Ontario — which is where _Haida_'s ground base should logically be given the fact that the old _Haida_ is moored in Hamilton — and be close to Nabiki-onēsama while she's going to university."

Nabiki hummed. "Well, Onē-chan did pass the Centre Test with top scores. She's had standing invitations to do university entrance examinations for a couple years now. With Otō-chan out of the way finally and Ojii-chan supporting us all the way, she can finally move on with her life." She considered that, and then nodded. "With her telepathy, she could easily ace any TOEIC test that could be tossed up in front of her. Going to a Canadian university would actually be better than going to places like Tōdai since doctors in the West are trained to be more free-thinking than those in Japan." She perked. "Are you thinking of introducing her to Narumi-chan or Ayu-chan?"

"Either them or Naoko, of course."

Nabiki shook her head. "Naoko's been taken by Hensō. Atop that, she'll be a MARS officer instead of a medical technician, so that means she'll be spending a year at _Venture_ in Esquimalt after basic training. Okay, hold the fort for a bit, Nell-chan. We'll get back to you with our potential love-slave for Onē-chan real quick."

Nell laughed as the communications link was severed. Kyōko gazed down at her lover. "Well, at least you won't have to worry about your sister panicking anymore about you flying back-seat in a Starfire," she commented as she helped Nabiki up.

"Never thought I'd be a _nakōdo_ for my own _**sister**_, Kyōko! I don't go for this traditional crap!" Nabiki muttered as they walked out of their shared cabin…

* * *

Soon enough, both girls had made their way to the section of the ship where the medical non-commissioned staff would be quartered. Noting that the doorway to Takanashi Naoko's cabin was open — repairs to the bulkhead between hers and Doctor Stan Gossip's guest room were still ongoing as a couple hull technicians worked away with all sorts of equipment; Naoko herself had been forced to de-camp to a neighbouring empty room to be alone with Redet Hensō — the couple made their way to the room set aside for Wakabayashi Ayu. Before Kyōko could reach for the bell to announce her presence, she stopped on sensing that the raven-haired would-be medical technician wasn't alone in her room.

"I wouldn't go in there if I was you," a voice then advised.

Both girls turned to see Sasamoto Narumi standing at the entrance to her own cabin. "Who?" Kyōko then asked as she thumbed Ayu's cabin.

"Mizuho," the crimson-haired would-be medic stated with a wink.

Kyōko giggled. Kobayakawa Mizuho was a would-be supply technician; like Ayu, she had been modelled after a character from the _Dōsōkai_ series of video games. As the azure-haired girl nodded in understanding, Nabiki then sighed. "Well, then it has to be you, Narumi-chan," she declared as she walked over to gaze into the other girl's turquoise-blue eyes. "We kinda need your help here. It's concerning my sister."

Narumi blinked. "Akane-onēsama?"

"Actually, it's Kasumi-onēchan," Nabiki explained as she tried to keep a straight face about this. "She just did a body-swap right now…and Nell McAndrew just called over from _Hood_ saying that Onē-chan is in Nell's sonic shower playing with herself."

"And already has enjoyed three orgasms," Kyōko added.

Narumi blinked…and then her eyes widened. "Damn! It must be the same sort of thing Elder Mother Kělún discovered about you, Onē-sama!" she exclaimed.

Nabiki jolted. "What…?"

"Don't you remember?! After you got your body-swap, the Elder Mother had to give you some shiatsu to bleed off the ki energy forming from the excess anger you felt because of what's been going on with your family!" As Kyōko's eyes widened in horrified shock, Narumi lunged into her room to pick up her field first aid kit. "C'mon! We'll get the Elder Mother and head over to the _Hood_ right now to check this out!"

With that, all three raced for the nearest turbolift station…

* * *

_Bismarck_, that moment…

"Hey…!"

Cologne — who had been asked to beam over to the German starship from _Haida_ to apply the necessary locks to freeze Ranma as a girl; the Nǚjiézú elder had brought a lot of supplies with her when she had been invited to come with the Task Force to Yaminokuni…including samples of water touched by the Zhǐshuǐtǒng — tensed. "What is the problem, child?" she asked as she gazed on the redhead now relaxing face down on hers and Mimōko's shared bed in the junior officer's quarters section.

Ranma was now peering off to port. "It's Kasumi-san…"

Shampoo — who had elected to be there for her brother-in-law as he allowed himself to be frozen as a girl until "she" experienced her menarche — tensed. "The healer in your old fiancée's family?! Is something wrong with her, Brother-in-Law?!"

"Yeah…I'm picking up a surge of pretty intense ki from her…"

Cologne looked up. "Computer, present location of Miyamoto Kasumi of Nerima, affiliated with Miyamoto Akane of Yoshū."

"_Miyamoto Kasumi is aboard Her Majesty's Starship_ Hood_. Deck 12, Section J, Cabin 14. Personal quarters assigned to Sea-…_" the computer answered, and then it announced, "_Incoming emergency call from Her Majesty's Canadian Starship_ Haida."

"Elder Mother Kělún?! Are you there?!" a familiar voice called out.

Cologne perked, smothering the grin that crossed her face on being called "elder mother;" ever since she had met the Avalonians serving on these ships and began being called that, she couldn't get enough of it! "What is it, Narumi?!"

"We need you aboard _Hood_, stat!" the Avalonian-Canadian medic advised. "It's Miyamoto Kasumi-onēsama! She's having some odd reaction to her body-swap! It might be the same sort of thing that was affecting Nabiki-onēsama that Kanami-onēsama called you in on!"

"Lady Kělún, this is Senior Nursing Officer Keenan!" a new voice cut in. "I've just declared a medical emergency! You can beam straight aboard from _Bismarck_!"

"Thank you, my dear…H-H-HEY!"

That was thanks to Ranma LIFTING the older woman into her arms as she sprinted out of the quarters for the nearest materialiser room as fast as she can go. "Lady Healer Margaret, this is Nǚ Shānpú!" Shampoo spoke up. "My brother-in-law is taking my great-grandmother to the transporters now. They'll be with you in a minute!"

"Right-oh, love!" Lieutenant Margaret Keenan — a member of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service from Hastings in East Sussex; she was part of a mixed-force medical team from R.F.A. _Argus_ that had been assigned to _Hood_ to augment the British starship's small medical division — called back. "We'll be waiting…"

* * *

_Hood_…

_Oh, my…that was so naughty…!_

Miyamoto Kasumi was now in a daze of sheer orgasmic pleasure.

_Never thought doing that…was so enjoyable…!_

It was as if chains that she never knew she had tying her down had been snapped.

_All the time I was controlling myself…!_

And now with them gone, she felt so _**free**_…!

_All the time I denied my own wants…!_

So totally free…

"Onē-sama…?"

Kasumi perked, and then she breathed out, "Nell-chan…"

"Are you okay?"

A throaty croon escaped the elder Miyamoto daughter. "Nell-chan…!"

"Onē-sama…?"

"Will you come in here please…?" Kasumi then purred.

The door to the bathroom opened to reveal a clearly worried Nell McAndrew…who was dressed, much to Kasumi's displeasure, in a dreary naval combat uniform. Gazing at the face of the hazel-eyed blonde who had been there when she had awoken in her new body, Kasumi playfully growled with undisguised lust at the would-be medic. "Come here, Nell-chan…" she meowed, licking her lips. "I want to see you…"

Watching the elder Miyamoto daughter shift her body around to display all her quite eye-pleasing talent to her current host, Nell breathed in as she tried to focus her own mind and soul into shielding herself from the torrents of raw passion now bursting from every point on Kasumi's body. _Lyna's Soul! If this wasn't forced, I'd submit to her right here and now! I never thought that I would ever have to confront a case of_ mavan'shagh _this early in my life!_ the would-be medic tried not to groan out…and then she tensed as a hand fell on her shoulder and pulled her back from the bathroom.

"Nelllllllllllllllllllllll…!" Kasumi moaned out…

…as a blur of red-and-black suddenly surged in, that forming into Hayashi Ranma as a girl, now carrying Shampoo's great-grandmother on her shoulder. As Kasumi felt a cry of delight escape her — At last! She would get her wonderful boy…AND girl, too! — a ki-charged walking staff tapped her in the forehead, causing Kasumi to blink before she collapsed onto the deck with a moan…and yet _another_ soft orgasm.

As they gazed on the unconscious woman before them, both Ranma and Cologne breathed out in relief. "Damn! She was pumping out enough ki to set off a whole tonne of Sensei's special ki-bombs!" the former then stated. "What the hell happened to her?!"

"What has also happened to her sisters, sadly," the elder of the Nǚjiézú stated as she hopped off her new student's shoulder and moved to lay Kasumi out on the deck; the sonic showers on these ships were designed with a tiled floor that was big enough to take a person lying down perpendicular to the bulkheads…or multiple people in the same space. "Goddess! This is even worse that what I've sensed from Akane!"

"What about me?!"

Akane was now leaning into the bathroom. "Unlike you, child, your sister hasn't had any sort of decent means to bleed off the feelings of anger, resentment and all the other emotions that have been building up within her soul since your mother's passing. Just like what happened to you and Nabiki; she was trained by your idiot father too much in using your ki…and never given ANY sort of proper follow-up training after your mother died!" Cologne stated, and then she tensed on sensing several people walk into the neighbouring cabin. "Are there nurses out there?!" she called out.

"Aye, ma'am!" Margaret Keenan said as she came into the room, her hands covered with meson-lined surgical gloves. Ranma and Akane were quick to sense she was an Avalonian; she appeared to be in her early twenties, possessing silver hair done in a bun at the back of her head, blue eyes peeking out of a round face. "Fortunately for us, our friends from Saskatchewan have a trained psychiatrist practitioner in their field ambulance. She was assigned to this mission by their Surgeon-General in case there were shell-shock casualties." She looked towards the doorway. "Doctor Turner?! Could you come in here, please?!"

Akane moved aside as a woman in CADPATs — Margaret was wearing a Royal Navy blue combat uniform — with army captain's stripes over the **16 FD AMB** badge of her home unit walked inside, her tricorder out as she moved to kneel beside the unconscious Kasumi. After a quick scan of the poor woman's vitals, Captain Joanna Turner sighed. "Well, she's in good physical health. Needs some rehydration thanks to fluid loss; lucky thing we're allowed to help with field medicine after we're hired on by the Forces." She pulled off one of the gloves on her hand, and then she moved to touch Kasumi's face. Before the fingers could make contact, she felt her hand touched by Ranma. Information then poured into her mind, which made her blink in shock as long-forgotten martial arts lessons came back to her. Gazing up at the transformed martial artist, the psychiatrist from Moose Jaw asked, "Why…?"

"Some ki knowledge in case something makes Kasumi-san lock in on you, Doc," Ranma said with a smirk as she pulled her hand away. "Now that she's gonna start thinking about getting a bond-mate of her own, she might make it difficult for you to treat her."

Cologne nodded in approval as the raven-haired, hazel-eyed doctor smiled before she touched Kasumi. Akane gaped as the Canadian doctor's hand glowed slightly with ki, and then she relaxed as she saw Kasumi's eyes start to flutter. After a moment, the elder Miyamoto sister coughed as she looked around in confusion. "Oh…where am I?" She then noted the Canadian doctor and the British nurse gazing at her. "Turner-sensei?! Keenan-sensei?! What…?" She then gazed in confusion at Cologne. "Hiibā-san?!"

"You passed out in the bathroom after making yourself orgasm a couple times more than your body could take right now, Kasumi," Joanna stated matter-of-factly, which made her current patient's cheeks instantly redden. "It's a psychological after-effect of all that grief and anger you've internalised in your soul since your mother's death. Putting yourself into a new body just shattered all the emotional guards you put up around those feelings all at once." A sigh. "All you need right now is some sleep and a little counselling when you feel you're ready for it, of course."

Kasumi blinked, and then her cheeks reddened even more. "Oh, my…did I do something naughty…?" she asked as she moved to cover herself.

Ranma smirked as she reached over for a towel to hand to her…

* * *

Minutes later, Kasumi — now draped in a yukata — was sitting on Nell McAndrew's bed as _Hood_'s medical officer, Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Vivian Gordon, examined her with a tricorder. "Well, I do concur with your physical prognosis of Miss Miyamoto, Doctor Turner," the general surgeon from Gibraltar — an Avalonian-Briton as was Margaret Keenan, Nabiki had noted right away — said. "Maggie, how soon will Sian…?"

A knock at the door. "Room service!"

Everyone turned to gaze on Sian Adey-Jones, who was now standing at the doorway to Nell's cabin, a tray with a milkshake on it. The beautiful lady with the wavy brown-blonde hair and the stormy grey eyes was one of _Hood_'s prospective chefs. On seeing the rather tall glass full of mixed ice cream and chopped fruit, topped with a mountain of whipping cream and the obligatory cherry, Kasumi then blushed as her stomach creaked out its desire for nourishment. As all the people in the room laughed, Sian came over to hand Kasumi the milkshake. "Now, drink it nice and slow," the near-lookalike to the 1976 Miss Wales instructed. "This is your first meal in your new body and you don't wish to rush it. I did something like that after I got out of gestation and did myself quite an injury. You don't need to deal with that before you bond with someone."

"You're recommending that right now, Sian?" Joanna Turner asked.

The non-medical personnel present all blinked on noting that the medical officer was actually deferring to the would-be chef when it came to something as life-changing as _that_. "We did start picking up Kasumi-onēsama's feelings right before the action stations alarm sounded off and the medical emergency was called, ma'am," Sian answered. "Now that we know what it ultimately was all about, I think people here will give Onē-sama a little berth until she gets better control over herself and a bonding — if it happens — won't suffer from residual fears of being forced by either side."

The Canadian doctor nodded. "I would agree to that."

"Maybe it would be best to move Kasumi-san over to _Haida_," Kyoko then proposed as she wrapped an arm around her lover's shoulder. "Nabiki-san and Karin-chan are already staying there. The presence of family — especially given what they all went through after their mother died — would probably do a lot of good for all of them."

"A wise idea, my dear," Cologne stated.

"I don't mean to impose," Kasumi objected.

"It's no imposition," Kyōko stated from her position beside Nabiki.

Vivian blinked as she gazed on the middle Miyamoto daughter and her new girlfriend. Nabiki was quick to note that, and then she winked as she nodded her chin towards Sasamoto Narumi, who was now packing up her field medical kit. On noting that, _Hood_'s chief surgeon then smiled as she nodded in approval…

* * *

_Bismarck_, the forward superstructure bathing area (Japan time: An hour after lunch)…

"Oh, DAMN…!"

Cologne — she had returned to the German ship after Kasumi had been secured in new guest quarters on _Haida_ close to where Redet Lum and her wife were quartered in the upper aft superstructure; the elder Miyamoto daughter was now sleeping off what had hit her earlier and she was being watched over by her sisters — blinked before she turned around to gaze concernedly at Ranma, who had been slowly lowering herself into the furo. This multi-purpose bathing facility — as vast and as welcoming as the average public sentō in Japan — was set aside for the female officers to be assigned to the German starship; already, several normal Terran officers deployed by the various elements of the _Bundeswehr_ were taking in the soothing waters, not to mention the ten of the two hundred original Avalonian crew of _Bismarck_ who had volunteered to become officers in the _Marine_ so they could help future shipmates better understand the intricate workings of the kilometre-long star battleship now under the charge of the Federal Republic. Standing beside Ranma was Mimōko, who was smiling knowingly. "A problem, my student?" Cologne asked.

Ranma blushed as she gazed at the elderly woman, who was now relaxing with her great-granddaughter and great-granddaughter-in-law in one private basin of the large furo space. "Just learning how sensitive parts of my girl's body are, Sensei."

The elder cackled as Shampoo and Kikuko both gave Ranma sympathetic looks. Feeling her own cheeks heat, Ranma took another breath, and then she lowered herself slowly into the very warm water. As soon as her crotch made contact, she sucked in her breath as a wave of hot pain surged up through her body, and then she slowly, gently lowered herself into the water, a faint moan escaping her as Mimōko gently rubbed her shoulders and projected an aura of reassurance as she helped her transformed boyfriend relax herself. Watching this from nearby, On Michiko could only smile. "You get used to it after a while, Ranma-kun," the former leader of Nan'yō said as she reached over with one hand to grasp that of her new bond-mate and unofficial aide-de-camp, Tanja Hewer — the plank owners of _Bismarck_ had been all modelled and named after famous German singers — who also had become the Elder Mother of all Avalonians aboard the German ship after her soul was augmented thanks to the Dragon Jade the day before. "I was the same way after I got into my new body and was assigned to command this lot."

The other Nan'yō warriors gazed at their transformed former leader. "But what happened to you anyway, Sempai?" Oka Yuzuko asked before she nodded thanks as one of the other Avalonians initially assigned to _Bismarck_, Louise Hoffner, poured her a new cup of tea. "I mean, you just upped and disappeared on us four months ago without a trace…"

"Put frankly, I was killed, Yuzuko-chan," Michiko explained.

Eyes locked on her. "By who?!" Ukyō, sitting beside Tsueko, demanded.

A sigh. "Amai Mushiro."

Silence.

"You mean _Kannei_?!" Mimōko demanded as the others in the room gaped. "Why the hell would _that_ loon do something like that?! He's as loyal to you as a puppy!"

"Hai, true. But as you just said, he's also as crazy as a loon, Mimōko," Michiko warned before she sipped her tea. "And it didn't take long for the guy who instigated him into doing that to me!" A sigh. "The gentleman you all know as 'Saji Genpō.'"

"Saji-san?" Tsueko gasped, not remembering what had been said the day before concerning that man in Takanashi Naoko's cabin aboard _Haida_. "But why?"

"Sonsaku, he's the guy who made me fight you," Mimōko reminded her.

A shrug. "But why?!" Tsueko repeated. "I mean, he's a really nice guy…!"

"Child, wait!" Cologne then cut in. "Lady Michiko, you state that this fellow is known to all of you at Nan'yō as 'the gentleman you all _know_ as Saji Genpō.' In saying that, you are therefore implying he is actually someone else."

A chuckle. "You're quite correct, Hiibā-sama. If everyone doesn't know this by now, his real name is Wan Yuruji."

"Or as we would call him, Ōin Shishi."

Eyes locked on Oroka Shikumi, who was relaxing beside Yuzuko. "Ōin Shishi?!" Ukyō asked before she blinked. "Hey, wait a sec'! Wasn't he the guy who managed to find some way to turn Ryofu Hōsen against Tōtaku Chūei?!"

"Yeah!" Ranma spoke up. "And he ended up using Chōsen to seduce Shikuko's past-self to pull it off!" She then blinked. "Why didn't he do _that_?!"

"Because Chōsen in our generation is a girl named Itachi Semina," Mimōko stated. "She's a third-year at Rakuyō right now, though she normally spends most of her time on training journeys all over the country." She then smiled at Ranma as the redhead gazed in surprise at her. "Like you in a way, Ranma, but she goes on her own."

The transformed martial artist considered that for a moment before her eyes widened. "I may have run into her once," Ranma then admitted. "Blonde hair going down past her waist, chestnut eyes and she packs this real mean-ass sword…?"

"That's her," Mimōko said with a nod. "In the last Great Fighters Tournament, she made it all the way to the finals and managed to evolve to A-rank."

"Which probably explains why Yuruji-san was forced to try to seduce your cousin directly, Mimōko," Shikumi then stated, and then she perked as something came to her before she stared at Tsueko. "Wait a minute…" she then trilled.

Everyone gazed at the senior strategist of Nan'yō. "What is it?" Mimōko asked.

Shikumi then gazed at Tsueko. "That's why you were made to attack Tsueko here, Mimōko," she said before turning back to the other dragon-touched tōshi now attending Nan'yō. "Yuruji-san clearly wanted to awaken Tsueko's dragon so that she could — if Shikuko failed to do it — be used to go after Suguta-san."

"Aiyah…!" Shampoo breathed out. "You all _**live**_ through this?!"

"Unfortunately, yes," Mimōko stated before she blinked as Louise came over with the tea service to prepare something for her and Ranma. "And despite what we did last night down in the Dead Grove, there's still the risk of what might happen when the next generation of tōshi are born. Would they be plunged into the darkness even if we escaped it? Sure, the Kōshi Kasshi and the Attendants escaped it. Sure, we all have pretty good chances of getting away from it. But what of our children…?"

"Oi! Mō-chan, stop that!" Tsueko then moaned. "That's stupid talk! If Kōtchi's gone to all that trouble to help us, what makes you think she won't help our kids?!"

"That is true," Kikuko stated. "Hiromi-onēchan really loves you all."

Eyes locked on Shampoo's wife. "How can you sound so sure, Kikuko-chan?" Yuzuko then asked as she waded over to sit down beside Ranma's sister.

Kikuko giggled. "Well, if Onē-chan even gave a _little_ bit of lip service to this silly, stupid 'fate' you're all so scared of, why on Earth did she go to all that trouble to save Michiko-onēchan's soul and make sure she was allowed to live again?"

Eyes then locked on the former leader of Nan'yō. "Hey, Kōro-chan, how _**did**_ you get saved, anyway?" Ukyō then wondered. "And what did happen to that twerp Kannei anyway? I haven't seen that loon around almost as long as I haven't seen you!" She then chuckled as a shrug rolled her shoulders. "I mean…well, you know…!"

Laughter filled the room. "Well, I don't remember exactly what happened when I actually 'died' as Michiji, U-chan," Michiko — who had met Ukyō several times when she was still living as 'On Michiji' in the latter part of his second year of high school at Nan'yō and the first days of his third year before he had been struck down by Amai Mushiro — replied. "But here's what happened when I first awoke as Michiko…"

* * *

_Aboard H.M.C.S._ Haida_, Wednesday 7 April 2010, early morning… _

_What…? _

_What had happened…? _

_"Hiromi-sama, she's awakening." _

_Who…? _

_"How is her soul adjusting to her new body, Naoko-san?" _

_"Her"…? _

_Wait…!_

I'm a guy…am I…?!

_"There will be some disorientation, I believe," that soft, gentle voice then reported. "Given that we have no capabilities to create male bioroids…" _

_"I am aware of that." _

_Hearing that second voice, the being born a man named "On Michiji" and given the battle name "Enjutsu Kōro" when he finally awoke to the truth of himself some years before shuddered as she — yes, she did realise the body she had now was female as memories of previous lives as a girl began to flood her soul from her magatama — sensed the raw strength in that voice. A voice of command. A voice that clearly demanded respect. A voice that was also full of a particular pain that was all too familiar to her. _

_A voice that could only come from a sister tōshi… _

_"Kōro-dono…can you hear me?" _

_Soft brown eyes slowly opened, revealing a ceiling covered in thick pipes leading in all directions, they interlaced with miles of wires and circuits, all of it protected with thick steel lattice frames. A moment later, the face of a very pretty yet tomboyish woman appeared hovering over her. Shaggy brown hair cropped at the neck, brown eyes, a silver magatama marking her as an A-rank tōshi hanging off the left earlobe. She then blinked as something very familiar about this other woman came to her. From the news… _

_Oh…_

Oh, gods! I don't believe it!

_"H-hai…" she whispered in a voice that was both strange yet familiar to her. "You're one of…Moroboshi Ataru's new sisters, right…?" _

_A nod. "Hai. I am Moroboshi Hiromi. In my first life, I was Liú Hóng." _

_Silence. _

_More silence. _

_Still more silence. _

_And then… _

_"Majesty…!" the woman born a boy named Michiji breathed out, her eyes tearing. _

_A shake of the head. "No, Kōro-dono. I am an emperor of nothing." Hiromi then gave her a sad smile. "Which is what I deserve in the end, I believe." _

* * *

_Several hours later…_

_"You have my thanks for doing this."_

_The girl, now given the name "On Michiko" — it was, in the end, a simple switch of the last kanji of her given name — blinked as she turned to gaze on the two Men In Black now standing nearby. Everyone was now relaxing in_ Haida_'s forward observation lounge; Michiko had just enjoyed her first meal as an Avalonian and had been guided through the intensive torrent of power and sensation that had flooded her mind her new sisters all called "the Awakening." "It's our pleasure, Hiromi," Kay said as he and Jay both nodded, light smiles on their faces. "As soon as we get down and make the necessary adjustments to the On_ koseki _to allow Michiko to fully claim the life she lived as Michiji, we'll pass by the Kimitsu police office to make sure that any missing person's report concerning On Michiji is removed from the public records." _

_"What about her old body?" Jay then asked. "Need help with that?" _

_"No, but thank you anyway," Hiromi stated. "When Onē-sama retrieved Michiko-san's magatama last night, she did detect some ki traps left around the basement storage room at Nan'yō where the body had been locked away in. She found them quite easy to defeat, so whoever did this to her may now be aware that the true fate of Enjutsu Kōro-dono may be known to people whom they would prefer not knowing that secret. We will deal with it." She then smirked. "Besides, I do not cherish the idea of those I am trying to find some way of helping be free of the influence of the magatama finding themselves opposing the Special Committee. Given the breadth and depth of_ your _resources…" _

_Both men laughed. "Yeah, it would be something of a turkey shoot, wouldn't it?" Jay then said, and then he nodded. "Anyhow, we'll leave you girls be." _

_"Naoko-san, please transport them back to the surface," Hiromi then stated. _

_Takanashi Naoko, who had been waiting by the lounge entrance, nodded. "Hai, Hiromi-sama. James-sama, Kevin-sama, please follow me." _

_She and the two Men In Black then headed out. Michiko watched them go, and then she sighed before gazing at Hiromi. "So what happens to me now?" _

_The reborn emperor then sighed as she stood, walking over to stand close to the transparent aluminum dome that was protecting them from outside space. "That ultimately depends on you, Michiko-san. While I do understand you still feel yourself governed by the 'fate' that seems to rule people's lives, I would hope you'd see this as a way of breaking away from that once and for all time. A chance to truly and fully start over again." _

_Michiko lowered her head. "Majesty, you saved my life. My life is forever yours to command. What happened before now no longer matters." She then looked around, quickly noting the other ships floating nearby, and then she gazed on the bioroid factory in the distance. She had been briefed on what was going on up here and how Hiromi and her siblings had got involved in liberating an entire_ race _from the worst form of slavery imaginable. How that was now being played into giving Earth a_ **space fleet** _that would defend it against all potential threats, especially of those that arose from the same planet Hiromi's former sister-in-law currently lived on. "Please. You truly have won the favour of the Heavens by helping our sisters of Avalon be free at last. This is a noble work you, Ayami-san and Tsukihana-san are involved in. I want to help you. Honour demands no less from me now, Hiromi-sama. Please, let me help you!" _

_Hiromi blinked, and then she turned to gaze intently at the former leader of Nan'yō for a moment before she nodded. "Alright. I can make use of someone like you. I will assign you to command a five-ship group that I will have posted on our side of the asteroid belt. You'll serve as the division director for the group. You'll need to spend time learning what we now face as quickly as possible so that if something_ does _come — I pray it will not, of course, but one can never be too sure — we will have some advanced warning this time instead of being surprised like before." _

_A nod. "I will not fail you, Hiromi-sama." _

_The reborn emperor gazed at her, and then she nodded. "However, I do sense you still are upset over the incident that saw your old-self 'die' and you be reborn as you are now," Hiromi then said. "For that, we're going to visit the Nan'yō Academy tonight." _

_Michiko blinked. "Um, what will we do…?" _

_A smirk crossed her face. "Ferret out whoever killed On Michiji." _

_The other woman stared at her… _

* * *

_Kimitsu, the Nan'yō Academy, late that evening…_

_"Um, Hiromi-sama…"_

_"Hai, Michiko-san, what is it?"_

_"Why do all that?" the former leader of the tōshi attending this particular private school on the western shores of the Chiba peninsula then asked as she turned to stare warily at the windows the reborn emperor had just blasted apart with volleys of the Psychic Shuriken Storm. She then turned to stare at the boulder that had born the motto previous generations of tōshi who had attended here lived by:_ **ENHANCE YOURSELF, DESECRATE OTHERS**_; Hiromi had destroyed that with the Heart-Blast Touch. _

_Hiromi smirked as she beckoned the other woman with her back into the school building itself so they could get to the basement and retrieve Michiko's old body so it could be beamed back up to_ Haida _and properly disposed of. "When you were proclaimed the leader of the students of this school at the start of the previous school year last April, it was in the wake of you winning the inter-school combat tournament that was organized to determine who would take up Setsumi-onēsan's place, correct?" _

_"Hai." _

_"And when you won said tournament, it was done without any sort of fraud or trickery on your part, correct? You won by the merit of your fighting skills alone, correct?" _

_A firm nod as Michiko's heart swelled full with pride and accomplishment. "Hai!" _

_"And when you won that tournament, all those attending this school swore their loyalty and fidelity to you as long as you could still fight, correct?" _

_"Hai!" _

_"Then I find it curiously odd that_ none _of your schoolmates were around to help protect you when you were attacked," Hiromi stated. "By swearing loyalty and fidelity to you, Michiko-san, they agreed to respect your position as leader as long as you made sure they were safe from potential outside threats from the other schools. By failing in that task, whatever respect I might have for them has considerably decreased. To that end, they'll have to endure days of wet seats and drafty rooms; there's a storm coming shortly after midnight and everything here should be nicely soaked when morning comes." _

_Michiko blinked, and then she ducked as Hiromi walked through the shattered glass front doors of the school, her hands lighting up as she sent more spirit shuriken flying down the hallways to smash through the interior windows into offices and classrooms before exploding out the other side to fully vent out the ground floor to the outside environment. As a strong wind then began to push through the hallways and rooms, blowing everything around, she found herself following her new leader and friend towards the stairwells leading up to the second floor classrooms. "Won't anyone…?" she began before catching herself before a laugh escaped her. "Oh, shit! What am I talking about?! The police don't give a damn if the whole school gets destroyed! We're_ tōshi_; shit like this happens to us_ all _the damned freakin' time!" _

_"And that is good enough for me," Hiromi said… _

_…and then she perked as a cat's meow echoed from nearby. She then turned to gaze down at a shaggy tabby-furred kitten seated in the hallway nearby, looking in curiosity at these two strange humans. Michiko then giggled as she knelt down, offering her hand to the curious feline, who slowly came up to sniff the offered extremity before it meowed and began licking her skin. As the raven-haired tomboy giggled on sensing the young cat's innocent soul through the nerves in her new body, Hiromi could only smile. "I would suggest you get our new young friend away from this building, Michiko-san. We don't want the little one to cut her paws on broken glass." _

_Michiko nodded as she moved to gently pick the cat up… _

_…and then she gasped as something seemed to touch her from far away. _

_As she looked up and around — she had quickly learned that despite her new body's many advantages, it would take Michiko time to properly regain the fighting form she had as Michiji — she was quick to see Hiromi also tense, her eyes narrow as she scanned around her, and then looked down. "Ah, there he is. Heading to the basement, I believe." _

_"He feels familiar," Michiko whispered. _

_"Get the kitten away from here; go down the south stairs to the main floor," Hiromi stated. "I'll approach him from the north. Move quietly." _

_"Hai!" _

_The two tōshi then headed off in separate directions, Hiromi racing down the north stairs (as they were closer) while Michiko ran down the hallway to the south stairs to get back to ground level and get the cat out of the building before the upcoming rumble with whomever else was in the building began in earnest. Once on the ground floor, the reborn emperor was quick to see a flash of an orange hooded track top over black slacks disappear down a nearby stairwell into the basement. Taking note of that — and now sensing a very disturbed mind heading in that direction — Hiromi then grimaced before concentrating. «Michiko-san,» she telepathically called out; she had formed a light psi-bond with the other tōshi — not deep enough to forge a_ marei'cha _bond, of course — before they beamed down to Kimitsu to do their business. «What does an orange track top and black slacks on a man remind you of?» _

_A gasp echoed in her mind. «That's Kannei!» Michiko cried out. _

_Hiromi blinked. «Kannei Kōha?! Was HE the one that attacked you?!» _

_«I…» A pause, and then, «I don't really remember…!» _

_A sigh. «Never you mind. I'll ask him myself.» _

_And with that, Hiromi walked over to the stairwell where Amai Mushiro had gone down, and then she gently walked down each step, moving as silently as she could to make sure she didn't attract the sophomore tonfā-fighter's attention. As she moved down each step, she began to hear faint yet clearly insane laughter from down the basement hallway at the bottom of the stairs. Quickly realising that with the noise Mushiro was making, she could actually move quickly to get into position, Hiromi then flew down the rest of the stairs and leaned in to gaze down the darkened corridor to her left. A faint light attracted her attention twenty metres away, shining through an open doorway leading into one of the storage rooms. Noting that, the reborn emperor then grimaced; it was in that space where On Michiji's body was found by Moroboshi Negako a day ago. _

_Carefully, Hiromi moved closer to the open doorway as she canted her head to better listen to what Mushiro might be saying, and then she paused as his laughter suddenly began to melt into sobs. Perking as she sensed a wave of guilt and regret suddenly flood the reborn bandit's mind, Hiromi slowed down as she waited for Mushiro to try to recompose himself and then speak, hoping he'd say things that would not only reveal if he was guilty — which he seemed to be — of what happened to his school leader, but to ascertain exactly_ why _he would have done such a thing. Even if Mushiro's past-self, Gān Níng, had served Sūn Quán — the brother of Sūn Cè, the man whose past-self had turned his back on Yuán Shù when the man foolishly attempted to make himself Emperor of the so-called "Zhòng Dynasty" in 197 C.E., thus effectively ensuring that Yuán would fall and die two years later at Liú Bèi's hands — in his first life, he had never had reason to betray his own current school leader in_ this _life! _

_So why…? _

_"Please don't hate me, Sempai…!" _

_Hiromi tensed on hearing that sobbed apology, and then she relaxed herself. «Michiko-san, listen to this,» the reborn emperor then instructed. _

_Sensing the other Avalonian's mind touch hers, Hiromi then turned as that pained voice then confessed, "I didn't want to do it, Sempai. Honest! You're a good fighter! You're a good school leader, too! Things have been great here since you took Sōsetsu-sempai's place! But…but…!" Another sob. "I couldn't fight him, Sempai! I couldn't fight him! He told me that I had to do it! It was your fate…!" _

_That voice then dissolved into moaning sobs which tore at Hiromi's heart. And the heart of the woman that was now running over to join her. «Hiromi-sama, I know who he's taking about! It's Saji Genpō! It HAS to be him! There's no other explanation for all this!» Michiko telepathically called out as she went in through the north ground floor entrance, and then headed down the stairs, her footsteps echoing loud. _

_That was enough to distract the tonfā-fighter. "_**WHO'S THERE?!**_" he screamed out as he bolted to his feet, charging out of the room… _

_…just as the basement lights snapped on, causing him to cry out as he was temporarily stunned by the luminescence blazing now in his eyes. That was enough for a black-haired reborn senior student to charge him, screaming out in rage as her fist smashed hard into the side of his head, nearly snapping the right side of his jaw as his head was whipped around hard by the impact. "_**YOU BASTARD!**_" Michiko screamed out as her right uppercut then rammed into Mushiro's gut, making all the air explode from his lungs as he was literally lifted off the floor a half-metre before he crashed down. "_**YOU TRAITOROUS SON-OF-A-BITCH! HOW THE HELL COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?!**_" she howled as she delivered a snap kick where her right fist had gone in, nearly ripping his intestines apart by the force of the impact, and then she leaned down to yank him up by the right arm, grabbing one of his tonfā from under the jacket sleeve and tossing it away before she cocked her fist to cave his face in. "_**NOW YOU'LL…!**_" _

_"_**KŌRO-DONO! STAY YOUR HAND!**_" _

_Michiko cried out as a hand snared her arm and yanked her back, and then she jolted on sensing the tidal wave of ugly disapproval flooding her from that touch before she blinked as her sanity slowly came back to her, and then she lowered her head. "M-m-Majesty…!" she gasped before her own sobs overcame her and she collapsed in Hiromi's arms. _

_"'Majesty'…?" _

_Hiromi looked up to see Mushiro staring at her in confusion, his brown eyes wide as he gazed at this strange woman in the slacks and T-shirt with the symbol of the Tomobiki High Jackrabbits basketball team on it, now cradling what looked like On Michiji's own twin sister, now sobbing as she was held close by the other woman. At first confused on seeing what appeared to be an A-rank tōshi wearing the colours of a non-tōshi school — and_ **Tomobiki High School** _at that! — Mushiro then felt his jaw drop as memories from the news he had seen over the month before came back to her. "Wait a sec'…!" he gasped. "You're one of Moroboshi's Avalonian sisters! How the HELL…?!" _

_"She's Reitei-sama, Kannei. Ataru-kun found her magatama ten years ago and held onto it enough to let her become his sister in spirit within his own mind." _

_Mushiro blinked, and then he turned to gape at the other girl as she slowly pulled away from Hiromi to gaze at him with a face that was just too close to that of the corpse inside the storage room he had been in…when it was a living being answering either to the names "On Michiji" or "Enjutsu Kōro." "Sempai…?!" he gasped as he shook his head. "But…how the hell did you become a GIRL?!" _

_A sigh. "That, Kōha-dono, will take some time to explain," Hiromi then said. "If you feel calm enough, Kōro-dono, please take your friend out of this place. I'll dispose of the corpse, then finish upstairs before we head back to _Haida_." _

_A nod. "Hai, Hiromi-sama." Michiko then reached over to offer her hand to Mushiro. "C'mon, Mushiro-kun. Let's get the hell out of this place." _

_He blinked, though he didn't resist as she pulled him back to his feet…_

* * *

Tsueko was in tears. "Poor Kannei-san…!"

"Damn!" Mimōko breathed out. "It makes sense to do that, too!"

"What do you mean?" Ranma wondered.

The brunette senior waved over to Michiko. "Simple. Saj-…!" She caught herself before grimacing. "Sorry! _Ōin_ couldn't pull the shit he's done — like making me go after Sonsaku here when she first came to school back in April — if Enjutsu here was still in charge of Nan'yō. Yes, he did defer to Tōtaku, but that's understandable since Tōtaku _did_ win the Tournament last year and was seen as the strongest tōshi in all of Kantō since he also had the Gyokuji as well! And since Ōin had no way of using Chōsen to manipulate my cousin into going after Tōtaku — just like it played out eighteen hundred years ago — he had to step in directly to make Ryofu go after him."

The others in the room were all gaping at her. "So why did that jackass make you go after Fu-chan, Mō-chan?!" Ukyō demanded. "Fu-chan's got nothing against Tōtaku! Hell, she doesn't give a flying damn at all about all this 'fate' bullshit, anyway!"

"Because she has a dragon inside her, U-chan," Yuzuko answered. "And while Tōtaku-sempai doesn't have a dragon, he's quite strong in his own right. How was he able to take down people like Kan'u-onēsan and others of her rank level if he didn't have some sort of ace up the sleeve, not to mention get away with stealing the Gyokuji like he did from Seito?" She took a deep breath. "Ōin-san probably knew that using Ryofu-onēsan wasn't guaranteed to work; we all were starting to sense something off about her back at last year's Tournament. So if she couldn't fulfil her destiny and make sure Tōtaku faced his fate, Ōin-san needed someone who _could_ do it." She waved to Tsueko.

The young sophomore was frowning. "I really am starting to _**not**_ like that guy!"

"So where is this villain, anyway?" Shampoo then demanded.

"He didn't come on the trip," Mimōko stated. "Said he had things to do. And since Hiromi insisted on all volunteers to come out with us…"

"There was no incentive to force him to come along," Ranma finished.

"Hai."

"Then you should be careful," Cologne stated. "If this fellow is so immersed in the curse of the Fate of the Soul Jewels of the Sānguó that he may not accept even what the Emperor is trying to do to free you all from that dark power, he may not take too kindly to all the changes that have befallen you all this last week or so."

"In other words, a potential trap might be waiting for us at Nan'yō when we get back to Earth," Shikumi mused as she crossed her arms.

"Possibly."

"I doubt that Setsumi-onēsan would allow that," Yuzuko then mused. "We may have to ask someone to see if we can open a link back to Earth to find out what's been going on since we left. Yes, it's been only a little over thirty-six hours…"

"If you wish, Yuzuko-onēsama, we can take you to the secure communications room and allow you to speak directly to the people on the _Ušakóv_."

Eyes then locked on the demurely-smiling, silver-haired, brown-eyed girl now leaning against Michiko's left side. "We just might have to do that, Tanja," Mimōko mused.

The others in the room all nodded…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **16 Field Ambulance** (short-form **16 FD AMB**) is Saskatchewan's local reserve health services unit. It is based in the provincial capital of Regina. In its modern incarnation, the unit was founded in the 1950s as "19 Medical Company." In 1965, the unit joined with the "Regina Service Battalion" and became the in-house medical company. In 1975, the unit was separated again and re-designated "16 Medical Company." Like other reserve medical units in Canada, it became a field ambulance in the late 1990s. The unit also maintains a detachment in Saskatoon, which perpetuates "20 Medical Company" that was active there from the mid-1950s until 1965, when it was disbanded.

2) Translations: **De'ne** — Literally "no intelligence," this is the Sagussan word for an idiot or fool; **R.F.A.** — Literally "Royal Fleet Auxiliary" (the prefix title for all ships of the civilian-manned fleet owned by the British Ministry of Defence); **Mavan'shagh** — Literally "time of no secrets," this is the "quick-seduction" technique that those with Sagussan-type psionic powers can use to win over a potential bond-mate (as Ikusawa Kyōko explained in Part 35, the touch of other people's minds gives a Sagussan enormous pleasure).

3) H.M.S. _Raleigh_ (seventh ship of the name) is the stone frigate that hosts the basic training camp for the Royal Navy. Located in Torpoint in County Cornwall on the English Channel coast, the establishment was first formed in 1940. The basic training course for the Royal Navy lasts nine weeks.

As an aside, after basic training, Royal Navy medical assistants proceed to the **Defence Medical Services Training Centre** at Keogh Barracks in Aldershot in County Hampshire, about sixty kilometres southwest of London. The basic training course for "scablifters" (as people such as Nell McAndrew are known by) is 39 weeks long, followed by consolidation training aboard a ship or shore establishment for twelve weeks.

4) As stated in the text, **Kobayakawa Mizuho** is a character from _Dōsōkai_. She is normally depicted as the daughter of the owner of the ski ranch in the mountains where all the characters go to so they could have their class reunions.

5) The **Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service** (**QARNNS**) is the official nursing branch of the Royal Navy. First founded in 1883 as the "Naval Nursing Service," it won the patronage of **Queen Alexandra** (1844-1925), the queen consort of **King Edward VII** (1841-1910, ruled 1901-10), in 1902; it was at this point that the Naval Nursing Service was given its modern name. The QARNNS absorbed the nursing service of the **Women's Royal Naval Service** (**WRNS**, nicknamed the "Wrens") in 1960 and opened its occupations to men in 1983. The QARNNS remained a separate administrative entity from the Royal Navy until 2000, when it officially was absorbed into the naval service of the United Kingdom.

As an aside, while members of the QARNNS wear Royal Navy officers rank insignia and use the Navy's rank titles, they are often addressed by their traditional rank titles. A **Senior Nursing Officer** is the equivalent of a navy lieutenant.

6) R.F.A. _Argus_ (pendant **A135**) is an Italian-built former container ship which was purchased in 1982 to be converted to an aviation training ship. In 1991 in preparation for the Persian Gulf War, she was fitted with an extensive and fully functional hospital to assume the additional role of Primary Casualty Receiving Ship. That role became _Argus_' only mission in 2009…though, unlike true hospital ships (which are required to be unarmed per the various clauses of the Geneva Conventions), _Argus_ is armed with two 20 millimetre Oerlikon cannon and four 7.62 millimetre general purpose machine guns. Thanks to her prior role as an aviation training ship, _Argus_ can operate military helicopters such as the Westland WS-61 Sea King, Boeing CH-47 Chinook HC2, Agusta-Westland AW101 Merlin, Agusta-Westland Apache AH1 or the Westland Lynx; many of these are armed machines.

7) There is often some confusion between what a **psychiatrist** is and what a **psychologist** is. In the context of the Canadian Forces, psychiatrists are hired as medical officers as they are properly trained doctors with an M.D. who have completed five years of psychiatric residency. A psychologist is NOT a medical doctor (and thus, cannot serve as a medical officer in the Canadian Forces), but possesses a Ph.D. in psychology and usually engage in practices such as psychotherapy ("talk therapy") and psychopharmacology (therapy with medical drug support). Psychologists are NOT hired by the Canadian Forces directly; whenever members of the Forces require that sort of treatment, they are permitted to seek such with civilian psychologists and are reimbursed for their expenses.

8) In the Royal Navy Medical Service, the title "Doctor" is NEVER used for medical officers. People such as Vivian Gordon are always addressed with the rank title prefix "**Surgeon**" (abbreviated as **Surg**) before their rank. Thus, the short-form for Doctor Gordon's rank is **Surg Lt Cdr**.

9) In the Royal Navy, a cook is always referred to as a **Chef**.

10) A **Sentō** is a public bathhouse. These sorts of buildings are quite familiar to anime fans, especially if you've seen the times in _Ranma 1/2_ and _Urusei Yatsura_ when Happōsai or Moroboshi Ataru ran rampant through them, much less the quite funny _Patlabor_ P-Series OVA #6 "Black Trinary," when the male members of SVD2 Team Two try to track down a terrorist at such a location. Sentō also appear on civilian ships such as the ferries that connect Japan with South Korea (as yours truly had the privilege to sample when he took said ferries while working in the latter country). Given that they are both Japanese, Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami would obviously want to give all those serving in the Earth Defence Force a chance to sample this wonderful form of bathing and relaxation.

11) **Chōsen** (**Itachi Semina**) is a non-manga character who first appeared in the video game _Ikkitōsen - Shining Dragon_ (created for the PlayStation 2 in 2007) and would later appear in _Ikkitōsen - Eloquent Fist_ (created for the PlayStation Portable in 2008). She is the current incarnation of the fictional character **Diāochán** — the name itself is not a proper name as _diāo_ means "sable" (as in the colour) and _chán_ means "cicada" — who was a minstrel girl used by **Wáng Yún** (137-192 C.E.) to effectively seduce Lǚ Bù into turning him against Dǒng Zhuó (as described in Chapters 10 and 11 of _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_). Later folk tales associated Diāochán with Guān Yǔ, Liú Bèi and Zhāng Fēi. When I created her real name, I used the direct Japanese _kun'yomi_ readings of the characters that go into "Diāochán."

12) The motto etched into the large rock located at the entrance of the Nan'yō Academy (the one Hiromi destroys in the flashback in this part) comes from the Tokyo Pop translation of _Ikkitōsen_.

13) Since Tomobiki High sports teams use a rabbit as their motif and call themselves by the name "Usagi" in the manga and anime, I use **Tomobiki High Jackrabbits** as the English version of the team name.


	51. Old Sailors and Soldiers

_Haida_, flag officer's quarters (Japan time: mid-afternoon)…

A knock echoed through the door leading into the bedroom. "Director?"

Sensing that, Moroboshi Kanami blinked before she pulled herself up from the wonderful bed she had been sleeping on, and then she hopped to the floor before walking over to open the door and look into the meeting room beyond. "Hai?"

"Oh, Kanami!" Brian Gamblin called out with a smile at the beautiful crimson-haired girl — like Arami, the reborn Xiàoxiàn Emperor had her new body modelled at the Terran equivalent of six years of age — standing there. "Where're your parents?"

Kanami's eyes narrowed. After she had awoken in her new body, Terry Boot had done the Neuwied Test on her in Sick Bay. Her score was — much to the shock and disbelief of the British magical researcher — an eye-popping _**418 points**_, which would outrank the power of any house elf alive that Terry knew of…and could impress one of the most famous magical metahuman warriors who had ever lived: First Officer Heather "Spitfire" Thompkins, who had joined the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service on its founding in 1939 and would later become a member of Major Dean Raeburn's special troop of metahuman fighters, the War Hawks. "It appears Otō-san's first wife is now with Okā-san and Oba-san in Tariko-obasan's quarters. As to what they're doing…" Her cheeks reddened. "Well, no matter Otō-san's feelings, she'll never sleep alone," she stated with a level of emotional maturity that outstripped her physical appearance.

Gamblin — as well as Tom Kazanski, Nathan Kerr and Uio Toma — all wisely decided to not comment on THAT little revelation. "Well, if you take a look on the bed, young lady, you'll find out that you won't be alone with Arami when you finally return to Earth," the Canadian starship captain said as he nodded towards the bed in question.

Kanami blinked, and then she turned…

…before gaping on seeing the blonde-haired girl in the child's seifuku sleeping back-to-back with Arami. "Who…?" she gasped before her mage-sight clicked in and she peered intently at the sleeping Yayoi before she gaped. "Onē-san…?!"

"Where's Hiromi, Kanami?" Kazanski then asked; given that Kanami's genetic parents were both women, addressing Hiromi as Kanami's "father" didn't strike the American captain as right despite what the reborn emperor of the Hàn actually was in her first life.

Kanami hummed…and then she looked towards the door leading into her "father's" personal work office. Walking over, she opened the door and looked inside to see Hiromi now passed out at her desk, gently snoring away. A quick look with mage-sight later, Kanami then breathed out. "She's sleeping right now," she then whispered as she closed the door to give Hiromi some privacy. "The wound that monster gave Otō-san in the Dead Grove is mending, but because it was a liver wound…"

"It's a pity you didn't have a military formation commander on your mission," Toma noted. "He or she could have taken over direct administrative control of the…"

An intercom whistled. "Ops to Captain."

Gamblin walked over to the meeting room table, tapping a control at the communicator unit there. "Gamblin here. What is it, Michelle?"

"Sir, the Airport Patriarch is reporting that a small ship is now coming towards the warp-gate through transwarp," Lt(N) Michelle Anderson declared from the operations room. "According to him, the vessel entered transwarp space from the Moon, sir!"

Gamblin gaped. "ETA of the approaching ship?"

"Ten minutes, sir."

A sigh. "Must be some sort of courier from General Seu-Kai. Signal Chief Constable Sanza; we're going to drop down into the atmosphere in case whatever's coming in might have trouble punching through the dust cloud over Muzlim Madiina…"

"Or it could be hostile?" his former navigation officer from the _Preserver_ mused.

"That's right."

"Aye, sir!"

* * *

Hiromi tensed on sensing the very slight tremor in the deck at her feet increase ever so lightly…but it had been enough for the reborn emperor's eyes to snap open; given the skills she had inherited from Negako, it was quite easy for her to sense when the ship she was on was doing something other than holding steady orbit over a planet. Groaning as she pushed herself off her desk, she got to her feet and moved to stand close to the window. Looking outside into surrounding space, she was quick to note that _Haida_ was shifting away from her sisters and dropping towards the planet below. "Something's happening…" she muttered as she moved back to her table and tapped a control. "Ops, this is the Director," she called out. "What's going on?"

"We have a possible courier coming in through the warp-gate from Earth, Director," Michelle Anderson answered back. "Confirmed by the Airport Patriarch. We have no idea of who it is and we didn't get any sort of warning signal from either General Seu-Kai or the _Ušakóv_ advising us this was happening. As most of the troops are back aboard their ships now, there's no real means to defend Muzlim Madiina in case…"

"The good patriarch made a mistake and this is a potential threat."

"Aye, ma'am."

"Alright, then. I'll come up to the operations room in a minute."

"Aye, ma'am. ETA of the approaching bogey is nine minutes."

"Thank you."

After the link with the operations room was cut off, Hiromi muttered several choice oaths in Noukiite before she headed into her bedroom…and then she stopped.

"Um…Papa?"

She looked.

She blinked several times.

She even squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

She looked again.

"Yes, Arami-chan?" she then quietly asked.

No, it was no illusion.

But HOW…?

Arami — who had woken up as soon as she had sensed _Haida_ move — was now gazing at the sleeping Yayoi. "When did we get another sister, Papa?" she asked.

"She is — or rather was — our older half-brother Yì, Onē-san."

Both looked at Kanami, who was standing by the doorway to the meeting room, with three very amused captains and a chuckling Urusian marines major standing just beyond that. "Congratulations, Madame Director!" Brian Gamblin then said.

Hiromi gazed at him, and then she sighed. "Computer, location of Sumai Takara."

"_Sumai Takara is now aboard Her Majesty's Canadian Starship_ Haida_. Deck A12, Section N, Cabin 2P. Guest quarters of Moroboshi Tariko and Hayashi Kanami_," the computer dutifully answered.

"Huh…Mama…?"

Everyone watched as Yayoi's eyes fluttered open, and then she moaned as she rubbed her eyes before sitting up…and then she grinned on seeing her "father" now standing nearby, gaping at her. "_**PAPA! HUG!**_" she gushed out, holding out her arms.

Hiromi blinked several times…and then she passed out on the deck!

Everyone watching this all felt sweat drops in their hair. "Um…is Papa sick, Arami-chan?" Yayoi then asked as she stared warily at Arami.

Arami ruefully chuckled as Kanami shook her head…

* * *

Muzlim Madiina, the Metropolitan Fortress, that moment…

"There's no way to get in contact with the incoming bogey?" Wayne Bell asked.

A sigh. "Sadly not, Colonel Bell," Patriarch Wahaza stated as everyone watched the image of the visitor on the main computer screen in the operations room within the Fortress' highest tower. "It won't be a Noukiite ship; they normally visit our world using the same path your ships used. Our ability to sense out wherever a visiting ship comes from is good…even if we can't communicate with them while they're in transwarp; our technology hasn't developed that far." A chuckle. "Atop that…"

"You rarely get visitors out this way," the infantry colonel from Moncton finished.

"Aye."

"Could you try to get a visual image of the incoming vessel, sir?"

That was Captain Teresa Sutton, who served as G3 (Air) on the brigade headquarters staff. A rated helicopter pilot experienced with the Bell CH-146 Griffon who had done time with various air force squadrons since she got her military wings in 1998, she retired from full-time duties five years ago and returned to her hometown of Botwood on the north shore of the Island of Newfoundland, where she became a pilot for Canadian Helicopters' operations based in nearby Bishop's Falls. And while flying cargo runs to the rigs drilling the Hibernia oil fields on the Grand Banks was fun, there had been something…missing from her new job.

That had attracted the attention of the Rock's resident armoured reconnaissance unit, the Newfoundland Cavalry Rangers…which, before 1970, had been a flying regiment of the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry. Since the Rangers — as did all still-active ex-Air Cavalry units across the Dominion — maintained an unofficial "flying troop" at their regimental headquarters in nearby Gander, Teresa was enticed to put the uniform back on…though in her case, it would be Army green in lieu of Air Force blue despite her having pilot's wings. Atop that, as the Rangers were traditionally seen as a Highland unit, she didn't wear the black Armoured Corps beret — which was detested in the former Air Cavalry units as their standard colour was buff gold — but a black glengarry…though, as a nod to the Rangers' history, the dicing on the bonnet was a mix of buff gold and sky blue. When she had been promoted to a supervisory pilot role for Canadian Helicopters' operations at the Fredericton International Airport on the south shores of the Saint John River in New Brunswick the previous spring, Teresa was transferred to 37 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters in Moncton as the senior tactical air advisor; she had friends working at nearby Gagetown as part of 403 Squadron, so she could coordinate any tactical helicopter support for the brigade while on exercise or operations.

"Just a moment," Wahaza said as he played with the controls of his console.

A second later, a three-dimensional image of an aircraft appeared. One that — to the Canadians — looked like a Eurofighter Typhoon save for twin rudders and the engine intakes on the sides of the hull. Said aircraft was also carrying what appeared to be fuel tanks on hard points located mid-wing. On seeing that, Teresa's jaw dropped. "Oh, my God…!" she breathed out in awe. "That's a Camel III!"

Bell's head snapped over. "You mean that concept ground attack aircraft the folks at Magellan came up with just before the Avalonians came to Earth in March?"

"Yes, sir!" the captain replied as the few members of the brigade headquarters staff still on the ground smothered their own grins; the support of the Avalonian-Canadians for the full restoral of ex-Air Cavalry units to flying status was well-known.

"Then where are the warp pods?!"

Everyone looked at the brigade G2, Major Jean Thibault. Another ex-Air Force helicopter pilot who later became an officer in a former Air Cavalry regiment — in his case, he was part of the Newfoundland Cavalry Rangers' sister regiment from Nova Scotia, the Annapolis Regiment — he was a co-worker of Teresa's in civilian life; before moving to Fredericton, he had worked out of Halifax with Canadian Helicopters' air ambulance service there. And like all members of the still-active Air Cavalry regiments across the Dominion, he was looking forward to having his home unit go back to flying tactical air missions for their brother soldiers in lieu of doing ground reconnaissance in Iltis jeeps or G-Wagons. "Warp pods, Jean?" Bell asked.

"Yes, sir! The Camel III is not designed to be warp-capable; none of the space fighters being built for us are!" Thibault pointed to the image. "Warp pods can be mounted on the upper wings in case there's need of that level of speed, but the Camel has always been intended for short-range tactical missions; its projected combat radius would take it only from Earth to Mars with extra fuel tanks. So…"

"Well, whatever it is, it'll be here in a few minutes," Wahaza warned.

Everyone glanced out the windows of the tower towards the Airport pond…

* * *

_Haida_, the operations room…

"A Camel III?!"

"Yes, sir!" Michelle Anderson answered. "According to Captain Sutton — she's the G3 air officer on Colonel Bell's staff — it's flying in _without_ warp pods!"

"Then how the heck is that thing flying here?!"

Eyes locked on Ki Tsukihana, who was at his normal place, sitting at the master operations control station. Morokuzu Ryōko was standing behind him, keeping out of his way as he did his work. "Could it be possible for such a fine steed as that to fly here using the same method Onii-san and his companions did?" Hiromi — who was holding a very curious Yayoi in her arms; seeing that had made even the hardened old salts amongst the Canadian starship's crew grin in delight — then asked from her place. Arami and Kanami were standing on chairs to either side of their genetic "father," keeping quiet…though they were watching everything with great interest.

Tsukihana shook his head. "It's not possible, Onē-chan. Not with the need to go to maximum warp when flying into the gravity well of a moon or planet while shielded from a home sun's solar wind by the planetary body. As to how this could be done…"

"Could it be Raeburn-shōsa?"

Eyes locked on Ryōko. "Why her?!" Brian Gamblin asked as Nathan Kerr and Tom Kazanski — now standing to either side of their fellow captain — exchanged looks; Uio Toma had gone to locate her wife when everyone else had come to the operations room. "Yes, she's been on the Supplementary Ready Reserve list since she retired in 1954…but she can only be recalled to duty by the direct orders of the Prime Minister…"

"Ops, Radio One!"

Michelle tapped a control on her dataPADD. "Ops, go."

"Ma'am, flash traffic just came in from the _Ušakóv_," CPO2 Nathan Cotter reported from the main communications room. "Relayed from NDHQ in Ottawa. Unclassified."

"Read it, Yeoman," Gamblin ordered.

"Aye, sir. 'From CMS to _Haida_. Expect Ladyhawke and Spitfire to arrive your location ASAP via CSF-198; Ladyhawke is flying and providing the warp boost. Both promoted to brevet major general and brevet rear admiral respectively. Spitfire will assume military command of Task Force on arrival.'" An amused chuckle escaped the senior naval communicator. "Sir, Admiral McFadden added this: 'Sorry it took so long to get someone put in as flag over the Task Force. Seems certain folks forgot about that. The decision to ask Spitfire to take charge was made a couple hours after you left. It took us all this time to contact Ladyhawke to have her brought in.'" A cough. "It ends with a Bravo Zulu; NDHQ confirms receipt of your initial post-action report."

Everyone blinked…and then raucous laughter escaped everyone there. "Oh, my heavens!" Hiromi then breathed out. "Bureaucracy is quite amazing, is it not?!"

More laughter. "Well, bureaucracy or not, we have a pair of two-leaf flag officers about to come aboard, never mind that both weren't invited to the party on time," Gamblin stated. "Buffer, we need a side party mustered. Port side flight deck."

"Aye, sir!" CPO2 Eugene Bennett called out from his station…

* * *

As those who were awake in Muzlim Madiina watched, a geyser of water irradiated by Čerenkov radiation exploded from the Airport pool as a grey delta-winged aircraft burst free and soared into the sky. To the surprise of the locals, said craft seemed to be protected by a shroud of opaque energy as its fantail cleared the pond well before the reverse mini-tsunamis that had caught _Redemption_ after its arrival could possibly snare it. The twin impulse drives fitted into the aircraft's hull then roared to life as it rocketed into the sky towards the descending _Haida_ and then began to slowly orbit the Canadian starship. Those on the ground who had binoculars peered through them to spot the dark grey ring roundel-with-maple leaf of the aerospace forces from the land in the Worlds of Light whose warriors had defended their home city hours earlier…

* * *

_Haida_…

"Thunderbird, this is Ladyhawke on Garb Alpha-Oh-One-Oh," a woman's voice echoed over the loudspeakers in the operations room. "Requesting landing clearance."

Gamblin gazed towards Hiromi. The reborn emperor was now peering off to port, where the just-arrived Magellan/Sopwith Canada CSF-198 Camel III was now coming to a slow hover; like other space fighters that had come out of orbital factories such as Station Sethlans, the latest generation of the Camel was V/STOL capable. After a minute, she then smiled. "Is it her, ma'am?" the captain then asked after keying off the link.

Hiromi nodded. "One of Onē-sama's many unique gifts; she taught me how to recognise the ki signature of the Lady Deannette's delightful Power Jewel," she explained.

Gamblin then nodded to Mark Sullivan. "Ladyhawke, this is Thunderbird," the commander of 21 Wing then called back over his dataPADD. "You're clear to land on the port flight deck." A pause, and then, "Uh, ma'am…have you ever…?"

"Landed on a carrier before?" the voice of Canada's first non-magical metahuman warrior came back before a wry chuckle escaped her. "Never got the chance during the war with my So-48; most of us were flying from dirt and grass runways in Britain while our brothers and sisters in the Pacific got to play off ships like the _Enterprise_ when there wasn't an air field nearby." As people watched the image of the Camel III now to _Haida_'s port accelerate ahead as it moved to do a wide circle to bring it in line with the approach vector for the port flight deck, she added, "Well, no better time than the present."

People exchanged worried looks. "Oh, dear…!" Nathan Kerr breathed out…

* * *

Two minutes later, the Camel III — seeing her serial number painted under the low-visibility national flag on her rudders, **1980010**, made all the Air Force personnel present at the time gape; NEVER had the Canadian Forces possessed a particular single aircraft model in such high numbers that a **_seven_**-digit serial code was needed! — was stopped midway down the flight deck. As a small group of Navy boatswains — in naval combat dress given the suddenness of this event, though CPO1 Jacques Beaulieu made sure they were all wearing white dress belts with gold buckles — raised their calls to their lips to pipe the side, a boarding ladder was brought up to the right side of the prototype ground attack aircraft by two of 434 Squadron's ground crew. That allowed the two women — both looking to be in their mid-twenties despite the pilot being 143 years old and her passenger 94 years old — that had flown in to climb down from their aircraft.

As soon as their boots hit the deck, the coxswain barked out, "**ADMIRAL ON THE DECK!**"

The boatswain calls shrilled the still as the two new arrivals saluted — in the old British style, with palms facing forward — and the _General Salute_ honours music echoed over the flight deck. Once that was played out, Rear Admiral Heather Thompkins then lowered her arm and nodded in approval before calling out, "Carry on!"

The boatswain calls piped the carry on as Brian Gamblin — with Tom Kazanski and Nathan Kerr to either side of him — marched up to the two former members of the 1st Canadian Specialised Warfare Unit. "Admiral Thompkins, General Raeburn," he greeted them with a salute, his fellow captains following. "Welcome aboard, ladies."

Both women returned their salutes. "Thank you, Captains," Heather stated as she exchanged a knowing look with Major General Deannette Raeburn…who, Gamblin was quick to note, looked quite uncomfortable with the two golden maple leaves in vertical formation under the combined crown and crossed sword-and-baton of her new rank on her epaulette slip-ons. She still wore the Air Cavalry buff gold beret — one possessing a general officer's hat badge in lieu of her old regiment's badge — but no one in the military would begrudge THIS warrior's desire to bear her old corps' colours…

…even if said corps had been _**disbanded**_ forty years before in wake of the Unification of the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force into the Canadian Armed Forces. That had been a process the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry once _**supported**_ thanks to the potential savings incurred by combining training syllabi, streamlining support elements and simplifying equipment procurement processes. With the Air Cavalry Corps gone, its regiments were almost all transferred to the Armoured Corps — those with traditional infantry backgrounds were shifted to the Infantry Corps, of course — if they didn't wind up on the Supplementary Order of Battle.

"Much that I know this is quite sudden — and no doubt, once the idiot politicians finally gather up their senses, this will be vigorously protested from Washington to Běijīng to Moscow and everywhere else — I would like to get settled in," the newly-frocked rear admiral — who clearly was more comfortable with her new place as military commander of the Earth Defence Force then what her companion was in whatever position she might have been assigned to on being recalled to duty — then added with a smile. "Dean's flying has improved with age…but spending three hours in the cockpit of a fighter is NOT, in my eyes, a _**civilised**_ way to travel from place to place!"

"Oi!" Dean snapped.

Gamblin chuckled as Kerr and Kazanski — who, as qualified fighter pilots, were used to long flights in the cockpits of Sea Harrier FA2s or F-14A Tomcats — both fought down the urge to smirk. "We can take you up there right now, ma'am," the Canadian captain then said. "We overheard the other ships getting their orders relayed from their service headquarters via the _Ušakóv_ concerning your appointment. The other captains are standing by to come aboard to brief you on their ships' performances, especially when it came to the addition of their air wings to the final destruction of the _Redemption_."

"Let's go."

With that, the four Navy officers walked off to the nearest turbolift station, leaving Dean on the flight deck; since this was Heather's show now, she wasn't going to hog in on her friend's parade if she could avoid it. Her eyes then picked up two people — a major and a captain — wearing black glengarry bonnets over the new digital camouflage uniforms the Army employed in the field; they were standing close to a bunch of Air Force officers in their lime-green flying suits. Walking over, the former leader of the War Hawks accepted everyone's salutes before her eyes locked on the bonnets the two Army officers were wearing. Recognising their hat badges, Dean nodded as she unzipped her jacket to draw out a Dutch Masters cigar. "I assume health Nazis have permitted smoking when there isn't any sort of flight operations?" she asked.

Everyone laughed on hearing that. The now-major general's legendary smoking habit — she had once described it to a friend with these words: "You have to have at least _one_ good vice to be truly human!" — was another thing few in the Forces would ever begrudge her. Dean Raeburn _did_ understand about second-hand smoke, though; her Power Jewel — which could be seen tucked under her flight jacket — would always form an invisible energy bubble around her to ensure nicotine fumes would be dispersed before others could breathe it in. "Well, seeing as how the flight deck could be vented into space with a flick of a switch in Primary Flight Control, it should be okay," Lieutenant Colonel Will Fowler said. "Since the Starfires launch from the tubes above and below the flight deck right out from the handling areas, there's no smoking allowed there, of course. Not to mention elsewhere on the ship."

"Good," Dean said as Teresa Sutton came up with a Zippo to help light the former's smoke. "Major Thibault. Captain Sutton. Why are you two not wearing your _**proper**_ headgear?" she then asked the two "armoured reconnaissance" officers.

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"When…?!" a white-faced Teresa demanded as all the Air Force officers gaped.

Dean winked. It was so much fun to tease all the kids flying these days. "Mister Lauzon contacted me before I took that out for an in-system spin prior to my coming here," she said as she nodded back to the parked Camel III; members of 434 Squadron's ground crew were busy chaining the aircraft to the deck. "He's prepared two private members bills similar to the one he made in March about putting Elliot's Eye back on the uniforms of our Navy friends. One is to approve the new flag this ship got on Monday morning as the official Dominion war ensign and naval service flag; the Navy Jack will serve as the command flag of the boss of MARCOM from now on." As people nodded at that — Canadian white ensigns were standard command flags for three-leaf and four-leaf general and flag officers, normally defaced by their command symbol or the symbol of the Canadian Forces as a whole for the Chief of the Defence Staff — she added, "The second bill will give the Forces permission to officially restore the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry as an active branch of the military. We'll share the same basic occupational training syllabi as the Air Force — as it was proposed back in the 1960s — but classify the actual trades with the old titles."

"Air Cavalry officer since all regimental officers had to have their wings and be able to fly," Jessica Miller noted. "Air Cavalry Trooper up to sergeant, then Air Cavalry Pilot for those given their winged sabres…and Air Cavalry Technician for the ground crew. Where and how will they be trained, ma'am? CFSATE?" That was the short title of the Air Force's primary trade school in Borden, north of Toronto.

Dean nodded. "Before they go to Dundurn…" — the former Army airfield and ammunition magazine located south of Saskatoon was the traditional home of the 10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment and served once as the home to the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry School — "…to undergo a new Air Cavalry Operational Qualification that's being prepped by training sergeants from Chilliwack to Gander, they have to do their TQ3 in one of the Air Force technical trades at Borden AND undergo the Soldier Qualification at Meaford," she stated. "Once they're ready to get promoted to staff corpor-…" Here, she stopped as she shook her head; she never cared for the introduction of **_that_** particular appointment. "Sorry, _**master**_ corporal!" As the others laughed, she added, "They'll be given the chance to see if they can take the centrifuge in Toronto. If they can take it, they'll be appointed as pilot apprentices. If they can't or don't want to, they'll be technical apprentices. The Air Cavalry Technical Sergeant's Course will be done at Dundurn, but the training folks at Borden will get a chance to add their two cents to the course as well. For the time being, all pilot apprentices will take the same training syllabi you went through at Portage and Moose Jaw up to when you got your wings. Camel jockeys will go to Cold Lake and be trained by 419 Squadron before doing final training at Dundurn. As for those V/STOL jets we'll put into the utility squadrons…?"

"The Dynajets, ma'am?" Major Allan Qián provided on sensing her unspoken question.

Dean nodded again; she hadn't got much of a brief on developments concerning the Air Cavalry's rebirth before she was asked to fly Heather Thompkins to _Haida_. "They'll be trained at Portage in the same multi-engine syllabi the transport jockeys do since everyone will probably make use of the things," she finished. "Once there's a place for final type training, they'll move onto that before going to a regiment…but eventually, it's hoped that all Air Cavalry type flying training will be done at Dundurn," she finished.

"What about support for the Regular Force brigades, ma'am?" Jean Thibault wondered.

"The squadrons in 1 Wing will be relieved of their operational taskings at the turn of the year," she answered. "All those serving with those units will be allowed to switch uniforms if they so choose. 408 Squadron will convert to the British Columbia Mounted Rifles and keep its assignment to First Brigade; it'll move to Comox. 400 Squadron will convert to the Royal London Rifles and will be assigned to Second Brigade; it'll stay in Borden. 430 Squadron becomes the Vingtième Fusiliers and will stay with Fifth Brigade; they'll shift to Bagotville. 403 Squadron will become Fourth Cavalry and join with the new Third Brigade when it's stood up; it stays in Gagetown. 438 Squadron will become the new Malden Dragoons and join the new Fourth Tank Brigade they're forming up at Borden; for the time being, they'll stay in Saint-Hubert. And 427 Squadron will head west to Dundurn and become the 10th Saskatchewan Cavalry, being assigned to the new Sixth Light Brigade to take over as support for CSOR and have the Second and Third Patricias assigned to it once the Black Watch and the Queen's Own are up to three active battalions. The plans for 450 Squadron as a heavy transport helicopter unit have been scrapped."

Everyone nodded; with so many Avalonian-Canadians — and a steady increase of normal Canadians, who for the most part were volunteering because so many new migrants to the Dominion from the stars were gladly doing so _en masse_ — coming into the military, the fact that Canada's active land forces would be virtually DOUBLED in size in the next decade was a given. "What of 1 Wing itself?" Fowler asked.

"Re-tasked as 1 Space Wing, which will become part of a new First Canadian Air Group under First Air Division along with 3 and 5 Wings, headquartered in Bagotville," Dean answered. "Jessica Dover's now an air vice-marshal…" — she winked at the Air Force officers present as they laughed at her addressing her friend's brevet rank of major general by the pre-1968 rank title; that those wearing Air Force blue these days had been forced to adopt _**Army**_ ranks at Unification had been a complaint from time to time — "…and she'll be the boss of Air Force transformation. She's envisioning bringing back Sixth Air Group to become the new formation for 4 Wing — plus a new 6 Wing and 10 Wing — to help absorb all the squadrons freed up from tactical ground support. And the 12 Wing squadrons from Shearwater and Victoria as well since they're bringing the Navy squadrons back."

Everyone gaped; No. 6 Group RCAF was the main formation assigned to Royal Air Force Bomber Command for the air war on Germany during World War Two. It was as famous a formation to the Air Force today as the 1st Canadian Division was to the Army or the 5th Maritime Operations Group to the Navy. "With Arrows?!" Jessica then hopefully asked.

"One squadron per wing to act as long range interceptors," Dean affirmed with a nod; she had to admire the brilliant genius who had brought _**that**_ old plane back into service. "Starfires for the other two squadrons in the wing for tactical fighter work in the solar system…with Air Cavalry Camels as backup fighters. No other type."

Delighted grins crossed people's faces on hearing that. The spending boondoggle that had come to envelop the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter project — the Canadian government had expressed interest in being a part of it from its inception in 1997 and had been on the verge of declaring for that model without even allowing a proper competition against other models of aircraft to see if it did fit the Dominion's defensive needs! — in recent years made many pilots at both Cold Lake and Bagotville wary about getting the new plane…never mind the critics' words about the plane's performance issues. Fortunately for the Air Force, the arrival of HUNDREDS of CSF-196 Starfires — _**at virtually no cost**_ to the Canadian taxpayer…and being a PROVEN design thanks to Ki Tsukihana's hard work! — and the pending return of the Avro Arrow in its CSF-105 space interceptor format effectively spelt the end of Canada's need to acquire the Lightning II to replace its ageing fleet of CF-188 Hornets.

_Which is rather sad given how Allan Lougheed's company has been floundering around in recent years_, Dean then mused to herself as she recalled the few times she had seen the Lightning II's beautiful namesake fly in the skies of America during the Second World War. _The P-38 was a pretty damned fine airplane…not like that piece of worthless junk everyone was dumping money into before the Avalonians came along…!_

* * *

The aft upper superstructure…

"Ranma…"

Ranma perked on hearing Akane's voice, and then she gazed at the youngest Miyamoto sister. "What is it, Akane…?" she asked…

…before she stopped on sensing a MASSIVE nexus of ki energy — No! _**Two**_ such nexi! — approach their part of the ship through what the transformed wandering martial artist sensed was the turbolift system. "What the heck…?!" she gasped.

Cologne was chuckling. After Kasumi had been brought aboard _Haida_ to sleep in one of the cabins on the port side of Deck A12 opposite where Hiromi was quartered, everyone else had moved into the nearby officer's wardroom to relax themselves, plus enjoy some food courtesy of Yamaguchi Seina, one of the Canadian starship's future stewards. "Oh, my heavens!" she breathed out. "What are THEY doing here?!"

"Hiibā-chan, you recognise them?" Kikuko asked.

A nod. "Indeed I do," the elder of the Nǚjiézú stated with a twinkle in her dark eyes. "That is an adopted sister of the tribe and one of her closest friends."

"Who?" Mimōko asked.

Before Cologne could answer, the martial artists all turned to gaze at the entrance to the small lounge/cafeteria/bar set up here for any visiting flag officer and his staff. A second later, a woman peeked into the room, an amused smile on her face. "Nǚ Kělún! What in the name of the Fates are _**you**_ doing up here?" Dean Raeburn asked.

The jaws of all the young warriors and their friends — all of whom knew the story of the leader of the War Hawks and current Grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū…and the Protector of All Life as she was seen by mystics and magicals worldwide — hit the deck as Cologne hopped over to draw the Canadian into her embrace. "Dean! Goddess, you look well!" She then pulled back to gaze on the new rank insignia on Dean's shoulders. "Major general?! I assume they made you the new Master General of the Air Cavalry when they brought you back!"

Dean chuckled as she followed Cologne over to one of the tables as Nabiki — who, even if she was not a practicing martial artist these days, KNEW who that person was! — moved behind the bar to help Seina with coffee and snacks. "They did! I've always said I'd never want to be promoted beyond major, but Walt Natynczyk convinced me that they needed an experienced hand to get the Air Cavalry off the ground and none of the current regimental COs had enough experience in-house to be booted up to become MGAC…" — she pronounced the acronym applied to the senior Air Cavalry officer in the Canadian Army as "Em-jack" — "…since they're all Militia soldiers." She then turned as two officers came into the room, both carrying boxes. "Put them over to one side, then go find the COs of the 2nd/10th and the 19th. Tell them to get up here as soon as they can," Dean then ordered before she glared at both Jean Thibault and Teresa Sutton. "**_And get your damned headgear fixed!_**"

Both quickly scrambled out of the wardroom with a blurted "Yes, ma'am!" Watching them go, Dean's eyebrows waggled a bit before she winked at Cologne, who was trying not to fall over laughing. "So you DO like it!" the Nǚjiézú elder then cackled.

"I was given a free hand…within reason, of course," Dean said as she slipped off her beret from her short-cut dark brown hair. "Have to learn all the modern PC stuff to make sure I don't offend anyone and have Parliament derail this before it can be set into place! Don't want to have a repeat of what the morons that worked under Trudeau unleashed in '70 when they started cutting back funding to Defence." She then winked again. "Well, more than usual!" As Cologne laughed again, Dean then gazed on all the younger people in the room. "Stand easy, kids…and don't give me all that near-worshipping crap your past-selves gave Papa-sensei," she then stated, her stormy blue eyes focusing on Sebone Mimōko and Ebisu Kyoko on saying that.

The younger martial artists all flustered as they bowed apologetically to the War Hawks' leader. Their respect for the Ontario-born resident of British Columbia was understandable, though; to most people who followed the ancient martial ways of Japan, the Heiress of the Immortal Master was effectively an _arahitogami_ — a belief based on the unbelievable levels of energy she could use thanks to the Power Jewel, which she had first found in a cave in the northern Rocky Mountains in 1889 — in spiritual stature. Of course, Dean hated being thought of as that. Part of the reason she retired from the Canadian Army and elected to become a wandering intergalactic teacher of Jewel Warriors on other planets in 1954 was to get away from being mobbed by would-be worshippers; that was a phenomena that would have done unbelievable damage if it got out of control and people became dependant on the idea of some "superhero" savior to aid them in times of trouble.

Dean Raeburn had NEVER seen herself as any sort of "mystery man" like Superman, Wonder Woman…or her own personal inspiration in using the Jewel's gifts in the service of the Crown and the Dominion of Canada, Captain Marvel.

She was — first, foremost and always — a _**soldier**_ of the Crown.

The countless bodies of slain enemy soldiers, Nazi party members and metahuman warriors who had fallen to her Cat's Claw sword, her Clarkson M34 automatic revolvers, her martial art skills and the overwhelming strength she could use thanks to the Jewel attested to that.

"Still, you do honour us with your presence, Raeburn-shihan," Kyoko then explained as she bowed; there had always been good relations between the Oniwabanshū and the Tensei-ryū and — as a master in the Ebisu-ryū — Kyoko knew she would be horribly remiss in not acknowledging that fact. "And even if you would privately prefer to be a squadron commander in your noble regiment flying to protect your fellow warriors on the ground, your experience could easily help make the new incarnation of the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry the fine fighting force it was in the Second World War."

By then, Seina — a pretty woman with amethyst eyes and bob-cut grey-brown hair — was moving to serve coffee. Dean took hers solid black. "Ah, Tim Horton's greatest single contribution to Canada," she said as the smiling would-be steward moved to serve everyone else. "The Elixir of Life itself." She then focused on Ranma and her siblings. "What the hell were you doing in the valley of Jusenkyō, son?"

Ranma gaped. "Did Negako tell you, ma'am?"

A shake of the head. "Haven't talked to her since I came back to Earth with Heather to come out here. I know that — thanks to the Avalonians — she finally got what she's been after all these years and that her last host survived the ordeal."

"I wouldn't call having his soul split 'surviving the ordeal,' Raeburn-shōshō," Nabiki noted as people moved to relax around her. "Ranma-kun here didn't fare too well once he ran into Jusenkyō and got Kikuko-chan's soul sucked into him…not to mention his undergoing the Neko-ken and a few other idiot th-…"

Everyone then gargled as a massive bloom of ki escaped Dean. That was followed by the War Hawks' leader turning to glare at a wide-eyed Ranma. "**_Who — did — that — to — you?!_**" Dean then snarled a word at a time.

Ranma then gulped as she tried not to soil her trousers…

* * *

On the other side of the deck…

"Um, Director…are you alright?"

Hiromi sighed as she turned to smile in amusement at Brian Gamblin. "It appears the Lady Grandmaster Deannette just learned something about the Young Warrior Lord Ranma, my dear Master Voyager," she stated as her eyes twinkled in amusement.

"That was the young man whose father was shamed in the newspapers before that attack on your family home last week, wasn't he?" Umezu Saburō wondered. All ten of the Task Force's ship captains were present as they waited for Heather Thompkins — now in naval combat dress with jacket off — to read through the information on the dataPADD she had been given.

"What was going on, Saburō-ssi?" Chang Kungbok then asked.

"Ten years of solid torture in the name of training a child in martial arts, Kungbok-san," the captain of _Yamato_ replied. "Included was a supposed 'invincible technique' that is nothing short of flat-out torture. Not even the lunatics in Unit 731 would have conceived of something like that." On hearing that, both Chang and Liú Xīyuán both gaped at the Japanese captain — the Chinese and the Koreans had very bad memories about the infamous biological-warfare unit that had been active before and during World War Two — as Umezu sipped his tea. "It's where you take a child — preferably younger than ten years of age — and, after covering him in fish or fish paste, you dump said child into a pit of starving cats." As the other captains all gaped in horror at such a thing, the _Yamato_'s commanding officer sighed. "The trick is to fight your way out without being clawed to death. Ranma-kun was exposed to it twenty times before his mind snapped and he mentally _**became**_ a cat until a very nice elderly lady calmed him down and he regained his senses. Most Neko-ken 'trainees' — according to the Director's sister — never survive the training. Or are rendered permanently insane."

"_¡Dios mío!_" Francisco Uriarte blurted out as Paolo Benso coughed to prevent the nausea he was now feeling from surging up. "You mean that lieutenant…?!"

"Hai."

"Luna?"

Luna Lovegood — who had been invited in with Alejandro Emplumada to observe this so they could report it for the _Quibbler_ and _The News of the Magical World_ — perked. "Yes, Admiral?" she said as she bowed politely to Heather Thompkins.

"Go to my trunk in my quarters," Heather instructed. "My potions first aid kit is in the first compartment. Have vials of calming draught prepared, please."

A bow. "Right away, ma'am." And with that, she allowed her magical serpent friend — on seeing Alejandro for the first time, all the captains had literally gaped in shock at the idea of a **_talking snake_** of all things! — to slither onto the table close to Heather before she exited the room and headed down to the admiral's quarters.

"Why does that sort of training exist?!" Tom Kazanski then demanded.

"It was a copy of an ancient demonic summoning ritual," Heather answered, which made all the captains gape. On noting that, the woman known more publicly by the call-sign "Spitfire" smirked. "Gentlemen, get used to this **_quickly_**! If you think all the weird things that have rocked Hiromi's hometown since Hensō went to live there were strange, that was only the _bare tip_ of what is awaiting us out here!"

They gazed at her, and then they sighed. "Truthfully, we should be used to things like that," Nathan Kerr then noted. "After all, we had to be briefed on magicals before we received our commands, didn't we?" At the others nodded, the British captain gazed on Alejandro. "Beings such as _Señor_ Emplumada — if what Mister Boot's father hinted to me when I was briefed at Buckingham Palace after I was declared to be _Hood_'s captain is true — are actually quite common in their enclaves."

"I guess we're just too used to what we see in _Star Trek_ and _Babylon 5_. _Doctor Who_ as well," Kazanski then mused as he gazed knowingly at Kerr, who nodded in return. "Aliens who are still humanoid in looks."

"Well, that is common in about a quarter of the planets I've visited when I've been with Dean," Heather noted as Luna quickly came back in with ten vials of liquid.

The calming draught was served. Once drunk, everyone then relaxed. "So what are _Herr_ Hayashi's intentions for his father, anyway?" Emil Weber then asked. "We were asked to place _Frau_ Sijo's old body in suspended animation in lieu of cremating it."

"A public shaming of Ranma-san's father in a way that not even what came out in the newspapers on Friday last would equal, my dear sir," Hiromi answered. "With both Elder Kělún and Ranma-san's own grandmaster — to be joined, I now suspect, by Raeburn-shōshō if what I sensed from the wardroom here is true — involved, it should be unpleasant."

"He bloody well deserves to be hanged!" Kerr then spat out. "Or taken to the Tower of London for a **_very_** short haircut at the end of an executioner's axe!"

"Not a katana, Nathan-san?" Umezu asked.

"He's not good enough for a katana, Saburō!"

Morbid laughter filled the room…and then people blinked on hearing sniffles from one corner of the room. "Are you alright?" Gamblin asked a now wet-cheeked Luna.

More sniffles. "Those…poor kitties…!"

Alejandro's tongue flicked in amusement. "Please forgive my friend, good sirs," he then said. "Luna's been often more at home with animals than people."

"No wonder she and Kyech-san got along so much," Hiromi mused…and then she blinked on hearing a knock at the main door. "Enter!"

The door opened, revealing a smiling Seu-Susa Yesu-Kyech Hechnich'-T'yenuo of Eap'ye. "My apologies for interrupting," the Noukiite navy rear admiral stated as she nodded in acknowledgement of all the captains standing up for her. "A signal from Lecashuto just came into Muzlim Madiina." At Hiromi's questioning look while the captains sat down, Tap'uch smirked. "As of now, Ōgi is going to be locked away in Daltos Prison in the Central Sea on Vos for the rest of his days. They'll be a formal trial, of course, but the conclusion is obvious."

"Excellent!" the reborn emperor of the Hàn purred. She then blinked as she sensed a surge of amusement from her friend. "There is more?"

"The Mikado has unfortunately taken ill due to his attacking his best friend within our embassy while under a flag of truce," Tap'uch stated. "Fortunately for him, the Prince Sheko of Kyotos did understand how we look on such things and stunned him. With Master Healer Fressur present, the Mikado was declared incompetent to lead, thus allowing Minister Sianba to negotiate a cease-fire with Nassur's mother Hunba. Such just went into effect a few minutes ago." A smirk. "I don't think those on Uru — who, even if they were not part of the Imperial Round, would still support their people's continued hegemony over the rest of the Federation and Earth — would care too much about Vos gazing once more in their direction."

"Why is that?" Marc Marzin asked.

"Before Vos was plunged into civil war thirty-five years ago, it formed a sort of galactic triumvirate with Yehisril and Noukiios to ensure all the smaller powers between them behaved themselves and adhered to certain things like the Galactic Non-Interference Treaty that the Urusians gladly violated when they launched their 'invasion' of Earth last summer," Tap'uch answered. "It wasn't actually backed up by force — being such large powers, we as well as the Confederation and the Royal Kingdoms all suffer from the problems great powers have suffered throughout history — but the perceived threat alone was enough of a deterrent. With Vos distracted by their civil war, leaders of worlds such as Uru, Ipraedos and Phentax Two got very bold. Thus, the Tag Race."

"Why didn't your people stop it?" Benso then asked.

A smirk. "Much that we don't care for a lot of Urusian attitudes — especially when it concerns my people — we DO respect their more civilised traditions. A Tag Race is nearly sacred to Lum's people, Lord Captain. It was a way of settling disputes in a civilised manner…even if, at times, the Imperials did use it to take gross advantage of the feelings the 'lessers' had concerning a Tag Race to press their own ends and enforce their control. That they elected to 'give Earth a chance' via a Tag Race showed us that they weren't considering bringing harm to your people. We were watching it, but it was obvious to us that Hensō was trying to LOSE despite all her personal problems." A sigh. "And if Ataru did lose…"

"Kyech-san?" Hiromi asked.

Tap'uch nodded. "She would have had to wait her turn," Heather then noted.

Eyes locked on the Canadian admiral. "What do you mean, ma'am?" Gamblin asked.

The magical metahuman veteran of World War Two allowed a death's head grimace to cross her face, one that made the captains shudder as a noticeable chill fell over the room. "Dean was on immediate recall notice by order of NDHQ as of the first day of that little contest," she stated. "If Hiromi's brother did lose, she had orders to come back to Earth, kill Hensō and her father, then wipe out the _Kashin_'s crew, gut the ship and send the hulk back to Uru with all the corpses aboard as a warning to not push their luck."

Everyone blinked before Hiromi chuckled. "Then again, there was someone else, too."

"The Most Venerable Lady Negako?" Tap'uch asked.

"Aye! Given how everyone around us at the time was putting Onii-san down for failing to entrap Hensō, he might have faced being lynched for not tagging her horns on the evening of the last day. The magic behind the Promise of Bunka Go-nen had a special 'protective safety' trigger put in to allow Onē-sama to emerge just in case her host was threatened with death. I suspect if that happened, Tomobiki itself would have been wiped out by a volcano unleashed by the Earth-Heart Fire-Geyser." A smirk. "Most likely damaging the _Kashin_ along the way and sparing the Lady Deannette all the trouble."

Laughter then filled the room. "Should we pass such information on to them?" Kerr then asked.

"Oh, we should, Nathan!" Gamblin stated. "After all, isn't that part of this mission?"

More laughter. "Alright, boys. Settle down," Heather then scolded before she gazed at Tap'uch. "If I can prevail on your time for a bit, Admiral Seu-Susa, I'd like to discuss possible training exercises between the Force and your command."

The commander of the Expeditionary Forces of the Left smiled. "Lady Admiral Thompkins, I'm at your disposal," she said with a gracious bow.

The new commander of the Earth Defence Force smiled in return…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Jeanne Marie Eleanor Heather Thompkins** is a character who I initially created back in the early 1980s, which is around the same time I created the first version of **Deannette Antonia "Dean" Raeburn**. She is French-Canadian and a native of Québec City; she is fully and fluently bilingual and would be _La Belle Province_'s representative in the **War Hawks** (**1st Canadian Specialised Warfare Unit** [short-form **1 CSWU**]). I originally imagined Heather to be a matter-transformer in the same vein as **Firestorm** from DC Comics…but thanks to my exposure to the _Harry Potter_ novels in the late 1990s, her powers were changed to magic. Her call-sign "**Spitfire**" — named in honour of the famous British fighter aircraft of course — was chosen long before I learned of Lady **Jacqueline Falsworth Crichton**, the Marvel Comics heroine who was a fighting member of the World War Two-era **Invaders**; she was created by Roy Thomas and Frank Robbins and first appeared in _Invaders_ #12 (December 1976).

As both the _Harry Potter_ and _Negima_ universes play parts in the universe of this story, Heather would be seen as an arch-mage, capable of many forms of casting without a wand or other magical foci. Thanks to her helping fight Gellert Grindelwald during World War Two as part of her duties in the War Hawks — not to mention her work after the war that allowed European magical communities to recover fully from the damage unleashed during that war — Heather was made a supreme mugwump in the **International Conference of Magical Communities** (**ICMC**) in Geneva during the 1950s and 1960s and was declared a "supreme mugwump emeritus" at Albus Dumbledore's personal recommendation on her stepping down from the post to return to private life.

2) Expanding on the above note, the ICMC is this universe's counterpart to the **International Confederation of Wizards** (**ICW**) that exists in the normal _Harry Potter_ universe. Given the presence of magicals who do not use wands — such as Heather Thompkins — the original ICW (formed in 1692 when the Statute of Secrecy was adopted worldwide) was expanded after World War Two to welcome other magical groups on Earth; this was when the regional Magical Associations in Japan (as introduced in _Negima_) joined up. Membership was expanded further after the Second British Blood War ended with Harry Potter's defeat of Voldemort in 1997 to include non-humanoid magical species and diplomatic recognition was extended to the various governments on **Nerio** (which is my name for the _Mundus Magicus_ as depicted in _Negima_; the name was derived from an ancient Roman war goddess who personified valour in battle and was seen as the partner goddess to Mars).

As an aside, I do not follow Akamatsu-sensei's idea that the _Mundus Magicus_ is actually **Mars** under magical disguise. Given what I once heard some years back about the theory of Mars being struck by a large meteorite that nearly destroyed the planet itself — and thus effectively ensured life would never develop on that planet despite water being found recently — I theorised that when such a strike occurred, the more life-bearing elements that had been on Mars were saved by a Power Jewel that had been buried on that planet by the **Seekers** (the Jewels' omnipotent creators as noted in my story _Wanderers_) and allowed to form a new world. This became Nerio. That planet occupies a position between Mars and Earth orbiting the Sun and is disguised by an energy field that ensures it remains hidden from being spotted from Earth or Triton…though the Noukiites, thanks to Kyech, know of this planet's existence.

3) Now a note about Heather's old service: In real life, the **Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service** (**WRCNS**) — whose personnel were nicknamed "**Wrens**" as members of its British counterpart service were — was founded in July 1942 and served until 1946 when it was disbanded. The service was revised in 1951 in the Naval Reserve and full time in 1955, remaining an administrative element of the Royal Canadian Navy until Unification.

In the universe of this story — thanks very much to the service Heather rendered as part of the War Hawks — the WRCNS was not disbanded in 1946 but put in an administrative limbo (it existed on paper but was not manned, similar to the concept of a unit being placed on the **Supplementary Order of Battle** today as noted in Part 26) given that Heather was still an active officer. She would help get the WRCNS re-manned in the Naval Reserve in 1951 and helped restore them to full-time service in the Navy the next year. Heather retired from full-time service in 1954 after the Korean War, then was placed on what would eventually become the **Supplementary Ready Reserve** (**SRR**) list of retired personnel who could be recalled back to duty if required (as were Major Raeburn and the other members of the War Hawks).

As with the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service mentioned in the previous part, the WRCNS and WRNS had their own ranking system. They also possessed their own individual insignia style (officers wore blue stripes with a diamond-shaped executive curl on the upper stripe). A **First Officer** in the WRCNS and WRNS was equivalent to a lieutenant commander.

4) Translations: **G3** — Army staff officer position responsible for operational matters (the "Air" sub-title indicates operational matters involving aircraft); **G2** — Army staff officer position responsible for intelligence matters; **CMS** — Chief of the Maritime Staff, the professional head of the Canadian Navy; **ASAP** — As Soon As Possible (pronounced "Ay-sap"); **Bravo Zulu** — Navy phonetic code for a "very well done" signal; **V/STOL** — Literally "Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing" and pronounced "Vee-stall," this is where an aircraft can either roll down a runway to get into the air or "jump" into the air to become airborne (such as the various models of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier); **Frocking** — A person being "frocked" is where an officer facing promotion is allowed to wear the higher rank insignia and assume the duties expected of the higher rank before the official date of promotion, when the person can then be paid at the higher rank level (this is a modern play on the concept of **brevet** ranks noted throughout this story); **FA2** — Literally "Fighter/Attack No. 2," this was the model code given to the **British Aerospace Sea Harrier** in 1988 when the planes were upgraded from the original **FRS1** ("Fighter/Reconnaissance/Strike No. 1") configuration; **CFSATE** — Pronounced "Sif-sate," this is the **Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering**, the primary technical training centre for the Air Force; **Arahitogami** — A _kami_ in human form, such as how various Japanese emperors were seen as until 1946, when such divine links were renounced by the Shōwa Emperor; **Dios mío** — Literally "My God" in Spanish.

5) As I stated in the notes to Part 32, the **Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry** and its member regiments are my creation; they do not exist in real life. The regiments mentioned in this part will be described further in a special file on the Air Cavalry I call _The Air Cavalry Regiments of Canada_, which can be found on the FictionPress website.

6) The **Glengarry bonnet** is a cap shaped somewhat like a wedge cap but with a depressed area between the two sides. In this area of the hat, a red **toorie** (a small pom-pom) is placed. The **dicing** is the tartan-like pattern that lines both sides of the glengarry. Two ribbons hang down from the back of the hat. Military glengarry bonnets have the hat badge on the left side close to the left eye. This particular form of headgear is worn by the modern **Royal Regiment of Scotland** (**SCOTS**) in the British Army and several regiments of the Canadian Army, including the **Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada** (introduced in the notes for Part 34).

As an aside, glengarry bonnets worn by the **Newfoundland Cavalry Rangers (Air)** (**NFLD CAV RANG**) and the **Annapolis Regiment (RCCAC)** (**ANNAPOLIS R**) when they were part of the Air Cavalry Corps were buff gold overall with a black toorie and dicing that matched their tartan pattern, which is the black-blue-and-green **Government No. 1** pattern based on the tartan worn by members of the **Clan Campbell**. Specific notes for these two regiments are found in Parts Twenty-four and Twenty-five respectively in the above-mentioned story file at the FictionPress website.

7) Notes on the Air Force squadrons of **1 Wing** (headquartered in Kingston):

**400 (Red Eagle) Tactical Helicopter and Training Squadron** (**400 THTS**) was formed as "No. 10 (City of Toronto) Army Co-operation Squadron" in 1932; the squadron was renumbered 110 Squadron in 1937. Renumbered as 400 Squadron on being deployed overseas for World War Two, the squadron flew fighters for the rest of the war. Restored as an auxiliary squadron in Toronto after war's end, 400 Squadron remained a fighter unit until the 1960s, when it converted to transport duties. The squadron became a tactical helicopter unit in 1981 and shifted to Borden from Toronto when the base at **Downsview Airport** was sold off in 1996.

**403 (Red Wolf) Helicopter Operational Training Squadron** (**403 HOTS**) was formed in 1941 as a fighter unit, flying tactical missions until war's end. Reformed in 1948 as an auxiliary squadron and adopted by the city of Calgary, the squadron was a reserve fighter unit until 1968, when it was returned to full-time service, converted to helicopters and moved to Petawawa to be the Operational Training Unit for tactical aviation services. It was shifted to its current base in Gagetown in 1972.

**408 (Goose) Tactical Helicopter Squadron** (**408 THS**) was Canada's first overseas bomber squadron when it was formed in 1941, flying as such for the rest of the war. The squadron was reformed as a reconnaissance unit in 1949, serving as such until 1968, when it was disbanded. It was reformed as a tactical helicopter squadron in 1971.

**427 (Lion) Special Operations Aviation Squadron** (**427 SOAS**) was another bomber squadron in World War Two, serving from 1944-46. Reformed in 1952, the squadron was made a fighter unit, flying out of bases in Germany until it was disbanded a second time in 1970. The squadron was made a tactical helicopter unit the following year and was officially tasked to support the **Canadian Special Operations Forces Command** (**CANSOFCOM**) in 2006.

**430e (Silver Falcon) Escadron Tactique d'Hélicoptères** (**430e ETH**) was a fighter squadron overseas when formed in 1943, serving as such until war's end. Reformed in 1963 as a CF-104 Starfighter squadron, it served overseas until disbanded again in 1970. The squadron was reformed as a tactical helicopter squadron a third time in 1971, based out of Valcartier.

**438e (Wildcat) Escadron Tactique d'Hélicoptères** (**438e ETH**) was formed as "No. 18 Bomber Squadron" at Montréal in 1934. Renumbered as 118 Squadron in 1937, the squadron was reborn as a fighter unit in World War Two. The squadron was reformed after the war at Saint-Hubert outside Montréal as an auxiliary squadron, flying fighters until 1958, then becoming a transport squadron until converting to helicopters in 1982.

The final squadron of 1 Wing mentioned here, **450 (Viking) Tactical Helicopter Squadron** (**450 THS**), is Canada's youngest Air Force squadron. First formed at Saint-Hubert in 1968 as a heavy transport helicopter unit flying the Boeing CH-147 Chinook, the squadron moved to Ottawa two years later, remaining there until returning to Saint-Hubert in 1994, disbanding four years later. Note that in real life, 450 THS was reformed in 2012 when new CH-147s were brought into the Canadian Forces for the Afghanistan mission. 450 THS is to be based in Petawawa.

As an aside, the reason active Canadian Air Force squadrons have numbers in the "400 series" is because of the massing of squadrons in Britain during World War Two thanks to the influx of **British Commonwealth Air Training Plan** (**BCATP**) aircrews from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the British overseas colonies at the start of World War Two (South Africa did not participate in the BCATP). Under **Article XV** of the **Air Training Agreement** of 17 December 1939 (known as the "Riverdale Agreement") that formed the BCATP, squadrons administratively formed by contributing Commonwealth air forces were allocated a certain block of numbers so as to prevent confusion between specific units…such as 10 Squadron RCAF (later 400 Squadron RCAF) and 10 Squadron RAF. To that end, the Royal Canadian Air Force were given numbers 400-449, with the Royal Australian Air Force given 450-479 and the Royal New Zealand Air Force given 480-499. While the RAAF and RNZAF discontinued use of those numbers after World War Two, the Canadians held onto them…but by the time 450 THS was formed in 1968, it had been forgotten that the number was originally allocated to an _Australian_ squadron. Fortunately, the Australians were good-natured about it and permitted the Canadians to take the number; to this date, 450 Squadron RAAF has never been reformed.

8) Dean Raeburn's call-sign, "**Ladyhawke**" — inspired by the title of the 1985 fantasy film starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer — is used to identify her in radio communications…but she doesn't care to use that as a sort of "superhero name." All who know of her call her "Major Raeburn."

As an aside, **Garb** — from a wheat garb or sheaf of wheat — is the normal call-sign for personnel from the **10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment (Air)**.

9) In the universe of this story, Sir **Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith** (1888-1989) — who established his namesake airplane company in 1912 in Britain, said company going out of business in 1920 — was enticed by members of the future Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry to set up shop in Canada. The **Sopwith Aircraft Company of Canada** was founded in Winnipeg and became the sole supplier of aircraft and parts for the RCCAC — then called the "Canadian Air Cavalry Corps;" the "Royal" title came in 1954 — right up to the introduction of the **Sopwith Canada So-48 Camel II** and its variants in 1938 (physically, the Camel II resembles a larger F.1 Camel — yes, the same plane Snoopy flew against the Red Baron! — without the upper wing, possessing retractable undercarriage, an enclosed canopy over the cockpit, a radial engine and slightly sweptback wings with a wide surface area to enhance manoeuvrability and allow a large weapons load).

After World War Two, Sopwith Canada continued to manufacture aircraft and aircraft parts for other companies. The company merged with **Fleet Industries Canada** in Fort Erie to form **Magellan Aerospace Corporation** (in real life, Fleet — a subsidiary of an American company — collapsed in 1996 and was reborn as Magellan), though the Sopwith brand was kept. The **Magellan/Sopwith Canada CSF-198 Camel III** introduced here was a concept aircraft for a potential fifth-generation tactical fighter to be produced with the assistance of Bombardier when the Avalonians came and made it real.

As an aside, since an Air Cavalry regiment flies four squadrons of 20 attack aircraft each and a reconnaissance squadron of 20 aircraft — and there is a planned THIRTY regiments, plus the battle school, in the future…not to mention spare aircraft to serve as "hangar queens" for maintenance training purposes — the total number of CSF-198s to be built is **3,200 planes**! Hence, that is the reason the serial code for the CSF-198 has to be seven digits long.

10) The hat badge of a **General Officer** or **Flag Officer** in the Canadian Forces is the tri-service emblem (a flying eagle [for the Air Force] over crossed crusader swords [the Army] over a fouled anchor [the Navy] in a ring of ten maple leaves surmounted by a crown) with the surrounding gold leaves forming a triangular-shaped wreath similar to the badge of the Naval Operations Branch for officers and chief petty officers 1st class.

And no, wearing TWO hat badges — like what Field Marshal **Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein** (1887-1976) wore on his beret during World War Two — is NOT permitted in the Canadian Forces!

11) The process of **Unification** of the Canadian Armed Forces during the 1960s and early 1970s was a very painful transition as attempts to trim military costs, eliminate duplicated services and rid the fighting forces of all sorts of unnecessary waste ultimately morphed into a wide-ranging social-building exercise that nearly wiped out morale, especially from former elements of the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force. In the space of a decade, all service personnel were wearing a drab charcoal green uniform (the infamous **CF greens**), forced to use Army rank structures (though the Navy ranks were restored quickly enough) and lost much of the former _esprit de corps_ that was a vital part of military life.

Fortunately, much of the damage done during that time has been corrected or alleviated. The **Distinctive Environmental Uniforms** were brought into service in the late 1980s, allowing the three environmental services to wear the traditional colours of Navy blue/black, Army green and Air Force sky blue. The use of the terms "Navy," "Army" and "Air Force" came back into official vogue during the 1990s, replacing the official command titles of **Maritime Command** (**MARCOM**), **Force Mobile Command** (**FMC**) (later to become **Land Forces Command** [**LFC**]) and **Air Command** (**AIRCOM**) in public releases. And while administratively, the Forces remain a single entity, the pre-1968 titles of **Royal Canadian Navy** (**RCN**), **Canadian Army** (**CA**) and **Royal Canadian Air Force** (**RCAF**) were restored back on 16 August 2011.

12) **Camp Dundurn** is located northwest of the urban part of the town of the same name on Highway 11 forty kilometres south of Saskatoon. The camp was established at the start of World War Two. In real life, this was an army camp that later became home to the **Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot Dundurn**, one of four "magazines" now controlled by the Canadian Operational Support Command. In the universe of this story, an airfield was built northwest of the magazine to serve as home to the "1st Air Cavalry Training Regiment," the reserve element of the 10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment established to prepare replacement pilots for overseas duty. The camp remains the home station of the Saskatchewan Cavalrymen to this day. With the pending transformation of 427 Squadron into the Regular Force regiment of the 10th Saskatchewan Cavalry and the formation of the new **Air Cavalry School** (**ACAV S**), Camp Dundurn — officially a detachment of **Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg** — will be upgraded to a full Canadian Forces base and be transferred to the control of the Army.

13) Dean's mistake about addressing master corporals as "staff corporals" is because in the pre-1968 Canadian Army — and in the British Army to this day — the ranks went this way (with appropriate NATO other rank codes):

OR-9 — **Warrant Officer Class 1** (**WO1**)  
OR-8 — **Warrant Officer Class 2** (**WO2**)  
OR-7 — **Staff Sergeant** (**S/Sgt**)  
OR-6 — **Sergeant** (**Sgt**)  
OR-5 — _No equivalent_  
OR-4 — **Corporal** (**Cpl**) (in the Artillery, **Bombardier** [**Bdr**])  
OR-3 — **Lance Corporal** (**L/Cpl**) (in the Artillery, **Lance Bombardier** [**L/Bdr**])  
OR-2 — **Private** (**Pte**) (the special titles for this rank in other services can be read in the notes for Part 47)  
OR-1 — **Private (Recruit)** (**Pte[R]**)

A staff sergeant's rank insignia was three chevrons with a crown above it. In the transition between the old Army uniforms and the new CF greens, the appointment of master corporal was often marked with a crown over two chevrons, which — for an old soldier like Dean Raeburn — could be mistaken as a "staff corporal." The proper rank symbol for a master corporal is two chevrons with a maple leaf.

14) The Canadian Army brigades mentioned by Dean here are as follows:

**1 Canadian Mechanised Brigade Group** (**1 CMBG**) — the "Army of the West," headquartered in Edmonton with units also based in Shilo in Manitoba;  
**2 Canadian Mechanised Brigade Group** (**2 CMBG**) — The former **Special Service Force** (**SSF**) that contained Canada's airborne forces between 1977-95, reformed as a standard brigade group, with headquarters in Petawawa and a detached battalion in Gagetown;  
**3 Canadian Mechanised Brigade Group** (**3 CMBG**) — named after the old "3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade Group" in Gagetown that was disbanded in 1970, this will become Atlantic Canada's resident brigade, absorbing the battalion from 2 CMBG — the **2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment** (**2 RCR**) — based there on formation;  
**4 Canadian Armoured Brigade Group** (**4 CABG**) — named somewhat after Canada's mechanised brigade in Germany from 1957-93, this is Canada's first armoured brigade since World War Two, to be headquartered in Borden;  
**5e Groupe-Brigade Mécanisé du Canada** (**5e GBMC**) — Canada's French-speaking brigade group, headquartered in Valcartier; and  
**6 Canadian Brigade Group (Light)** (**6 CBG[L]**) — The new home of Canada's light infantry and Army special forces units such as the **Canadian Special Operations Regiment** (**CSOR**, pronounced "Sea-soar"), to be headquartered in Shilo.

As Dean also stated, two other infantry regiments which had active duty battalions after World War Two would return to the order of battle: The **Queen's Own Rifles of Canada** (**QOR OF C**), headquartered in Toronto…and the **Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada** (**RHC**), headquartered in Montréal. Both units had two active battalions in the Army from 1954-70.

15) As stated above, **No. 6 Group, Royal Canadian Air Force** was Canada's primary bomber formation as a fighting element of the Royal Air Force's **Bomber Command** from 1942-45. A total of nine squadrons flew for this formation. Unlike other group-sized formations of the RCAF, this particular unit was never reformed post-war.

16) **Fifth Maritime Operations Group** was first formed as **Escort Group C-5** for convoy duty in the North Atlantic during World War Two. To identify ships of this group, a white horizontal stripe embossed with diagonal red stripes was painted around the funnels of warships; on seeing this, everyone else began calling this formation the "**Barber Pole Brigade**" and the nickname stuck. The formation has been honoured since that time with the formation of **Fifth Canadian Destroyer Squadron** (**CANDESRON FIVE**) during the Cold War. The group now serves as the active operational force for the Canadian Navy on the Atlantic Ocean; it is headquartered in Halifax. Because of that, all Halifax-based ships have the barber pole striping painted on their superstructures.

17) The **Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II** — known originally as the **Joint Strike Fighter** (**JSF**) — is a basic design meant to cover three different operational missions. The **F-35A** model — which Canada is interested in — is the standard conventional take-off and landing fighter to be flown by air forces from land bases. The **F-35B** model is the V/STOL version that can launch and land from helicopter carriers, thus forcing it to have a separate vertical engine and ducted tailpipe to redirect the main engine's thrust; this is the version that is taking away so much in development costs. And the **F-35C** model is the standard carrier version of the aircraft which can be used from the decks of the Nimitz-class and Ford-class ships of the United States Navy.

As an aside, **Allan Haines Lougheed** (1889-1969) was the man who founded what today is called **Lockheed Martin**, one of America's largest defence contractors. The spelling of his name was altered to the more recognisable format in the late 1920s when the modern incarnation of Lockheed was incorporated.

18) **Unit 731** (officially the "Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kantō Army") was Japan's top-secret biological-warfare and chemical-warfare research unit that was active before and during World War Two. Operating from 1935-45 in northeast China, it was responsible for many of the war crimes committed during that conflict on the native population. However, given the considerable political and military necessities of the Cold War that began right afterward, those who were involved in Unit 731 were granted amnesties by the American occupying authorities after the surrender in 1945. To say the Chinese, Korean and other victims of Unit 731 were **_not_** impressed by that is putting it lightly.

19) What Tap'uch reveals to Hiromi and the captains at the end of this part is covered in the story _Let Us Have Peace_, which is also contained in this website.


	52. Lost Loves and New Loves

_Haida_, the main bridge (Japan time: An hour before supper)…

"So what do you think, Hensō-chan?"

Hensō hummed as she held Ten close to her while they gazed out the large windows of the bridge structure towards the other ships of the Task Force and the wrecked _Redemption_, which was floating off in the near distance. The stealth cruiser had been picked clean by Yaminokuni salvage teams; as the ship's design and capabilities had been thoroughly examined and memorised in portable tricorders by Tsuiro dai-Tashan and his Niphentaxian-Avalonian hybrid co-workers, the Task Force captains felt it wasn't necessary to salvage any equipment for analysis back on Earth. And while a tiny part of Hensō did feel it wasn't right to allow the Terrans access to such high technology, she knew that thinking that way in the face of what had happened over the last year would make her a hypocrite of the worst kind. Since she didn't want to be seen as such in the eyes of her new bond-mate — Hensō had forged her bond with Takanashi Naoko just before both fell asleep in the latter's temporary cabin after they returned to _Haida_ from the Dead Grove — Lum's twin sister wisely decided to not think anymore along those lines.

"Well, the Terrans are going to be protected. That was the whole purpose of the Tag Race in the first place," Hensō then mused as she looked through the Big Eyes posted at the front centre of the bridge to gaze towards the _Yamato_. "Atop that, they've formed a partnership with the Avalonians, which — while they won't join the Federation — are not going to interfere in trade that runs in and out of Triton, much less past that solar system between Toshitto and Gomiana. They plan to get thirty planets from the Seifukusu, which will ease everyone's defensive needs. How they'll do that…"

Ten snickered. Like all Urusians, he didn't particularly care for the Seifukusu; they were almost as bad as the Scary People…though after learning what had happened in the Mother of All Fight Scenes and what provoked it thanks to _Haida_'s library computer, he realised the Scary People did have a good reason to do that given what ultimately happened to Redet Danu. If the Terrans and the Avalonians could push the Dominion's frontiers back at least fifty light-years, it would be SO good. "Pity they couldn't do that to the parts of Ipraedies space close to Earth, too," he then mused. "Barsoom and a couple other planets close to it aren't inhabited. Yeah, they're monitored by border posts and there's always the threat of the Ipraedies moving in to wreck any ship that goes into their claimed space. But with how powerful these ships are…"

"Ten-chan, they don't want to press anything until they're ready for it," Hensō warned.

"But Major Raeburn's back in the Canadian military!" Ten protested. The news of the arrival of the famous Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry officer and her Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service friend and former fighting companion aboard _Haida_ had spread like wildfire throughout the Canadian ship. Before the planned marriage between Ika and Redet Izabel in five hours, there would be a ceremony on the port flight deck. There, Avalonian-Canadians in both the 2nd/10th Dragoons and the 19th Alberta Dragoons would be officially sworn into the Canadian Armed Forces; as both regiments had been restored from the Supplementary Order of Battle on Monday morning in Canada, neither unit had been authorised to recruit people even into Class D unpaid service until then. While their participation — to say anything of the participation of _Haida_'s plank owners — in the operation was legally improper, the various commanders in Ottawa had decreed the official swearing-in ceremonies would be considered retroactive to Monday 5 July 2010 at 0800 hours EDT, around the time _Haida_ was formally commissioned.

"Ten-chan, she's been retired since 1954, remember?!" Hensō reminded him. "Even if she has been on their ready reserve list of officers and could be recalled if necessary, they can't force a _Jewel Warrior_ of all things to fight if she doesn't want to!"

The young Oni hummed. "Yeah, that's…"

The shrill of a boatswain call echoed over the bridge. "Do you hear there! Do you hear there!" the boatswain mate of the watch declared over the intercom. "Sensors now indicate Her Majesty's Australian Starship _Kirkpatrick_ now approaching orbit! Side Party of the Watch, muster in Materialiser Room One for arrival of Grandmaster Moroboshi and party from _Kirkpatrick_! I say again, Side Party of the Watch, muster in Materialiser Room One for arrival of away party from _Kirkpatrick_…!"

"What's going on?!" Ten asked.

"I don't know, Ten-chan," Hensō mused as she turned to watch a starship — painted Royal Australian Navy haze grey…which was virtually the same as United States Navy haze grey — bearing the Blue Ensign with the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist and the Southern Cross in the fly on her hull aft of amidships and the pendant number **15** at the bow (also in reflection of American tradition) approach. "I don't know…"

* * *

Materialiser Room One, minutes later…

"Commanding Officer H.M.A.S. _Kirkpatrick_ and away team, arriving!"

The boatswains raised their calls to shrill the still as the young captain that had just beamed aboard with his party saluted. Brian Gamblin — who was there to receive the party from the Australian starship — smiled as he lowered his arm, which was the signal for his opposite number to do the same. "Welcome aboard, Captain Flynn."

Michael Flynn — the former commanding officer of the Armidale-class patrol boat H.M.A.S. _Hammersley_ before he was posted ashore to work for Fleet Command Headquarters in Sydney's Potts Point district close to Fleet Base East after he got his fourth stripe a couple years ago — smiled as he walked up to take the older man's hand in his own. "It's good to see you again, Captain Gamblin," he said. "You remember my old executive officer, of course," he said as he waived to the woman beside him.

"Good to see you again, Commander McGregor," Gamblin stated, holding out his hand.

"You're too kind, sir," Commander Kate McGregor — another _Hammersley_ alumni — said as she shook the former submariner's hand. "Is the Director…?"

"The Director and the Commander are both here, Lady Voyager Katharine."

McGregor immediately blushed, though she and Flynn — not to mention the _Kirkpatrick_'s ship's warrant officer, Warrant Officer Chris Blake — did properly snap to attention as they saluted the two women who had just walked into the room. "Director Moroboshi, Admiral Thompkins," Flynn declared. "Captain Michael Flynn, commanding officer of Her Majesty's Australian Starship _Kirkpatrick_ — with away party — reporting for duty."

Heather returned the former patrol boat captain's salute with her own as Hiromi gave him the classical fist-in-palm salute of old China. "Much that it does my heart well to see that you have come out here, Lord Captain Flynn, I was led to believe by the Master Sea General Crane that an official ceremony would not be held until our return to Earth. Preferably during the time I am on summer vacation from school."

"I arranged for it to occur, Hiromi," a familiar toneless voice — one that made many of the people there automatically tense — declared from the shadows of the materialiser platform. "When I learned Deannette had been recalled to duty, I contacted Russell in his office in Canberra and an informal ceremony was held in the skies over Uluṟu. With the full and proper blessings of the senior mystics of the Aṉaŋu, of course."

"Naturally," Hiromi breathed out as Negako walked out of the shadows.

"Ah!" Heather then breathed out. "The ANZAC spirit of larrikinism makes itself known yet once more!" As the visiting Australians laughed, she gave Flynn a knowing look. "I trust a more formal ceremony over Canberra or Jervis Bay will be held?"

"It's being planned right now, Admiral Thompkins," Flynn confirmed. "It will actually be in Melbourne as Private Kirkpatrick enrolled into the AIF there."

"Wonderful!" To Negako. "So what on Earth are you doing here, Negako?! You hate any form of travel that takes you away from the ground! Why…?!"

"Kaga."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Kaga-san?!" Hiromi gasped.

"We have Miss Shichinohe with us aboard the _Kirkpatrick_ now. And the replacement body that was prepared for her on the bioroid factory," McGregor stated. "One of the elders from the Aṉaŋu stated any attempt at soul-swapping would simply supersaturate Miss Shichinohe's new body with magical and ki energy — even with the extra mesonium injected to it — unless…"

"Something must have happened when you and Dean put her into storage," Heather mused as she gazed on Negako.

"No, Kaga's placement in long-term storage was not the issue. There was an event eight years ago at Mahora which was provoked by a time-traveller that ultimately flooded Kaga's storage chamber with an overabundance of magically-charged ki, which was absorbed by her body, Heather," Negako calmly stated. "It is a similar situation as to what I instigated in Tomobiki while I was within Ataru's mind. It needs to be vented safely if she is to be allowed any semblance of a normal life. We require open space away from inhabited areas to allow the ki to be bled off without causing collateral damage. The upper flight decks on these ships can be covered with a breathable atmosphere; that was one of the comforts Tsukihana and Ayami saw constructed into their design. I would require Deannette's assistance in reviving Kaga."

"So why not wait until we returned back, Onē-sama?" Hiromi asked.

Negako smiled, which made Heather gape at her. "You are having Kuohu and Kyekkyek transport Invader and Chim here, are you not? How do you think the Urusians as a whole will react to the news that the _**Steel Angels**_ have been revived?"

Hiromi blinked as Heather's eyes went wide…

* * *

_Kirkpatrick_, Sick Bay, minutes later…

"So you will ensure all aboard the ship will have their souls augmented, Deborah-chan?"

Deborah Mailman — all of _Kirkpatrick_'s two hundred Avalonian-Australian plank owners had been modelled after local actresses, including Aboriginal ones — smiled as she nodded. In her hand was the Dragon Jade; now hanging off her left earlobe was a pendant shaped like the seven-point Commonwealth Star, which was embossed with the winged caduceus of a medical sailor. "I'll take care of it personally, Onē-sama," the dusky-skinned woman with the wavy black hair and the deep brown eyes said, nodding.

"And don't lose it," Hiromi advised. "We have 7,800 of your sisters on the other ships to worry about after all here on _Kirkpatrick_ have been dealt with."

A giggle. "But of course, Onē-sama!"

And with that, the would-be medic walked out of the main reception room. Watching her go, WO Blake could only shake his head. "It was bloody eerie coming here with those girls, ma'am," he confessed as Hiromi gave the ship's warrant officer a curious look. "When we came aboard the ship to begin prepping her for the commissioning, they were as cold and as impersonal as your sister. But after the Aṉaŋu elders came aboard and blessed the ship before we came out here, they were acting pretty much like normal people."

"They still need life experiences, Master Voyager Christopher," the reborn emperor mused, making Blake blush on being called _**that**_. "That, the Lóngyù can grant with great ease. No doubt, the good elders of the Aṉaŋu simply desired to help ease the process for Deborah-chan and her sisters. I'm sure Onē-sama advised them of what she did with the Lóngyù and all those poor souls she and Ryōko-san found in the Nanban Forest." A shrug. "Besides, this is a ship meant to represent the Commonwealth of Australia and all who live within that domain. That includes all those who consider themselves members of the indigenous nations of Australia, does it not?"

"Good point," the Australian starship's senior rate the mused. He gazed towards the doorway leading into one of the isolation rooms, protected from outside contamination by a sterile field similar to the restraining fields covering the entrance to any of the brig chambers near the regulating office nearby. "What is it with her, anyway?"

"Who?"

"Your sister? Why would she care for one of the _Steel Angels_ of all people?"

Hiromi chuckled. "My dear sir, given that Onē-sama herself is perhaps Earth's first ever true artificial intelligence, that she would be attracted to those such as the Lady Kaga and her sisters is as natural as breathing is to us," she advised. "It was the Lady Ayanokōji Kurumi who gave Onē-sama her name, in fact."

"She loves her?"

That was the _Kirkpatrick_'s chief medical officer, Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Holly Bannister. "She does, though she doesn't intrinsically understand the concept as much as we would," Hiromi explained. "Kaga-san was quite passionate in pursuing Onē-sama…even when she was still within the subconscious mind of my paternal great-granduncle Tsugaru, much to his personal embarrassment…"

* * *

_Nachikatsūra Onsen (120 kilometres south-southeast of Ōsaka), Sunday 7 June 1936, late evening… _

_"Kirei…" _

_"What do you find so beautiful?" _

_Shichinohe Kaga blinked on hearing that voice — when the entity whom Ayanokōji Kurumi had gladly christened "Moroboshi Negako" was alone with one of the Steel Angels, s/he did not speak with the hollow yet booming dirge-like voice that would send chills down the backs of even the most brave warrior — and then she turned to gaze on the pale-skinned middle-aged man seated at the other end of the outdoor hot spring overlooking the small peninsula jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. And while Negako was often quite afraid to be close to such a vast body of water — Kaga knew of what had happened the night 128 years before when the_ Saikō Jinseijutsu _fully became alive — s/he didn't seem to mind it so much when s/he was taking in the warmth of the mineral waters that flowed underground in this lovely place south of the Kii Mountains. _And with me_, the magical combat gynoid then mused with a shy smile that normally was alien to her before she drifted back to allow herself to come up against her current companion's side. _

_"Everything," she then confessed. "This beautiful evening, the whales out in the ocean playing around as they seek to mate, the wonderful weather, the warmth of the water in the onsen…and you with me." She turned to gaze on the possessed ninja seated beside her. "If only this was your_ true _body and not a borrowed one." _

_A sigh. "Kaga, I refuse to allow myself to become a Steel Angel." _

_"Why not?" Kaga wondered. "You are more like us than the humans we all serve. It's only logical that you embrace a form that will no longer restrict you when it comes to living your life. You know you have to allow your host to regain control of his body every once in a while to prevent him from slipping into a permanent coma." _

_"True," the possessed ninjutsu-ka mused. "But there are the downsides to what you are, Kaga. Yes, Hakushi and his co-workers have confirmed that a body could be created for me that will allow me to use my powers and capabilities to their fullest extent. But my host's family will not let me go that easily. I am far too valuable to them to allow me to run free…even if those who do become my hosts such as Tsugaru have been made to fully understand what I am and what I desire. The loyalty programming built into your bodies also disturbs me as well. I desire to be free and I will_ not _become a slave." A sigh. "And there is much more. My creator is sensing something very wrong happening in Japan now. And he has become tired. I fear that Deannette will be his final student before he allows himself to slip out of this life." _

_Silence. _

_"But…Master Hosan is_ immortal_, Negako!" Kaga gasped, stunned to hear something like __**that**__ from Negako. "He_ can't _die! Not even with his head chopped off like all those other immortals can die! It's simply impossible!_ **He can't die!**_" _

_"Kaga,_ all _beings that are born or are created in this existence can die under the right circumstances," Negako warned her. "My creator is no different even if he has the black crystals in his blood that have frozen his ageing process for the last five millennia. And he feels like a normal human being despite his immortality. He has served the Chrysanthemum Throne for well over a millennia. He now is sensing the growing militarist movement in this country as those who would have Japan 'catch up' to the nations of Europe and the United States strive to do everything to emulate those lands, including seizing other lands as they did with Chosŏn and Táiwān during Emperor Mutsuhito's reign." A sigh. "I cannot blame him for feeling that way. Thanks to its isolation during the Tokugawa era, Japan was not able to properly develop as other societies did, especially with the advance of the Industrial Revolution over a century ago in Europe. My creator is used to that sameness. This modern age which you and the other Steel Angels have come to represent is a completely alien thing to him. He feels lost and he cannot make himself strive forward to embrace the current age." _

_"Is that why he's been training Dean-san since the Great War ended? I thought it was because of the Power Jewel she found all those years ago in that cave in Canada!" _

_"The Power Jewel does factor into my creator's desire to train Deannette, but there is more," Negako said as s/he reached over to draw an arm around Kaga, which made her shudder as she leaned over against her companion, resting her head in the crook of Negako's neck as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to take in the heady musk of her companion's body. "Like he does myself, Hirosuke views Deannette as a surrogate child. She has even taken to addressing him as 'Papa-sensei,' no doubt wanting to regain some sense of family after she lost hers thanks to her uncle. She was born in what the British address as the Victorian Era. She also has problems adjusting to the current age, but she is striving to accept things that Hirosuke cannot understand or actually finds repulsive. And while she sees herself as Canadian and is loyal to the government and social structures that rule the Dominion, Deannette can accept what the Jewel ultimately demands of her. To be the protector of_ all living things _on Earth." _

_"To be the Earth Angel's Protector. The Protector of All Life." _

_"No,_ you _are that protector, Kaga." _

_Silence. _

_"Negako…!" Kaga gasped as she gazed up into those glowing eyes — the one visible effect that would inform anyone that the_ Saikō Jinseijutsu _was taking control of her/his host body that could _not_ be suppressed, not like the total whitening of the skin or the tiger-stripes that appeared on her/his skin as s/he strove to manipulate the local ley lines and mana fields to draw the Earth's very life energy into her/him so s/he could use her/his many powers — and then her eyes softened as she leaned in. _

_They kissed as the Steel Angel shifted herself into her companion's lap, though Kaga knew how to control herself as Negako — despite what s/he was capable of doing to anyone or anything that got in her/his way — was still in a human body, with all its advantages and disadvantages. Finally, they parted, and then Kaga moved to lean her chin on Negako's shoulder, closing her eyes as tears flowed down her cheeks. The possessed ninjutsu-ka was quick to sense it. _

_"You have all decided, haven't you?" _

_A nod. "Are you angry at me?" _

_"No. I am actually quite pleased with you." _

_Kaga sighed. "We have no choice. We've seen and sensed what's going on in Italy and Germany, not to mention Manchuria. The war that ended over a decade ago didn't end; it just went into a sort of intermission. Japan might fall in with them with the way things are going here, too!" A sniff. "Another war is coming. And it'll be far worse." She sniffed back the tears now flowing down her cheeks. "The one program that I will_ never _disobey is to bring harm to those I seek to protect, Negako. And we were all built to protect humanity. If we become involved in that war, it will be a disaster that not even Dean-san could stop." _

_"So when will it happen?" _

_"Soon." Another sniff as Kaga moved to gaze into her companion's eyes. "We want you — both you and Dean-san — to make sure it happens. And when it comes time for us to return — so that we can function as we always have — we want you or Dean-san to come back to us. To wake us and tell us it's alright for us to live again." _

_Negako nodded. "So it will be…"_

* * *

"Bloody hell…!" Blake breathed out.

"Those poor women," Bannister exhaled.

"Do not think of them as such, Holly."

Everyone turned as Negako walked out of the isolation ward. She was followed by Dean Raeburn and Heather Thompkins. "Is Kaga-san alright, Onē-sama?" Hiromi then asked.

Dean nodded. "She's almost on the verge of waking up on her own, Hiromi," she reported. "That energy boost her being so close to the World Tree at Mahora gave her back in 2002 nearly shattered all the safety shields both Negako and I put on her storage chamber. Fortunately for her, Kaga didn't sense either of us around when that happened, so she didn't take advantage of the boost in energy to wake up without outside input. Since she was still in her original body, the 'loyalty lock' in her programming was still there…"

"And all it would require is a kiss on the lips to win oneself an eternally beautiful **magical combat gynoid** as your personal _**slave**_!" Bannister finished for the Canadian air cavalry officer, and then she sighed. "What of her new body?"

"It could take the life energy — and metahuman powers — Kaga possessed in her original body once the soul-transference occurred," Negako answered. "But the additional boost of energy Chāo Língyīn unleashed from the ley line nexus under the World Tree of Mahora was automatically absorbed by Kaga's body while she was in storage. She cannot absorb that amount of energy into her new body, so it must be bled off. Since it is the current mission of the Earth Defence Force to make the Urusians permanently withdraw from our solar system, it serves our purposes as well as Kaga's and my personal desires to allow her 'awakening' in her new body to occur here. And focus the release of the excess magical ki energy within her current body at the wreckage of the _Redemption_…just as Kuohu and Kyekkyek are arriving in system with Lum's parents and great-grandfather as their passengers."

"And let them see it happen," Heather added. "Kaga could use her ki to survive in space; if she's not comfortable doing that, Dean can help her. The instant that fat idiot sees that a _**Steel Angel**_ is back on her feet…!"

"And maybe with the good Flying General who once served with the noble Tenth Air Cavalry Regiment of Saskatchewan accompanying her, perchance?" Hiromi wondered as she waved at Dean, who gave the reborn emperor an annoyed look in return.

"Deannette, why are you complaining?" Negako then wondered.

A groan. "You know my reasons, Negako!" Dean snapped.

"And they are foolish reasons," the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū countered. "You disapproved of the disbandment of the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry, did you not? They showed their support to the reforms Paul Hellyer initiated during his tenure as Minister of National Defence to remove all the wasteful redundancy and streamline training syllabi and support structures in the Canadian Armed Forces…and their loyalty to the civilian chain of command was repaid by the most crass form of betrayal to have ever been unleashed on any Canadian military unit or formation. Even the former members of the Royal Canadian Air Force found the disbandment of the Air Cavalry Corps questionable; why have the leaders of Air Command NEVER lodged any complaint concerning the unofficial flying troops those regiments still active in the Militia rose after 1970? The new Corps requires the hand of an experienced officer who knows the customs and traditions of the Air Cavalry of old to provide a sense of continuity and allow such customs and traditions to be perpetuated. You are that person, Deannette. You DID agree back in 1954 that you can be recalled at the direct order of the Prime Minister in case of national emergency, did you not?"

With that, Negako headed off to the nearest washroom. Heather watched her go, and then she sighed. "She does have a point, Dean," she noted as she gazed on her friend.

"I don't want those who I command to become blank faces, Heather," Dean stated.

A nod. "You have a right to think that. And with the mission of the Canadian Forces now changing to what it will become with _Haida_ in service, it's going to get even more complex and more challenging. But hasn't that always been said to be the great paradox of command? To be a good **officer**, you must love your service…yet to be a good _**commander**_, you have to be ready to order the destruction of that you love?"

"Bobbie Lee said that long ago," Dean noted.

"And the good, wise and most honourable General Lee was quite right about that, Dean-san," Hiromi cut in. "But now, our technology is so high, the chances of people dying needlessly — friendly fire, sudden attacks, exposure to inhumane elements such as deep space — are reduced. Not altogether eliminated, of course, for there is always the unpredictable element of any military action. But given your experiences — both in the Saskatchewans and leading the War Hawks during the last world war, not to mention your travels to other worlds since that time — you can teach all those under you these days how to expect the unexpected."

Dean breathed out. "I was always taught by John Ebrill that the true missions for an air cavalry officer are always commanded by majors. When I was made B Squadron's OC just before we flew over to Britain to help beat the crap out of Hermann Göring's flyers, I knew I was in a place where I was comfortable. I knew every man in the squadron personally, both the riders and the stable hands." Those terms were old Air Cavalry slang respectively for pilots and ground crew. "If one died — much as I hated it when it happened — I knew what to write when I had to send the letter of condolence home. But right now…?"

"Then teach your subordinates that, ma'am," Holly Bannister advised. "Teach your regimental COs and your squadron OCs that being that close to their subordinates is one of your expectations as the MGAC. Yes, there has to be the chain of command…but I'll say this: The Canadian Air Cavalry Corps has always been seen by those in Australia who knew of them as having the same spirit the ANZACs had in both world wars. And even in this massive high-tech age we live in — with new sailors, soldiers and air service personnel coming in with the breadth and depth of knowledge they have — those fundamentals of command are always there." A shrug. "If you want, call down to Canberra and ask the folks at Army HQ if some people from 16 Aviation Brigade could come up to help train your people! The Army Aviation Corps once called themselves 'air cavalry,' too…and they actually had to be separated from the bloody RAAF in the first place to become their own corps! It was the exact opposite for your own service, wasn't it?"

Dean blinked, and then she chuckled. The Canadian Air Cavalry Corps had been officially brought into service on 1 May 1920, formed by veterans of the fifteen original "air reconnaissance battalions" that had flown over the Western Front in support of the Canadian Corps. The Canadian Air Force was founded in July that year as the main military element of the Air Board, the government regulatory body responsible for all aviation issues across the Dominion in those days. The Air Cavalry was also made a part of the Air Board in an initial attempt at uniting all air military forces under one organisation as had been done in Britain when the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service came together as the Royal Air Force in 1918. While Canadians flying in the old RFC and RNAS like Billy Bishop had liked the idea of a separate air service of equal rank to the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Navy, the precursors to the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry saw their first and main duty as serving as close reconnaissance — and ground attack — forces to the ground battalion, regiment, brigade or division their unit was seen as part of. Logically, that demanded that such units HAD to remain an administrative and organisational element of the Canadian Army.

While there had been the jostling in the 1920s and 1930s as the mission profiles of the Canadian Air Cavalry Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force were defined, there had always been close working relationships between the "mud pushers" and the "sky knights" — forged especially closely in World War Two — right straight to Unification. With the shutdown of the Air Cavalry Corps in 1970, hundreds of pilot sergeants and pilot warrant officers found themselves commissioned from the ranks and welcomed into the Air Operations Branch as captains and majors with open arms. Atop that, Air Command helicopter squadrons from Comox to Gander _**always**_ made themselves available when young air cavalry troopers — though officially classified as "armoured soldiers" and "infantry soldiers" depending on their home regiment's basic assignment — came to their bases _**at their own expense**_ to learn how to be aircraft technicians in all the trades. The support of nearly two dozen unofficial "flying troops" to various Air Force squadrons — especially search-and-rescue units — in times of emergency had always been appreciated by Air Command even if no official recognition of same was ever made by Parliament.

"Your service will succeed, Lady Deannette," Hiromi advised. "Despite all that has been stacked against them, they chose NOT to go quietly into the night as so many wanted them to do back in 1970. They have kept the faith all this time. You cannot dishonour that, good lady, no matter what you would prefer to do if called to serve again as you have been now." A smile. "Teach them how to be the same."

Dean gazed at her, and then she smirked as her blue eyes twinkled with amusement. "It's a pity you never were like this in your first life, Your Majesty. Maybe if you were, the whole Three Kingdoms thing would never have happened."

With that, she headed off. Hiromi remained in place, though she nodded in appreciation as Heather patted her shoulder before going off after her friend. "You are wrong," the reborn emperor then whispered. "Hàn would have fallen no matter what happened."

"Ma'am?" WO Blake probed.

She smiled at the former coxswain of _Hammersley_. "It is the basic nature of all living things, my good sir," she stated. "All things that live must always eventually pass into that good night that awaits us all."

With that, she headed off…

* * *

_Haida_, port side flag officer's level, an hour later…

"So quiet…"

Hearing her own voice, Matsumoto Kasumi blinked before a giggle escaped her, and then she relaxed as she gazed out the portal of her guest quarters at the space surrounding the Canadian starship. While Hika'aki was still high in the near-orbital sky from where _Haida_ was far above Muzlim Madiina, the polarisation of the window ensured Kasumi wouldn't be blinded by the star's brilliance if she looked directly at it. No doubt, it would make a beautiful sunset in several hours. Taking a moment to gaze down at the dark cloud layer kilometres below _Haida_'s keel, the elder former Tendō daughter could only lament that it was a terrible pity that the natives couldn't see such a lovely sunset thanks to the dust cloud forever enveloping their world.

Turning to sip the tea she had made for herself in the wardroom, she then relaxed as she sat back in the chair and closed her eyes. Now that she was rested up, she felt much better…and, more importantly, in full control of herself. While it had been very liberating to experience the passions her libido unleashed after all the years she had maintained such iron control over herself in the wake of her mother's death, being an uncontrolled slut was NOT the way Kasumi wanted others to perceive her as. Even if she would soon be off to university, she did intend to pursue a career as a doctor. And while she did care for Ono Tōfū as a friend and her family doctor, she didn't care to emulate his behaviour — or similar behaviour — when dealing with patients.

At least she was getting support from the Canadian Forces Medical Services concerning a potential future career. Doctor Joanna Turner had spoken to Doctor Stan Gossip about Kasumi's future desires and the latter — who gained his medical degree from McMaster University in Hamilton — had a friend in charge of that particular school's admissions department. Once a TOEIC test was administered and Kasumi's high school marks reviewed — Nabiki had hinted at her sister's high performance in the sciences, which always formed a good educational base for a future doctor's career — she could be welcomed into the freshman class in September, just two months away.

And while there was still a little surge of discomfort at the idea of abandoning the oath she made at her mother's passing concerning keeping the Tendō home intact, she knew that the situation now was much different than it was just two weeks ago. Nabiki was pretty much locked on going to Queen's University, which would take her to Kingston in the fall of 2012…and with her plans to join the Earth Defence Force in a civilian capacity, her future employment prospects looked good. Akane would most likely stay with Ebisu Kyoko at the family dōjō in Utsunomiya while she attended Yoshū and would progress her training to the point where she could gain her own mastery and help run the family dōjō there, supported by a degree from a local university. Karin would be given the chance to have her own quarters close to Yoshū — as would Nabiki so as to not impose on Kyoko's family given the distance between Utsunomiya and Nerima — and then make a life for herself, probably with a bond-mate at her side…

_Eh…?_

Kasumi blinked as a surge of tear-filled happiness seemed to flow gently past her from the direction of the wardroom. "Who…?" she gasped before her eyes went wide. "Oh, my! Nabiki!" With that, she was up and heading for the door.

Takai Mirumi was waiting for her by the entrance to the wardroom. Before Kasumi could peek inside the open door to see what was going on, Mirumi came up to stop her. "It's been decided," she whispered to the older woman. "Nabiki…took it a little hard. I don't think she's ever felt really welcome at Fūrinkan. As soon as she broke down, I felt a lot of ugly thoughts from Tsuguta-kun, Yoichi-kun and some of the other boys." As Kasumi gazed at her, the raven-haired, brown-eyed beauty winked. "They don't like the idea of a girl crying."

Kasumi blinked, and then she giggled. "My! Such gentlemen!"

"Aye, they are, aren't they?"

"Onē-sama?"

Kasumi perked…and then she smiled. "Narumi-chan."

A familiar crimson-haired, green-eyed woman walked up. As normal, the would-be medical technician who had responded to Kasumi's problem earlier in the day was in Naval Combat Dress…but Kasumi was then quick to see the black epaulette slip-ons covering her shoulder straps, they now embossed with _Haida_'s unit tag at the base; when she had first come aboard the Canadian starship, Narumi didn't have them. It only took a quick "look" with her empathy to sense out why. "When?!" Kasumi probed.

Ordinary Seaman (Recruit) Sasamoto Narumi smiled. "While you were still asleep. We were asked to go see the captain to be sworn in." She then sighed as she looked into the wardroom. "What's wrong with Nabiki-onēsama?"

"She's just overjoyed at being accepted at Yoshū," Mirumi reported.

Kasumi smiled as she reached over to gently grasp Narumi's hand. The would-be medic perked on feeling that, and then she gazed up at the taller woman, her eyes sparkling with delight…and something else. Before Kasumi could wonder what that was, she perked as what Mirumi had said earlier came back to her. "Tsuguta-kun and the others aren't considering attacking Fūrinkan, are they?!" she demanded.

"We won't permanently maim them," Mirumi advised. "But you have to admit, what they did to Akane-chan — and to a lesser extent, Nabiki — has to be addressed."

Kasumi hummed, and then she smirked. "The Great Fighters Tournament."

"Eh?"

"Have it at Tomobiki High this year; I'm sure Hiromi-san's friends would gladly act as referees for the bouts and she could arrange for all of you to use the Mendō and Mizunokōji estates for them. Along the way, arrange for some accidents to occur."

Mirumi gazed at her, and then she smirked. "You've _evil_, Kasumi-san!"

Kasumi gaped. "I am?! Oh, my! Is it really that obvious?!"

Mirumi and Narumi gaped at her, and then laughed…

* * *

Later…

"So what's happening on the flight deck now?"

"Raeburn-shōshō is doing a field inspection of both the 2nd/10th Dragoons and the 19th Alberta Dragoons," Narumi explained as she moved to prepare tea for the elder Miyamoto sister at the small kitchenette set off to one side of the work office next to Kasumi's new bedroom; the quarters had been designed for a senior staff officer. Nabiki — after she had recovered from crying in delight at being asked to become part of the Yoshū Private Academy — had accompanied Ikusawa Kyōko to Brian Gamblin's cabin so she could be sworn in as a naval cadet in the Forces. Akane and Kyoko had gone down to the ship's gymnasium to continue working out — a former physical education and recreation instructor who had been forced to remuster back to his old trade of sonar operator, Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry Carston, had been put in charge of the gym when he had come aboard — while Karin was busy in her cabin composing some verse to get her writing skills back on-line. "She brought their new camp flags with her and Thompkins-shōshō when they came aboard and with the regiments now 'official,' all the Avalonian-Canadians in their ranks can now wear proper uniforms and berets."

"What about Negako-sama? I can sense her aboard the _Kirkpatrick_," Kasumi said as she nodded off to the Australian starship, which had fallen in close to her Canadian and British sisterships when she had assumed high orbit over Yaminokuni. "What else is on that ship? I can sense a very high ki source there right now."

"That's Kaga-sama. Negako-sama's girlfriend."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"**_SHICHINOHE KAGA?!_**" Kasumi cried out.

"Hai. Because of some accident in Mahora — that was where Kaga-sama was kept in storage all these years — she's just got too much ki energy inside her. If her soul is shifted to a new body in _tre'cha_, that body could literally EXPLODE! So Negako-sama is going to allow her to bleed off all the excess ki…and wreck what's left of the _Redemption_ along the way. Just when Lum-onēsama's parents arrive."

Kasumi considered that, and then she grinned. "Oh, my heavens! Would they be allowed to see these ships then?! It was a nasty surprise for the people on _Redemption_!"

"Nope. Kaga-sama can levitate…and Raeburn-shōshō does have her Power Jewel." Narumi then walked over with the tea. "The Steel Angels are known on Uru. Once Lum-onēsama's father sees that one of them is back — and in full fighting trim…!" She then giggled. "There's this race of metahumans on a planet three hundred light-years from Earth. They're called the Yizibajohei. The Urusians tried an invasion 250 years ago…and URU got wrecked as a response to it. They're so feared, you can't even say the _**name**_ of the planet or the race in front of one of them without them freaking out! If they know Earth is developing _**metahumans**_…!"

Both girls laughed, and then Kasumi took the mug in hand to sip the tea there. She was quick to sense Narumi gaze fondly at her, and then she sighed. "Would you want me, Narumi? Like Kyōko-chan wants Nabiki now?" she then asked.

Narumi hummed. "Well, it seems that Nabiki is hell-bent on getting us together in an _omiai_," she reported as she moved to prepare her own tea.

Kasumi gaped at the younger woman. "An _omiai_?! Oh, my! I never thought Nabiki would do that!"

A chuckle. "She does love you, Kasumi," Narumi reminded her as she gazed over her shoulder at the older woman. "Much that she's closed her heart and emotions off from you and Akane over the years, she does appreciate all the work you've done for her."

The older woman spent a moment considering that, and then she hummed. "I'm actually quite surprised that Nell-chan didn't want to come after me while I was on _Hood_."

"It didn't click in with her when you underwent _tre'cha_," the would-be medic warned. "Not unlike it did me when I escorted you aboard the ship."

Kasumi blinked, and then she peered at Narumi for a moment with her own basic ki-sight. Sure enough, there was a powerful tint of rose-hued ki in the other woman's life-aura, that forming a tendril of energy that was reaching out towards Kasumi. While she was no ki-adept like Tōfū and Ranma, Kasumi did understand what THAT meant. "Are you scared?" she then asked as she moved to sit down at the work table.

"Petrified, but I'm trying to keep calm. When I selected medical technician as my trade of choice, I was programmed with all proper knowledge concerning _tre'cha_ duties when it comes to saving lives," Narumi admitted. "There was also the empathic support from both Nabiki and Kyōko. Akane and Karin were utterly grateful to me for being there for you when you needed help, recognising what had happened to you right away and getting Elder Mother Kělún to see you right then and there." A shaky sigh escaped her. "But I am scared. I mean…not even a day after I became truly alive…"

She stopped as a sob escaped her. Immediately, Kasumi rushed over to embrace her. As Narumi moved to hold her close, the older woman allowed her own tears to flow as she let the storm of emotions this woman-child that was an adult in body and a newborn in heart to vent her feelings towards the powerful drive all of her kind experienced when meeting someone of like mental and emotional compatibility to forge a _marei'cha_ bonding and become literally married in the eyes of Sagussan society. Soon, those moans became hoarse intakes of breath as Narumi's own sense of discipline came forth from the depths of her soul to reinforce an ironclad sense of control over her mind and heart. It was quite intoxicating — and utterly so different! — than what she had experienced from her own father, much less Ono Tōfū, over the last few years. And because of that…

_No wonder Nabiki found herself reciprocating Kyōko's interest in her_, Kasumi mused as she gently stroked her fingers through Narumi's shaggy hair. _What on Earth was I so worried about?! There was nothing improper there at all! Kyōko desired Nabiki and Nabiki desired Kyōko! That's all there has to be said about it!_

"Yeah…it's inspiriting, isn't it?"

Kasumi blinked — though she didn't feel any embarrassment at the fact that Narumi had "heard" her thoughts telepathically — and then she smiled. "Now?"

Narumi gazed at her, and then she sighed. "After basic training."

The older woman considered that for a moment, and then she nodded in understanding. While she had really no idea how recruit training in the Canadian military worked, it logically had to be quite an intensive experience. Narumi would have to keep her mind on business to ensure she came through such a course whole and well. "Any idea when?" she asked.

"We'll definitely have it done before year's end," Narumi said as she pulled away from her new girlfriend to finish making her own tea. "Both ourselves in the other ranks…and Kyōko, Naoko and the others for officers training. The BMQ is fourteen weeks long; BMOQ has an extra week to go. Once that's done for me, I'll probably start my TQ3 at the Health Services Centre in Borden after the New Year. That's sixteen weeks. Plus there's the paramedic training we go to Chilliwack — outside Vancouver — for sixteen weeks to be officially declared Primary Care Paramedics at the Level One stage. Atop that, five weeks for Naval Environmental Training since I'm serving on a ship…AND ten weeks doing the Soldier Qualification since that's mandatory for all med techs."

Kasumi giggled. "Military mentality?"

"I'm not alone! Kyōko can't escape it either!"

"Oh?! How so?"

"Common Army Phase — that's at the Infantry School in Gagetown, over in New Brunswick; it's the basic Army officers' course — for eleven weeks before she starts her basic intelligence officer's course in Kingston."

Kasumi blinked. "She's Navy, too!" she protested.

"For some unknown and arcane reason, the military needs it that way."

Both of them laughed, and then Kasumi sighed. "What if you became a doctor, Narumi?"

A sigh. "I'd effectively have to leave the military to spend four years to get my bachelors in science…and another four years to get my medical doctorate. Once I did that, I could enter into the Forces under the Medical Officers Training Plan for the residency part, but that would take me away from _Haida_ for way too long." A smirk. "Just as you can't really abandon your family, I can't abandon mine, Kasumi. As a med tech, I'm back on the ship well before the end of next year…AND in a trade where I can do a lot of good. Maybe after a decade or so, I'll be able to advance to physician assistant when I finally get up to petty officer 2nd class…or maybe pursue my own medical degree if I feel ready to do that. But I'm just as the start of that long journey, so right now, all I'm worried about is getting through Saint-Jean with the others."

"Well, how far is Hamilton from Borden?"

A hum. "About two hours by car."

Kasumi's eyes then twinkled. "New Year's morning? At dawn?"

Narumi smiled. "Japan or Canada?"

A shrug. "Why not up here?"

Both girls then laughed, and then Narumi walked over to sit down beside her girlfriend. "It could change," she then admitted. "We'll just have to wait and see."

"Yeah," Kasumi breathed out.

"You okay?" A pause, and then, "You're not worried about your dad, are you?!"

A snort. "No, of course not!" Kasumi snapped…and then she paused before a tired sigh escaped her. "He won't bend, I fear. Even after all he went through after Ranma-kun was hurt, he simply just won't bend! Akane arranged to have my old body cremated and the ashes put into an urn so that he could sense that our old bodies are gone when we confront him after returning back home to Earth. But doing that…"

"That's why you'd be a perfect healer, Kasumi."

The older woman blushed, and then she sighed. "Narumi…"

"Hai?"

Kasumi hummed, and then she leaned over to whisper into the redhead's ear, "I want to do something incredibly naughty with you right now."

Narumi blinked, and then she purred. "Well…!" She then smirked as her eyes glittered with mirth before reaching over with her hand to feel Kasumi's forehead, which made the older woman blink in confusion before she grinned on sensing what Narumi now had in mind. The would-be medic then trilled. "Well, Miyamoto-sensei, by the looks of it, you're running a very high fever right now," she then stated in a no-nonsense sort of voice. "Too much time in the trauma ward, I think. We're going to have to get you down to the examination room and give you a _complete_ check up!"

Kasumi tried not to giggle as she gave the other woman an embarrassed look. "I can certainly take care of myself, Narumi-kun…" She shuddered. "Still…"

Narumi stood up, offering her hand. "Come along, Sensei. Don't argue."

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai…!"

With that, they picked up their mugs of tea and walked into the bedroom hand-in-hand…

* * *

On the other side of the deck, a half-hour later…

"So what do you think, Mike?"

The commanding officer of _Kirkpatrick_ hummed before nodding. "Definitely would qualify for the Cross under those circumstances," he mused as he gazed on Brian Gamblin. "But persuading your own superiors concerning that — given that you haven't really engaged in long, personnel-intensive hard combat situations since Korea despite the losses you've taken in Afghanistan — would your own government go along with it?"

The Canadian captain sighed. "Hopefully, yes. When Tom here reviewed what happened, he did say something similar," he noted as he waved to Tom Kazanski.

"There's been too much emphasis on the 'sacrifice' part when it comes to giving a Medal of Honour these days in the States," the American starship captain noted, nodding. "We've only awarded those things to _**deceased**_ recipients since Vietnam ended. There is rumour that someone from the Army will get it who's still alive…"

"About bloody time," Nathan Kerr mused.

"How many Victoria Crosses have been awarded since World War Two, Captain?" Hiromi — who was quite stunned at the idea of the man who had protected her daughter from Uio Toma's mad brother receiving Canada's highest award for bravery, an award that hadn't been given out since the end of the Second World War — then asked.

"Four for Korea; two of those were living on getting it," the British captain provided. "One during the tiff between Malaysia and Indonesia in the mid-1960s when we still had military commitments there; that fellow is still alive even now. Two for the Falklands; both deceased in action. One for Iraq; he's alive. One for Afghanistan, but that lad didn't make it out."

"There were four more Victoria Crosses that were awarded to Australians in Vietnam; two of them were posthumous," Michael Flynn added. "That was when Australians were still eligible for the Imperial VC. We didn't create our own until 1991. Since then, there's been one…and the rumour of a second one is making the rounds, too. Atop that, there's talk of giving it posthumously to three soldiers from the World Wars, including my ship's namesake."

Hiromi blinked. "He was never awarded the Cross?"

"Nor **any** medal, Madame Director. Just a Mention in Dispatches." Flynn then perked. "Oh, right! The New Zealanders gave their Cross to someone in 2004."

"I remember that one," Kerr noted, nodding.

"That would be like awarding our Cross to the Unknown Soldier we brought back home in 2002 and buried in Ottawa," Gamblin noted. "There was talk about doing just that three years ago when the Queen rededicated the Vimy Memorial, but the Royal Canadian Legion shot it down real quick." As the others gazed at him, the submariner added, "They felt it wasn't right to elevate an unknown soldier above all of his friends."

"Pity you never chose an unknown for your country when that started up after the Great War, Brian," Kerr noted. "When the Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey after the First World War, General Pershing awarded him the Medal of Honour."

"And our World War One Unknown Soldier got the Cross in return. As well as the Medal of Honour," Kazanski added, and then he sighed. "Well, no matter what, Brian, it has to be recognised. Put in the application and see what happens."

Hiromi smiled. "Well, if you need my recommendation, I'll be pleased to pen it once I have some time to do so." She then sighed. "But, if you gentlemen will kindly excuse me, some personal matters merit my attention at this time. Since we're not expected to be at the Great Chapel for some hours, I'll attend to them right now."

The others nodded as they rose and walked out of the meeting room. Once that was done, Hiromi then moaned as she got back to her feet. Walking into her bedroom, she then stopped on seeing who were now lying on the bed. Fortunately, they were under the covers as they were all naked when the reborn emperor found them there after she had got back aboard _Haida_ from her quick trip to _Kirkpatrick_ on the latter ship's arrival in the system. Seeing the tired yet happy looks on the faces of both her reborn wives and one of her reborn mistresses, Hiromi could only shake her head. _If this is what I must endure to make the spirits of my lost children happy, I wonder if it's worth it…!_

She moved to close the door behind her…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Her Majesty's Australian Starship _Kirkpatrick_ (first ship of the name) is named after one of Australia's most famous military heroes. Private **John "Jack" Simpson Kirkpatrick** (1892-1915) of the Australian Army Medical Corps' 3rd Field Ambulance was a stretcher bearer who conveyed casualties from the Gallipoli battlefield on the back of a donkey named "Duffy" to the landing beaches for them to be transported out to nearby hospital ships and military transports. He was reported to have done his casualty-evacuation missions in a quite chipper mood, always whistling or singing even with bullets flying around him. He would eventually be struck down by machine gun fire, but his actions — which saw him **Mentioned in Dispatches** (**MID**) in official reports to higher command — became the stuff of wartime propaganda and legend. Despite his actions, no Australian warship has ever been named after the man. To read more about this man, Google "**Simpson and his Donkey**" to see what I mean.

2) The **Commonwealth Star** (also known as the "Federation Star" or the "Star of Federation") is an Australian heraldic symbol that represents the unity of the six states of the Commonwealth of Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia), plus the Northern Territory (the seventh point actually once represented all Australian territories). On the Australian flag, a white version of the Star appears in the lower hoist right below the Saint George Cross part of the Union Jack.

As an aside, the **Southern Cross** formation on the Australian flag are five stars (four six-point stars and one five-point star) representing five stars of the constellation **Crux**, which is quite visible from all points in the Southern Hemisphere…but is not, despite urban legends to the contrary, directly opposite **Ursa Major** (the Big Dipper).

3) **Michael Flynn**, **Kate McGregor** and **Chris Blake** are all characters from the Australian adventure/crime drama series _Sea Patrol_, which ran from 2005-11 (a total of 68 episodes) on the Nine Network in the Commonwealth, Showcase in Canada and Hulu in the United States. All three are members of the crew of a fictional patrol boat, Her Majesty's Australian Ship _Hammersley_ (pendant number **ACPB-82**), who are involved in various matters that would normally confront Royal Australian Navy patrol boat crews. The original _Hammersley_ depicted in Season One was a **Fremantle-class** patrol boat; the boat used in the following seasons was an **Armidale-class** craft, so I noted that here. Also, I corrected the actual name of _Hammersley_'s higher command formation from "Naval Command" (NAVCOM) to the real-life term of **Fleet Command**, which is headquartered in the city of Sydney. Also, in the universe of this story, Flynn and McGregor NEVER got married as such would be the death of their careers (as would relations between officers in other military-based shows such as _JAG_ and _Stargate SG-1_).

4) **Uluṟu** (often spelt without the macron below the "r") is Australia's most famous natural monument; to the West, this _inselberg_ ("island mountain") located 335 kilometres southwest of Alice Springs in the flat desert plains of the southwest part of the Northern Territory close to the border with South Australia is known more commonly as **Ayers Rock**. It is seen as sacred to the **Aṉaŋu** people (more often written as "Anangu") as it is often seen as the source of many tales of the **Dreamtime**, the creation myths of Australia's indigenous peoples.

5) Translations: **ANZAC** — Literally "Australia and New Zealand Army Corps" and pronounced "An-zack," this was the formation name of the first corps of troops from Britain's Oceanic dominions in World War One, a term that was also carried over to World War Two; **Larrikinism** — The name given to the Australian folk tradition of irreverence, mockery of authority and disregard for rigid norms of propriety (and can also be associated with self-deprecating humour); **AIF** — Australian Imperial Force, the overall official name for Australia's overseas troops in both World Wars; **BMQ** — Basic Military Qualification; **BMOQ** — Basic Military Officer Qualification.

6) **Shichinohe Kaga** (often nicknamed the "Angel of Destruction") is one of the primary antagonists in the _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_ manga series, though her role is seriously downplayed in the first anime series and she didn't appear in any future series. She is one of the warriors who directly worked under Kurumi's creator, Professor **Ayanokōji Hakushi** (the given name is my creation), at the Academy of Advanced Sciences, the main international research facility for Steel Angel design and production in Japan. She first appeared in manga episode #7, "A Battle Filled With Deep Hatred." As I've stated before, the Steel Angels are all given family names in my stories that match their designers as noted in the _Kurumi_ manga; Kaga's character designer is none other than a "Shichinohe-san," who lives in Tōkyō…and is most likely **Shichinohe Terumasa**, one half of the **Kaishaku** team that created _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_ in the first place!

Of course, since **Kurumi** herself was directly created by Professor Ayanokōji, it simply made all the sense in the world to have that become her family name.

7) A **Medical Sailor** (short-form **MED**) is the Royal Australian Navy version of a Canadian Forces medical technician or a Royal Navy medical assistant.

8) The other immortals spoken of by Kaga in the flashback scene are indeed from the universe of _Highlander: The Series_, the 1992-98 television series starring Adrian Paul as **Duncan McLeod**, which was directly based on the 1986 feature film starring Christopher Lambert as Duncan's older kinsman **Connor McLeod**.

9) **Chāo Língyīn** is the proper pronunciation of the characters that went into the name of Negi Springfield's time-travelling student/potential descendant from the far future, **Chao Lingshen**; it appears Akamatsu-sensei made a bit of a mistake here, especially given that the characters that go into "Língyīn," 鈴音 (which was mistakenly read as "Lingshen"), could be almost synonymous to "Língshēng" (written as 鈴声). Both of these terms could translate to as "ringtone."

As an aside, the incident Negako speaks of that came to affect Kaga so badly is the "Mahora Festival" story arc of _Mahō Sensei Negima_, which appeared in manga episodes #79-163. The year-date set for the Festival is calculated from the average birth dates of most of Negi's students (with understandable exceptions), which is 1988; they would be fourteen-fifteen years of age around 2002.

10) **Paul Hellyer** (born 1923) is perhaps one of the most reviled Ministers of National Defence that Canada has ever had. Serving in that post under the government of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson from 1963-68, he was the man who was the driving force behind Unification of the Forces, the effects of which were spoken of in the writer's notes for the previous part. He often is used as a convenient scapegoat for many who have lamented the changes that have shaken up Canada's armed forces since the 1960s, though some of his earlier ideas of streamlining and eliminating unnecessary duplication of services actually became the norm in armed forces across the globe.

11) **16 Aviation Brigade** (**16 Avn Bde**) is the Australian Army's primary tactical aviation force. Split into three regiments, it provides everything from air reconnaissance to tactical transport to special operations forces tactical aviation support. And yes, the **Australian Army Aviation Corps** (**AAAvn**) actually DID call themselves "air cavalry" in the early days of their existence as a separate formation; the Corps was formed with the help of the Royal Australian Air Force in 1960.

12) The Canadian pilot spoken of in the narrative is Air Marshal **William Avery "Billy" Bishop VC, CB, DSO & Bar, MC, DFC** (1894-1956), the top Canadian fighter ace of World War One; he has an official credit of 72 victories. His medals — atop the Victoria Cross — includes, in order, the **Companionship of the Order of the Bath**, the **Distinguished Service Order** (twice awarded; a bar is always given to a medal for a subsequent award in the British tradition), the **Military Cross** and the **Distinguished Flying Cross**.

13) The **Air Operations Branch** of the Canadian Forces is the personnel branch that serves as the group encompassing all "hard air force" trades, much like the Naval Operations Branch serves as the group encompassing all "hard sea" trades. The branch hat badge is a variation of the old crest of the Royal Canadian Air Force (a gold flying eagle in a field of sky blue, surrounded by a dark blue ring embossed with the motto _Per Ardua Ad Astra_ ["Through Adversity to the Stars"], topped by the Crown) with a wreath of maple leaves surrounding the sides and base in a triangular formation like the Naval Operations officers/chief petty officers 1st class hat badge. The branch flag — and the flag of Air Command — is a Canadian light blue ensign defaced with the modern Air Force roundel (a dark blue ring surrounding a white sphere, that embossed with a red maple leaf).

As an aside, the technical trades that are taught at CFSATE which a future **Air Cavalry Trooper** (**ACAV TPR**) will have to be qualified in as Dean indicated in the previous part are as follows:

**Air Weapons Systems Technician** (**AWS TECH**) — The people who maintain all weapons systems on the aircraft, as well as handle all explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) missions for the Air Force;  
**Aircraft Structures Technicians** (**ACS TECH**) — The personnel responsible for all physical body surfaces of the aircraft (fuselage, wing, nose, canopy);  
**Aviation Systems Technician** (**AVN TECH**) — The personnel responsible for all mechanical systems of the aircraft (engines, landing gear, fuel tanks, electrical systems and life support systems);  
**Avionics Systems Technician** (**AVS TECH**) — The personnel responsible for all electronics systems of the aircraft (flight control, navigation, communications, power systems, safety systems and radar); and  
**Non-Destructive Testing Technician** (**NDT TECH**) — A follow-on trade (open for remuster to corporals with a Level 5 qualification in the ACS, AVN and AVS TECH trades) whose personnel ensure all components in an aircraft are in working order.

The ACAV TPR trade would be sub-divided into the above components, designated with a suffix qualification title such as ACAV TPR-AWS, ACAV TPR-ACS, ACAV TPR-AVN, ACAV TPR-AVS and ACAV TPR-NDT. The **Pilot Apprentice** and **Technical Apprentice** stage of the trade when an ACAV TPR becomes a master corporal will be known as ACAV TPR-PA and ACAV TPR-TA respectively. It is also planned that personnel from a follow-on trade to both the AVN and AVS TECH trades for master corporals and corporals with two years of seniority — **Flight Engineer** (**FLT ENGR**), the aircrew technicians responsible for all flying technical maintenance of an aircraft — would be allowed to remuster as an ACAV TPR-TA, then proceed on to the follow-on trade of **Air Cavalry Technician** (**ACAV TECH**) on being promoted to sergeant. Those who would become ACAV TPR-PA on being appointed as a master corporal would, on promotion to sergeant, remuster as an **Air Cavalry Pilot** (**ACAV PLT**) as noted in the previous part. Once in the follow-on trades, the rank prefix titles "**Pilot**" and "**Technical**" would be added to the serviceman's rank, i.e. **Pilot Sergeant** (**P/Sgt**) or **Technical Master Warrant Officer** (**T/MWO**).

14) The basic non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces, **Private** (**Pte**) for the Army and Air Force and **Ordinary Seaman** (**OS**) for the Navy, is rated at three distinct levels for the former and two for the latter. A **Private/Ordinary Seaman (Recruit)** (**Pte[R]/OS[R]**) is the rank one has on initial entry into the military. One then advances to **Private/Ordinary Seaman (Basic)** (**Pte[B]/OS[B]**) on graduating from basic training. After completing their DP1 training and serving at least 30 months of service, they are promoted to **Private (Trained)/Able Seaman** (**Pte[T]/AB**). Only at this rank level is rank insignia — a single chevron, point down — permitted to be worn. Promotion to **Corporal/Leading Seaman** (**Cpl/LS**) normally occurs after the next level of trade school training and four years of service.

15) **Naval Cadets** (**NCdt**) (and their Army/Air Force equivalents, **Officer Cadets** [**OCdt**]) is the rank all prospective officers in the Canadian Forces hold before they are granted the Queen's Commission and are promoted to **Second Lieutenants** (**2Lt**) in the Army/Air Force or **Acting Sub-Lieutenants** (**ASLt**) in the Navy. As people holding these ranks do **not** hold the Queen's Commission, naval cadets will **not** have the executive curl (as is done in some other nations) and do not require to be saluted by non-commissioned officers. The rank insignia is a 1/4 inch stripe; no sort of special markings appear on peaked caps worn by naval/officer cadets.

16) Quick Canadian Navy trade note: A **Sonar Operator** (**SONAR OP**) aboard a Canadian warship is responsible for the operation of active and passive acoustic equipment, communication equipment, noise monitoring, recording and bathythermograph equipment and acoustic range prediction systems. Aboard _Haida_, SONAR OPs would be assigned to man the ship's non-tactical sensor suite, effectively filling in the role science officers like Spock would on U.S.S. _Enterprise_ in the original _Star Trek_.


	53. The Angel of Destruction Returns

_Kirkpatrick_, the upper flight deck (Japan time: Just before sunset)…

"Desert Jack, this is Thunderbird. Status of Sleeping Angel?"

Commander Kate McGregor — who was trying not to shake off the anxiety she felt on being on an EXPOSED weather deck in SPACE of all places! — tapped the communicator she had affixed to her combat uniform. "Sleeping Angel is being prepared for the Tango-Charlie manoeuvre right now, Thunderbird," the Australian starship's executive officer replied. "Ladyhawke, Spitfire and Earth Angel haven't indicated any change of status."

"Understood," Brian Gamblin replied from _Haida_, which was hovering close to _Kirkpatrick_ at the upper edge of the thick layer of dust cloaking all of Yaminokuni from surrounding space. The other ships of the Task Force were also present, forming a protective ring around the Canadian and Australian starships as they waited for this part of the mission to Yaminokuni to be executed. "Be advised, Bandit Slayer will be arriving in thirty minutes. Dragon Six recommends that Sleeping Angel be up by then."

"Roger that, sir," McGregor called back. "Desert Jack on standby."

"Thunderbird on standby."

With that, McGregor took a deep breath…before she blinked on sensing someone walk up to join her from the open hangar deck. "Excited, Miss Lovegood?" she asked.

"Of course, Commander!" Luna Lovegood stated. Perched on her shoulder, Alejandro Emplumada seemed to quiver with overwhelming delight on being present at a moment of magical history: The first awakening of a _**Steel Angel**_ — the first true form of artificial intelligence known to both magical and normal society created in the wake of the accidental birth of the Earth Angel decades earlier! — in seventy-three years. "To actually be here when the Lady Kaga — who is said to be one of the most powerful of the Steel Angels — awakens from a slumber of three score and thirteen years…!"

"Calm down, Luna!" the magical serpent — much to Alejandro's total surprise, the Australians hadn't even blinked twice when they learned of him — urged. "You'll worry yourself right into a serious injury! Yes, it's wonderful that the Lady Kaga will soon be awoken and united at last with the Lady Negako, but you want to be conscious when it happens, don't you?!"

Luna rapidly nodded…before she blinked as a hand gently grasped her shoulder. She then seemed to relax as a surge of warm energy — her upbringing would automatically classify it as some odd form of magic though her experience beyond the borders of the wizarding world told her otherwise — flooded her and allowed her rapid heartbeat to slow down. "Master Alejandro is quite correct, Mistress Luna," Omomuro Haeko stated with a smile. All of the Angels of Chōan, the Three-Pillared Gods, Wan Miwaka, the clerics from the Tōgen Abbey and all of the priests assigned to the Task Force ships — now joined by _Kirkpatrick_'s resident cleric, Chaplain David Jacobson — were standing in a row close to the hangar as they prayed for the safe and successful revival of such a pure and noble soul as Shichinohe Kaga from over seven decades of slumber. Also present and helping Moroboshi Negako, Dean Raeburn and Heather Thompkins was Terry Boot…as well as Michael "Mick" Dundee, an Aboriginal-raised white Australian hunter native to Walkabout Creek in the Northern Territory who had been asked by the Aṉaŋu to be their official witness to Kaga's "awakening from the Dreaming." Also there was Mick's girlfriend, Sue Charlton of New York City, now standing close to McGregor; she would be covering this event for _Newsday_ magazine.

As the leader of the Angels of Chōan walked back to rejoin her friends, the American news magazine reporter perked. "You don't seem to be bothered by Mister Emplumada, Commander McGregor," Sue noted.

McGregor smirked. "Well, when I was still the first officer on _Hammersley_, Ms. Charlton, we had a problem with magicals in one of the outlying islands in the Great Barrier Reef," she explained. "The Ministry of Magical Affairs had to send a crew of Aurors to look in on it and they needed our ship as a base of operations. They briefed the whole crew in about all the magical societies — which really didn't strike us as odd given the number of metahumans that were active worldwide around the time of the Second World War — then used the Fidelius Charm to ensure we could never speak of it to anyone outside those authorized to know the secret."

Luna gaped. "They used a _Fidelius_ to make you not speak to other mundanes about what you did, Commander?!" she asked. At the other woman's nod, the British wand witch news magazine reporter/magical naturalist breathed out, "Oh, my! I never thought the Fidelius could be used for something like _that_! It's normally meant to hide a physical location!"

McGregor chuckled. "They told us about how totally unimaginative teachers are at your old alma mater when it comes to magical spells and how they can be used," she noted as she gave the British woman a sympathetic look. "Even told us about that bloody Voldemort wanker you folks had to put up with at the end of the last millennium. Said that if you all could try to learn how to think outside the box, you wouldn't have needed that Potter chap to go deal with it on his own."

A nod. "Yes, that's true…"

Everyone then hushed — save for the prayers being spoken of by the priests — as Negako straightened herself, raising her hand and making a beckoning motion. As those who could watch this turned to look, a small group of _Kirkpatrick_'s plank owners helped carry out a litter bearing Shichinohe Kaga's new Avalonian body draped with a blanket. They moved to put it on a raised platform close to where she was currently lying right in the middle of the Australian starship's large flight deck. Once that was done, the stretcher bearers quickly withdrew as Negako moved to analyze the new body; the witnesses were quick to see both Mick and Terry turn politely away as Kaga's new body was not draped without any clothes. McGregor was quick to note the outback hunter exchanging a reassuring look and wink with his American girlfriend, which made Sue nod in return.

"All seems to be well," Luna whispered.

"Seems to be," McGregor noted as she checked her watch.

Twenty-six minutes…

* * *

Approaching Yaminokuni, that moment…

"Some spice tea, Lord Marshal Traveller?"

Redet Traveller perked on hearing that offer, and then he smiled as he gladly accepted the cup of steaming liquid — topped with flakes of real _eta_ powder; he always found the Urusian version of it too flat for his tastes! — from the hand of the Black-Haired Bandit Slayer of the Outmarches. "Thank you, my dear," the aged Urusian soldier said before taking a sip of the tangy liquid. "Ah, a cup of _eta-ch'ukaitu_ in the morning is such a delightful thing to enjoy," he breathed out.

Staring at him, Seu-Euch Yesu-A Hechnich'-Kachnuk of K'uongno could only shake her head. When she had first met the long-retired Urusian Marines officer at the Invader home outside Onishuto just before the call from Upa and Hiromi had come in, he had acted like any senile old man would act; clearly, the years in cryogenetic suspension hadn't done the poor fellow any good. But when she discovered — thanks to a little discrete mind-probing — that he was an honest-to-goodness _Noukiophile_ of all things, she had formally introduced herself with both proper name and childhood name, granting him the right to call her "Kuohu" in private if he wanted to. That show of respect and friendship had stunned Traveller back into a far more cognizant state, which allowed the Black-Haired One the chance to explain what had been going on with his people — and his family — since he had put himself into the cryosleep capsule two decades ago, just after his grandson had married the former Seq Chim.

And while he had been horrified to learn that Upa had come back to claim his great-granddaughter as he had vowed all those years ago, the solution that Kuohu's very nice and wonderful friend from Earth had come up with — a solution that clearly had been accepted by Upa despite its bizarre uniqueness; to actually create a _**clone**_ of Lum so she could marry Upa's younger great-grandchild…? — had lifted a great burden from Traveller's heart. Of course, after he got the briefing on what else had been going on over the last couple of decades — that the government of Uru had flagrantly _**violated**_ the Non-Interference Treaty like it did with EARTH of all planets had stunned him! — he agreed to a little deception play to be unleashed on his grandson. One that would hopefully teach Invader — who was still the darling of the Urusian mass media infonets because he was the youngest battlewagon warlord captain in years…as well as being the man who had led the "invasion" of Earth, which ensured the Galactic Federation would remain safe — some necessary humility.

Honestly! Staring a WAR over who would _**marry**_ someone…?!

And actually declaring a tag in a _**Tag Race**_ to be a _**marriage tag**_…?!

What in the Maidens' Names was wrong with people these days…?!

"So what news from Lecashuto?" he then asked.

"Other than the ceasefire having been announced, nothing," Kuohu stated as she walked over to check the automatic flight controls on the small barque that was flying at hyperwarp speeds towards the Hika'aki system, using the very same route the Eunuch Spaceman had pioneered over nine centuries before. "All the passions that have driven that insane conflict for the last thirty-five years need to be safely bled off in such a way that a new flare-up doesn't happen. Fortunately, the revelations concerning the Mikado's behaviour while under a flag of truce should shake up the young warriors who had served under him to ensure the peace remains in place. Atop that, Her Imperial Majesty has ordered emergency food aid to those colonies that require it; that was matched immediately by the Lord Protector and the majority of the Council of Princes on Yehisril like Prince Sheko…not to mention all of the Cabal of Archbishops on Zephyrus. Hopefully, reconstruction won't take long."

Traveller nodded. Having Vos once more openly involved in the galaxy as a whole was a good thing for many reasons, the least of which was that it would curb the tendencies of would-be conquerors from doing things they shouldn't. "Our people are just too arrogant, Kuohu," he commented. "That they were so bold enough to consider an _**invasion**_ of EARTH of all planets…!" A shake of the head. "And to learn what was going on with Hiromi's brother, not to mention this curse that allowed Lum and Hensō to _**switch bodies**_ like they did…!"

"Aye, it is a good thing in the end," Kuohu agreed. "Yes, there was suffering and heartbreak. Yes, the whole matter concerning Hensō's divorce from Ataru…" — she smirked on noting the disapproving frown cross Traveller's face on hearing the Terran tag champion's name; the Noukiite free warrior from Tengsei well understood what Ataru's name meant in Urusian — "…did leave your adopted great-granddaughter effectively abandoned for six months, still suffering from the Lady Zōju's curse. No doubt, something should have been done to look in on her and her friends once your people were cowered from trying to force yourselves all over Earth again by the destruction of Phentax Twelve and the wiping out of the so-called 'Army of Lum.'" That phrase made Traveller scowl even more. "But given what I now know of what the Terrans had planned in case Ataru lost the Tag Race…!"

A shake of the heads. "Idiots! There was never a report on Major Raeburn's death; if that ever happened, all of Canada — No! All of the WORLD! — would have been in mourning for a MONTH! They should have known that if something happened to the people of Earth, she would have been recalled to duty by whoever was the Prime Minister in Ottawa at the time…especially if it came to an OPEN ALIEN INVASION like what that dunderheaded grandson of mine was made to command!" A snort. "And what happened to the Steel Angels was quite public as well! It would have been easy to revive them to form a defence against any sort of occupation of Earth! And with this Negako person that was in the lad's subconscious mind at the time involved as well…?!" He then scowled, shaking his head as he muttered some choice curses in both Urusian and Noukiite about the complete incompetence of the current leaders of his people before taking a deep breath and sipping his spice tea. "What's happened to those from the _Redemption_ who weren't granted parole?" he then asked.

"The Lady Governors of Tengsei, Kaisei and Kesei arrived over Yaminokuni on their flagships an hour ago to take them into custody from the good provost marshals of the First and Third Military Police Regiments of the Army of the Dominion of Canada that were deployed with the volunteer brigade group sent to deal with the Imperial rebels and that idiot Ōgi. As Ch'esyuk, Hep'p'yech and Seup'it'…" — Traveller smirked on seeing the blush cross Kuohu's face as she mentioned her own future heart-mate — "…are still considered warranted free warriors in the eyes of Her Imperial Majesty, they will take Yethis and all of his friends into custody, then transport them to Teng City to face the judgement of the High Court of Star Chamber. The Avalonian-Urusians who were close to the prisoners will, of course, be granted automatic resettlement rights on Kegusei and Chuttusei to establish their homes for their beloveds, not to mention what children were not claimed by those who did request to be resettled on Earth." A sigh. "Since a lot of Zephyrites — and Noukiite-turned-Avalonians such as I — serve as warranted officers of the law within the borders of the Imperial Dominion, telepathic probing of the prisoners will be allowed in Star Chamber; it is seen as legal and the evidence gathered from such interrogations is admissible before the High Court. Once that is done and they are declared guilty of their crimes, they'll be on their way to Hichkyech'eng, remaining there at the Empress' Pleasure until they're reformed, and then they'll be allowed to reunite with their families. Those who are declared innocent — the Lady Dedron Syl, for example — will, of course, be allowed to resettle right away as I doubt they'll be allowed to return to Uru."

Traveller cackled. "Hichkyech'eng?! It's _**cold**_ there this time of year!"

Both of them laughed at that common joke about Noukiios' top-tier prison planet. At that moment, the door leading onto the pilotage opened to reveal Seu-Ne Yesu-Ach Hechnich'-Nukyek of K'uongno. "What's so funny?" Koeru Kumomi's dream-sister asked.

"Hichkyech'eng, my dear," Traveller explained as he winked at the azure-haired tomboy in the white-and-grey jumpsuit. "Not to mention Star Chamber."

Ryep' nodded in understanding. "How are our other guests, old friend?" Kuohu asked.

The other free warrior smirked. "Kyekkyek has had to brain Invader several times with the _Ch'enghu-Hit'nukri_ to get him to shut up about being treated like he has been since we dragged his useless carcass aboard back on Uru. One threat to remove his wife's horns off made sure that bitch Chim would behave," Ryep' said as her lavender-crimson eyes sparkled with mirth. "Even if we didn't actually chain them down…!"

"He knows something is happening," Kuohu concluded. "He may be a reckless idiot when it comes to his 'daughter' and her safety, but he's no fool. One doesn't become the captain of a Kashin-class battleship/carrier by being such. He just doesn't understand what's really going on here…and he wants information so he could report it to his superiors in Onishuto." A smirk. "And, of course, he wants his precious baby to be safe."

"She's been safe all along, Kuohu-yu. _We've_ taken care of her. And her friends as well!" Ryep' noted as she moved to sit in the helmsman's chair, her eyes scanning over the controls before she relaxed. "It's not our fault that he couldn't accept Nassur's and Cinba's words about it."

Traveller growled. "Idiot!" he spat out. "Nassur and Cinba have done wonders when it comes to catching criminals. Their honesty has _**always**_ been beyond repute! And Dakejinzō's just as damned trustworthy! What the hell was wrong with that boy?!"

"Appease the Niphentaxians, of course," Kuohu admitted. "That's the reason that poor Ganzo had to stay silent all these years about the Avalonians."

Traveller snarled — he had met Ganzo dai-Louc once long ago and found the man to be one of the most agreeable of his kind; to actually believe he had been declared an _**arch-heretic**_ of all things and forced to flee his homeworld like that! — and then he sighed as he sipped his tea to calm his nerves down…

…and then he perked as a communicator signal beeped. "Thunderbird to Bandit Slayer," a female voice then called out after Ryep' tapped the response toggle. "We're all ready here for Sleeping Angel's intergalactic debut. State ETA."

"Thunderbird, this is Bandit Slayer," Kuohu declared. "Estimated time of arrival in sixteen minutes…mark." She had glanced at the chronometer mounted on the deckhead close to the forward windows when she said that. "We're a little ahead of schedule. Everything alright?"

"Everything's Bristol fashion, ma'am," came the response from a certain Canadian starship. "No problems reported by Ladyhawke, Spitfire or Earth Angel."

"Understood. We'll be ready here."

"Thunderbird on standby."

"As are we, good lady," Kuohu replied.

Ryep' closed off the link. "Oh, my! Major Raeburn and Commander Thompkins?! They're there, too?!" Traveller then asked — he knew that the term "Earth Angel" was applied to Moroboshi Negako — before he blinked. "Then who…?!"

Kuohu smirked. "As she was known, my dear Lord Marshal…the Angel of Destruction."

The aged Urusian general's eyes went wide, and then he roared with laughter.

_**Shichinohe Kaga?! **_

_**That**_ would be a cosmic joke for the ages!

* * *

_Kirkpatrick_, fourteen minutes later…

"De-warp of approaching Noukiite courier ship in two minutes…mark!"

Hearing that message over the external speakers, Dean then sighed before she gazed on Negako. "We all set for Kaga's big debut?" the grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū asked.

The grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū nodded. "Yes. Michael?!"

"Yo!" Mick Dundee called out.

"Send the call out!"

"Right-oh, Miss Negako!"

And with that, the crocodile hunter from Walkabout Creek pulled out a flat, oval-shaped piece of hardwood attached to a string about two metres long. Standing up and moving away from Kaga's still form, he began twirling the bullroarer overhead. Instantly, a humming vibrato noise echoed over the flight deck…which also echoed in That Place that only those who were gifted to actually see into It could perceive…

* * *

Twenty-five hundred light-years away, atop Uluṟu in the Northern Territory…

The elder of the Aṉaŋu perked on hearing Mick Dundee's bullroarer call out from within the vastness of the Dreaming. Seated atop the great inselburg planted near the geographic centre of Australia, he gazed up at the darkening skies overhead, and then he reached over to pick up the long, hollow tube of wood lying before him, and then he began to blow into it.

Soon enough, the echo of the didgeridoo trumpeted across the desert…

…and all over Earth.

* * *

Yokohama, south of Tōkyō, the Kagura Shrine, that moment…

"Kaga-san…!"

Kagura Misaki perked on hearing that whispered voice, and then she smiled as she walked over to gently embrace her daughter, who had been standing on the front porch of the residence sweeping up when she had stopped and looked to the dark skies over the Kantō basin. "What is it, Nako-chan?" the older woman asked.

Kagura Nako blinked before she turned to gaze at her mother. "Kaga-san…she's waking up, Okā-san," the young shrine maiden and would-be onmyō-dō mystic whispered. "She's waking up…" She closed her eyes as they teared. "Why couldn't it be Kurumi-chan…?"

Misaki chuckled. "Now, Nako…are you going to deny Negako-san her own joy?"

A surprised yelp. "Of course not!"

"Then don't complain," the raven-haired woman stated as she playfully batted Nako's nose. "Besides, if it all goes well with Kaga-san, Kurumi-chan will be next."

Hearing that, Nako's cheeks went very red before she swooned. "Kurumi-chan…!"

* * *

In a mansion next door…

"Nako-chan, _**why**_…?!" a sobbing Sumeragi Uruka moaned out as she stared through the binoculars at her beloved schoolmate, now being held by her mother.

For the last few months, the heiress to the Sumeragi Group had begun to notice a change with Kagura Nako. Lost looks on her face, being clumsier than usual, daydreaming, giggling at something that wasn't apparent right then and there…and all the other behaviours that indicated she had a serious crush on someone. And while Uruka hoped that Nako had a crush on her — they were childhood friends and Uruka had found the younger girl incredibly attractive from the time of her first ever wet dream — that hope had been dashed on the rocks when Nako, in the midst of a powerful daydream, spoke HER name.

Ayanokōji Kurumi.

For Uruka — whom Nako still fondly called "Ū-chan" — that had been a knife to the heart.

To have a crush on a _**Steel Angel**_ of all things…!

Never mind that said Steel Angel was once bonded to Nako's late great-granduncle!

It was just so UNFAIR!

Thinking of that made Uruka moan as she closed her eyes.

"Nako-chan…!"

* * *

In another part of the Sumeragi mansion…

"Uruka…my little girl…"

Sumeragi Tenkai shuddered as he gazed on his computer screen, his own eyes awash with pained tears on seeing his precious baby weep as she knelt by the window that looked out onto the Kagura Shrine next door. While it had taken the owner of the Sumeragi Group — one of the minor defence contractors in Japan, one that stood a chance to bid hard on new equipment building contracts now that J.S. _Yamato_ had been commissioned into the Self-Defence Forces and a new ground base would have to be constructed for the great ship somewhere in Kantō — a while to realize what had been hurting Uruka so much, when he had found out…!

Personally — while it agonized him that Uruka was suffering from a broken heart when it came to Kagura Nako's deep yearning for one Ayanokōji Kurumi — he knew that Nako's desires for the heart and hand of the greatest of the Steel Angels was honest and driven by the great honour debt the Kagura Clan owed the eldest of Ayanokōji Hakushi's three gynoid daughters. Kurumi had been at the side of Nako's great-granduncle Nakahito from the moment of her activation in 1923 to the moment when she made the agonizing decision to have herself deactivated fourteen years later in the wake of the launching of the Greater East Asia War in earnest, thus separating herself from her beloved "Goshujin-sama," an act which could have killed the poor woman hadn't the new Grandmaster of the Tensei intervened to save her life. And even if Nakahito had died near the end of that awful war — he had perished in the great fire raid on Tōkyō in 1945 trying to save innocent children from a burning schoolhouse — the debt had to be acknowledged…and Nako had clearly vowed to do same, especially when she had learned of Moroboshi Negako's plan to transform the Steel Angels into Avalonians.

_If only there was some way to make one of them fall in love with Uruka…!_

Tenkai then blinked as his eyes went wide.

Wait a minute!

Kurumi had two sisters, Saki and Karinka!

A hum then escaped him as he considered that, and then he smiled as he reached for his phone to dial a number. A moment later, the other end answered, "Hai?"

"It's me, Saeko-san," Tenkai stated. "Is that offer to transform my daughter into an Avalonian still open by any chance?"

* * *

Elsewhere in Yokohama…

The elder mother of the Avalonian-Japanese now working for the Sumeragi Group, Kitahara Saeko, blinked in confusion as she gazed on the phone handle in her hand.

_Why in Lyna's name would he call about that NOW…?!_

* * *

In her room, Uruka sneezed!

_Who's talking about me?!_ she wondered to herself…

* * *

Over Yaminokuni, aboard the _Kirkpatrick_…

Noting that Mick's bullroarer message was getting out — and that the spiritual response from the Aṉaŋu and all the others who would be interested in this was coming back — Negako took a deep breath before she gently pulled the right arm of Kaga's new body away from it to lay the palm of the hand down on the Steel Angel's forehead.

"As I promised, Kaga…so it will be done…"

The hand then made contact…

…as the dark brown eyes on Kaga's new body suddenly flew open, a croaked gasp escaping her lips as glowing runes appeared all over her body.

"**_NEGAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!_**"

Instantly, a geyser of ki shot upward from _Kirkpatrick_'s flight deck…

* * *

_Haida_…

"Oh, my God…!"

"Impressive!"

Brian Gamblin turned away from the image of the _Kirkpatrick_ — and the column of fiery energy punching up from the upper flight deck harmlessly into space — to stare wide-eyed at Hiromi. "You consider that IMPRESSIVE…?!" the captain croaked.

"Indeed I do, good sir," the reborn emperor stated as she gazed in amusement at her flag captain. "What is even better, when he sees this, that fat dullard Invader will realize that Earth is now shielded by a force that is no different than what devastated Uru over two centuries ago in the Mother of All Fight Scenes. Once he realizes the Steel Angels are returning upon seeing the Lady Kaga, he will inform his superiors back in Onishuto of that development…and we will never see them for YEARS to come!"

Gamblin considered that, and then he sighed. "I just never thought it would be THAT explosive," he said. "I hope your sister's girlfriend will come through this okay."

She considered that, and then she sighed. "As do I…"

* * *

At the outer edge of the Hika'aka system…

"De-warping in thirty seconds."

"Understood." Kuohu then looked back. "Are you ready, Lord Marshal?"

"Oh, don't mind me, my dear!" Traveller cackled; his hoverchair was securely anchored to the deck. "I've done this many times before! I'm alright!"

"What's going on here…?"

The aged Marine general spun around to glare at his grandson. "Quiet, boy!" he hissed out as Invader and his wife were escorted onto the pilotage by a scowling Seu-Nuk Yesu-K'i Hechnich'-Kingch'eng of K'uongno. Traveller was quick to note the lumps on Invader's head and the cowered look on his wife's face; clearly, Kyekkyek had to do some things to make sure Mrs. Invader — who had bio-electrical lightning powers no different than her daughter's — behaved herself. "You're distracting them!"

"Fifteen seconds," Ryep' called out.

"Furling in the top sails," Kuohu said as she keyed a control…

* * *

Now in the skies over _Kirkpatrick_…

For so long, it had been solid blackness.

No light.

No noise.

No ANYTHING.

And then…

«Kaga…it is time.»

Even if the actual voice was strange to her…

…the precision cadence of those words made her heart scream with joy.

_Negako…!_

A being that had been born without body…

A being that was as artificial as her…

A being that had vowed to gain control of her destiny…

And because she had made that vow in the fifth year of Bunka…

…a promise was made to the Steel Angels as a whole in the twelfth year of Shōwa.

_I'm HUMAN…!_

Kaga had no need for verbal or psychic confirmation.

She didn't have to sense all the changes in the mortal shell her soul was now part of.

Negako had promised her this would happen.

And Moroboshi Negako's promise — once given — was her bond.

As unbreakable as Dean Raeburn's Cat's Claw sword.

_I'm alive…! _

_**Yes, oh Angel of the Dreaming…you have always lived…**_

Hearing that powerful chorus of voices, Kaga's eyes snapped open as ki warped around her, that forming her own battle clothing as her old body melted and the energy of the Angel Heart Mark II she had received after the Steel Angel War was fully absorbed into her new body.

**_And now, you have finally returned from the Dreaming…_**

Mage-sight then clicked in — that augmented by levels of raw magic that surprised Kaga; even after she had been retrofitted with an Angel Heart by Ayanokōji Kurumi's creator in the wake of the Steel Angel War, she knew she wasn't the most powerful of her kind — as she found herself gazing at a blood-red inselburg in the middle of a vast plain. Images of indigenous Australians appeared as the hum of a bullroarer and the droning echoes of multiple didgeridoos thundered in her ears. _Uluṟu…?!_ she wondered.

«The Aṉaŋu were more than pleased to assist in this matter.»

Hearing Negako's words, Kaga took a deep breath, and then allowed her mage-sight to fade from her…which then allowed her to gaze around in confusion as she found herself floating above a solid black sea of cloud, stars in the sky overhead. A glance up and around made Kaga then blink. "The stars…where am I?!"

"Relax, Kaga," another familiar voice called out from nearby.

Kaga's head snapped left. "_**Dean-san?!**_" She then blinked in confusion. "What are you doing in that uniform?!" she wondered as she nodded to the modified combat uniform with flight jacket the Canadian normally wore when she was in the field.

"Very long story," Dean answered her, and then she pointed to her left. "Think you can blast _that_ out of the sky with all that extra ki you've got?" she wondered.

Kaga looked…and then she blinked in confusion. "An airship?"

"Of a sort," Dean answered. "We need it gone!"

Hearing that, Kaga nodded as she summoned her giant throwing star — a large three-armed device similar to a caltrop in design — from her own ki-space pocket. Flooding it with all the energy she could — which made the Angel of Destruction gape at the sheer LEVEL of power that she could use now; _How in the name of the Fates did I get to be THIS strong?!_ she wondered to herself — she then wound up before letting her weapon fly out.

Instantly, a bright comet streaked off into space…

* * *

Approaching Yaminokuni…

"Oh, my, my! Don't think you'll be taking THAT back to Uru."

Ryep' didn't need to look over her shoulder to sense Invader's mood, but she did anyway…and then she smirked on seeing the ashen look on the giant warrior's face. "So you DID know about the _Redemption_," the azure-haired free warrior of Tengsei then noted. "No surprise there. Even if you preached that you didn't…"

A brilliant flash of nearly-blinding light then soared up to snare the wrecked _Redemption_ amidships, cleaving the abandoned stealth cruiser right in half. As the people on the pilotage of the small warp courier watched, the severed bow of the Urusian ship tumbled right into the blazing funnel of energy that had just torn it in half, ripping the hull apart into shards. A moment later, the severed stern also collapsed into the energy beam and suffered the same fate. By the time the bolt of power dissipated, all that was left of Uru's first stealth-capable warship were fragments no bigger than a fist.

"Oh, my!" Ryep' then calmly stated. "Whatever did that?!"

"I'm picking up a metahuman lifeform floating just above the dust cloud level."

Invader and his wife both gargled on hearing the word "metahuman" escape Kuohu, who was now gazing intently at her sensory board. As Traveller — who had been given a new cup of spice tea by a smiling Kyekkyek — relaxed, Lum's parents exchanged horrified looks.

For them, the equation was fundamentally simple:

Metahuman = **_They Who Must Never Be Named_**!

For any Urusian, THAT was the sign of the coming Apocalypse…

…and to be avoided AT ALL COSTS!

"Yizibajohei?" Ryep' calmly asked.

Lum's parents both wailed on hearing THAT word…though, much to the surprise of all the Noukiites aboard, Traveller hadn't reacted to it. "No. Basic life scan indicates a Terran-form Avalonian. Huge amounts of meson in her body, though…!"

"Must be Gifted," Ryep' mused.

Another gargle escaped Invader and his wife on hearing THAT word. "No, she doesn't show signs of having visited the Great Crystal of Power on Yiziba," Kuohu noted, making Lum's parents scream out yet again. "In fact, by the looks of her…"

"What?"

"I would swear this was one of the Terrans' techno-magic gynoid warriors from the early years of their previous century. The Steel Angels."

Ryep' looked out of the corner of her eye at Invader, who looked ready to faint on hearing THAT. "Well, let's confirm that, shall we?" she mused as she keyed a control.

The view screen mounted at the front of the pilotage soon displayed the image of a woman FLOATING IN SPACE over the dust cloud covering all of Yaminokuni. One who had spiky raven hair in a wild halo around her head, the mass partially tied down with a tiger-striped orange bandanna. She had a black form-fitting sports bra and boxer-like pants on, that secured down with a green-and-blue cloak she could use to cover herself. Bicep-length fingerless gloves and calf-length boots completed the ensemble. And like most of her kind, she had mystical rune markings all over her body, including her face.

As Invader and his wife croaked out on seeing that — when the Steel Angels were active in the 1920s and 1930s, ALL Urusian observation missions to Earth were pulled back out of a profound and understandable fear that if a first contact occurred, it would result in something similar to the Mother of All Fight Scenes decades earlier after the Tag Race with the Unspeakable Place — Kuohu and Ryep' gazed intently at the image on the screen. "She does look quite familiar," the former mused. "Didn't the Lady Negako say something…?"

"That's Shichinohe Kaga!"

Everyone gazed at Traveller. "You know this woman, Grandpa?!" Kyekkyek asked.

"I know of her," the aged Marine general said as he winked at the crimson-haired free warrior of Tengsei. "Never had the pleasure of meeting any of them, of course. But outside Ayanokōji Kurumi and her sisters, Miss Kaga was the most powerful of the whole bunch! I bet she could even fight off Infinity if she had to!" As Invader and his wife both gargled on hearing the battle name of the most powerful of all of They Who Must Never Be Named — a being who could literally _**warp Reality Itself**_ to her very command! — Traveller then hummed. "Well, that's nice. With Miss Kaga and all her friends back on their feet, the people of Earth will be better protected from alien threats." He then glared at his grandson. "Especially from idiot warlords who don't practice what they preach when it comes to _**non-interference**_ with another culture."

Invader gargled as that aged — yet quite sharp — look fell on him. "Well, we came here to witness a wedding," Kuohu noted as she keyed controls to alter the courier's course to take it into the atmosphere of Yaminokuni. "We best get down there."

And with that, the small ship flew on…

* * *

In the sky over the now-hidden _Kirkpatrick_…

Kaga watched the flying schooner go as she snared her throwing caltrop, her mage-sight locking in on the six people within that strange craft — given that she herself had been built with a mixture of ultra-high technology and ground-breaking magical technomancy, that she was watching an honest-to-goodness **_spaceship_** fly past her current position didn't make her freak out; after all, she was composed of much sterner stuff…and had experienced things that was totally beyond the pale in Taishō-era Japan — and then she sighed before gazing at Dean. "What's going on here, Dean-san?!"

"Just making sure that those who would bother us poor folk on Earth from beyond won't do it again for a long time to come," the Canadian air cavalry officer stated as her blue eyes twinkled.

Kaga perked. Potential alien threats to Earth — as they had been imagined by science fiction writers of her time period such as Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Hugo Gernsback, the Steel Angels as a whole did consider such to be a possibility…especially after they met the Last Heiress of the Immortal Grandmaster after the Steel Angel War and learned there WERE countless alien races on other worlds out there! — was something she could understand. "Have there been invasions?!" she immediately wondered, instantly cursing herself for not taking THAT into account when she agreed with all her sisters worldwide to deactivate herself and go into storage under the Mahora Academy's island library. "Why weren't we woken earlier to deal with them?!"

"Someone else — Negako's last host, in fact — dealt with it since it was coached as a peaceful game of tag," Dean explained as she sensed the starships of the Task Force rise from the clouds to protectively surround the two women. As Kaga paused to gaze at the eleven great vessels with their beautiful flags — including flags she didn't recognise — now surrounding her, the Canadian added, "We didn't get these until much later, after the folks who owned that sky-schooner that just came by chased the would-be invaders off the planet."

Kaga blinked, and then she chuckled before tensing as she sensed a familiar ki signature nearby. Without hesitation, she floated off towards the _Kirkpatrick_ — she could read the ship's name near the aft end ahead of those huge engine exhausts, saw the red kangaroo sigil on the aft upper superstructure and had finally noted that the flag painted on her hull was the defaced Blue Ensign of the Commonwealth of Australia — and the woman dressed in solid black now standing on the grey flight deck with the white **15** written at the aft starboard end. As soon as she touched down on the deck close to Negako, Kaga screamed out with delight as she lunged over to nearly bowl the other woman down with a hug.

As the people on the flight deck cheered that sight — with Luna Lovegood capturing the first kiss between Shichinohe Kaga and Moroboshi Negako in seventy-three years on her magical camera; she KNEW this was going to be the cover photo for the next _Quibbler_ — Heather Thompkins walked over to join Kate McGregor. "Your orders, Admiral?" the Australian commander asked as she saluted the older Canadian officer.

"Have all the ships assume high orbit just in case the other part of Hiromi's plan goes wrong and Invader and his wife try to escape through the atmosphere in lieu of the Airport warp gateway," Heather ordered. "We're pursuing stealth here, Commander McGregor."

Another salute. "Aye-aye, ma'am."

* * *

Muzlim Madiina, the Great Wedding Hall (Japan time: An hour after sunset)…

"May this water represent the pledge of blood. The uniting of flesh. The covenant of your hearts, forever joined, never to be separated."

Taking the offered goblet of ceremonial chitin wine from Rupa, Ika brought it up to her lips and took a sip before she hoisted it to her new wife in salute. "My love, from this day until we forever pass into the Dead Grove, I am forever yours," she declared with a bow of her head before she gave the cup back to her brother.

Said cup was then passed to the Sensualist priestess — a middle-aged Zeiwanite woman, quite distinct in the crowd in the Central Chapel of Love due to her soft golden skin and very simple robes, though they were black in salute to the planet she now stood on — before she handed it to Lum, who then offered it to Izabel. The Oni-form Avalonian took the goblet and sipped from it. "Beloved, from this day unto the day we pass into the Te'a, I am yours forever," Izabel vowed.

She then held out the goblet for Ika to grasp. As the couple bowed their heads to each other, the priestess then placed both her hands in an "X" formation over the cup as she prepared to deliver the final consecration. "Until the Dead Grove and beyond," the princess of the Yaminokuni then declared. "Never apart, never parted."

"Until we embrace Eternity…forever together, forever one," Izabel replied.

They leaned together to kiss. Seeing that, the crowd relaxed as the priestess gazed heavenward. "As you have sworn, Ika of Yaminokuni, Redet Izabel of Uru and New Avalon, so shall it be done," she declared in concluding the ceremony. "Let no mortal tear asunder what has been vowed this day. May the Mother Goddess bless you, protect you and preserve your union now and forever more." She then giggled as she gazed on Ika. "Your Highness, I would thus declare you can now kiss the bride, but you are doing so already, so please forgive me my tardiness."

Hearing that, the whole crowd broke out in spontaneous cheers as wolf calls and screams of "Encore! Encore!" echoed throughout the great hall of the Chapel. Ika and Izabel pulled back before they offered the goblet back to the priestess, and then they grasped hands and turned to face the crowd before bowing to them. That made the applause increase in volume almost double as everyone watched the happy couple make their way down between the pews, followed by Rupa and Lum before the two escorts to the couple — for Ika, it had been Carla; for Izabel, it had been Shigaten Kamen — fell in behind them. As they passed by, they slowed down as well-wishers came up from both sides to touch them, shake Ika's hand or embrace Izabel.

Watching them, a solemn Upa took a deep breath before he lowered his head. "Thank the Fates…now I can rest and slip into the Grove…my people are safe…"

"Don't."

He perked, and then turned to see the remarkably elderly yet still spry Terran woman introduced to him as Nǚ Kělún standing beside him. "I may not have lived the remarkable span of years you have been blessed with, Matriarch Nǚ, but I am no fool. I know my body and mind are soon to give out on me…"

"So you would mar your younger great-grandchild's happiest day with your own death, young man?" Cologne calmly replied. Much that she sometimes found the attitudes of males to be repulsive at the very least — and seeing what she had seen since she had come to this dark yet peaceful place, she was now convinced that _alien_ males were as sometimes as stupid as their Terran counterparts! — she could certainly admire this one's courage. He knew what was now happening to him and he was prepared to face that fate with determination and bravery, not displaying any weakness to whatever gods of death he may acknowledge as having such suzerainty over his future. "No. Don't do that to Ika. Draw what strength you have left and be there for him…" — she tried not to grit her teeth too much on saying _that_ pronoun; she could sense what Ika really was — "…as he moves to make a life for himself and his new wife. Only when they are safe — and perhaps have given you your first great-great-grandchild — should you then think of preparing yourself for the Grove. Don't worry; it's waiting for you. But the true warrior does his best to select his time to embrace the next great adventure."

He blinked, and then cackled before offering his arm to her, which she took. "Yes, you're right, my dear! I think I can wait a while more…!"

"**_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…! MY BABY!_**"

Both leaders then perked, and then Cologne cackled. "Besides, are you going to miss something like _this_?!" she demanded as she waved her cane towards the main doors, where the crowd had now stopped to watch what was now going down outside.

A laugh. "Hell, no!"

Arm-in-arm, they headed down the aisle…

* * *

Outside in the main reception hall…

"Oh, hello, Father. You're a little late for the ceremony."

Hearing that calm voice from Izabel, an ashen-faced Invader jolted before he turned to stare wide-eyed at what he saw as his little girl, dressed up in a very pretty pink wedding gown as she held the arm of her new life-mate close to her. Behind Izabel, Lum was icily glaring at her parents, both of whom looked like they were deciding whether or not to break down and cry on realising they were too late to save their "daughter"…or attack the effeminate young man now holding said "daughter's" hand so closely to him. "Indeed, Captain, you are quite late," Ika then sternly declared. "Then again, if you had simply recognised the truth of the situation, you would have accepted what was owed to my family and let things be! Instead, you allowed a brazen attack to occur on a planet that was under the protection of the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios, _uncaring_ of the fact that you agreed to leave said planet and its inhabitants — _**including your false 'son-in-law!'**_ — alone because of how much you _lied_ to them! And what are you left with now?!" She then smirked as she pointed up. "Your scow of an attack ship is in orbit over my planet if the Lady Warrior Shichinohe Kaga hasn't destroyed it already." As Lum's parents both gargled on hearing that statement from Ika, the latter's eyes narrowed. "When you return to your pitiful world in the Realm of Light, take it back with you. I will not have such _garbage_ clutter the sky over our…!"

"Oh, my! A Sensualist ceremony?! And I missed it!"

Eyes locked on the elderly Oni man in the hoverchair, now being escorted into the room by two of Noukiios' most famous free warriors, both of whom had their polearms at the ready. Turning to gaze on a great-grandfather she had personally never met, Izabel then smiled. "It was a normal ceremony, Great-grandfather," she stated with a regretful smile that was quite honest; she could sense that Traveller — despite what he had done that had effectively seen to her own creation — was feeling quite contrite over what he had just learned thanks to the Black-Haired Bandit Slayer of the Outmarches. She then grinned as she added, "But we'll definitely repeat it at the next Tip'heng!"

Hearing that, Traveller laughed as Invader turned sheet-white. "'_**TIP'HENG?!**_'" the large captain screamed out before he shook his head. "NO! NEVER! I REFUSE TO…!"

"_**REFUSE TO WHAT?!**_" Traveller then snapped as he glared murderously at his grandson. "_**REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT THIS CHILD ISN'T YOUR REAL DAUGHTER?!**_" As Invader and his wife both gasped on hearing that, the retired senior general then took a deep breath as he looked around. "Now, where exactly is Lum…?! Ah! _There_ you are!"

People then watched as he moved his hoverchair close to Lum, who was blinking with surprise as this elderly gentleman — a famous leader of men back in his day, who had disappeared for unknown reasons (as far as she knew) twenty years before — came up to her. She then watched as he seemed to age decades at once, turning from a still-proud retired soldier of the Union Marines to a lonely old man who had just come to realise how much his family had fallen apart with him gone from it for so long. Sensing that, Lum then leaned over to gently embrace him, which Traveller returned. A moment later, they pulled away, she allowing him to hold her hands as he gazed up at her. "The Lady Kachnuk and the Lady Zōju told me everything. Nassur, Cinba and Dakejinzō confirmed what happened to you and your friends." A sigh. "I can't say how sorry I am…!"

"Do not apologise, Lord Marshal Traveller," a new voice then said. People turned as Seu-P'ye Yesu-T'ek Hechnich'-Nut'yek of Hichp'u came up to take her wife's hand in her own. "What has happened has happened," Kuhu then declared. "As you can see, both your fat dullard of a grandson and the witless twit you call a granddaughter-in-law refuse to accept what happened at the hands of the monster Ōgi and his so-called 'one true faith,' even in the face of the spoken truth declared by the Hunter Commander Nassur of Home Base, his wife the Lady Cinba and the Lady Free Warrior Dakejinzō of Clan Shogai of Fukunokami." As Invader and his wife both sputtered in outrage on hearing those insults laid on them, Kuhu added, "While I'm more than certain that the good and noble citizens of Vos will make sure Ōgi's remaining years before facing the Ch'uoeuk will be miserable ones, there is no reason for any of his victims to continue to suffer so." She then cleared her throat. "My Governor, I must make a request!" she then declared.

Footfalls then heralded the arrival of the Rose Princess Dragon of Kesei, the Lady Governor Seu-Hech Yesu-Tuong Hechnich'-Tuongta of Hichp'u — "Hep'p'yech" to her closest friends and family — as she moved to stand beside her old grand strategist. "And that request is, Lady Nut'yek?" the blue-eyed warrior princess with the long pink hair tied in a high ponytail at the back of her head then asked as she gazed on Kuhu.

"That we take the Lord Marshal Traveller with us back to Okusei," Kuhu stated. "As you can see, his honourless grandson and ignorant granddaughter-in-law still refuse to accept what happened to their blood child and it hurts him so to see his family shattered so much thanks to the murdering infidel Ōgi." She smirked on hearing more grumbles from the couple in question. "Let us take my great-grandfather-in-law to where he can enjoy his last days in peace and happiness with his _true_ family at his side."

Hep'p'yech blinked, and then she gazed down at the elderly Oni. "What say you, Lord Marshal Traveller? Would you care to visit Okusei and learn what has happened to your great-granddaughter in the years since she was forced away from her family?"

"I actually wouldn't mind that, my dear," Traveller then said.

As Invader and his wife awked on hearing that, the governor of Kesei then nodded. "So be it, then. We shall see to it that the Lord Marshal shall make it whole and hearty to his new home." Hep'p'yech then snapped her fingers. "Beloved?!"

"Yes, my dear?" Eyes locked on the raven-haired, green-eyed beauty with glasses that came up to join her heart-mate. "What is it?" Seu-Na Yesu-Kya Hechnich'-Ekach of Hichp'u — "T'yekp'it'" to friends and family — asked, her eyebrow arched in amusement.

"See to it the Lord Marshall Traveller is given honoured guest quarters on the _Hichp'u-ikeng_," Hep'p'yech then stated as she gazed fondly at T'yekp'it'. "Make sure that his personal effects are transported over from Kuohu's ship…"

"Oh, don't worry, my dear! I came with all I needed!" Traveller stated.

A nod and a delighted smile. "Ah, excellent! And also make sure Kuhu and her wife are given guest quarters next door as well," the governor of Kesei then instructed.

T'yekp'it' gave her a proper salute. "As you command, My Governor."

She headed over to take Traveller's hand in her own as Lum moved to push the hoverchair along. Immediately, a company's worth of Noukiite Imperial Marines moved in to provide an escort for the party as they headed towards the Airport and the awaiting shuttle to proceed back up into space and board the _Hichp'u-ikeng_. As they headed off, a young voice cried out, "Hey, Lum-chan! Kuhu-chan! Great-grandpa! Wait! Wait for me!"

Smiling, Hep'p'yech walked over to gently scoop the struggling Ten out of the air and into her arms. As the young Oni gazed in awe at the regal Noukiite beauty now holding him in her arms, the governor of Kesei turned to leave. "Come, Young Master Ten. Much that our hosts are quite honourable, the lack of light is rather disconcerting to me as I think it is to you. Let us be off and head once more to a much brighter climate!"

Invader watched his nephew be carried off, and then he called out, "_**TEN, WAIT!**_"

Hep'p'yech stopped as Ten turned to gaze at him. As people watched, the young Oni's eyes then narrowed before tears appeared in them. "How could you do that to Lum-chan?!" he then pleaded before he turned away, his tears flowing as he was carried off.

Silence then fell over the scene as Invader watched the last part of his family be carried off by the Noukiite governor, and then he jolted on feeling two very dark presences loom close to him. "Just as I warned you, Fat Boy," Hiromi then growled as she and Ataru glared at him. "Now, all you have is an _empty_ home that will _stay_ empty for the remaining years you and your idiot wife will have in this life! Go! The Lady Damasu's ship is at the Airport pond waiting for you to use it! We have no need for such a **primitive** vessel! Go crawl back to your pathetic little ball of mud in space. I doubt we'll see your kind mature anytime within your lifetimes, so hopefully by the time your kind _does_ grow up finally, we'll be more than established in space and no longer have to be concerned with you!"

Invader jolted, and then he turned to glare down at the reborn emperor.

"Wrong move, Tubby."

He jolted on hearing that growling voice…

…and then gasped as a fist buried itself WAY deep into his gut, the force of the blow lifting him off the floor a couple of metres before he crashed down on his face, the air exploding from his lungs before he passed out from the pain. Standing now over him, a smiling Ataru then cracked his knuckles. "That was for all the shit your so-called 'daughter' forced on me for the six months I was _supposedly_ 'married' to her." He then turned to glare intently at Invader's wife, whose body was now sparking as she moved to defend her husband. "And as for _this_ brain-dead bitch…

"**_HENRYOKU HANDŌ KŌGEKI!_**"

An inhuman scream echoed through the Wedding Hall as Mrs. Invader found herself to be the victim of her _own_ lightning attack. As the pretty middle-aged woman collapsed to the ground, her whole body smoking with charred flesh and clothes, Ataru then smiled as he levelled his hand at her face. "And now, for the parting wave…_**SEISHIN RĒZĀ KŌSEN!**_" he barked out as a beam of burning ki lashed out to slam into her face, making her shriek as her skin was badly burned and lacerated.

After a minute, Ataru relented, and then he turned away from Lum's unconscious mother, offering his arms. Immediately, both of his lovers moved in to take the offered limbs, and then they headed off for the exit so they could walk to the Airport and the Noukiite courier shuttle that would take them to _Haida_…though Lum's parents didn't know about it as they had no idea that the Terrans now had warp-capable starships. Watching him go, Tsukasa Torusuke then hummed before walking over to stand close to Hiromi. The reborn emperor gazed at him. "What troubles you now, Torusuke-san?" she asked.

"Don't you think your brother went a little overboard?" the leader of Kyoshō asked.

Hiromi then turned, nodding towards one corner of the reception room. Torusuke turned to look, and then he nodded as he watched a green-haired girl in Terran-pattern civilians walk a sobbing young woman — who looked Terran from a distance, but whose true identity was easily noticeable to all who could see — out of the room. "Right," he drawled out, and then he glared at the fallen forms of Lum's parents. "What of them?"

"Drag them back to Damasu-san's ship. See to it they understand that they're to warp back to Uru and no other place," Hiromi declared. "I doubt our honoured hosts wish to have their kind on this world anymore. If they resist…?" She then turned to gaze intently at him, her eyes beacons of ice. "Kill them."

"As you wish, My Emperor," Torusuke said with a hand salute as the tōshi who had been present at the Great Wedding Hall all grinned on hearing _that_ order…

* * *

Outside the Palace, minutes later…

"So what the hell's wrong with you NOW, Sonsaku?!"

Mimōko glared at Tsueko as they, along with their lovers, walked away from the Central Chapel back towards the Airport. Keeping close to all of them were Oka Yuzuko and Tano Tsukuhito. "I'm just depressed, Mō-chan!" the new leader of Nan'yō then said as she stretched herself, and then she gazed towards Hep'p'yech as she walked off with Ten in her arms. "It was so strange seeing her in person after all those times I just dreamt of her in my sleep."

The senior student blinked, and then she nodded in understanding. "Hai, I can see that, Tsueko. But don't worry. Maybe in the future when things are more developed, we'll get a chance to visit Kesei, so you can go meet Hep'p'yech in person."

"Oh, it's not that, Mō-chan!"

Everyone stared at her. "What is it, Sonsaku?" Tsukuhito then asked.

A moan. "It's her boobs! She's BIGGER than even _**I**_ am!"

Everyone jolted, and then Mimōko moaned as both Ranma and Ukyō laughed. "Sonsaku no baka…!" the Nan'yō senior muttered under her breath…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Call-sign note: A "jack" is a male donkey…and H.M.A.S. _Kirkpatrick_ was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy in the skies over the desert, hence we get **Desert Jack**.

2) Translations: **Score** — A time frame of twenty years; **Eta-ch'ukaitu** — Noukiite spiced apricot tea; **Ch'enghu-Hit'nukri** — Literally "Blood of the Viper's Heart," this is Kyekkyek's equivalent to Zhāng Fēi's own personal weapon, the **Zhàngbā Shémáo** ("Viper Blade"); **Onmyō-dō** — Literally "The Way of Yin and Yang," the mystical Art that is based on the concepts of yin and yang as they are observed in Taoism; **Goshujin-sama** — Master; **Shōwa** — Literally "Enlightened Peace/Harmony," this was the era name for the period between 1926-89 during the reign of the **Shōwa Emperor**, known more commonly as Emperor **Hirohito** (1901-89), the twelfth year of which was 1937; **Defacing** — To "deface" a flag means to put something extra on a basic flag pattern…like the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross stars on a British Blue Ensign to make the flag of Australia; **Hichp'u-ikeng** — Memory of Hichp'u; **Seishin Rēzā Kōsen** — Literally "Psychic Laser Beam" (a cutting beam of ki energy).

3) Like in the Royal Navy, the **Royal Australian Navy** doesn't bestow actual military rank on their chaplains; thus, no such insignia would ever appear on the uniforms of someone like David Jacobson. However, chaplains serving in the Navy are ranked by seniority. Chaplains ranked as **Division 1** through **Division 3** are the equals of a navy commander. **Division 4** chaplains are the equal of a navy captain. **Division 5** (or "Principal Chaplains") are the highest post and are the equal of navy commodores/rear admirals (lower half); there are only three in the Navy, representing the three major Christian denominations (Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestant). Chaplains are not normally addressed as "padre" in the Navy; sailors tend to use the more formal term "Chaplain" or the simple honorific "sir."

4) Fans of a certain breakthrough Australian comedy film from 1986 and its successful sequel from 1988 should automatically recognise the characters of **Michael "Mick" Dundee** and **Sue Charlton**. In the continuity of the _"Crocodile" Dundee_ films, this story is set shortly after the second film. Note that I shifted their timeline to match them up with the timeline of this story.

5) The concept of using a **Fidelius Charm** to cover a spoken secret was one that was introduced in a story I've taken interest in recently, _Harry Potter and the Power of Paranoia_ by **Arekay**, which is marked as one of my favourites at this website.

6) The **bullroarer** is the device Mick Dundee used in _"Crocodile" Dundee II_ to make a "phone call" to his Aboriginal friends after he and Sue Charlton returned to Walkabout Creek to avoid the drug-dealers coming after them.

As an aside, the **didgeridoo** is Australia's most well-known indigenous musical instrument…as well as a means of communicating long distance between various peoples, in the same fashion as the bullroarer could be used.

7) **Kagura Nako**, her mother **Kagura Misaki**, Nako's would-be girlfriend **Sumeragi Uruka** and Uruka's father **Sumeragi Tenkai** are all characters from the anime series _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi 2-shiki_, which came out in 2001 as a sequel to the original _Kurumi_ anime series from two years earlier. While certain points of the second series have been adhered to — Uruka's crush on Nako, not to mention Tenkai's overprotective nature towards his daughter — the background of that anime series has been changed to conform to what happened to the Steel Angels as a whole in the universe of this story. What happens concerning Nako and her quest to win the love of **Ayanokōji Kurumi** will be covered in a future story.

8) The **Steel Angel War** of 1924 is my nickname for the fight between Steel Angels held in Japan that was depicted in Volumes 2 and 3 of the _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_ manga series.

9) **Infinity** is the battle-name of the Yizibajohei equivalent to the most powerful of the Levramites from _normalman_, **Captain Everything**. Somewhat like the Captain — who, despite his power, is a total idiot — Infinity (who is often nicknamed "The God[dess] Who Walks Amongst Men") has the ability to warp Reality itself at his/her command. Whenever I used this character in my writings at the Anime Add-venture and combined other series into it, I often saw **Kasuga Ayumu** a.k.a. **Ōsaka** of _Azumanga Daiō_ as the perfect Infinity. The Infinity of the universe of this story, **Relota Ugadese**, appears in _Long Way Home_.

As an aside, a **Gifting** (always spelt with a capital "G") is when a Yizibajohei is given his/her paranormal powers. Read _The Saga of Coyote and the Tempest_ to see what I mean.

10) Canadian warships always sport a red maple leaf on the funnel or superstructure as a national identifier; this was a practice that first began in World War Two. Australian warships use a red kangaroo motif in the same manner; that practice started during the Korean War with the second H.M.A.S. _Anzac_ (pendant **D59**) because of the fact that at the time, all navies of the British Commonwealth flew the British White Ensign and _Anzac_ was often mistaken for a British ship. The Royal Australian Navy adopted its present White Ensign — a version of the Commonwealth flag with a white field and blue stars — in 1967.

11) **Sensualism** is the native faith of modern Zeiwan. It is a naturalist faith similar to **Wicca**.

12) **Tip'heng** is the Noukiite summer star festival, which is pretty much equivalent to the Japanese **Tanabata** festival. However, while the basic legend of Tip'heng is similar to the Japanese legend — where the star-lovers Orihime (representing the star **Vega**) and Hikoboshi (the star **Altair**) are condemned to only meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month — the lesson taught in Tip'heng is quite different: For Noukiites, the legend of Tip'heng teaches that true love will not recognise the bounds even of caste. In that story, the Lady **Ningsai** (Orihime) had **_not_** forgot her duties to the Lord of Heaven, but still found time to marry Master **Yechka** (Hikoboshi). And since the marriage vow on Noukiios — known more properly as "**The Promise Never to be Broken**" — is divinely sanctified, the Ch'uoeuk (Muchach) reminded the Lord of Heaven that once Ningsai and Yechka were bound by the promise oath, they had to be together. In the end, the Lord of Heaven commanded the Angel of the River of Heaven to ensure that whenever Ningsai and Yechka wished to be together on either side of the River, they would be allowed to cross over and be together. Tip'heng night — which is seen as the most auspicious time to get married and consummate said marriage in sex; hence, Invader's shock when he heard that Izabel and Ika were considering going to go to Noukiios to celebrate Tip'heng — is the traditional anniversary of Ningsai and Yechka taking the promise oath.

13) Hep'p'yech's lover and life-mate introduced here, **Seu-Na Yesu-Kya Hechnich'-Ekach** of Hichp'u (childhood name **T'yekp'it'**), is base on the _Koihime Musō_ version of Shōyu Kōkin (real name **Meirin**). She first appeared in the tenth episode of the first series, "Sonsaku's Life is Threatened."


	54. Going Home

After the fight over Yaminokuni, the chasing down of the escapees from the _Redemption_ in the Dead Grove and the simple delight of the marriage between Ika and Izabel, the return voyage back to Earth seemed almost anti-climatic…

After Lum's parents had been literally chased out of the Palace, they were forced aboard Damasu's ship and told to fly back to Uru. Waiting for them by the Airport was Mienai, who announced that she had already programmed the ship's navigation computer to ensure Invader and his wife would travel to their home planet…and ONLY to their home planet; any deviation would result in the ship's warp drive overloading and trapping them in hyperspace. When Invader protested such a thing, he was handed an icy warning about asking the Dragonspeaker to arrange for some of her friends on Yiziba to unleash a Mother of All Fight Scenes on Uru by the Governor of Kaisei, Seu-Ne Yesu-Ne Hechnich'-T'uokch'eng of Eap'ye. After also getting a live demonstration of the power of a Terran spirit dragon thanks to Seup'it's very own "dream-brother," Tsukasa Torusuke, Lum's parents scrambled aboard the small ship and blasted off for home.

Much to the private relief of all the Terrans who had been on Yaminokuni at the time, Lum's father hadn't bothered to ask how they would all get home.

No doubt, he probably — once he got control over himself and could think straight — would assume the Noukiites would transport their Terran friends back to their home planet.

More fool him.

* * *

With that out of the way, Major Michael Seo of 3 Military Police Regiment — as senior Canadian military police officer on the scene — formally transferred custody of all the prisoners taken in the Dead Grove who had not been paroled to Seup'it' in her capacity as senior-ranking free warrior of Her Imperial Majesty's Government for transport to Tengsei and trial before the High Court of Star Chamber. Charges to be laid against Seq Yethis and his cronies would include space piracy (the theft of the _Redemption_), conspiracy to provoke intergalactic war (against the Kingdom of Yaminokuni, the United Nations of Earth and the Provisional Republic of New Avalon), conspiracy to overthrow legally-recognised foreign governments (against the United Tribes of Uru…which would allow the Urusian government to send representatives to attend the trials and give the Imperial Round's arch-foes a chance to deliver a final blow against those who would enslave them all), forced confinement of innocent sentient beings under the protection of the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios (the eight hundred-and-ten Avalonian-Urusians that had been given over to Yethis' people by Ōgi to crew _Redemption_ without being given a chance to decide what to do for themselves)…and violation of various articles of the Galactic Federation Treaty, including allying with groups known to practice chattel slavery (which would bring the Vosians into it as the Provisional Government of the Confederation now held Ōgi ot'ndai-Zkuhsbagh in custody and would need to present evidence from him at the court) and those who conspired to blatantly violate the Galactic Non-Interference Treaty when it came to the planet Earth (it was known fact on Uru that Yethis had been the man who had driven hard for the Tag Race).

With that, Seup'it' handed over a request of summons for members of the Moroboshi Clan and others to attend the trial and provide testimony. That was accepted by Major Seo with a promise that the people would be there as the trial would be held when Hiromi and her siblings were enjoying summer vacation, which would start in a couple of weeks.

The formalities done, Upa was invited aboard _Haida_ to officially meet Heather Thompkins — whom the First Patriarch had first encountered ten years ago with Dean Raeburn on the planet Zeiwan; the leader of the War Hawks had been staying there for a year while she was training a young girl to be that world's Jewel Warrior — and present the thanks of the Kingdom of Yaminokuni to the peoples of Earth and New Avalon for coming out to aid their world in their time of need. After a review of a joint honour guard on _Haida_'s starboard flight deck from all the ships and the ground brigade, the First Patriarch bestowed a gift of Yaminokuni mushrooms to the Terrans. Much to the relief of the Noukiites, these mushrooms were modified to NOT grow to the size of office buildings on exposure to the light of Sol; there had been a horrible incident on Tengsei three years ago when Rupa had accidentally unleashed a mushroom plague there. Fortunately for the Noukiites, Kyech called in a friend from Yiziba to get it cleared out.

After the ceremonies were done and Upa moved to return to his homeworld, the first patriarch — much to Hiromi's amusement and the laughter of everyone from Seito — privately presented another basket of mushrooms to Omomuro Chikarō for his personal enjoyment. As the story was told later on, the elderly cleric from the Tōgen Abbey had fallen in love with the local mushroom cream stew after trying it at a café near the Palace and — after he got hold of the recipe from the café matron — came to worry that trying to cook same with Terran mushrooms just wouldn't make it taste right.

"You'll make it right for sure!" Upa promised over everyone's laughter…

* * *

With that done, _Haida_ ascended back into space to join her sisterships for the trip back to Earth. At Negako's advice, the Terran ships would retrace _Kirkpatrick_'s "jump" route to Yaminokuni back to Earth, going through the Galactic Barrier above Hika'aki, then skimming the galaxy-sized energy barrier until reaching a position above Polaris before penetrating back into the galaxy and heading straight in to Earth. This naturally excited the astronomers now on _Arizona_; Polaris had been the "north pole star" in the eyes of Terran navigators for centuries and getting even a brief chance to examine the five-star system would be a perfect conclusion to their mission with the Task Force. That, Negako later revealed, was one of the reasons she suggested such a thing; without the necessity to waste time in course corrections flying within the galaxy proper demanded, the Task Force could actually pause in the Polaris system — which was known to the Noukiites from the Eunuch Spaceman's voyages to be uninhabited and unclaimed — for a few hours to get detailed observations for transmission back to Earth, and then make system-fall close to Earth just in time for breakfast in Japan.

As the Earth ships ascended from Hika'aki for the Barrier, the Noukiite warships that deployed to Yaminokuni — the _K'uongno-nup'uk_, the _Hanek-ikeng_ and the _Hichp'u-ikeng_ — sailed towards the Imperial Dominion while staying inside the galaxy. Noukiite ships had penetrated the Barrier before, but Seup'it', Ch'esyuk and Hep'p'yech didn't feel like doing it this time…and they would provide a perfect distraction in case the Urusians tried — for whatever reason — to interfere with their transit back to Tengsei.

Along with eighty-seven Avalonian-Urusians who had decided to seek new lives for themselves on Chuttusei and Kegusei was Dedron Sil. She had — during the time she had been held aboard _Arizona_ — reconciled with Nan Yūki, making the first step to fully recover from what happened to her at the hands of the Urusian Imperials. While she herself could have gone back to Uru to rejoin lost friends in the Democratic Alliance — the Noukiites were more than prepared to back up her story in case officials in Onishuto moved to have her arrested on charges of treason — the young matriarch of the House of Dedron decided that she wanted to spend time with her oldest childhood friend and try to make a new life for herself without Urusian politics getting in the way. Sil and Yūki would both go to Okusei when they were finally permitted to do so to pursue future academic careers at the famous university on that world, alongside not just Lum and her wife, but also Shigaten Benten, who studied there while her wife Su was busy tracking down errant criminals and bringing them to justice.

Also accompanying Sil, Yūki and the others back to Noukiite space was Reyshan Meyo, the would-be husband to Hayashi Kikuko and her wife Nǚ Shānpú. Given his condition, he would have to undergo considerable genetic therapy treatments under the care of Doctor K'u-Seu Chusu-Mu Hechnich'-Kaechseu of Ait'uch Nehech at his private clinic on Okusei before he could enjoy an intimate relationship with any Avalonian, much less anyone with similar genetic makeup. Due to the unforeseen amount of time necessary to complete such treatments, Shampoo's great-grandmother Cologne formally declared that Meyo didn't have to consider himself Shampoo's and Kikuko's husband under Oni custom. While both girls had been surprised by that, the elder of the Nǚjiézú had been eloquent in her reasoning: "Girls, it was a wonderful idea and it was brilliantly executed. But given the actual situation by which you two tried to get yourselves a child-mate to be the father of your children — not to mention his own problems — I think that the next time you two decide to go on a husband-hunt, you should keep it closer to home."

The elder's words did perk up Shampoo's mood — in the experience of the Nǚjiézú, one _**rarely**_ got a outsider husband who was so polite and kind — at losing Meyo…which was soon restored when Kikuko snared her wife and dragged her into their private cabin aboard _Bismarck_ for several hours of very thorough and tiring love-making.

Kikuko would later personally confess to a red-faced Ranma, a sympathetic Miiko and a headache-suffering Kanami that she wasn't too disappointed at the loss; given Meyo's out-of-control ability to ejaculate on virtual _touch_, it would have been quite hard in the long run to make sure he _could_ father babies for her and her wife!

* * *

It was a significant group of Urusians who would — after either their DNA had been brought up to Avalonian norm or they had been allowed to switch bodies and become Avalonians themselves — begin a new life on Earth away from the mad politics of their homeworld. Amongst that group were Horan Moss, Bren Tai, Del Chii and her twin sister Moka, Jarell Shō, Uio Toma, Tenwan Riu and her twin sister Kiu, Azu Roki, Mith Sijo, Karth Elass and Joth Hiyo. Along with them came not just their wives and mistresses, but the remaining Avalonian-Urusians — seven hundred-and-twenty-three people in all — who all had decided to rejoin their true race as they sought out their new destiny together as a free people. Of course, once they were taught to disguise themselves as Terrans (for the Oni) by Redet Hensō, they found it was easier for the Terrans they now could freely intermingle with to accept them just as new Avalonians rejoining their people.

Right away, the tōshi of the Seven Schools and Nanban High School began to intermingle with the Avalonian-Urusians and the school-age Urusians to convince them to come to their schools. For some of the new residents of Earth, the choice was quite simple. Elass and Hiyo both elected to attend Gogun. Elass was interested in pursuing a potential relationship with Bakari Mitsugi…while her best friend, who was a BIG fan of Bruce Lee movies — much to the shock of everyone from Earth; they found it almost impossible to believe that Earth movies would make such an impact on another PLANET! — couldn't stop trying to hit on a madly-blushing Tsuieru Kyōsuke; he HATED being compared to the late founder of Jiéquándào because they looked so much alike. What was even worse, Elass' and Hiyo's bond-mates Korann Wayna and Aruka Korsen were _**encouraging**_ them!

Even more, two of the Three-Pillared Gods found themselves targeted by the Del twins…who, naturally, declared they would attend Kyoshō. Chii and Moka had learned from Tsukasa Satomi — at the prompting of her cousin Torusuke, it was later revealed — that both Omomuro Akira and Haru Kazua had pursued Zen studies to help them better control the darker urges the magatama forced on tōshi as a whole. Before Moroboshi Hiromi had entered everyone's lives, the chances had been good that both men — if they survived high school — would have simply elected to go to university and pursue normal careers as many older tōshi had done once they got clear of the politics of the Seven Schools. Chii and Moka — encouraged by their bond-mates, twins Seq Amka and Seq Tota — were more than determined to give the two men other reasons to turn away from the priesthood.

Tano Susumi, everyone from Kyoshō knew, would be a harder case. Unlike Akira and Kazua, the female member of the Three-Pillared Gods had been determined to become a Buddhist nun right from the day she had first entered Kyoshō. That had been driven by the fears she had about the influence of her past-self on her current life. As history had proven, Yuè Jìn had been one of the most ferocious of the "Five Elite Generals" of Cáo Wèi…and that deadly cunning had been transplanted full-force into Susumi when she began participating in the yearly Great Fighters Tournaments. She achieved A-rank in her third year of middle school, fought powerhouses like Seki Haneko, Sebone Shikuko and Tadasu Suguta to a standstill in individual bouts many times over…and had dropped even Torusuke himself when the latter had been seized once by the madness inflicted on him by the power of Tàizǔ late in their first year of high school.

Fortunately, Avalonian genetics came into play shortly after Susumi was allowed to undergo a body-swap. Heading aboard _Haida_ after she had awoken aboard _Yamato_ in her new body, the female member of the Three-Pillared Gods sought out the poor girl she had nearly impaled with her fighting staff during the fight in the Dead Grove. Already guilt-ridden at her NOT picking up on the fact that Shō was actually female before she had nearly killed the poor girl, Susumi was ushered into the private recovery room in the Canadian starship's medical station by a sympathetic Wakabayashi Ayu. Once alone with the sleeping Shō, Susumi broke down and wept as her guilt roared finally to the surface. Her sobs woke Shō up…and while she had been scared out of her mind at first on seeing the mean girl who had nearly killed her, she then felt a powerful surge flood her soul as her just-gifted empathy picked up on the other woman's shame. Without hesitation, the young Oni-turned-Avalonian reached over to pull an unresisting Susumi's hands to tag her horns…and in that contact, the older woman's new telepathy sensed out the urge Shō now felt to make Susumi her wife.

Naturally, after taking the chance to become women _properly_ after they had bonded, Shō announced her intention to attend the Kyoshō Academy along with her friends…

* * *

H.M.C.S. _Haida_, two astronomical units from Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris A), Thursday 8 July, three hours after midnight [Japan time])…

"So they never wanted to know what happened to us?!"

Uio Toma shuddered as she glared at the image on the forward bulkhead of the meeting room next to Heather Thompkins' new quarters just aft of Moroboshi Hiromi's private meeting room. "I regret to say that they no longer care, Toma," Rei's mother Seq Yedris — who was the nominal chairwoman of the Urusian Alliance of Democratic Reform — replied from her private home outside Onishuto; her image was being displayed on the large flat-screen monitor mounted on the bulkhead. The signal was scrambled for security purposes, though the transmission signal was quite clear. Fortunately for Yedris — who looked like a long-haired version of Lum's own mother; she and the former Seq Chim were actually first cousins twice removed — not to mention the Earth Defence Force, those elements of the Urusian military who might be interested in such a signal answered directly to the Defence Intelligence Directorate, now under the command of Redet Negau. They wouldn't be monitoring such a signal…which was a change from the past, when the D.I.D. was under the control of a close ally of Yedris' brother Yethis, Azu Des, who had been killed resisting arrest by Negau personally. In Des' time, the D.I.D. frequently and illegally tapped into the communications of the Democratic Alliance to learn all they could about the "class traitors" so the Imperial Round could counter their moves to finish the work the Union Revolution started two centuries ago. "Which is understandable. Negau was quite thorough in exposing every dark secret the Imperial Round possessed when she began doing that after Hensō's ex-husband demanded that Paragraph Ten be enforced by the Noukiites. The public reaction to same was quite loud despite all of my brother's efforts to suppress the release of such information, so…" A sigh. "I am truly sorry that you've all been hurt by this. At least you all understood the _true_ lessons of the Union Revolution; many of the people in the Alliance would welcome a constitutional monarchy like what Britain or Japan currently possess."

"Don't apologise, My Lady," Bren Tai stated. The senior ex-Urusian military officers and senior non-commissioned officers who had been paroled and allowed to resettle on Earth were now in the admiral's quarters; all of them had been sworn into the Canadian Armed Forces as reserve officers in their equivalent trades and would be welcomed into the ranks of the Navy stone frigates, Army regiments or Air Force squadrons close to where _Haida_ would be based once the announcement of a shore base was officially made by Ottawa. "We realised it the instant the Lady Hiromi reported that the Lady Lum's father never asked about us. At least Senior General Traveller DID ask about us while he was being transported to Yaminokuni by the Lady Kachnuk."

A nod. "At least there is that. We'll be putting out the word that all of you were welcomed on Earth because you didn't desire to live with the Noukiites. And that you presently feel so angry over being ABANDONED like you did by the authorities, you'll do anything to ensure the Terrans get out into space as quickly as possible…AND be able to face the Urusians on an even footing. It's known that the Avalonians had seized at least a hundred Niphentaxian warships when they left Phentax Twelve four months ago, which will match up to what we have based on Toshitto. That should cool the ardour of anyone who might still think our word of honour is flexible." Yedris then smirked. "Then again, the news of what the Lady K'ekhech instigated on Vos is now getting out. No one likes the idea of Vos turning its attention our way, but there's nothing they can do to stop it, especially since other powers are moving to help the Vosians recover from their civil war. Probably within the week, the _Lecasur's Soul_ will be making a courtesy call to Onishuto. That's guaranteed not to make people feel any easier."

"Which ultimately confirms that our mission is a clear success," Hiromi noted from one end of the table. "Not that we wish to permanently close the doors on your people in the future, Lady Yedris…but given the behaviour of those of your kind who lived in or visited Tomobiki in the six months after the Tag Race even if Hensō-san's and Damasu-san's behaviour can be excused due to the Lady Zōju's curse…"

A shake of the head. "Don't make excuses for them anymore, Hiromi," Rei's mother said as her eyes glistened with tears she wouldn't publicly shed concerning her dead son. "And don't apologise for what Tariko and her bond-mate did that saw Rei killed. He was made to be involved by Yethis — Negau told me this — and he was at the head of the charge. He should have known better, especially given how Ataru…" — unlike most Urusians, Yedris had no problems saying his name — "…put him down after he divorced Hensō at the Cathedral." A sigh. "Yethis will pay for what he did. Of that, I was guaranteed by Ch'esyuk before you called in. And whatever evidence is produced in his trial before Star Chamber will be turned over to Negau. Anyone that's escaped the dragnet she put out will be run down to ground eventually. At least they won't be causing Earth any more trouble, which is the way it should have been all along."

"Make sure you tell people I'll be speaking to my counterpart on Uru, Yedris," Dean Raeburn added from her seat next to Heather. "That should add more incentive to make them behave. You know about the attempts at kidnapping kids to make them servants by some of your brother's more radical pals that Zach Rhetor's people had to hunt down."

Yedris nodded. The truth behind the vanishing of several dozen Urusians who had been affiliated to the Imperial Round over the last decade — and who had _**all**_ disappeared in the vicinity of Earth when that happened — had been revealed by the Empress of Noukiios in her meeting with President Hozan Lana four months before. Any open attempt by their relatives to seek some sort of "justice" from the "tailless monkeys" on Earth had died a quick death after Kyech persuaded friends from Yiziba to unleash a Mother of All Fight Scenes on the planet Konton near Uru shortly after several ships were caught and destroyed close to Earth by the Dragonspeaker and the Moroboshi siblings in March. With the open threat of "They Who Must Never Be Named" possibly advancing on Uru, any plans towards Earth had been shelved…though, as later events revealed, not totally abandoned. "We can only hope that people get the message this time," she noted.

"That's true," Heather noted. "Well, we won't take any more of your valuable time, Ms. Yedris. We'll probably speak again sometime in the future."

The link with Uru was soon closed off. Once that was done, Mith Sijo snarled, "Fuck!"

"Cool off, Sijo!" Toma snapped. "You should have known this would have happened."

The former flight lieutenant — now a brevet captain in the Canadian Army; she had taken one look at the CSF-198 Camel III chained down on _Haida_'s port flight deck and stated she wanted to learn how to fly such a cool-looking space fighter — snorted. "Still don't make it right, Major Toma. Yeah, court-martial the bastards that wanted to provoke a fuckin' war against people we couldn't beat…but hell! What about all the people who were shot down before they could be made to surrender?! Don't they deserve due process?!" With that, she got up and stormed out of the room.

The others sighed. "Has she always been that much of a hothead?" Heather asked.

"Oh, she's been worse, Admiral," Tenwan Riu noted as her twin sister Kiu snickered.

Heather then gazed at Dean. "Do you still want her?"

The former leader of the War Hawks smirked; Sijo had volunteered to be her aide-de-camp while she learned how to become a proper air cavalry officer. "I'll let Martin work on her a bit," she then stated with a cold smile. "He can tame her."

Everyone from Earth snickered. Staff Sergeant Martin Larsden — now holding the brevet rank of Assistant Commissioner in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the equivalent of a brigadier general or commodore in the Canadian Forces — had been the only male member of the War Hawks. A native of the back woods of northern New Brunswick, he had saved the life of a Mi'kmaq shaman in the early spring of 1937 when the latter had nearly fallen into the swollen waters of the Restigouche River. Said shaman later magically blessed Martin to become a "hunter of hunters." In the wake of that, Martin gained a reputation for tracking and capturing criminals of all types…which easily proved that he lived up to the "motto" of the Force as Hollywood storywriters would later use:

He always got his man.

Volunteering to serve in the Canadian Army at the start of World War Two, Martin was assigned to No. 1 Provost Company, a unit crewed by members of the Force that was assigned to the 1st Canadian Infantry Division. There, he met Dean Raeburn — who, with her regiment, was assigned to that formation's 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade — and the two became good friends. Having sensed his magically-induced hunting skills during their time in Britain, Dean later invited Martin to become part of 1st Canadian Specialised Warfare Unit when it was formed in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbour and America's entry into the war. There, armed with an M1 Garand rifle modified to fire mesonium bullets, Martin proved he could take down even the most powerful of the Übermenschen Gruppe with a well-aimed shot from hundreds of yards away. In the final battle between the War Hawks and the Übermenschen in the skies over Lake Ontario south of Toronto a week after the formal surrender of Japan in 1945, he killed a third of the rogue enemy metahumans from a perch in the forward superstructure of the Canada Steamship Lines Great Lakes freighter _Lemoyne_. Once that miserable business was finally resolved, Martin was allowed to return to his old "J" Division detachment in Campbellton. He remained an active member of the Force until retiring from duty in 1956.

Like the other War Hawks, Martin was placed on the Force's version of the Supplementary Ready Reserve list, recallable to active service only by direct order of the Prime Minister. Since then, Martin had travelled to various worlds alongside Dean and the other War Hawks as she sought to train other Jewel Warriors in the proper use of the Seekers' Gifts; he always helped with hand-to-hand and swordsmanship training. Long before the other War Hawks were recalled to duty in the Canadian Forces in the last few days, Martin returned to full service in the Force in April, assigned as the commander of the Force's new "P" Division, which would take in Avalonian-Canadians and other non-magical metahumans — those who were magical always served in the top-secret "W" Division due to the requirements set out in the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy — and become a special operations unit with detachments based across the Dominion. Of course, Martin — who had done time at "Depot" Division in Regina before his retirement training new recruits — was happy to ensure new members of the Force would fit in properly and uphold the law as had been demanded of those who had worn the Red Serge since 1873. If they didn't, the hunter of hunters had a voice that could out-scream a Category Five hurricane and could project a look of intimidation that would make most people soil their underwear in mortal terror. Furthermore, his marksmanship skills hadn't abated; thanks to his close presence to Dean Raeburn over seven decades, he was physically a man of about thirty years even if he was actually 98 years old.

"That would be mean!" Heather breathed out.

"No?! Really?!" Dean wondered.

The two old warriors laughed as the Urusians gathered there winced, many of them vowing to themselves to corner Sijo when they could to warn her of what was coming…

* * *

The aft upper wardroom, that moment…

"So have you decided yet, Kei?!"

Arimori Kei moaned as she glared at a smirking Takanashi Naoko. "Naoko, you're mean!" the would-be pilot groaned out as she pouted. "I'm not going to be assigned to a line squadron for TWO YEARS! We don't even know what other squadrons will be brought back to become part of 21 Wing! Why should I choose a squadron NOW?!"

"Well, the others want to know, Kei!" Ikusawa Kyōko noted.

The other naval cadets — plus Naoko's bond-mate Redet Hensō…and Miyamoto Nabiki, who was seen as Kyōko's spouse even if both were going to hold off on becoming bond-mates until the New Year — gathered around a table close to the bar laughed. Atop Kei — who was the only one wearing Air Force blue slip-ons on her shoulder even if she did have _Haida_'s shoulder titles at this time; once she was sent to the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School would those flashes come off and she would be forced to wear the basic **CANADA** national title for two years until she graduated from 410 Squadron's Fighter Pilot Course and was assigned to a line squadron — Naoko and Kyōko, there were seven others. One was Koizumi Hitomi, one of Nabiki's friends from the ship's main computer room; like Naoko, Hitomi planned to become a MARS officer. Another future MARS officer was Yoshino Tomomi from the operations room. The last of that group was Sakakibara Chiharu, who had formerly intended to become a naval electronic sensor operator. With them were two would-be marine systems engineers: Honjō Arisa and Ishida Nagisa. Rounding out the group were Asami Junko and Sawada Minako; the former planned to become a logistics officer while the latter would become a military police officer.

"Oh, they're just happy that at least one of us gets to wear a bus driver's uniform," Minako — a chestnut-eyed, red-haired tomboy who had been programmed to be a kendō-ka in reflection of her video game namesake from outside Kyōto — mused as she sipped a glass of juice. "The rest of us are going to be sharp-dressed girls all the way!"

"Hey!" Kei whined. "It's a NICE uniform!"

"Oh, don't worry about that, Minako-vayae," Chiharu — a grey-eyed girl with brown hair styled somewhat like Nabiki's and a slender body befitting a ballerina — mused as she gently grasped her bond-mate's hand; much to the surprise of everyone on _Haida_, the two had enjoyed their "time of the month" with each other right after Sasamoto Narumi had augmented their souls with the Dragon Jade and bonded right then and there. "With the return of the Air Cavalry Corps, they'll probably reform the Fleet Air Arm next. Once that's done, all the pilots would HAVE to wear Navy blue from that point on."

More laughter. "Well, I COULD buy a uniform," Kei mused.

"Don't, Kei," Tomomi said as she sipped her cup of coffee; she would have to go on watch very soon. "Everyone in 433 and 434 would think of you as a traitor."

Snickers. "Are you going to be okay staying away from the ship for two years, Kei?" Nabiki then wondered. "I mean, given how long fighter pilot training is…"

A shrug. "I could be recalled back to the ship in emergencies, Nabiki-san. We all could," the pink-haired girl replied. "But given that we just helped clean out the only major threat to us all, I doubt that'll happen anytime soon."

"Don't be too sure about that, Kei," Kyōko warned.

"Oi! Think positively, Kyōko!" Kei snapped. "We're all going to get through this all okay! No one's going to be hurt or die or anything stupid like…eh?!"

She then paused as she gazed somewhere off to port and down. "What?" Nabiki asked before she herself tensed on feeling a surge of sorrow and loneliness emanate from somewhere close to the upper hangar deck where _Haida_'s Star Flares were stored. "Who the heck is that?!" she then asked. "Is that one of us?"

"No, it's one of the girls who were on the _Redemption_," Nagisa — a tall, slender woman with eyes of maple fudge, long black hair in a high ponytail and a dimple under her left eye — stated as the others got up. "Let's go find out what's wrong."

The others nodded as they headed out of the wardroom, slipping on their ball caps as they walked over to the nearest turbolift station. The door to Ataru's guest bedroom then opened to reveal a weary-eyed Sebone Shikuko in a nightshirt with the front open to reveal her "talent" and a pair of panties; the Rakuyō senior looked as if she had just got up. "Oi! What's going on, girls? Who's feeling down in the dumps?"

"We're checking it out, Shikuko-san," Nabiki assured her.

Hearing that, the reborn Flying General of the Hàn nodded before stepping back into the room. By then, the turbolift car had arrived. Boarding it, all the girls relaxed as Kei called out for the main hangar deck. The car dropped down, then went sideways to deposit its passengers by the area of the main offices for 448 Squadron. Standing by the entrance onto the hangar deck nearby was Captain Lana Vanderhausen, who was gazing out into the part of the hangar where the _DeWolf_ was stored. "Lana-san, what's going on?" Kei asked as the captain — another Terran who had become an Avalonian, Nabiki was quick to sense — gazed on the group of naval/officer cadets and their lovers.

"A girl came out and put herself on the boarding ramp about three minutes ago," Lana explained as she nodded out. "Since we don't have enough people in the squadron to keep an eye on things, we didn't notice her until I sensed her emotions."

"Did someone call the Padre?"

Everyone turned as Lieutenant Colonel Louis Lagrange came up to join them, accompanied by the squadron warrant officer, Chief Warrant Officer Danielle Jacobson. "I called him just before the captain called you out here, sir," the senior non-commissioned member of the Flying Elks — who had the winged propeller badge of a flight engineer on her work uniform top…and who, surprisingly, wasn't a Terran-turned-Avalonian — stated. "He was asleep in his quarters when we called in, so I…"

The turbolift doors then opened to reveal a bleary-eyed priest. "What's wrong, Louis?" Padre Vincent Klein asked as he came up to them.

Everyone nodded onto the hangar deck. "Pretty lonely kid out there, Padre," Lana stated as the ship's chaplain took a look. "She just came out here now."

Padre Vincent hummed. "Has anyone spoken to her?" he asked.

Everyone shook their heads. "She seems to be missing someone," Kei then whispered. "Maybe she was attracted to one of the people the Noukiites took to Tengsei."

The others hummed. "Let me talk to her," Hensō then offered.

Everyone gazed on the Oni-form Avalonian, and then Lagrange and Padre Vincent both nodded. Hensō then walked out onto the hangar deck, approaching the large transport shuttle and the sobbing girl seated on the forward boarding ramp. Said girl perked on sensing someone approach her, and then she moaned, "I want to be left alone…!"

Hensō stopped, and then she sighed. "Was it someone who left with the Noukiites?"

A jolt, and then the other girl moaned, "Why…?"

Hensō immediately moved to embrace her as the other girl began to cry. Watching this from her position close to the entrance of the hangar, Kei could only sniff back her own tears in sympathy at the other girl's loss. She could sense that the other girl clearly wanted to forge a _marei'cha_ bonding with the woman she now mourned, but her feelings hadn't been reciprocated. _Probably was bonded to one of the morons who's going to spend time frozen on Hichkyech'eng_, the would-be pilot mused to herself before she turned to head into the 448 Squadron offices to get at the drinks dispenser there.

A moment later, she walked out onto the hangar deck with a cup of spiced peppermint tea in hand. By then, the crying girl — Aruka Riyu, Kei was quick to recognise from the pictures of people that had been transferred to _Haida_ which had been posted in the ship's database; she had been a systems engineer on _Redemption_ — was holding Hensō close as the tears slowly began to dry up. She then blinked as she smelt a mix of chilli pepper spice and peppermint in the air, and then turned to see the offered cup of tea being held out by a girl who had the same type of light rose-pink hair she had, though her eyes were turquoise green in lieu of Riyu's chocolate brown. Nodding her thanks at the offered tea, Riyu blinked on seeing the blue epaulette slip-ons on the officer cadet's shoulders with the thin gold stripe over _Haida_'s unit tags. "What are you?" she then asked as she gazed into Kei's very nice eyes. "They're supposed to be black."

"I'm Air Force, not Navy," Kei replied. "I'm planning to be a fighter pilot, so I wear a different uniform even if I'm part of the ship's company at this time."

Riyu nodded before she sipped her tea…and then she shuddered as the wonderful mix of spice and mint tickled her taste buds. She then sniffed back her tears. "You're going to think this is dumb," she quietly said as Kei beckoned Padre Vincent over.

The chaplain from Alberta chuckled; he had heard that. "There's nothing dumb about feeling sorrow after undergoing heartbreak," he said as he knelt before her. "Was it one of the girls who went with the Noukiites to Tengsei?"

Riyu blinked, and then shook her head. "It was actually an Urusian. One of Sijo's pilot friends from Toshitto who joined up with Ando and the crew after they started purging the Imperials from the ranks. Really pretty girl, too…" A sigh. "But when the military police went into the Grove to take everyone into custody, she was denied parole and turned over to the Noukiites before we left Yaminokuni."

"Why didn't you volunteer to go to Tengsei then?" Padre Vincent asked.

A sniff. "Well, I never really heard her say anything about this — much less did any sort of mind-probes; I knew what Yūki did to Sil and I felt it was wrong to do that — but…when I got the chance to read up on the interrogation reports Seo-shōsa's people put into the record about the prisoners they took, she…"

"Was found to be quite racist," the chaplain finished.

A nod. "Yes…"

"That's no problem!"

Eyes locked on Kei. "What do you mean, Kei?" Hensō asked.

The would-be pilot winked. "She…um, what's her name?"

"Azu Toge," Riyu provided.

"Well, once Toge-san gets to Hichkyech'eng, she'll be _**reprogrammed**_ to be a better person!" Kei said as her eyes sparkled with mischievous delight. "If Riyu wants to wait for it to happen, she'll still get her girl! And she'll be a lot nicer, too!"

As Padre Vincent and Hensō both gaped in stunned shock on hearing THAT, Riyu blinked…before she shuddered. "I don't want her THAT way!" she moaned.

"Well, did she know you were interested in her?!" Kei asked.

"Of course she did!" Riyu declared.

"So why didn't she ask for parole then?! She could have been allowed to do that if she wanted to! Yeah, she would have been probably kept under close watch once her feelings for Terrans got out into the open, but everyone KNOWS how bad Hichkyech'eng is!" Kei hummed as she considered something. "Wait a minute…" she whispered. "Naoko!"

"What?!" Naoko called out.

"Could you go get Sijo-san, please?!"

The would-be MARS officer nodded as she headed off. "Why get her?" Hensō asked.

"Something smells really fishy here, Hensō-san," Kei stated, which made Riyu stare in confusion at her. "If Toge-san was a pilot who flew out of Toshitto — and pilots HAVE to be smart; it's a pre-requisite of the trade! — why in Lyna's name would she allow herself to be taken to Tengsei to face Star Chamber and hard time on Hichkyech'eng? It doesn't make sense to me. And since Riyu here didn't mind-probe her…!"

"How could she confirm whatever story Toge told her about her career," Padre Vincent finished before he gazed on Riyu. "Did she tell you anything about that?"

A shake of the head. "Not really."

The others hummed…and then perked as Naoko walked onto the flight deck, followed by Sijo. The Oni pilot was now in naval combat dress, dark green Army epaulettes with the twin stripes of a captain on her shoulders. "Hey, Riyu! You okay?!" she asked.

A shake of the head. "N-n-no…!"

"She had a crush on Azu Toge," Hensō explained. "She was one of your friends, right?"

Sijo jerked. "That bitch?!" she exclaimed.

"_**HEY!**_" Riyu yelped.

The pilot jerked as she sensed a disapproving look coming her way from Padre Vincent…not to mention a cold blue-eyed stare from a certain major general now standing at the doorway getting a cigar lit up thanks to one of the gash-haulers assigned to this ship's aerospace group. Taking a minute to curse herself for letting her mouth run away from her like that, Sijo then sighed. "Riyu, Toge was no _starfighter_ pilot. She was qualified on _courier shuttles_. Atop that, she was Yethis' personal assistant." A shake of the head. "And I do mean PERSONAL assistant!" she added with a virutal flood of scorn in her voice. At Riyu's confused look, Sijo added, "She was his lover."

"What rank was she?"

People turned as Dean Raeburn walked up to join them. "She was just a lieutenant. Marine lieutenant, General," Sijo explained.

A nod. "Equivalent of an army lieutenant. And this Yethis clown?"

"Senior general. That's above a general."

A smirk. "Field marshals…!" Dean hissed out before she gazed down at Riyu, who was gazing in awe at the older woman…and what was visible under the folds of her flight jacket and the underlying tunic. "Glad they decided to make that a wartime rank these days. Did you ever have anything to do with that guy, miss?"

Riyu shook her head. "As far as I knew, he was Toge's father, Raeburn-sama; that's what she said to me when I asked her about him. I never thought to confirm anything. She always was pretty defensive of him after they came aboard. I remember Ando speaking to him once shortly after that, but that was it."

"Then again, few of us ever knew Yethis on sight, General," Sijo added as she gazed on Dean. "Besides, given that he WAS the leader of the Imperial Round…"

"You believe he might have been show down and killed when the purges happened," Padre Vincent noted as he got up, and then he reached down to help Riyu to her feet.

A teary nod. "Yes…"

Dean sighed. "Miss Arimori?"

Kei tensed. "Yes, ma'am?"

"You take _**personal**_ charge of this one and square her away," the general stated as she indicated Riyu before she turned to head to the aft end of the hangar deck. "Captain!"

Sijo jerked, and then she moved to follow the former leader of the War Hawks aft. Kei watched them go, and then she nodded before offering her arm to Riyu. The latter blinked in confusion for a moment, and then she blushed on realising what the officer cadet was doing. She slipped her arm around Kei's as the latter moved to escort her off the hangar deck. Padre Vincent, Naoko and Hensō watched them go, and then the chaplain chuckled. "What's so funny, Reverend?" Naoko wondered.

A sigh. "General Raeburn is of the old school when it comes to the personal affairs of her subordinates, Naoko," the chaplain replied. "I believe that in Japanese society, what she did for Kei and Riyu would be seen as performing the duties of a _nakōdo_."

The younger women blinked. "You mean to see if they become bond-mates?" Hensō asked.

Padre Vincent nodded as he turned to head off…

* * *

"So you did that to see if Kei and Riyu could become lovers?"

Dean smirked. "Sometimes — even if some might question the ethics of it — a senior officer has to do things to make sure the personal lives of subordinates won't butt into their professional duties." A wink. "That sometimes might include making sure single officers — even cadet officers — have dates for the evening."

A chuckle. "You'd never see that in any official rule book, ma'am," Sijo warned.

"True. Every armed force on every planet I've visited over the years runs the very same way, Captain. Always keep your eyes out for the unofficial stuff; it's often as important as the stuff that's put down in the rule books."

A nod. "Yes, ma'am."

"And Sijo…"

Sijo tensed on hearing the warning tone in the older woman's voice. "Ma'am…?"

"You have GOT to learn how to control that mouth of yours," Dean said as she glared intently at the younger woman. "You're married, have a mistress and you've got two kids on the way. After you spend time with me, you'll be in a line regiment. I don't want to hear reports of you being foul-mouthed or offending the wrong people at the wrong time from your future commanding officers. You got me, Captain?"

A rapid nod. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Excellent," Dean said as she puffed her cigar. "To help you along, I'll introduce you to a friend of mine when we get to Earth and you get that issue with Ranma's father out of the way. He's very good at making sure kids off the streets learn how to behave themselves in public once in uniform. He normally wears the Red Serge when he has to dress up, but the Force is the equal of a dragoons regiment in the Army and I will never look down on their training style. Even if it's changed since Martin was a drill sergeant at Depot in Regina back in the early 1950s before he pulled the pin."

Sijo went white. "Martin…as in _Martin Larsden_?!" she eeped. "The sniper in your old squad?! The guy who could kill people at **two kilometres** with a _**rifle**_?!"

A knowing look came back. "The same."

The young starfighter pilot gulped. _I am SO dead…!_

* * *

Ottawa, Royal Canadian Mounted Police "A" Division Headquarters, that moment (local time: mid-afternoon)…

"AH-CHOO!"

"Bless you, Commissioner."

A moan escaped the thin yet muscular man in the brown duty uniform of a member of the Force, the crown and three pip stars insignia of his brevet rank on his shoulder epaulettes. "Dean's talking about me for some reason," Assistant Commissioner Martin Larsden stated as he scanned down the dataPADD while relaxing at his desk in the loaned office space now serving as temporary headquarters for the new "P" Division; Avalonian-Canadians working for the Ministry of Public Works were preparing a new headquarters building for the Force's new metahuman policing unit near the site of Canadian Forces Station Leitrim to the southeast of Ottawa's urban area.

Staff Sergeant Benton Fraser — the senior non-commissioned member of the headquarters unit of "P" Division — perked on hearing that. "How can you tell, sir?"

"Excuse me?"

"How can you tell it was General Raeburn speaking about you?"

"The force and sonic frequency of the sneeze," Martin replied as his grey eyes — the shade of the clouds in a hurricane, many had mused on seeing those dark orbs — flashed with the decades of knowledge and experience the Force's most famous tracker of criminals had gained both in and out of uniform. "If it was Heather, it would have a higher pitch and be drawn out more. Jessica elicits a low pitch while making it somewhat sharper than what Dean can do to me at times. I wonder what's up."

The Mountie who had once been detached to the Canadian consulate in Chicago shortly after the murder of his father Sergeant Robert J. Fraser — the elder Fraser had been part of the last recruit troop then-Staff Sergeant Martin Larsden had taught at "Depot" Division before the latter's retirement from service in the Force — in 1994 nodded. "If you wish, I can contact _Haida_ and ask General Raeburn what is happening," he then offered.

"No need," Martin stated. "If Dean usually talks about me, it's because she needs my help in training someone who needs to be civilized for some reason. Possibly one of those Urusian officers who were literally orphaned by their people when _Haida_ and her sisterships went after that stealth cruiser over Yaminokuni."

Benton hummed. "Flight Lieutenant Mith Sijo, then."

The older officer blinked. "You've seen the list?"

"Yes, sir." As the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was a part of the Ministry of Public Safety — which liaised with the Canadian Armed Forces on local security matters when military forces had to be involved in "aid to the civilian power" missions — that a copy of the list of paroled Urusian service personnel coming to Earth aboard _Haida_ was sent to the Force was simply a given. "Given that General Raeburn did take a prototype CSF-198 to transport Admiral Thompkins onto _Haida_, I suspect the flight lieutenant — soon to be captain in the Air Cavalry Corps, I would automatically conclude — will serve as the general's aide-de-camp when the office of Master General of the Air Cavalry is properly re-established at National Defence Headquarters as part of the headquarters unit of Land Forces Command." Benton then frowned. "Even if the position title is not exactly that."

"What was the title then?"

"Assistant Chief of the Land Staff for Tactical Aviation Services."

Martin blinked. "And Dean accepted _**that**_?!"

"I did overhear Minister MacKay inform Minister Toews yesterday when I visited the latter at his offices on Parliament Hill that once Land Forces Command is renamed officially as the Canadian Army next year, the position of ACLS-TAS will be formally re-designated as MGAC." Benton spelled out the latter acronym instead of pronouncing it as "Em-jack" as was often done. "Possibly form a First Canadian Air Cavalry Division Headquarters and make the MGAC position the position of General Officer Commanding."

A smirk. "A formation like that would only be formed in a general war, Benton. Just having the Second, Third and Fourth Divisions reformed will be enough, I believe."

"Yes, sir."

"Carry on."

"Sir." And with that, the staff sergeant walked out of the office.

Martin watched the young lad go, a smirk twisting his lips as he noted several very pretty Avalonian-Canadians — the first troops of Avalonian-Canadian cadets would graduate from "Depot" Division near the start of autumn in September — gaze with frank speculation at the handsome fellow in their midst. "Bob, you taught your son so many things," he then quietly stated. "But you never taught him about THAT."

"I figured he could learn it on his own, sir," the voice of the ghost of Robert Fraser replied from his position at one corner of the office.

"In the _Northwest Territories_?" Martin wondered.

The spirit of the elder Fraser laughed…and then perked on hearing the whine of a canine from the doorway to Martin's office. "Is there a problem, Mister Mulroney?" the assistant commissioner then calmly asked as he gazed on a certain part-wolf.

Mulroney — one of the grandchildren of the late Diefenbaker thanks to a tryst in the 1990s with a _very_ friendly husky named Maggie from Chicago — whined as he focused on the box of Tim Hortons donuts one of the civilian staff left on Martin's desk earlier in the day. On seeing that, Fraser chuckled. "Like grandfather, like grandson!"

Mulroney then barked on sensing his master's bodiless father then speak about him. "Go ahead, son," Martin then said as he waved to the donuts.

A bark of thanks, and then Mulroney dug in…just as Benton Fraser came back. Noting his father's ghost nearby, the staff sergeant sighed. "Father, did…?"

"He did, son," the elder Fraser noted with a smirk.

Benton sighed as Mulroney gave him an innocent look. "Well, it will not be **my** fault if you suffer a heart attack, Mulroney," the staff sergeant advised before turning back to continue his work…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The title **Five Elite Generals of Cáo Wèi** was used in the _Sānguózhì_ ("Records of the Three Kingdoms") to refer to five very successful generals who served that state during the years leading up to its formation in 220 C.E. The five in question are — along with Yuè Jìn — Yú Jìn, Zhāng Liáo, Xú Huǎng and Zhāng Hé…personified these days as Gakushin Bunken (Tano Susumi), Ukin Bunsoku (Yuku Taeru), Chōryō Bun'en (Hari Haruka), Jokō Kōmei (Omomuro Akira) and Chōkō Shungai (Haru Kazua) respectively.

2) **Azu Des** — based on one of Lew Burton's characters — was a background player in the early part of the "Great Father Ataru" storyline of _The Senior Year_. His kinswoman **Azu Toge** appeared in "Great Father Ataru Stage Three - Rededication."

3) **Martin David Larsden** was a character that eventually came about partially because in Canada, the federal uniformed services are normally seen to include the three branches of the Canadian Forces (the Navy, the Army and the Air Force)…and the **Royal Canadian Mounted Police** (short-form **RCMP**), the national and federal police force formed in 1920 from the unification of the Royal North-West Mounted Police (formed in 1873) and the Dominion Police (formed in 1868). The Force — as members of the RCMP normally refer to themselves as a group — is quite well known both inside and outside the Dominion, especially for the **Red Serge** crimson patrol dress uniform with gold-striped black horse rider's trousers, brown leather boots and the brown wide-brimmed Stenson hat worn on ceremonial occasions; this uniform was based on the surplus British army uniforms worn by elements of the North-West Mounted Police when they first deployed from eastern Canada to secure the newly-acquired lands of the **Northwest Territories** in the early 1870s.

Members of the Force have always answered the call to arms whenever Canadian troops went off to fight, as was shown by the formation of **No. 1 Provost Company** for service in World War Two as the military police unit of the First Canadian Infantry Division; all members of that unit were members of the Force in civilian life. Because of that attitude towards national military service, the RCMP was accorded the status of a regiment of **dragoons** (the classical title for mounted infantry soldiers) — complete with the awarding of a regimental guidon — in 1921 by King George V. The battle honours awarded to the Force include **Northwest Canada 1885** (the Northwest Rebellion of that year), **South Africa 1900–2** (the Boer War), **France and Flanders 1918** and **Siberia 1918–19** (service in the First World War) and **Europe 1939–45** (service in the Second World War).

It should also be noted that the motto of the Force is NOT "They always get their man." While it is an urban legend that the phrase was first created by Hollywood storywriters, it actually first appeared in an 1877 article published in an issue of the _Record_ — the local newspaper of Fort Benton, Montana — where the writer commented on the capture of two whiskey smugglers who tried to take their wares across the border and were tracked down and caught by two Mounties. The article concluded with this phrase: "_Horses were sacrificed for the arrest, but the MPs are worse than bloodhounds when they scent the track of a smuggler, and they fetch their men every time._"

The true motto of the Force is _Maintiens Le Droit_, French for "Defending the Law."

4) During the Second World War, the **2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade** (**2 CIB**) was composed of the active service battalions of the **Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry** (**PPCLI**) — Canada's second Regular force infantry regiment, first founded in 1914 — as well as the **Loyal Edmonton Regiment** (**LER**) from the city of the same name (today considered the 4th Battalion of the PPCLI) and the **Seaforth Highlanders of Canada** (**SEAFORTHS OF C**) from Vancouver in British Columbia. Attached to the brigade was a platoon of the **The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment)** (**LORNE SCOTS**) from Brampton in Ontario near Toronto; the regiment provided the 1st Canadian Infantry Division with ground defence platoons attached to its infantry brigades. In the universe of this story, the **10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment (Air)** (**10 SASK CAV R**) was assigned to 2 CIB as the brigade's air cavalry reconnaissance and ground attack support unit. 2 CIB is seen as being perpetuated today by **2 Canadian Mechanised Brigade Group** (**2 CMBG**) based in Petawawa.

5) The **M1 Garand** rifle — officially the **United States Rifle, Caliber .30, M1** — was the standard sidearm of the American soldier from its introduction in 1936 to its final withdrawal from service all the way in 1966. The first semi-automatic infantry rifle ever built, it came with an eight-shot clip for the .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge it was designed to fire. As fans of _Band of Brothers_ may remember, the M1 always made a sharp pinging noise when the empty ammunition clip is ejected from the magazine of the weapon after the last round is fired; this usually attracted the attention of enemy soldiers who tried to zero in on that sound with their own weapons. The reason Martin Larsden chose this weapon — Canadian soldiers at the time made use of the No. 4 Mark I version of the **Lee-Enfield** bolt-action rifle with a ten-round magazine in .303 British calibre — for use in the War Hawks was that it was a semi-automatic weapon that fired a standard rifle round…and that it was designed ultimately by a _Canadian_, **John C. Garand** (1888-1974) of Saint-Rémi in Québec, then working for the **Springfield Armory** in Massachusetts.

6) The steamship S.S. _Lemoyne_ was the largest freighter on the Great Lakes at the time she was allowed to open the modern version of the **Welland Ship Canal** between Lakes Erie and Ontario in 1932. She was considered the largest ship to sail on the Great Lakes from 1926 (when she was commissioned as a vessel of **Canada Steamship Lines**, one of the still-active maritime transportation firms on the Lakes to this day) well into the 1950s.

7) The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is divided administratively into **divisions** commanded always by an **assistant commissioner** (**A/Comm'r**). Save for the training unit of the Force, all divisions in real life are lettered from **"A" Division** (the unit assigned to patrol the National Capital Region of Ontario and Québec) to **"V" Division** (the unit assigned to patrol Nunavut Territory); the letters I, N, P-U and W-Z are not used in this case. **"J" Division** of the Force is the unit assigned to provide policing functions in New Brunswick. In the reality of this story — and in the reality of my _Icemaidens_ stories — there is an all-magical **"W" Division** that serve as Canada's version of the Aurors in Britain; the "W" was chosen to represent the words "wizard" and/or "witch." The "P" in **"P" Division** represents "paranormal."

**"Depot" Division** — also known as the **Royal Canadian Mounted Police Academy** — in Regina (the capital of Saskatchewan) is the basic training establishment for the Force. The recruit course for cadets seeking to become members of the Force — formally called the **Cadet Training Program** — is twenty-four weeks (120 training days) long. In the universe of this story and in the _Icemaidens_ stories, ALL members of the Force — even those who will become members of "W" Division — MUST pass the CTP to become a regular member of the Force!

As an aside, all division titles are always written in quotes as seen above.

8) **Sakakibara Chiharu**, **Honjō Arisa**, **Ishida Nagisa** and **Sawada Minako** are all _Grand Prix_ characters who transitioned over to _Find Love_. Chiharu is a native of Kōbe in Hyōgo Prefecture near Ōsaka; she is a ballerina who also likes to swim and participate in other physical sports. Arisa is from Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture; she loves bowling and volleyball. Nagisa is another Hyōgo girl from Himeji thirty kilometres west-northwest of Kōbe; she is into the Tarot and loves aerobics. And Minako is a girl from Maizuru on the East Sea coast of Kyōto Prefecture; she is a kendō-ka who loves to cycle.

As an aside, a **Logistics Officer** (**LOG**) is a senior manager of personnel of the Canadian Forces Logistics Branch assigned to a unit. Such officers are trained in a sub-specialty such as Supply Chain Management, Transportation, Human Resource Management, Finance, and Food Services. Logistics officers are also trained according to their environment of employment (Sea, Land, Air). A **Military Police Officer** (**MP**) does the same thing for personnel of the Canadian Forces Military Police under his/her charge. Such officers assist their unit or formation commander concerning the enforcement of discipline, traffic control, handling of prisoners of war, detainees and refugees and the collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of information relevant to criminal intelligence.

9) The "**bus driver uniform**" nickname for the blue Air Force uniform worn by people like Arimori Kei is derived in part by the colour, which is similar to the shade civilian bus drivers wear on their uniforms…and its cut; of all the Distinctive Environmental Uniform patters, the Air Force uniform is of the same cut as the infamous **CF greens** that were the official dress uniform from 1968-87. The CF greens were always called "bus driver uniforms," especially by seamen and air servicemen who didn't particularly care to be wearing something that would make onlookers unfamiliar with branch badges believe they were actually _soldiers_.

10) Dean Raeburn's actions concerning Aruka Riyu and Arimori Kei were inspired by a scene in one of my favourite books, the famous 1979 autobiography _And No Birds Sang_ (ISBN 978-1-77100-030-7) by **Farley Mowat** (born 1921), one of Canada's most prolific and famous writers. Mowat — who was a platoon commander in the **Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment** (**HAST PER**) of Belleville in Ontario (nicknamed the "Hasty Peas") — reported in that book that his first sexual experience came thanks to the interference of a superior officer when it was believed that Mowat himself was not a man; said superior officer then arranged to have the problem "fixed." Right after the little tryst in the bushes, Mowat later complained to said superior officer that if there was anything needed "fixing," he would do it himself!

11) Fans of the 1994-99 crime drama/comedy series _Due South_ will immediately recognise Martin Larsden's division headquarters staff sergeant, **Benton Fraser** (played by Paul Gross)…who was, at the time of the television series, a constable in the Force and assigned to the Canadian Consulate in Illinois' largest city, where he ended up meeting his two best friends, Chicago Police Department detectives **Raymond Vecchio** (played by David Marciano for seasons 1 and 2 of the series) and **Stanley Raymond Kowalski** (played by Callum Keith Rennie; Stanley was said to be pretending to be Ray while the real Ray was engaged in undercover work for all of season 3). A straight-laced Mountie of the same mould as the cartoon character **Dudley Do-Right** (created by Alex Anderson) from the 1960s, Benton is a sort of outdoors version of Sherlock Holmes; one of the running gags in the series was his ability to tell certain things by TASTING a sample…which, naturally, grossed the hell out of Ray and later Stanley. He was also a backwoods tracker of unbelievable tenacity and near-limitless endurance who — at the start of the pilot episode — chased down a fisherman who went over his limit through deep snow in the middle of a BLIZZARD for THREE HUNDRED KILOMETRES, then dragged him back to his detachment to be processed! Of course, Benton donated the fish — all four and one-half TONNES of fish! — to a local Inuit village.

Another quirk of Benton's was his ability to see the ghost of his father, Sergeant **Robert J. Fraser** (played by the late Gordon Pinsent), at various times in the series. As Martin's abilities are magically-enhanced, the Force's representative in the War Hawks would be able to see Benton's father as well. With some quick calculations — the elder Fraser was 57 years old at the time of his death in 1994 (when the pilot episode was set), thus he would have gone through "Depot" Division around 1954-55 — I made Benton's father a part of the last troop of cadets that Martin trained before he retired. Even though the elder Fraser ascended to Heaven in the last episode of _Due South_, Martin's return to the Force saw the sergeant "recalled to duty" once more…fortunately, not through any form of necromancy!

As an aside, Benton Fraser had a deaf half-wolf named **Diefenbaker** at his side throughout _Due South_. Since such large dogs normally live at most for a decade before passing away, I had Benton's new pet **Mulroney** — the name was inspired by a _Due South_/_Gatchaman_ crossover story at this website, _Due Sou — uh, North — Wherever_ by **UnpublishedWriter**, which caught my eye and is marked as one of my favourites here — be Diefenbaker's grandson.

12) The **Second Canadian Division** (**2 CDN DIV**), **Troisième Division du Canada** (**3E DIV DU C**, French for "Third Canadian Division") and **Fourth Canadian Division** (**4 CDN DIV**) would — in the universe of this story — be the reserve Army divisions formed up from Militia forces in Land Forces Central Area (2 CDN DIV), Secteur du Québec de la Force Terrestre/Land Forces Atlantic Area (3E DIV DU C) and Land Forces Western Area (4 CDN DIV) respectively. In real life, these divisions — along with First Canadian Division — formed the **Canadian Corps**, the primary fighting formation of Canadian troops in World War One. All three divisions — with Fourth Division being an armoured division; Second and Third Divisions were infantry formations — were also revived for service in World War Two. Save for a period in the 1950s when these divisions were administrative formations in the Militia, none of them had been re-established…though there was talk of reforming 2 CDN DIV as the reserve force counterpart to 1 CDN DIV in recent proposals for restructuring of the Canadian Forces.


	55. Hiromi Gets Her Parents Back

R.F.S. _Fëdor F. Ušakóv_, in orbit over Vladivostók (Japan time: before breakfast)…

"So how do you feel, Shinobu-chan?"

Miyake Shinobu moaned with delight as she slowly pulled herself up from the diagnostic bed, aided by two Terran-turned-Avalonian nurses who had been assigned to the flagship of the Central Eurasian Division of the Earth Defence Force from the Pacific Fleet base in Vladivostók when Izuku Susuko raised her flag on the _Ušakóv_ with the Ten Attendants to watch over Earth. "_Spasíbo!_" she said to the nurses in accented Russian, which made them smile, before she gazed on the reborn last Great General of the Hàn and the leader of the Attendants. "Really good, Sempai. Dina-san and Marta-san were really nice to help me through the Awakening." She slowly got up. "Wow…to believe Hiromi-chan and Tariko-chan went through THIS when they first awoke in their bodies…"

"It is quite an eye-opener, isn't it?" Dina Gennadiovna Zaxarova mused; fortunately, the omni-translation fields were active on the _Ušakóv_, thus allowing the nurses to speak in their native language and still be understood by the visitors from Japan.

She and Marta Maksimovna Komarova shared a laugh; they had been two of the first native Russians to undergo a body-swap when the _Kosmičeskij Angely_ first came to Earth back in March to live free amongst the peoples of Earth. Before being asked to come aboard the _Ušakóv_, the nurses — both held the rank of _stáršij lejtenánt_ — had been assigned as medical support to a modern version of the old Soviet concept of a "Hero Project" to help thousands of Niphentaxian-Avalonian hybrids who wanted to make new lives for themselves in the wilderness of Siberia build new towns and villages away from already-established settlements. Given how barbarically those poor children had been treated by their fathers' people, the government had been glad to welcome them to the _Rodina_ and let them have their way within reason; the President of the Federation later commented to Otako Meinyak that allowing the hybrids to come to Russia was simply making a wise investment in the future. Despite the understandable desire of many of the hybrids to be left alone, social workers from across Russia — mostly supported by the Russian Orthodox Church — were flocking in droves to the new towns to do everything to make their new countrymen feel welcome.

"So what do you hope to have happen now, Shinobu-chan?" Haru Yuzumi then asked.

A sigh escaped Ataru's former girlfriend after they parted from Dina and Marta so they could return to the upper forward wardroom, where the Attendants normally gathered to enjoy their meals and share reports on various projects. "Hopefully when Tariko-chan comes back, I'll have my 'time of the month' with her and we can be together finally," she then admitted before her smile slipped. "I know about Kanami-san, though…"

"Multiple-partner relationships do exist amongst Avalonians," Susuko mused as they boarded a turbolift car for the wardroom. "Look what Hiromi has to deal with now."

Shinobu shook her head. "BOTH her wives AND one of her mistresses?!" she wondered before scowling. "Her mother won't like that! Not one bit!"

"Well, if Takeshi-sensei, Shigeru-sensei and Yusuke-sensei have their way, any problems from that woman would be soon done away with," Yuzumi mused.

Shinobu laughed on hearing that. She had learned about Moroboshi Kinshō's reaction to the news of Wan Miwaka electing to pursue Hiromi romantically — along with the news of the rebirth of the Xiàoxiàn Emperor of Hàn as their daughter Kanami — when she had come around the Moroboshi home to look in on Ataru's parents the previous afternoon and got an earful from the older woman. Naturally — since Negako had been busy at the time preparing to take the _Kirkpatrick_ to Yaminokuni to see Shichinohe Kaga made human — Shinobu took matters into her own hands and expressed her displeasure at Kinshō's falling back into unwanted bad habits with her fists. Ataru's mother was currently in the infirmary at the Toranoseishin Finances tower in Tomobiki getting her broken nose and jaw mended; she probably wouldn't be released for a couple weeks. Ataru's father — who had, much to Shinobu's disgust, begun to gush at the idea of his adopted daughter being such a "stud" — was being watched over by a couple of the Terran-form Avalonians who had lived in Tomobiki since the Niphentaxians inserted themselves into the town to watch over their "goddess" the previous summer.

"You mean having Hiromi-chan's REAL parents restored to life?" she then wondered.

The older tōshi nodded. "Unlike the Emperor herself, Ryūchō-sama and his wife have been reborn from time to time over the last eighteen centuries," Yuzumi confirmed as the car arrived at the landing close to the Russian starship's wardroom. "It was quite surprising to note that they hadn't been reborn in the last couple of generations; when it comes to certain tōshi, their reincarnations can be accurately tracked over the years." A sigh. "Most likely, the Heavens intervened when they sensed that Susugame-kun was about to discover what had really happened to the spirit of Liú Hóng."

"Hiromi-chan," Shinobu breathed out.

"Hai…"

The three walked into the wardroom. Seated at the end of one table was the captain of Russia's first starship, _Kapitán Pérvyjgo Ránga_ Sergej Leonovič Vysockij, who was currently analysing something on a dataPADD. He — a gregarious man in his late forties looking like the atypical Don Cossack warlord, though his salt-and-pepper hair, beard and moustache were trimmed to proper military shortness; his eyes were the deep grey of a hurricane — had been the captain of the Federation's first true aircraft carrier, the _Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Sojuza Kuznecov_, before he was assigned to the _Ušakóv_ a month ago. "Ah! Šinobu Tošovna! Susuko Masatovna! Yuzumi Reiovna!" he called out to them as they came up to his table. "How are things with you now?!"

"Much better than before, Comrade Captain," Yuzumi answered as they took seats to either side of them. Immediately, one of the two hundred Avalonian-Russians who had been created to serve on the ship in March — Shinobu didn't know any of their names — came up to serve tea. On the _Ušakóv_, the wonderful Russian Caravan tea was prepared in a proper electric samovar and poured into cut glass cups held in silver metal holders…along with those delightful powdered tea cakes normally served in the local version of a _cha no yu_. "The new bodies for Hiromi-sama's parents are still being gestated in Sick Bay as we speak. Hopefully, when she arrives…" A smirk.

Vysockij chuckled as he gave his esteemed guests a knowing look. The Russian foreign intelligence service had thoroughly briefed him about Moroboshi Hiromi's family and how things actually were in that house now that Redet Hensō was no longer living there. To believe that Hiromi's brother — the man who had effectively saved Earth from alien invasion a year ago — had been treated so poorly by his own parents…!

"Well, I doubt we'll be forced to change Hiromi Mučovna's patronymic anytime soon!" he noted, which made the others laugh; since it was common in Russia to address people on an informal basis by given name and patronymic, a debate had started over what sort of patronymics could be given to pure-born Avalonians living in the country. While many of the younger ones (in spirit) had been readily adopted by elderly citizens of Russia — state radio had reported that one such girl, Maria, had been adopted by a famous hunter now living in Siberia, _Staršij-seržánt_ Pável Petróvič Gógol', a two-time Hero of the Soviet Union for his work as a sniper during "the long walk to Berlin" — choosing patronymics for the older Avalonians now living in Russia was a problem. "Still, it would be better for all of Earth that your _carica_ is allowed to raise her family in peace and tranquility, without the interference of such _nekul'turnyj durákí_!"

Shinobu nearly laughed into her tea on hearing that ripe oath; while _nekul'turnyj_ actually sounded quite mild to Japanese ears, it was seen by Russians as the most wounding insult of all. "How soon will they be here, Vysockij-taisa?" she asked.

"They haven't made syst-…!"

An intercom signal chimed off. "Comrade Captain!"

Vysockij tapped a control on the table's communication unit. "Yes, Tolya?"

"The _Błyskawica_ just signalled us, sir," the ship's combat officer, _Kapitán-Lejtenánt_ Anatolij Yakovič Korovin, reported from the operations room. "They just detected the Task Force ships inside the Ceres orbit line. They're now on final approach to Earth."

The captain nodded. The Polish starship O.R.P. _Błyskawica_ had been the only other Type One ship that could be manned with something of a prepared crew when the Task Force had been mustered to deploy to Yaminokuni. _Was it only just_ seventy-two _hours ago?!_ Vysockij mused, smiling at how ready the Russian Federation and the Republic of Poland had been when it came to sending crews aboard their starships to stand in defence of the planet. As both _Błyskawica_ and _Ušakóv_ were meant to be assigned to the Central Eurasian Division of the Earth Defence Force, the Russian first-rank captain — who was the equivalent of a commodore or lower-half rear admiral elsewhere — had been made division commander answering directly to Izuku Susuko as the Force's new civilian deputy director…and soon to _Kóntr-admirál_ Heather Thompkins as the formation's military commander. That had actually been accepted by the Polish — who had deep historical reasons to despise the Russians — government with remarkable grace, even in the wake of the tragic death of President Lech Kaczyński in an airplane crash near Smolensk back in April while flying in to attend a ceremony marking the seventieth anniversary of the Katyn' Massacre in 1940. Even better in the eyes of Sergej Vysockij, the government in Warsaw clearly wanted to make working relationships between the crew of their starship and the crew of her Russian sistership run as smoothly as possible; they assigned an old comrade of Vysockij's from the latter years of the Warsaw Pact as _Błyskawica_'s captain, _Komandor_ Stanisław Gorazdowski.

"Bring the ship to readiness stations, Comrade," he then ordered. "Signal _Błyskawica_ and advise Comrade Captain Gorazdowski to do the same. Even if our chances of besting the alien monsters who would enslave us all were good, there might be casualties."

"Comrade Captain Gorazdowski's already got his ship at battle alert, Comrade Captain," Korovin responded. "I recommend we do the same just in case."

"Do it, Tolya!"

"_Da!_"

Instantly, alarm klaxons began to blare…

* * *

H.M.C.S. _Haida_, passing Mars' orbit, five minutes later…

"You have the _Błyskawica_ and the _Ušakóv_ on sensors now?"

"Aye, ma'am!" Yoshino Tomomi said as she looked up from her station. "Both ships are deploying in flank abreast formation from their orbital positions, heading in our direction. Time to closest point of approach, eight minutes."

"Ops, Radio One!"

Lt(N) Michelle Anderson tapped a control on her dataPADD. "Ops, go!"

"Signal from _Błyskawica_," CPO2 Nathan Cotter reported. "Captain Gorazdowski extends his compliments and requests status of all vessels and crew."

Michelle then gazed on Brian Gamblin. The captain nodded his permission. "Radio One, Ops," the navigation officer then called out down to the central communications room. "From the captain to both _Błyskawica_ and _Ušakóv_, relay the following…"

Other people in the room smirked…

* * *

_Ušakóv_, the operations room…

"Comrade Captain, _Haida_ is signalling us."

Vysockij perked. "Report."

The ship's chief communications officer, _Stáršij Lejtenánt_ Sofiya Viktorovna Ivaneva, smiled. "Comrade Captain Gamblin passes his complements to us both. And the signal is…" She then blinked before squeezing her eyes closed. "Thank God!"

"What, Sofiya-san?" Susuko, now seated in the admiral's chair at the aft end of the main operations room table, then demanded…though her empathy was picking up the explosion of joy and relief flooding the young woman's soul at this time.

A beaming smile. "'We all left. We all came home…with friends.'"

Silence fell…and then a wild scream of relief exploded from somewhere off to the port side as everyone cried out their joy and delight on hearing such a positive message their new comrades from Russia's trans-Arctic neighbour just sent out. People shook hands and embraced as Vysockij accepted a hug from Shinobu while Susuko and Yuzumi — who had been standing close to her lover — shared an embrace and kiss. The reborn last great general of the Hàn then put fingers to lips to let out a shrill whistle to calm everyone down. "Alright, people! We're glad to hear it, but we've still got work to do!" she advised, which made everyone else laugh. She then focused on the navigation officer, _Kapitán-Lejtenánt_ Roman Maksymovič Borodin. "Roman-san, do you think you can put all the skills you learned navigating submarines down Gorškov's Railroad to put us somewhere close to _Haida_ as soon as we catch up to them?"

The former submarine navigator laughed. "Give me a stopwatch and a map, and I'll fly the Alps in a plane with no windows, Comrade Deputy Director!" he declared.

Laughter filled the space as Vysockij shook his head.

What in God's Name WAS it about Westerners — in his eyes, the Japanese were counted as part of that group — and _The Hunt for Red October_…?!

Thinking about that, he then smirked. _Ah, what the hell!_

While the man did get some technical details wrong — only now was the concept of the "caterpillar" drive system being introduced thanks to the Avalonians into the navies of various nations, Russia amongst them — Fomá Fomáyovič Clancy did write good stories!

Shame that Hollywood only got it mostly right with just the _first_ movie…!

* * *

As the ships of the Task Force and the _Kirkpatrick_ passed the orbit of Mars' magical sister planet Nerio, the _Błyskawica_ and the _Ušakóv_ approached on a slightly higher plane to avoid any possible collisions. As the Polish and Russian starships passed over the double arrowhead formation of their sisterships — with _Haida_ in point position between _Kirkpatrick_ to port and _Bismarck_ to starboard — the intercepting starships performed graceful split-S turns to put themselves on both of _Haida_'s flanks and below the plane of the Task Force ships. In minutes, _Błyskawica_ and _Ušakóv_ were now forming their own mini-arrowhead with their Canadian sistership, though the newcomers stayed at a lower plane so as to not wash the bows of _Yamato_ and _Richelieu_ with the exhaust of their impulse drives. Once done, both Vysockij and Gorazdowski beamed aboard _Haida_ to report directly to Moroboshi Hiromi and Heather Thompkins. The Russian captain was accompanied, of course, by Izuku Susuko, Haru Yuzumi and Miyake Shinobu.

* * *

Unseen — though clearly noticed by the sensor crews of all the ships — by anyone, a small courier ship manned by Avalonian-Americans assigned to NASA to work on detailed scientific analysis missions to the asteroid belt was also returning to Earth. With the shipmistress' permission, one of the crew filmed the arrival of the Task Force and their being intercepted by _Błyskawica_ and _Ušakóv_, sending it right away to Houston.

Within ten minutes of that, YouTube and other on-line services were putting out videos of the starships arriving home from their first deep space mission…

* * *

_Haida_, the director's meeting room, minutes later…

"So there were other alien observers inserted all over Earth?"

"_Tak_, _Wiceadmirał_," Stanisław Gorazdowski affirmed with a nod of his head. The Polish captain — a native of Gdańsk who had first gone to sea when he was a boy with his father, who was a fishing boat captain — was a short yet muscular man who had earned his spurs commanding a frigate before he had been assigned to command the namesake to the original _Haida_'s "sistership." "Ipraedies and Seifukusu mostly, with the odd smattering of other races. Those that had received no proper clearance from the Special Committee were rounded up by local internal security forces and properly interrogated — both using Avalonian and magical means — before they were turned over to the Noukiites for delivery to Hichkyech'eng Prison."

The other captains in the room ruefully chuckled. "Worse than any Gulag prison that ever existed, eh, Sergej?" Liú Xīyuán mused as he gazed at Sergej Vysockij.

"At least the success of THAT prison can't be disputed, Xīyuán," Vysockij noted.

More laughter. "Alright, children. Settle down," Heather Thompkins called out.

All the captains clammed up. To Shinobu — who was standing close to Hiromi — they looked like little kids who had been caught doing something bad. Watching this from her place at the head of the table, Hiromi tried not to smirk too much. Given how Heather's ageing process had been retarded thanks to her close association with Dean Raeburn, she looked at most to be a woman in her mid-twenties. All the captains who were her subordinates all had silver or grey in their hair. Before anyone could say anything else, Luna Lovegood — who was attending this last meeting before she would eventually beam down with Terry Boot to return to the Ministry of Magic in London to make their report to Harry Potter about the Task Force's mission — perked. "I have a question, Captain Gorazdowski," she said after looking up from her own dataPADD with a copy of the report from the Polish captain. "There's a note about this Vosian observer the Israelis knew about who was living in Tel Aviv and owns an ice cream shop. Were there any problems with him?"

"_Nie_," Gorazdowski answered. "That fellow — his Earth name is Abraham Shapiro — is a senior field officer of the Confederation Exploration Directorate who's been assigned to Earth since shortly after the Second World War, Miss Lovegood. He was cleared by the Special Committee with the help of the Mossad in the 1950s. While he did remain in contact with his superiors in Lecashuto, the recent civil war among the Vosians seems to have left him nearly high and dry. But since his presence has been cleared…"

The reporter for the _Quibbler_ nodded in understanding. "I hope it's good ice cream he serves," Hiromi then mused, which made the others in the room laugh.

"As a matter of fact, Comrade Director, he received new orders from his superiors on Vos to relocate to Tomobiki," Vysockij stated. "Given what the Lady Comrade K'ekhech just did to bring that horrible war to an end, I suspect he'll be your direct liaison with the new government of the Confederation. Comrade General Seu-Kai told me that having Vos turn its attention our way is something the Urusians would never want."

"True," Hiromi said as she sipped her tea.

A knock was heard at the door. "Enter!" Gamblin called out.

The door opened to reveal the _Haida_'s chief yeoman of signals. "Sorry to interrupt, Director, but we just received flash traffic from Moscow and Warsaw. The offices of President Medvédev and Prime Minister Tusk to be precise. They were wondering if it was possible to hold the commissioning ceremonies for _Ušakóv_ and _Błyskawica_ before we land the ground troops and you and your friends go back to school."

Hiromi hummed. "Today, perhaps?"

"Both stated they'd be ready to hold such ceremonies at 1300 local for both Saint Petersburg and Gdynia," CPO2 Cotter said. "That would allow a two hour window between the commissioning ceremony for _Ušakóv_ and the one for _Błyskawica_, then hop over the Atlantic to disembark the ground troops in Canada before sundown local time."

The reborn emperor nodded. "And will there be representatives of both the Russian and Polish magical ministries in attendance to have the ships magically shielded?"

"They didn't say anything, Madame Director. It was an unclassified message."

"Hiromi-sama, I could contact the necessary people to have them come aboard right away to perform the necessary blessings," Yuzumi then stated.

"Make the arrangements, Yuzumi-san."

A bow of the head. "Hai!"

"Why magical blessings, Hiromi-chan?" Shinobu asked.

"Do you remember the Prince of the Underworld, perchance?"

Ataru's former girlfriend made a face. "_Him?!_" she spat out.

"What was that about?" Gorazdowski asked.

"Another of Hensō-san's would-be husbands, Stanisław-san," Hiromi stated. "One who was actually engaged to be married to a very decent woman named Prim…yet he would do almost anything to try to get married to Hensō-san. And Lum-san once he finally learned the awful truth of what happened to them five years ago."

"Ah!"

* * *

The Task Force ships with their three escorting sisterships passed the Moon's orbit a half-hour later, heading on an approach course that would take them into the skies over the eastern tip of Siberia. It was just after breakfast in Japan; thanks to the layout of time zones when set across land, that made it noon hour in the easternmost of Russia's nine zones, known locally as "Magadan Time." After a call to Tomobiki High to get the Principal's permission to take the day off to attend the ceremonies — much to Hiromi's surprise, the school administrator was happy to give the Moroboshi siblings the rest of the _**week**_ off as long as they could visit the school on Friday morning as a way of assuring friends all was well — the reborn emperor and her family switched to the _Ušakóv_ for the "grand review" of Earth's largest nation. Such would have the Russian starship fly over specific cities — starting with Magdalan, the ship would appear in the skies over Vladivostók, Čitá, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinbúrg and Moscow — before arriving over the city often called "the Venice of the North" and which was once the capital of Imperial Russia, founded in 1703 by the man known worldwide as "Peter the Great" and to Russians as Pëtr I or "Pëtr Velíkij," the tsar who established the Imperial Russian Navy in 1696.

Much to the surprise of the non-Russian captains, President Dmítrij Medvédev — with the full consent of the State Duma — granted permission for the _Ušakóv_'s sisterships to fly over the territory of the _Rodina_ as official escorts, their war flags flying. The _Błyskawica_, of course, would not be in that formation as she had to prepare for her own commissioning in the skies east of Gdynia near where her World War Two namesake was currently berthed in honoured retirement. A bigger surprise came from Běijīng when President Hú Jǐntāo granted permission for the formation to fly through Chinese airspace from Vladivostók to Čitá instead of making a circular flight to avoid Manchuria.

"It is a show of true comradeship in the defence of the world!" the Chinese leader explained in a conference call between Běijīng, Moscow and _Haida_.

Of course, as she wasn't properly commissioned _**yet**_ into the Russian Navy, _Ušakóv_ did not fly the blue-on-white Saint Andrew's Flag of her home service once in atmosphere…but the white-blue-red horizontal tricolour of the Russian Federation.

Naturally, in a show of proper respect for their hosts, the flags of both the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation were flown as courtesy flags off the other starships' foremasts as they proceeded through the airspace of both nations.

While this was happening, the Dragon Jade — which had been kept aboard the _Kirkpatrick_ after all the Avalonian-Australians had their souls augmented — was brought aboard the _Ušakóv_ so that the two hundred Avalonian-Russians aboard could have their souls augmented. That was done within an hour, thus allowing the ancient jewel to be taken aboard the _Błyskawica_ before she was dispatched to Gdynia so the two hundred Avalonian-Poles aboard that ship could have their own souls augmented.

As this was going on, representatives of both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Ministry of Magic came aboard the _Ušakóv_ at Vladivostók to ensure the newest ship of the Navy would be spiritually and magically guarded for the journey to Saint Petersburg. There, she would be officially blessed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All The Rus', His Holiness Kirill I, in the skies over the Neva River itself close to both the Peter and Paul Fortress and the current berthing place of the famous light cruiser _Avróra_. People were quick to note that given _Ušakóv_'s overall length, her bow — facing east — would be parallel to _Avróra_'s bow and her stern would reach all the way out to the western ramparts of the Fortress! Fortunately — with what nearly happened to the _Arizona_ when she was commissioned into the United States Navy fresh in people's minds — the Russian armed forces would be out in force and the Trinity Bridge that crossed the Neva right next to the Fortress would be closed off to spectators.

Of course, Russians were quite accustomed to having their government demand such things of them even in this new age of capitalism and democracy. Still, the whole country seemed to explode in a massive party as church bells were rung and people either came out onto the streets or gathered before televisions at home to watch the procession of twelve starships fly across the vast breadth of the _Rodina_. And while there was some small regret amongst many Russians that the _Ušakóv_ had not been able to deploy to Yaminokuni to help deal with the alien monsters who would conquer all of Earth, the fact that "their" good ship had stood proudly on guard to help protect the planet while the Task Force was gone was more than enough to assuage wounded pride. "Besides, there'll be the _**next**_ mission!" one Navy officer confessed to a Pervyj Kanal reporter in Čitá after _Ušakóv_ flew overhead. "Just because we beat the alien barbarians THIS time doesn't mean they'll stay beaten!"

* * *

The _Ušakóv_, now passing over Irkutsk (Japan time: lunchtime)…

Watching the Channel One news report on the main television screen in the _Ušakóv_'s wardroom as the Russian starship and her escorts made their way over one of Siberia's largest cities on the Angara River close to Lake Baykál, several of the tōshi — who had come aboard to stay close to Hiromi and her family while they were here — could only smile. "I gotta say this about the Russians," Natsukimi Makoto mused before sipping his tea.

"What's that, Ton-chan?" Mago Tsueko asked.

"They sure damn hell know how to throw a party!"

Laughter filled the room — even from the few Russian officers who were off-duty at this time and enjoying an early lunch; _Ušakóv_ always ran her watches on Moscow Standard Time — and then the tōshi all tensed on feeling a subtle wave of fighting ki emanate from somewhere just outside the main doors. "Who on Earth is that?" Izuku Mioko — Hiromi was now on the main bridge with her daughters; they wanted to watch the vast Russian countryside pass by as no one was permitted on the weather decks due to the speed of the ships' movements — then asked. "I never thought…"

"Russian tōshi?" Seki Haneko wondered.

"He's not a tōshi."

Eyes locked on Sandi McLugh. "A gaiscíoch, Sandi-san?" Sebone Mimōko asked.

A shake of the head. "Nope. Just a simple man from Ust'-Ilímsk…"

People turned as a number of military personnel — led by Sergej Vysockij himself — came into the wardroom, escorting an elderly gentleman in the modern field green dress uniform of a Russian Army senior sergeant; he was directly escorted by a very beautiful woman in the blue uniform of a sergeant in the Milíciya. The elderly soldier possessed a whole forest of medals on his left breast…topped with two small red ribbons bearing the gold stars of the Soviet Union's highest award. As the tōshi gazed on him, they noticed the most arresting detail of this man: His cold blue eyes, which would probably be most at home looking through the sights of a rifle.

"…who went on a very long walk to Berlin many years ago," Sandi finished.

The newcomer perked on hearing that, and then he gazed on the tōshi and their American friend for a second before he nodded. "I trust the hunting was good when you went to Yaminokuni, young comrades?" he then asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"It was," Mioko answered for them all. "Was it good during the war, Ojii-san?"

A laugh. "_Da_, it was!" He turned to the Russian Army officers who had walked into the wardroom with him. "Comrades, would you fetch the gift I had brought aboard?"

A handsome captain bowed his head. "Right away, Grandfather!"

He and his companion headed out of the room. Seconds later, they returned, guiding in a section's worth of infantry soldiers in fatigues…who were carrying, much to the shock of all the tōshi, a grizzly bear pelt. But unlike normal grizzlies, the fur of this beast — who had been felled by a single shot to the forehead, the tōshi were quick to see — was a perfect shade of gold that seemed as soft as silk! "Ye gods above…!" Haneko gasped as they watched the soldiers move to mount the pelt on the portside bulkhead. "I've never seen a gold-furred bear in all my lives!"

The old senior sergeant laughed. "Go feel it, young lady," he beckoned.

Haneko and several others got up from their chairs to walk over as the pelt was hooked into place; the mounts holding it up had been drilled into the bulkhead an hour before. As her companions watched, Haneko reached over to trace her fingers on the fur…and then she gaped. "Wait a minute! This is coated in _gold dust_…!" she exclaimed before turning to stare wide-eyed at the old hunter for a moment before a grin crossed her face. "Pável Petróvič Gógol', I presume," she then stated.

A nod. "_Da_! And you, young lady?"

"Seki Haneko, also known as Kan'u Unchō." A bow and fist-in-palm salute.

Gógol's eyes went wide. "Guān Yǔ, eh?!"

"Grandfather, you know of them?" the young army captain who had commanded the crew to bring in the bear pelt then asked as he gazed wide-eyed at the old sniper.

A chuckle. "I have to confess, Fëdor Il'ič, I wouldn't have ever learned of such fighters hadn't Maša come into my life four months ago." He waved to the beautiful police officer — an Avalonian, all the tōshi were quick to sense — beside him.

"Though hopefully, I'll get Papa to finally stop killing bears one of these days," _Seržánt_ Maria Pávlovna Gógol'a then added.

"What about the wolves, Comrade Sergeant?" the senior soldier of _Kapitán_ Fëdor Il'ič Aleksandrov's detail who escorted Gógol' aboard the _Ušakóv_, _Seržánt_ Boris Evgen'evič Buikóv, wondered as he gazed with barely-veiled frankness as Maria.

"Well, they see Papa's reindeer and automatically think 'lunch,' Boris Evgen'evič!" Maria noted as her blue eyes — a deeper sea blue than what her adopted father had — twinkled with a touch of acknowledgement at the other sergeant's clear interest in her. "So it's more than understandable that Papa has to go shoot them!"

"Speaking of which, we best get those wolf pelts over to the other ships," Gógol' then bade. "Hopefully, I'll be able to see Deannette Daniilovna before the ceremony at Saint Petersburg. Come along, comrades! Work's not done yet!"

"_Da!_" the others chanted as they headed out.

Everyone — even the tōshi — cheered and applauded as Gógol' and his party left. Haneko then turned to gaze on the bear pelt, and then she smirked. The _Ušakóv_'s commanding officer was quick to notice. "Something amuses you, Haneko Junovna?"

"Pray to heaven that the eco-tourists don't scream out on seeing this, Captain," Haneko mused as she indicated the pelt. "Even if it IS probably worth a lot of money."

Vysockij howled with laughter…

* * *

The beautiful procession of starships finally arrived at Saint Petersburg just before supper Tōkyō time. As the other ships in the formation came to a hover over the western end of Lake Ládoga — as this was the time for the _Fëdor F. Ušakóv_ to shine, the other captains felt it wasn't right to crowd the airspace over Russia's second-largest city with their presence — one of the Russian starship's four Star Flares, the _Pavel Džonz_, landed with the Patriarch of Moscow and the President of the Federation, accompanied by a small reviewing party. After a quick inspection of the ship's company — now augmented by two hundred Avalonian-Russians in seamen's square-rigged uniforms who had been sworn into the service of the _Rodina_ after their souls had been augmented by the Dragon Jade, giving them star-shaped earrings not any different from their Avalonian-Chinese and Avalonian-American sisters aboard the _Zhèng Hé_ and the _Arizona_ — the Minister of Defence formally accepted ownership of the _Ušakóv_ from Moroboshi Negako. The Patriarch then bestowed his blessings on the ship — with the Russian Minister of Magic adding her blessings as her co-workers finished activating powerful magical wards now incorporated into the ship's hull — before the President was given the Commissioning Tablet by Izuku Susuko to properly welcome Russia's first-ever _kosmíčeskij tjaželyj avianescuščij linéjnyj korábl'_ into official service.

After Sergej Vysockij was given orders by the commander of the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces — the formational command over _Ušakóv_ — to report to the Commander of the United Nations Earth Defence Forces for further duties, the visiting party from Moscow departed. At the same time, Pável Gógol', his daughter and their companions beamed down to the Peter and Paul Fortress so they could return home; the gold-gilded wolves the veteran sniper from Siberia had gifted to the other ships were now hanging in the main wardrooms…with another bear pelt in the aft wardroom of _Haida_ for the viewing enjoyment of the civilian and military command staff when they were aboard.

With that — and now flying her naval ensign from the mainmast — the Russian starship turned on her keel mast to head out over the Gulf of Finland for the flight to Gdynia and the commissioning ceremony for the _Błyskawica_ in a little over ninety minutes' time. As the crowds below watched, the other ships of the Task Force flew over the city in single file with _Haida_ in the lead. People wildly cheered as the visiting starships all dipped their ensigns in salute to the _Avróra_ — one of the oldest commissioned warships in the world — before they fell in line of advance behind their sistership as speed was increased to allow them all to make the flight to Poland so they could form a distant line of review out over Gdańsk Bay and thus stay out of the way while the _Błyskawica_ was undergoing her commissioning.

The captains of the other ships were invited to _Ušakóv_'s wardroom just as the ships rounded Estonia's Hiiumaa Island to get out over the Baltic Sea proper. Everyone — even Emil Weber of _Bismarck_ — took a chance to toast Pável Gógol's stupendous marksmanship. On noting that his German counterpart hadn't reacted to the revelation that the famous Soviet sniper had been aboard _Ušakóv_, Vysockij immediately asked why. "Captain, it's quite simple," the native of Hamburg answered. "If those murdering maniacs that took over my country in 1933 succeeded in actually defeating the Soviet Union in Operation: Barbarossa, your country would have been probably wiped off the map and your people either enslaved or exterminated! How many people in the Soviet Union finally died in that war?! Thirty million?! More?!" A shake of the head. "War is the sum of all evils, Sergej," he then quoted the famous Confederate States general Thomas J. Jackson. "That war — to quote _Herr_ Futoshi…" — he waved to the leader of the Yōshū tōshi who had come out on the mission to Yaminokuni — "…here — was perhaps the most righteous war in all history."

Futoshi Itsuku nodded in approval at that as Koro Sonami perked. "Maybe…"

Eyes locked on the leader of Seito. "What is it, cousin?" Hiromi asked.

"Maybe after the _Błyskawica_ is commissioned, a fly-past over Auschwitz could be done?"

The others perked on hearing that. "I suggest we hold off on that for a time being, Sonami," the reborn emperor then stated. "Yes, what happened in the _HaShoah_ was one of the most abominable crimes against unarmed and defenceless people that have ever been unleashed in history. But wouldn't it be more befitting that we do something like that after the good people of the State of Israel have commissioned their first starship?"

"Will the Palestinians be allowed to do that as well?" Tsukasa Torusuke asked.

"Aye, Mōtoku-dono!" She then gazed on the captain of the _Zhèng Hé_. "Nor will the good people of Táiwān be excluded from the Earth Defence Force, kinsman. Even if I had the time to involve myself in the arguments concerning the status of that island, I won't do that. And to exclude them from being involved in defending the planet…!"

A chuckle. "Comrade Director, believe it or not, many of the senior officers in my service — including many of Comrade Commander Lǐ's co-workers…" — here, he indicated his ship's political officer, _Hǎijūn Zhōngxiào_ Lǐ Ài — "…at the Navy's Political Commissariat — would welcome the involvement of our brothers on Táiwān in the Earth Defence Force. After all, would alien invaders really care about the current dispute between the mainland and Táiwān over what their status actually is?"

"Good point," Nathan Kerr noted…

* * *

The procession of twelve ships made Gdańsk Bay about an hour after departing from Saint Petersburg. With the _Błyskawica_ now facing north towards the Baltic Sea, Brian Gamblin — as flag captain — ordered the other ships to do a sweeping starboard turn parallel to the shallow curve of the bay to have them form two lines of review extending from the tip of the Hel Peninsula south towards Gdańsk itself. Once that was done, Hiromi and her family, plus Izuku Susuko — along with Heather Thompkins as formation commander and Sergej Vysockij as division commander — beamed aboard the Polish starship to be welcomed aboard by Captain Stanisław Gorazdowski and his senior officers. A quick trip up to the open flight deck — the skies were overcast but no rain was forecast — later, they waited for one of the Polish starship's Star Flares, the _Jerzy Świrski_, to bring aboard Acting President Bronisław Komorowski (who was performing his final act as temporary head-of-state), Prime Minister Donald Trusk, Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz of Warsaw (representing the Roman Catholic Church in the Republic as a whole) and Archbishop Sławoj Głódź of Gdańsk (as _Błyskawica_ would be based near Gdynia to maintain the historical link with its World War Two namesake).

Of course, as was done with her sisterships, the _Błyskawica_ was also secretly visited by senior officers of the Polish Ministry of Magic who — under the guidance of the Ten Attendants — efficiently set up magical wards all over the ship to aid in its protection.

As she was watching the commissioning ceremony from a magically-cloaked perch atop the upper hangar deck, Luna Lovegood — who was dictating her reflections on the scene for the article in the next _Quibbler_ — absently thumbed her wand as she waited for the moment that the ship's computer officially acknowledged the President's actions in officially commissioning the vessel as a ship of the Polish Navy.

A moment later — just as the white-and-red swallowtail ensign was broken at the top of the ensign staff at the aft end of the ship, that echoed with a cheer from across the bay as the other starships dipped their ensigns in salute — a bolt of lightning blasted down from the clouds to strike _Błyskawica_'s mainmast! As people gasped, spinning around to gaze on the awesome display of power close to the centre of the ship, Ki Tsukihana shrugged. "Hey! I built this ship to take out other **starships**! Lightning's _**nothing**_ to a big girl like this!"

On hearing that, the Polish service personnel aboard roared their delight and approval as everyone cheered…and then people perked on hearing a carefree laugh from the senior cleric of the Roman Catholic Church present today. "Tell me, Oh Wise Master, what amuses you so this day?!" Hiromi asked as everyone gazed on Archbishop Nycz.

The native of Stara Wieś near Katowice chuckled as he waved around him. "Well, should we be so surprised, Madame Director?" he asked. "After all, is that not this very ship's NAME?!" He waved up to the still-sparking mainmast in emphasis.

Everyone gaped, and then another wild cheer broke out in the skies near Gdynia. As the inspecting party moved to board the _Świrski_ for the trip back to Gdańsk, Moroboshi Negako — who, of course, had to be present for the official turnover of ownership concerning the _Błyskawica_ to the Minister of National Defence — gazed up to where a smiling Luna was atop the upper hangar deck.

"Indeed…" she muttered under her breath before she moved to join a smirking Shichinohe Kaga nearby…

* * *

With the _Błyskawica_ now officially a warship in the Polish Navy, the Task Force vessels and their escorts flew out in single file from Gdańsk Bay back over the Baltic Sea as they turned west towards the Jutland Peninsula. Maintaining a cruising altitude of two thousand metres above sea level — well below standard cruising altitude for most airliners; to ensure ground controllers didn't go into a panic over having such large ships get close to an airliner, the Task Force ships would pursue a course that would take them well away from the congested airspace close to major international airports — they arrived close to Kiel on the eastern end of the canal of the same name within an hour of leaving Gdynia. With official permission from Chancellor Angela Merkel granting all the ships the right to fly over German airspace with their war flags flapping from their mainmasts, the thirteen vessels finally soared out over the North Sea near Brunsbüttel as the sun was finally setting over Tōkyō.

Within an hour, the Task Force was passing over the Strait of Dover. As they continued on their way, _Hood_ launched one of her Star Flare SVC1s, the _Mackworth_, from her upper flight deck. The beautiful executive transport/cargo ship soared down to Royal Air Force Station Northolt, where it landed close to the airport terminal to allow two people to step off. As the shuttle lifted off to rejoin her mothership now soaring over the English Channel towards the Atlantic, an official car picked up the passengers and drove them onto the A40 for the trip downtown to the Ministry of Defence offices on the north bank of the Thames. As an official news release was made by Whitehall to Fleet Street concerning the presence of civilian observers on _Hood_ for her first deep space mission, Luna Lovegood and Terry Boot — along with Alejandro Q. Emplumada — apparated themselves to the Ministry of Magic's offices under Northumberland Avenue north of Whitehall to meet their former schoolmate Harry Potter in his office to spend a few hours debriefing the Director of Magical Law Enforcement on the Task Force's mission to Yaminokuni.

To the surprise of Luna and Terry, _Hood_'s commissioning on Monday morning in the skies over downtown London — the British starship had actually flown over Diagon Alley off Charing Cross Road to position herself over the decommissioned cruiser _Belfast_ to be commissioned by the Prince of Wales — was raising hackles throughout every magical enclave in the United Kingdom as people began to fear the coming of a new "Dark Age of Magic"…which was the historical name for the period leading up to the formal separation of magical from mundane in 1692. As the Man-Who-Won explained what had been published in the _Daily Prophet_ and spoken about over the Wizarding Wireless Network since pictures of the _Hood_ began circulating around — that augmented by dire warnings by known normal-borns such as Hermione Granger and Colin Creevey about the total insanity of attacking a _**starship**_ in _**deep space**_, let alone attacking a ship bearing the _**Queen's Commission**_ of all things! — both the magical researcher from the Department of Mysteries and the daughter of the owner of the _Quibbler_ could only shake their heads at the total stupidity of some people at times…

* * *

Level Two of the Headquarters of Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (located under Northumberland Avenue east of Trafalgar Square) in the City of Westminster, London (Japan time: an hour before midnight)…

"So they wish to challenge the **_Protector of All Life_**, do they?" Luna asked.

Harry perked on hearing that. "Major Raeburn's back?!"

"She's now _Major General_ Raeburn, Harry; she's become the general officer commanding the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry," Terry warned. "The Canadians called back all the War Hawks to duty just before the Task Force left Earth." Which was true, but not the whole truth; Terry could sense the illegal animagus that had fluttered her way into Harry's private office when he and Luna arrived. Since Harry hadn't activated his office's anti-animagus wards — Terry knew the Man-Who-Won was sharp enough to detect the disguised Rita Skeeter; given the reporter's arrogance, it simply disgusted Terry that the woman had been a Ravenclaw when she attended Hogwarts in the 1960s — he no doubt wanted Rita to learn what was being discussed to spread it out to as many people as possible. "Supreme Mugwump Thompkins is now a rear admiral in the Canadian Navy and the military commander of the Earth Defence Force. Even more so, she teamed up with Mistress Haru Yuzumi and the Ten Attendants of the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn to magically proof all the ships from possible intrusion. Anyone who tries to apparate or portkey their way aboard _Hood_ when she's in orbit over Britain — if they could actually make their way five hundred kilometres _up_ into _**deep space**_ to get aboard — will most likely bounce off the wards before they got close, then _**die**_ in airless space!"

"Oh, Terry, don't forget the Resurrected Warriors on that ship as well!" Luna advised.

Harry blinked. "_**Resurrected Warriors?!**_" he demanded.

"Oh, yes!" Luna affirmed. "Didn't you know, Harry? Moroboshi Hiromi is the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn, the one being above all that tōshi — who are the largest group of Resurrected Warriors around; there are over _**forty thousand**_ of them — would obey without question." She shook her head. "Well, if people like those who followed that silly twit Moldyshorts…" — that had been Luna's and Harry's nickname for the late Voldemort in a post-Battle of Hogwarts interview the latter gave to the former — "…wishes to push their luck, it's their magic and lives. Attacking a ship bearing the Queen's Commission is an act of _treason_ against the Crown according to the Separation Act. Attacking Resurrected Warriors is an act of suicide. And given that the _**Earth Angel**_ herself sees the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor as her own _sister_…!"

"Well, no great loss," Harry noted as he sensed the transformed Rita move to escape his office. "The more dead flesh we can finally cut away from society, the better in the long term." He winked at his former schoolmates on saying that.

"Yes, they're simply infested with just too many wrackspurts," Luna lamented. "Total lost causes."

As Terry laughed, Harry waved his finger to activate his office's anti-animagus defences; now that Rita was gone to report what she had heard to her superiors at the _Prophet_ — which hopefully would make people realise that bellyaching about Britain's new starship would lead them on a path to suicide or permanent loss of magic — he could get back to work dealing with the real problems the presence of _Hood_ and all the Avalonian-Britons living in the United Kingdom presented…

* * *

Once clear of the English Channel and out over the Atlantic, the ships of the Task Force and their three sisterships spread out into their triple arrowhead formation for the flight to the entrance of the Cabot Strait between Cape Breton Island and the Island of Newfoundland to commence the disembarkation process of Colonel Wayne Bell's brigade, starting with the support personnel and brigade headquarters staff who hailed from the Atlantic Provinces. Maintaining their two thousand metre altitude about mean sea level as they flew west over the Atlantic, the starships avoided potential collisions with transatlantic airline flights heading to and from North America. And while the sight of such massive starships flying so low over in the skies over the Atlantic was quite impressive from the deck of the R.M.S. _Queen Mary 2_ as the Cunard liner made her way on the eastward run from New York to Southampton, a passing United flight from London Heathrow to Washington Dulles nearly got into trouble when one of the passengers mistook the triple arrowhead formation for a potential Missing Man formation. A quick conference call between _Haida_, the airliner in question and the Gander Area Control Center in Newfoundland soon had Michelle Anderson's message to both the _Błyskawica_ and the _Ušakóv_ hours earlier relayed to a worldwide audience.

"We all left. We all came home."

The "with friends" part of that message was left out given what had nearly happened to _Arizona_ in the skies over Phoenix on Monday morning.

No need to let the xenophobes learn there were new aliens now resident on Earth…

* * *

As the tōshi and their friends from Japan put themselves down to bed just as the Task Force ships crossed the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at midnight Tōkyō time — which was half-past noon in Saint John's on the Island of Newfoundland — to get some sleep before they headed back to classes in eight hours' time, their reborn emperor got a bit of a shock…

* * *

_Haida_, approaching the Cabot Strait, Friday 9 July, after midnight (Japan time)…

"Chōjō-dono…"

Haru Yuzumi was trying not to wince on hearing the frost in Hiromi's voice. "H-hai?"

"Would you kindly explain to me who those two women are sleeping with my children?"

The leader of the Ten Attendants chuckled. "Well, My Emperor, you see…"

A polite cough. "If I may explain, Majesty…?"

Hiromi sighed. "Go ahead, Yūhei-sensei."

Anagawa Takeshi — Tōbu Yūhei — was one of the "Council of Three." A man in his late thirties, the former graduate of Rakuyō bore within him the spirit of one of the Xiàolíng Emperor's earlier teachers, Dòu Wǔ. One of the first critics against the corruption of the Ten Attendants, Dòu — a famous Confucian scholar of the time — would become one of the Attendants' first victims in the brutal infighting in the imperial court that would eventually see the Hàn Dynasty collapse. Dòu had been put to death in 168 C.E. alongside another of Liú Hóng's teachers, Chén Fán, thanks to the Attendants' machinations. As with Dòu, Chén had also been resurrected in the modern era; he lived today as Noberu Shigeru — Chinhan Chūkyo — who was Takeshi's best friend and fellow Rakuyō alumnus. Both men — along with their friend and Gogun alumnus Herasu Yusuke (Saiyō Hakukai), who was the father of Kokoni Kichimi's personal advisor Herasu Mienka — were seen by tōshi as the elder members of the current generation; the incarnations were traditionally delineated by the dates of the rebirths of the living spirits of Dòu Wǔ, Chén Fán and Cài Yōng. "My Emperor, before we went aboard the _Ušakóv_ to await your return, we took the chance to visit your family home to ensure that it was a safe place for you to raise your children," he said as he waved to his companions; they had been given guest quarters close to Hiromi's given their traditional places in the court of the Xiàolíng Emperor. "And while it was never our intention to bring injury to your adopted family, we couldn't ignore what we sensed concerning your adopted parents."

Hiromi sighed. "My mother, you mean?"

"Hai. Your _adopted_ mother…" — the reborn emperor was quick to sense Takeshi's emphasis — "…clearly disapproved of you being pursued romantically by more than just your reborn second wife." He gazed kindly at Wan Miwaka and Sumai Takara on saying that. "Your reborn first wife's parents and your consort's parents were worried about their daughters' safety and welfare once they began seeing you openly; your _adopted_ mother's mad quest to force her sense of normalcy — which really strikes me as odd given her ready acceptance of your brother's would-be wife and her cousin into their home — on all those she views as under her charge. After witnessing the Lady Shinobu quite thoroughly express her disgust at your _adopted_ mother's attitudes, we realised that there had to be extra controls put into place to ensure your daughters — both those with you now and those soon to come — would enjoy a happy home life. To that end, we moved to restore your true parents to life."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"My _true_ parents…?!" a pale Hiromi gasped as she stared wide-eyed at him.

"You mean Liú Cháng and Dǒng Wǔxì?!" Tariko — who was standing nearby with one arm wrapped around Hayashi Kanami and the other around Miyake Shinobu — demanded.

"Hai, Tariko-san, the same," Takeshi affirmed with a nod of her head. "Or as they would be known now, Koro Chōmi and Tadasu Takemi; their battle names would be Ryūchō Kyōnin and — borrowing your sister's chosen style — Tōbumi Kyōsei."

"Who?" a confused Kanami asked.

"My mother is known as 'Eirakutaikōtaikō,' Kanami-san," Hiromi explained. "I declared her Empress Dowager as soon as I assumed the throne even if my father was not my predecessor on the Dragon Throne." A sigh. "So…"

"Your true legal status is not changed, Hiromi," Negako — who was standing nearby beside Kaga — advised. "Nor is the status of the house."

"It is under your ownership, Negako-sama?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes," the ninjutsu grandmaster affirmed. "Muchi agreed to turn the property over to me as part-and-parcel of the agreement that saw me become Ataru's legal guardian — and thus Hiromi's and Tariko's legal guardian — in March shortly after we returned to Earth in the wake of helping liberate the Avalonians. This will allow him to save money for a retirement home for himself and Kinshō without the necessity of drawing money out of the bank account Komeru set up for the upkeep of the home."

"Did Ataru-kun's mother ever know about that, Negako-san?" Shinobu asked.

"No, she did not. No doubt, Muchi wished not to upset her too much."

"So how should both Jiāfù and Jiāmǔ be seen by the clan, Onē-sama?" Hiromi asked.

"As your true parents, of course. Parents who have been found and taken under the family's protection…though neither would have the right to influence your decisions as Matriarch," Negako answered. "Muchi wishes not to have anything to do with the Tenchiaiki Jūkazoku, thus he has no right to advise you on anything. Kinshō has no right to demand anything of you either; since she has always been so adamant on the idea of having a 'normal' household, she was never ritually recognised as Muchi's wife by Nagaiwakai even if they were legally married under Japanese law. With Chōmi's and Takemi's presence in the house from this point on, Kinshō — once she recovers from what Shinobu did to her — would begin to fear their wanting to seek out Muchi romantically, which would certainly distract her from trying anything towards your daughters." She gazed on the Council of Three. "Which was what Takeshi, Shigeru and Yusuke wished to have happen."

Hiromi sighed. "Well, if she can't learn from this, there's no sense wasting energy on her anymore. Very well, then." She hummed before gazing on her reborn parents for a moment; they had been given the small guest cabin beside Hiromi's room that had been used by Sakan Somumi and her reborn friends for a quick romp in the hay before they went aboard the _Yamato_ for the trip back to Earth. Koro Chōmi looked like the late Moroboshi Nagaiwakai save for her not having the Vosian tapered ears Hiromi's predecessor as Matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan possessed, much less the very long hair; as she was the "male" in this relationship, her hair was cropped short. Tadasu Takemi looked like what Yamaguchi Kinshō did when she was Hiromi's age and was one of the wildest students attending Tomobiki High School at the time; her hair was a shaggy halo of dark brown cut in a taper between her shoulder blades. Both women were shaped as people in their twenties. Sleeping snugly between them were Hiromi's reborn children, all quite content.

_At least there will be another option available beyond Ryūnosuke-san and Nagisa-san when my lovers and I start attending school together next Monday_, she mused…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) I use the Scientific Romanisation system for the Russian alphabet. When a caron appears over "z," "c" or "s" (as in **ž**, **č** or **š**), it indicates the voiced post-alveolar fricative "zh" (like the "s" in _treasure_); voiceless post-alveolar affricate "ch" (like the "ch" in _charge_) or voiceless retroflex fricative "sh" (like the "sh" in _sheep_) sounds respectively. The **j** represents the palatal approximant "short i" sound that matches the "y" in _toy_; other systems either write this as an extra "i" or "y." The letter **c** without a caron is usually written as "ts" in other systems; this is the voiceless alveolar affricate sound similar to "ts" in _cats_. The **x** sound is often normally transcribed as the voiceless velar fricative "kh" sound similar to the "ch" in _loch_. The **'** symbol is the "soft sign" that indicates the prior consonant is palatalized; the sound would be pronounced as if it was being followed by the palatial approximant "y" (though not said, of course). The **ë** most often is a "yo" sound similar to what appears in the first two letters of the word _York_. And whenever an acute accent appears over a vowel (i.e "**é**"), it marks the stress point on a word.

2) Translations: **Spasíbo** — Thank you; **Kosmičeskij Angely** — Cosmic Angels (the Russian nickname for Avalonians); **Rodina** — Motherland; **Kapitán Pérvyjgo Ránga** — First-Rank Captain (which, as noted above, is the equivalent of a Canadian Navy commodore or American Navy rear admiral [lower half] and has the NATO rank code of OF-6); **Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Sojuza** — Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union; **Cha no yu** — Literally "tea and hot water," this is the generic term for the Japanese tea ceremony; **Staršij-seržánt** — Senior Sergeant; **Carica** — Empress (either ruling empress or empress consort); **Nekul'turnyj durákí** — Uncultured simpletons; **Kapitán-Lejtenánt** — Captain-Lieutenant; **Kóntr-admirál** — Literally "Counter Admiral," this is the Russian equivalent to the Canadian Navy rank of rear admiral; **Komandor** — Literally "Commodore," this is the Polish equivalent to the Canadian Navy rank of captain (navy); **Stáršij Lejtenánt** — Senior Lieutenant; **Tak** — Yes; **Wiceadmirał** — Vice Admiral (which in the Polish Navy is the equivalent of a Canadian Navy rear admiral; the Polish equivalent to a vice admiral [three-star] is known as an **Admirał Floty** or "Fleet Admiral"); **Gulag** — Acronym of the term **_G_lávnoe _U_pravlénie Ispravítel'no-tridovýx _Lag_eréj i Kolónij** ("Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies"); **Nie** — No; **Pervyj Kanal** — Channel One, Russia's oldest television station; **Milíciya** — Militia (the name for the Russian police during the Soviet era up to 2011); **Kosmíčeskij tjaželyj avianescuščij linéjnyj korábl'** — Cosmic Heavy Aircraft Carrying Ship-of-the-Line, short-formed as **KosTALK**, which would serve as the type prefix for the _Fëdor F. Ušakóv_ (note that within the Russian Navy, universal ship prefixes are not used; the "R.F.S." [Russian Federation Ship/Starship"] prefix is an American convention); **HaShoah** — The Holocaust; **Hǎijūn Zhōngxiào** — Literally "Sea Army Mid-grade Field Officer," the Chinese naval rank title for a commander; **SVC1** — British aircraft military code meaning "Space VTOL Transport, Model No. 1" (the British armed forces do not use the American-style codes to identify their aircraft); **Jiāfù** — Literally "father of the house," a way to address one's father in China; **Jiāmǔ** — Literally "mother of the house," a way to address one's mother in China.

3) Russian names are written properly as "**Given Name + Patronymic + Family Name**." The standard patronymic is usually a combination of the father's name with either the endings **-ovič** (literally "son of…") or **-ovna** ("daughter of…"), though there are the odd variations, i.e. **Il'ič** ("son of Il'ya") or **Il'inična** ("daughter of Il'ya"). As noted above, it is common for Russians to always address people informally by given name and patronymic in combination; close friends can make use of nicknames such as **Maša** for "Maria" or **Saša** for "Aleksandr." Female family names normally have an "**-a**" added at the end, i.e. **Gógol'a** from "Gógol'."

4) A couple of notes concerning Russian tea and tea culture: **Russian Caravan Tea** is a blend of Chinese _wūlóng_ (or **oolong**; the word literally means "black dragon"), _qímén hóngchá_ (or **keemun**; the word literally means "Qímén red tea" as it comes from that particular county of Ānhuī Province west of Shànghǎi) and _lāpǔshān xiǎozhǐng_ (or **lapsang souchong**; the word means "small plant from Mount Lāpǔ," which is found in the Wǔyí Mountains of Fújiàn Province south of Shànghǎi) teas introduced into Russia thanks to camel caravans transporting the materials from China, Ceylon and India to Europe centuries ago. This brand is described as being an aromatic and full-bodied tea with a sweet, malty taste; one of the legends behind this blend was that the tea leaves actually absorbed the wood smoke of the caravan campfires as the cargo was transported overland to market. Normally served with this tea are **Russian tea cakes** (also known as **Mexican wedding cakes** and **butterballs**). They are simple pastries composed of ground nuts, flour and water (sometimes with butter added), then cooked and coated with powdered sugar while still hut. After the tea cakes finally cool down, they get another coating of powdered sugar.

5) The characters of **Pável Petróvič Gógol'**, **Fëdor Il'ič Aleksandrov** and **Boris Evgen'evič Buikóv** all come from the 2000 book _The Bear and the Dragon_ (ISBN 0-399-14563-X), written by Tom Clancy (note that the name Sergej Vysockij addresses Mr. Clancy as here is the literal Russian transliteration of his name with patronymic ["Thomas, son of Thomas"]). While the Russian characters noted here are real in the universe of this story, the events depicted in Clancy's other novels — such as _The Hunt for Red October_ — are not.

6) O.R.P. _Błyskawica_ (second ship of name) was named in tribute to one of Poland's most famous fighting ships. The original _Błyskawica_ (the name itself means "lightning") was a Grom-class destroyer built in Britain in the mid-1930s that avoided the destruction of the Polish Navy by the Germans in World War Two and served with the British Navy for the rest of the war. After the war, the ship returned to Poland and served until 1976, when she was decommissioned and made a memorial in Gdynia. In 2006, the _Błyskawica_ was made a spiritual "sistership" to the original H.M.C.S. _Haida_; both ships had served as fighting elements of the **Tenth Destroyer Flotilla** during the latter years of the Second World War (note that the **ł** represents a voiced labiovelar approximant "w" sound in Polish, similar to the "w" in _weep_; the Polish **w** is actually a voiced labiodental fricative "v" sound similar to the "v" letters in _valve_).

As an aside, the Polish ship prefix **O.R.P.** literally means **Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej**, which translates to "Ship of the Republic of Poland" (note that the Polish **ę** is a nasal sound where the air escapes both the nose and mouth matched to the open-mid front unrounded vowel "e" like the vowel in _bed_).

7) The quote made by Roman Borodin is the same made by _Kapitán-Lejtenánt_ Grigorij Kamarov (played by Michael Welden) in the movie adoption of _The Hunt for Red October_ in 1990. The term "**Gorškov's Railroad**" (known to the Americans as "Red Route One") comes from the original 1984 novel by Tom Clancy (ISBN 0-87021-285-0); it is the nickname given to the course taken by Soviet submarines along the **Reykjanes Ridge** — the northern part of the **Mid-Atlantic Ridge** dividing the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates — south of Iceland as a way to avoid pursuing American submarines due to the risk of sailing past and between the very high underwater mountains. The "railroad" in the novel was ultimately named in tribute to Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union **Sergej Georgievič Gorškov** (1910-88), the Soviet Navy's most famous post-World War Two commander (he was in that position from 1956-85).

8) **Abraham Shapiro** is a minor character from _The Senior Year_; he first appeared in "The Return of Kōsei Ryōki." As an aside, Mike Smith — who created the character originally for the story "Shinobu's Best Friend" — modelled him in part after the _Star Trek - Deep Space Nine_ character of **Elim Garak**.

9) The Russian cruiser _Avróra_ (often written as "Aurora" as that is what the word translates to) was a Pallada-class protected cruiser first built in 1900 for the Imperial Russian Navy. Her crew joined the forces of **Vladimir Il'ič Lenin** (1870-1924) when they moved to overthrow the nascent democratic regime that had toppled the Romanov dynasty in the early part of 1917; it was a shot from one of her guns that marked the launch of the assault on the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg (then called "Petrograd") on 25 October 1917, which was the last major act that propelled the Bolsheviks into power. Because of that, the _Avróra_ became a living symbol of the Soviet Navy. She helped in the defence of Leningrad (as Petrograd was renamed in 1924) and was sunk in Leningrad harbour on 30 September 1941. The ship was salvaged and rebuilt after World War Two; she was made a museum ship in 1957. She is considered a commissioned ship in the Russian Navy to this day and is actively manned by sailors of the Russian Navy as both U.S.S. _Constitution_ and H.M.S. _Victory_ respectively are by sailors of the United States Navy and Royal Navy. _Avróra_'s captain is always one of the first rank.

10) Star Flare name notes: **Pavel Džonz** was the Russian name assumed by the famous American captain **John Paul Jones** (1747-92) when he served as a captain and later admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy for the most of 1788. **Jerzy Świrski** (1882-1959) was the director of the Polish Navy before and during World War Two. And **Geoffrey Mackworth** (1879-1952) was the first captain of the battlecruiser H.M.S. _Hood_ after her commissioning in 1920.

11) The story of what happens amongst the wizards and witches in Britain as they absorb the reality of H.M.S. _Hood_ and the Avalonians will be covered in _Wizards and Avalonians_.

12) New _Ikkitōsen_-based characters introduced here:

**Tōbu Yūhei** (**Anagawa Takeshi**) is, as noted above, the current incarnation of **Dòu Wǔ** (unknown date of birth, died 168 C.E.). Serving originally as a low-level official during the reign of the Xiàohuán Emperor, he would be elevated to a much higher post at the imperial court when his daughter was elevated from imperial consort to empress. When his daughter became empress dowager in 168, he tried to use his new power and influence over the young Liú Hóng to eliminate the influence of the eunuchs on the court. He joined together with one of Liú Hóng's teachers to launch a coup against the eunuchs, but was caught and made to commit suicide. In this life, Takeshi is currently a teacher at Rakuyō Senior High School.

**Chinhan Chūkyo** (**Noberu Shigeru**) is the current incarnation of **Chén Fán** (99-168), who was the Grand Commandant during the reign of the Xiàohuán Emperor, then was made Grand Tutor to the Xiàolíng Emperor for a brief period before he joined Dòu Wǔ's conspiracy against the eunuchs. Caught alongside his friend, Chén tried to flee, but was captured and executed. In this life, Shigeru — who is a paternal first cousin twice removed of Chinkyū Kōdai (Noberu Miyako) — serves as a private school teacher at a _juku_ (cram school) close to his old alma mater.

**Saiyō Hakukai** (**Herasu Yusuke**) — atop being the father to Saien Shōki (Herasu Mienka) — is the current incarnation of **Cài Yōng** (132-192). Another man who attempted to push for reforms at the imperial court during the reign of the Xiàolíng Emperor, this remarkable scholar — who was expert in calligraphy, music, mathematics and astronomy — was rebuffed by the eunuchs…though he fortunately managed to escape being put to death by fleeing to the south. He would eventually come to work for Dǒng Zhuó…and wound up being put to death by Dǒng's enemies after the Shepherd of Bīngzhōu was killed for the "crime" of expressing _grief_ at Dǒng's death. In this life, Yusuke is a teacher of classics at Gogun…and he is one of the most popular teachers there.

**Ryūchō Kyōnin** (**Koro Chōmi**) was, in her first life, the father of the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn, **Liú Cháng** (unknown date of birth, died circa 168). Nothing is known of his life other than he was Liú Hóng's father and an hereditary marquess; he died sometime before his son was elevated to the Dragon Throne. In his future incarnations, he learned of what had happened to his only child and often quested for his reborn wife so they could bring their son back to life. He never succeeded.

**Tōbumi Kyōsei** (**Tadasu Takemi**) was, in her first life, the mother of Liú Hóng, the **Dowager Empress Dǒng** (unknown date of birth, died 189). Elevated to the position of empress dowager when her child ascended the Dragon Throne, this woman would eventually take charge of one of her grandsons (Liú Xié) and raise him away from the court. In the wake of Liú Hóng's death, the Empress Dowager Dǒng — now Grand Empress Dowager — tried to see her grandson elevated to the throne, which brought her up against her daughter-in-law. Banished from Luòyáng, the Grand Empress Dowager passed away shortly afterward; the cause of death was never truly determined. In her future incarnations, she also tried to seek out her husband in some ways of bringing her child back to life. She never succeeded.

As an aside, the true name of the Empress Dowager Dǒng — like so many other women in that time period — has been lost to history. The name **Dǒng Wǔxì** is my creation.

Also note that in Japan, Empress Dowager Dǒng is often referred to as **Eirakutaikōtaikō**, which literally means "Great Imperial Empress Dowager of Yǒnglè." **Yǒnglè Palace** was the residence of the Empress Dowager while she lived in Luòyáng.


	56. In The Footsteps of Apollo 11

Kimitsu, the Meguru home, an hour after midnight…

"…Task Force ships are now passing over the waters of the Cabot Strait between the Island of Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island. Already, several of the ships are breaking formation to proceed to the home cities of the supporting regiments and battalions of the all-Canadian reserve force ground brigade group to allow troops of those units to come ashore and return to their civilian lives. In a reflection on what Russian president Dmítrij Medvédev, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk and German chancellor Angela Merkel permitted when the Task Force and their escorting sisterships flew through their countries' airspace, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper gained the approval of Parliament in Ottawa to allow the visiting starships the right to fly their war ensigns while passing through Canadian airspace to return the troops…"

"Nodoka?"

Saotome Nodoka perked on hearing that quiet voice, and then she sighed. "I was just watching news, Haeko," she admitted as she walked over to turn the bedroom television off before she allowed Mago Haeko to draw her into her arms. "No news is good news, I suppose," she admitted before allowing the other woman to kiss her.

"Silly girl!" Haeko then teased as she took Nodoka by the hand and walked her out of their guest bedroom towards the living room. "If something happened to your children, Hiromi-sama would have called it in right away. Since no call's come in…"

"I still don't trust all this technology people can use these days, Haeko."

Haeko chuckled. "Truthfully, I don't trust it either. But you DID accept what Yuzumi-chan offered to you after everyone left, didn't you?"

Nodoka felt her cheeks redden as she remembered that, and then she sighed. Shortly after dawn on Tuesday morning, Haru Yuzumi came to visit. With her was a wonderful navy nurse from Russia, Senior Lieutenant Dina Gennadiovna Zaxarova, who had a blood sample kit with her. After explaining to Mago Tsueko's mother about Moroboshi Hiromi's private desire to see all tōshi become Avalonians either by direct body-swap or DNA-augmentation, the leader of the Ten Attendants — whom Nodoka thought of as a very nice and well-behaved person, worlds different than what history denounced her past-self as — asked Haeko if she would be willing to do it at that time. For Haeko, it had been automatic; the Xiàolíng Emperor of the Hàn had made a decree and she had to obey.

But she had insisted that Nodoka be allowed to become an Avalonian as well.

That had shocked Ranma's mother…though given Haeko's love for Nodoka, it really wasn't too surprising, so she had agreed to it. With that, Dina took the samples, then returned to the _Fëdor F. Ušakóv_ to have the replacement bodies prepared. Two hours later, Haeko and Nodoka had been beamed aboard the Russian starship — which had been in orbit over the Sea of Oxótsk northeast of Hokkaidō — to forever change their lives.

When Nodoka gazed on Haeko for the first time through new eyes…

"Nodoka-vayae…"

Nodoka jolted as she felt the surge of both love and lust flood her body from both Haeko's hand and through the powerful mental bond they now shared, and then she leaned over to kiss the other woman…just as a camera flash went off! "Tsutako-chan!" Nodoka then cried out on seeing the grinning second-year high school student standing nearby.

Takeshima Tsutako lowered her camera. "Don't worry about that, Oba-san," the amateur photographer and classmate to Nodoka's nieces Asagaya Rikako and Asagaya Seiko stated. "I'll make sure you get copies." And with that, she headed back into the living room.

Haeko giggled as Nodoka sighed. "Stop that, Nodoka!" the former then scolded. "We're all feeling giddy over getting virtual new lives for ourselves." She frowned. "Even if we _can't_ get drunk in these bodies. Earth alcohol doesn't affect us."

"Then why did you agree to do this, Haeko?" Ranma's mother wondered.

Tsueko's mother shrugged. "Loyalties to the Dragon Throne that seems older than time to me," she confessed as they walked into the living room, where a party was being held. Atop Meguru Ichiyu's widowed mother Kotoko (Shūi), there were a considerable contingent of students from the Lillian Girl's Private High School and the parents to Hiromi's three lovers and Ataru's two lovers, not to mention the parents of Ranma's new girlfriend Sebone Mimōko. Happōsai was there as well, as was Kotatsuneko; that this rather large cat was actually a GHOST had shocked Nodoka when she saw him for the first time. While the older people — like Haeko, Kotoko had become an Avalonian — were knocking back the sake as they made toast after toast in celebration of Earth's first successful foray into deep space, the younger people were just relaxing and sipping either tea or soft drinks. Which would make things easier after people woke up hours from now; given the festive mood breaking out all over Earth concerning the return of the Task Force ships unscathed and with no casualties, a special public holiday had been declared for Friday 9 July 2010 by the Japanese government in celebration.

As Haeko and Nodoka took their seats by the coffee table beside Kotoko, Tsutako moved to take a picture of the contently smiling Ogasawara Sachiko and Fukuzawa Yumi seated off to one corner. Since Kamizumi Akira was both a tōshi and a second-year high school student at Lillian, many of the girls now attending that school had undergone their own body-swaps after classes ended on Thursday thanks to some arrangements made between Akira's parents and Yuzumi when the leader of the Attendants contacted them to inform them of their daughter's own body-swap. In the wake of that — before everyone came to the Meguru home to celebrate the Task Force's return to Earth — the current _Rosa Chinensis_ and her _bouton_ had become bond-mates, as did the current _Rosa Gigantea_ and her _bouton_, Tōdō Shimako and Nijō Noriko. Even better in Nodoka's eyes — that she was accepting something like _**this**_ still shocked her even after she had bonded with Haeko! — her elder niece Asagaya Rikako had bonded with the current _Rosa Foetida en bouton_, Shimazu Yoshino. Rikako's twin sister Seiko was still single as her current _petite soeur_ had not undergone a body-swap at this time — Yuzumi had insisted that parents' permission had to be sought first — but it was probably a matter of time…or potential interest elsewhere.

"So you actually intend to challenge Akira-san for her rosary, Rei-sama?"

Yoshino's cousin Hasekura Rei — the current _Rosa Foetida_ — smiled as she sipped her tea. "I've always found Akira-chan interesting, Tsutako-chan," she admitted, pausing as the photographer took a picture of her. "You weren't there when we all found out she was a tōshi." A chuckle. "Oh, it was a panic that day…!"

"Yes, those like myself do have an ugly reputation when it comes to dealing with outsiders. But I will say — and I believe I'm speaking for Akira-chan's friend Torusuke-kun as well — that you two would make such a lovely couple," Haeko noted as she accepted an offered cup of sake from Happōsai. "Dōmo, Sensei." As she sipped the drink while watching Rei turn a very deep shade of red, she sighed. "But now that Hiromi-sama has returned, I doubt such tomfoolery will be tolerated in the future."

"Hiromi-san is _that_ important to tōshi, Oba-san?" Seiko asked.

"She is."

That was Wan Miwaka's father Kyōsuke. An ethnic Korean whose ancestors were forced to come to the Home Islands when the occupation of the Land of the Morning Calm began a century before, he was a junior executive at Marubishi and Company working in the same department as Nodoka's twin sister Hisayo and Ataru's father Muchi. He and his wife were not tōshi. As the others gazed at him, he smiled. "Ever since Miwaka-chan woke up to what she was, she made a shrine to Reitei-sama and prayed to it every day, hoping he would return so she could give birth to our grandchild and live her life in peace."

"She was so happy the day Susugame-kun came to tell her what he had done when he discovered what happened to that poor man's soul," Miwaka's mother Saeko added. "Yes, it was disappointing that Susugame-kun lost the magatama that Ataru-kun would later find…but obviously, the Fates decreed it wasn't the right time for Reitei-sama to return and bring all the tōshi together once more under one tent."

"You're not bothered that Hiromi-san has two other lovers, Oba-san?" Tsutako asked.

A chuckle. "Tsutako-chan, that's the way it was back then. The need to guarantee the succession to the Dragon Throne — as it was for the Throne of Tan'gun in Korea and the Chrysanthemum Throne here in Japan — was paramount, so concubines were allowed. Yes, it's quite obvious that Hiromi-chan clearly wanted Mioko-chan and only Mioko-chan — no doubt feeling all sorts of guilt over what happened to Miwaka's past-self — but in her first life, she had children with many of her concubines. I doubt my daughter is not the only one of Reitei-sama's imperial concubines that's been reborn in this life."

"That's gonna give Hiromi-san a big headache," Yoshino mused before sipping a glass of fruit juice. "Especially with what I've heard her parents are like."

A cackle. "Don't you worry about that, Yoshino-chan!" Happōsai declared. "Shinobu-chan gave that idiot Kinshō a reminder not to misbehave…and with what Takeshi, Shigeru and Yusuke plan, Ataru's mom will be too worried about losing her idiot husband to the charms of Hiromi-chan's _real_ parents — not to mention any other Avalonian in Tomobiki — to bug the little ones."

"Like those wonderful girls that went there to take care of him after that woman got put into the hospital!" Meguru Kotoko noted.

The other adults in the room nodded. "Shikuko's already told me about the few times that _woman_ said awful things in earshot of Ataru-kun since they came together," the mother of the reborn Flying General of Hàn, Sebone Motoko — Teigen Kenyō — snarled before she gulped down a whole cup of sake without breathing. "Honestly! Yes, it was horrible that Ataru-kun's twin brother had died! Yes, it was even more horrible that the poor child's body disappeared like it did! But to take it out on the surviving son?! What in the name of the gods is going through that woman's head?!"

"She wants control over her family and surroundings, Motoko-chan," Nodoka stated; Motoko — when she had been simply Yoboro Motoko; her future husband Sebone Kenji was not a tōshi — had been a classmate of Nodoka's, Haeko's and Kotoko's in middle school. "Just like I did when Genma took Ranma and left that seppuku agreement behind."

The others teenagers tensed. "You're not really going to try to force Ranma-san to adhere to that, are you?!" Noriko demanded before Shimako moved to comfort her.

A smile. "Well, legally, I can't do a thing with my children. Any of them, Noriko-chan," Nodoka confessed. Even if she couldn't get drunk thanks to her new body's ability to rapidly break down alcohol molecules to simple sugars without intoxicating her, she was still getting used to what she was presently capable of doing. That was more intoxicating to her than alcohol had ever been…even if Nodoka had always been something of a teetotaller. "Unlike the agreement Genma forced on me, the pre-marital agreement my family signed with his before we married **_was_** registered at the Taitō Ward offices. Yes, I want to be able to care for my child…" A sigh. "But he was raised by Genma alone for ten years. Having a mother around would strike him as odd, I think." She sipped her sake. "Took me a while to realize that." She sniffed. "Kanami-chan was right…I wasn't there for them when they needed me the most."

Haeko immediately moved to comfort her new bond-mate. "Well, even if you can't help raise Ranma-san now, you can still be there for him, Oba-san," Rei advised. "That's what he really wants, I think. He wants someone to tell him and show him that what he's gone through these last ten years was ultimately worth it."

"I _still_ can't wrap my head around that whole Neko-ken thing!" Yoshino snarled before sipping her fruit juice. "What the heck was that all for anyway?!"

"Negako-chan once told me it was originally meant as a demon-summoning ritual," Happōsai explained. "When the magicals broke away from normal control in the fifth year of Genroku, it was adopted to be a pure martial arts form." A snort. "It was meant to create a berserker, Yoshino-chan; that's why it was outlawed." He gazed on Nodoka. "Atop that, after Chiaki-chan moved in to become Ranma's legal guardian, Negako-chan had her clan's people investigate what exactly happened when Ranma was put through that 'training.'" Everyone could sense the quotes he put around that word.

"What did they find, Sensei?" Mimōko's father Sebone Toshihara — he was a lieutenant colonel in the Ground Self-Defence Forces assigned to the First Engineer Brigade of the Eastern Army in Asaka north of Tōkyō; like Miwaka's parents, Shikuko's father and Miyako's parents, Mimōko's parents weren't tōshi — asked. "Nothing bad, I hope?"

A snort. "It could have been bad," the grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū noted. "Shortly after that whole thing with the Neko-ken, Genma took Ranma to a psychiatrist to see if there was some way to break the madness that being close to someone like Kotatsuneko-kun here would unleash." A shake of the head as he heard the large cat-ghost beside him growl at the idea of helpless kittens — he included Ranma in that phrase — being treated so hideously. "Couldn't be done, of course; no matter how many people have tried over the ages, if the Neko-ken training didn't kill you or turned you into a cat full-time up in the mind, you would be afraid of cats for the rest of your life. So Genma got this quack to judge Ranma as mentally incompetent to make his own decisions." As people gasped on hearing that and Nodoka turned pale on hearing yet _another_ thing her husband had done to ruin their son's life, Happōsai waved them down. "Relax, people! Relax! Turns out said quack had his license pulled about two years later! The medical review board judged his prior decisions all suspect. When Chiaki-chan was told of this, she made sure the judge that gave custody of Ranma-kun over to her would also rule that any statements about Ranma's so-called 'incompetency' had no medical or legal basis, so no one could use it against him in the future. Least of all Genma." A hideous cackle. "I doubt he'll like hearing about that when the news gets to him!"

"The more I hear about this animal, the more I want to kill him!" Mioko's second-oldest sister Izuku Naemi — Kabyō — snarled. "What was this guy trying to pull here?!"

"He wanted total control over his son's life so he could live off all of Ranma-kun's hard work in his 'retirement,' Naemi-sempai," Miyako's maternal cousin Haru Tōmi — Chōbaku Mōtaku — said as she sipped her own glass of juice. "What else?"

"Well, he's got nothing now," Haeko mused.

"He deserves far _less_ than 'nothing,' Oba-san!" Tōmi snarled.

"True…but given what Hiromi-sama did to Ōgi on Yaminokuni, I think Ranma-kun might be inspired to do something similar to Genma to make him suffer for a very long time to come," Haeko mused as she accepted a refill of sake from Mioko's father Izuku Masato (Kashin). "Dōmo, Masato-kun. No doubt, when Genma comes around again…"

"He'll probably be frozen as a panda and put into the zoo for the rest of his life!" Tsutako mused as she moved to reload the film cartridge in her camera.

"That'd be too cruel for the _pandas_, Tsutako-san!" Yoshino noted.

Everyone blinked, and then they laughed…

* * *

F.G.S. _Bismarck_, flying up the Saint Lawrence River valley past Québec City, two hours later (local time: Thursday 8 July, mid-afternoon)…

"Hey!"

Ranma perked, and then she sighed as she looked off to starboard and down to watch the beautiful cityscape of Québec's provincial capital pass by from her position in the upper forward observation lounge of the German starship. "Couldn't sleep," she said as Mimōko walked over to sit down beside her. "All the people moving around 'cause the Rifles are preparing to get off once we get to Winnipeg just kept me awake."

"Yeah, I saw that," the Nan'yō senior noted as she gazed on the CF-188 Hornets from 425e (Alouette) Escadron Tactique de Chasse flying out of Bagotville, who were now providing escort for six of the Task Force ships and their three escorting sisterships from Australia, Russia and Poland through the airspace of southern Québec…

* * *

While the procession was making its way towards Montréal, four of their sisterships were now in the process of disembarking the ground troops from Atlantic Canada near the home armouries of their units. The _Vittorio Veneto_ was hovering over the Confederation Bridge halfway between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island as she beamed off the people from 37 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters to Moncton and 721 Communications Regiment to Charlottetown. _Zhèng Hé_ was hovering right over Saint John's Harbour to beam off the Newfoundland-based half of 37 Service Battalion; once that was done, the Chinese starship would proceed around the Rock and Nova Scotia to sail up the Bay of Fundy to beam off the New Brunswick-based half of the battalion to Moncton. _Yamato_ was now hovering over Bedford Basin at the northern end of Halifax Harbour to beam off the troops of 33 Field Ambulance, 3 Military Police Regiment and 3 Intelligence Company to their home armouries in Halifax and Lower Sackville. And _Santísima Trinidad_ was hovering over Sydney Harbour at the east end of Cape Breton Island to allow the locally-based elements of 36 Combat Engineer Regiment to disembark; once that was done, the Spanish starship would move to a place over Saint Margaret's Bay between Halifax and Lunenburg on the Atlantic coast of mainland Nova Scotia to all the engineers based in those cities to disembark without the necessity of a multi-hour trip up the Trans-Canada Highway from regimental headquarters to return to their homes and families.

Once the other ships got to Montréal, _Haida_ would break formation to sail up the Saint Lawrence River valley to Lake Ontario, then make her way to the entrance of the Niagara River at Niagara-on-the-Lake to disembark the troopers of the 2nd/10th Dragoons at their new armouries in the Chippawa neighbourhood of Niagara Falls; the driving distance to where two of the regiment's squadrons were based in Hamilton and Brantford was judged as close enough to allow ground transport…and give the newly-reformed regiment a chance to parade together for the first time in four decades before heading home for the day. While this was going on, the other ships would sail up the Ottawa River valley to the nation's capital, where _Richelieu_ would pause close to Parliament Hill to allow the troopers of le Régiment de Hull to disembark in Gatineau. The remaining ships would sail up the valley to just east of North Bay, then cut west to cross over Lake Nippising and go down the French River valley to Georgian Bay. Once there, they would proceed along the north shore of Lake Huron to Sault Sainte Marie, then cross Lake Superior to Thunder Bay and hop overland to Winnipeg, which is where _Bismarck_ would stop to allow the infantrymen of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles to disembark. _Paekbŏm_ — escorted by _Kirkpatrick_ — would head parallel to the Yellowhead Route of the Trans-Canada Highway to Edmonton to drop off the troopers of the 19th Alberta Dragoons at their new armouries near South Edmonton Common. The other ships would parallel the main route of the Trans-Canada to Regina, where _Hood_ would stop to drop off the gunners of the 10th Field Regiment. _Arizona_ — escorted by _Ušakóv_ and _Błyskawica_ — would then fly on to Vancouver to drop off the troopers of the British Columbia Regiment.

Once each ship had finally disembarked their passengers, they would ascend straight into orbit and move to gather together west of Vancouver Island to await the other ships for the final hop to Japan to allow the tōshi and their friends to disembark.

Since the ships were travelling at about 1000 kilometres per hour — safely below the speed of sound, thus not creating sonic booms…even if the noise of their passing overhead at two kilometres' altitude was still quite loud — while soaring across the skies of Canada, the whole evolution would be probably done in about six hours.

As this part of the exercise was planned out by the navigation officers of the ships, some of the crews had fretted about the idea of sailing _**starships**_ with a mass of six million tonnes EACH — which couldn't realistically land on either ground or water! — at low altitude through the skies over Canada. Fortunately for the nerves of people such as Michelle Anderson, crews at local air traffic area control centres in Gander, Moncton, Montréal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver — not to mention their counterparts controlling airspace in the northern United States from Boston, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and Seattle; all supported by the North American Aerospace Defence Command in Colorado Springs and the First Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg — made sure there were no near-misses by passing airliners or other civilian aircraft.

Even better, CF-188 Hornets of both 3 Wing in Bagotville and 4 Wing in Cold Lake — joined by United States Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons of the First Air Force's 120th, 148th and 158th Fighter Wings from Great Falls, Minneapolis and Burlington respectively — would be providing a constant escort screen to the starships. By now, the revelations concerning what nearly happened to _Arizona_ in the skies over Phoenix on Monday morning was old news…and defence officials in both Washington and Ottawa were more than ready to ensure a copycat attack never got close to any of the starships. That point had been punctuated by a pilot from the 134th "Green Mountain Boys" Fighter Squadron flying out of Burlington in Vermont, who said to a CNN reporter before he mounted his Fighting Falcon for his patrol, "Hey! We're in the mood to get some target practice on the bastards who would kill innocent people who came to our planet to live free lives! Pass it on to every stupid xenophobe out there! Bring it on! We're waiting for you!"

And while many viewers across North America and the world loudly complemented the man for his statement — as the many hits on the CNN and various social media websites like Facebook instantly indicated — the pilot's formation superiors at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida were NOT amused at such a Neanderthal-like display in front of news cameras. However, any attempts at delivering a proper reprimand to said pilot was halted when the commander of 1AF received a personal call from a certain Canadian Army major general now aboard _Haida_. The message was quite succinct: Yes, the captain's words were clearly NOT politically correct…but when one had to deal with brainless morons who would gladly unleash worldwide Armageddon on humanity, such a show of aggressiveness before the public eye could potentially save MILLIONS of lives.

End message: Leave the poor man be.

Of course, the two-star general ultimately in charge of the defence of the continental United States was NOT going to refuse such a request from a three-time winner of the Victoria Cross…not to mention the ONLY living non-American to be awarded the Medal of Honour for an action in fighting alongside the Liberty League in a battle against Axis metahumans trying to attack Washington during World War Two.

"We'll see if he's up for promotion, General," the commander of 1AF then stated.

"Good man," Dean Raeburn had replied.

The news of THAT conversation had spread like wildfire through all the starships.

Yes, having the War Hawks back and watching over things made things so much easier!

* * *

"Hey, Red!"

Ranma jerked on hearing that voice, and then she looked up…just as a certain Oni-born star fighter pilot appeared in her scope of vision, her eyes now slit like her tiger-self. Before the transformed martial artist could croak out in fear, she — as well as Mimōko — then sensed a very powerful nexus of fighting ki from nearby. A sharp cough then made Mith Sijo jolt before a man's voice with the chill of an Arctic wind then ordered, "Ms. Sijo, stand away from that young man right this instant."

Everyone turned…

…and then gaped on seeing the man in the Red Serge uniform standing nearby with assistant commissioner's rank on his shoulder straps, the medals on his uniform — fronted by an imperial Victoria Cross with a single bar indicating a second award — speaking of very intensive wartime service. Standing behind him was a clearly younger man with the four upward-pointing chevrons of a staff sergeant on his lower right sleeve, projecting the classical image of a member of Canada's national and federal police force as portrayed in Hollywood films over the past several decades. As Sijo turned very pale as the identity of the older officer came to her, said officer then came up to gaze intently into her now-normal eyes just as he had done decades before at "Depot" Division with misbehaving recruits. After a minute as Sijo tried not to soil her panties, he sighed. "I can see why my friend asked me to look in on you, young lady," Martin Larsden declared. "Such undisciplined behaviour — especially towards a minor — is unbecoming of an officer of the Crown regardless of which uniform of service one wears." He stepped up to stare directly in her eyes. "Especially when said officer is married, also must support her wife's bond-mate and has children coming."

Ranma stood. "Um, Sensei…"

"Mister Saotome, do be quiet."

Feeling the chill in the older man's voice, Ranma stopped…and then she blinked on feeling Mimōko's hand touch hers. «Don't, Ranma! This is Martin Larsden!» she warned him telepathically. «He was the sniper in Raeburn-shihan's team during the war! Martial artists like us are _**nothing**_ to him; he was picking them off at a kilometre's range all the time with a rifle! Let him do what he has to do to make Sijo get control over herself!»

The transformed martial artist blinked, and then she relaxed. Noting that out of the corner of his eye, Martin nodded. "Once you are done dealing with Mister Saotome's father — and I WILL be asking Negako to keep an eye on you to ensure you don't step out of line — you will report to me in Ottawa immediately afterward, Ms. Sijo. My friend has granted you the privilege to try to earn the right to wear the uniform of her regiment. She doesn't do that for anyone off the street…and HER idea of training would be far more befitting for the natives of Yiziba than…_**stop that**_!" he then barked out as Sijo nearly choked on her tongue hearing _that_ planet's name. "Control yourself, young lady. You can't allow the fear of a mere WORD to freeze you in place. I thought you were supposed to be a star fighter pilot! You're not acting like one!"

Sijo jolted on hearing that intentional slight against the one skill she took great pride in, and then she shuddered for a moment before she felt a surge of support from both her lovers elsewhere on the ship. On seeing her relax — Martin was more than experienced enough with magical and psychics to guess what was happening with his new student — the assistant commissioner in charge of "P" Division nodded in approval. "Much better," he coolly stated. "You Urusians — so I've been briefed on by the leadership of the Special Committee on Alien Activities — have expressed great interest in Earth and Terrans for a long time. You've been granted the chance to live amongst us. Yes, what happened in the Dead Grove between yourself and Mister Saotome was regrettable, but the good soldiers of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles were there for you. Will you allow yourself to behave in such a manner that will bring _**dishonour**_ to the people who _**saved your life**_ by acting as if our laws and customs don't matter?!"

Sijo stiffened. "SIR! NO, SIR!"

"That is an _American_ response, Ms. Sijo! A simple 'no, sir' would do fine."

"YES, SIR!"

"Better."

Martin then took a minute to glare up and down the duty uniform Sijo was now wearing. As she had been aboard a Navy ship since her parole and body-swap, she had been given NCDs even if the epaulette slip-ons on her shoulder were CADPAT combat pattern with the two buff gold stripes of an Army captain over the basic national shoulder flash. She had a _Haida_ cap on her head to hide her horn-buds and her hair was combed in a way to cover the taper of her ears. Despite that, she still looked like a proper Canadian Army officer temporarily assigned aboard ship, which earned her a nod of approval from the War Hawks' resident hunter/sniper. "You will, of course, be dressed in CADPATs as soon as you're ashore, plus a green beret until such time as my friend decrees you have the right to wear gold. Make sure you learn how to wear proper civilian clothes for Earth when you are not in uniform. You are aware of what nearly happened to _Arizona_?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Do you wish to risk yourself, your wife or your mistress — much less their children — in case one of those ruffians discovers what you are and decide to strike at you?"

"No, sir!"

"Splendid. Now, listen closely, young lady, for I will not repeat this: Your current rank is a _brevet_ rank. In other words, you have NOT properly earned the right to bear that rank at this time. Your training with me and your office work with my friend will help you gain such qualifications. However, Army life is not for everyone. My friend and I both realise that. If we feel you are not capable of proving yourself to be a proper officer in the Army, I will personally have you switched over to the Force, run you through the basic training course as _**I**_ taught it at Depot Division in the 1950s, then send you there to undergo the current course. You will have to earn your rank from constable up. Do I make myself _**perfectly**_ clear on that matter, Ms. Sijo?"

"YES, SIR!"

"Dismissed."

With a salute, Sijo headed out of the observation room as fast as she could walk without either running or flying. The others watched her go, and then Martin gazed on Benton Fraser. "She has potential, Commissioner," the staff sergeant noted.

"So I noted."

"How could you tell?"

Martin gazed on Ranma. "There is a difference between someone wishing to slack their way through training in hopes of returning quickly to civilian life…and those who — despite their rough edges — understand deep down what such training means. Despite the situation that actually brought her here to us, Ms. Sijo does not wish to be seen as a slacker. She knows she could have easily been allowed to resettle on one of the Noukiite worlds, which — given that she IS a pilot with the understandable yearning to fly an aircraft as fast as she can push it — would have spelled the final end of her career. She knows that here on Earth — even if there is risk — she can do what she desires to do. Even more so, her loved ones are safe and sound. She needs to trim out all the silly brashness she displays right now. Yes, it no doubt kept her alive. But there are those out there who can identify such brashness and take advantage of it. For her sake — as well as her family's sake — she needs to bring it under control."

"How long do you figure she'll need?" Mimōko wondered.

A light smile. "Pending no other issues, two months. Once done, she'll be ready to face the basic military officer's course. After that and the Common Army Phase, she can proceed to show her qualifications to be given her wings, then apprentice at Dundurn to be accepted as part of the 10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment. I'd give her a year to be ready for field duty." Martin then sighed. "Come along, Staff Sergeant. Let's be off to _Haida_."

"Yes, Commissioner."

Both headed out of the lounge. "Damn!" Ranma then breathed out.

"What?" Mimōko asked.

"How did he learn how to tell things like that with just a LOOK?!"

A sigh. "He fought in a _**world war**_, Ranma. I'd say that's a pretty good place to learn that."

Her younger lover tensed on hearing that, and then she nodded. "Yeah…"

* * *

Indian Hill, Ohio (fifteen miles [24 kilometres] northeast of Cincinnati), an hour later…

"…as can be seen now, H.M.C.S. _Haida_ has assumed a position above the Horseshoe Falls to allow it to beam down the officers and men of the 2nd/10th Dragoons to their new armouries here on Sodom Road south of the Niagara South Recreation Complex in Chippawa," the CBC News Network reporter stated to the camera while standing in front of the large modern building that would serve as permanent home for one of Canada's newest reserve armoured regiments. "As each troop is beamed down, they bear with them one of the new camp flags that was delivered to them by Major General Dean Raeburn when she flew a prototype CSF-198 Camel III to transport Rear Admiral Heather Thompkins…"

"Damn! They actually persuaded the War Hawks to go back into uniform?"

The commander of the first successful manned lunar mission smiled at the man who had been at the helm of the command module _Columbia_ during those hectic days in the summer of 1969. "Well, unlike poor fools like us, Mike, Major Raeburn and her friends are practically near-immortal. They don't look a day older than they did when they retired from the military and the Mounties back in the Fifties," Neil Armstrong noted.

"Still, they earned their retirement, Neil," his wife Carol noted.

"Yeah, they did," Armstrong breathed out. "But sometimes, people pull the pin…and then wonder why the hell they did that in the first place."

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin shook his head. "From what I heard, the major was quite happy teaching Jewel Warriors on other planets how to use those things," the second man to set foot on the Moon mused. "Only reason she was persuaded to come back was that they don't have active Air Cavalry officers to help reform their tactical aviation units now that the Avalonians want to get them flying again." He then chuckled.

"What's so funny, Buzz?" Michael Collins asked.

"Imagine what our army aviation pilots would do with a Camel III?" the retired Air Force colonel then asked. "We can finally stand down all the Warthog squadrons."

"Nah!" Collins breathed out after a moment. Like Aldrin, he had been an Air Force man, retiring at the rank of brigadier general. "They'd probably go _**both**_ ways."

"What do you mean, Mike?" Armstrong asked; as a long-retired Navy pilot, he wasn't as fully up-to-date on military matters as his former crewmates from Apollo 11.

"Have Camel IIIs — they'll probably call them F-98s here in the States — in both the Warthog squadrons AND the Apache battalions," Collins explained. "Don't you know, Neil? A Canadian Air Cavalry regiment — we'd call it a battalion here — flies SIXTY-FOUR attack planes and SIXTEEN reconnaissance birds! Only…"

At that moment, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Mrs. Armstrong then said as she walked over to the front door, opening it. "Yes?"

Standing there was a smiling sergeant of the Ohio State Highway Patrol; given the incredible significance of the Task Force's mission to Yaminokuni, the governor of the Buckeye State ordered that the state's highway troopers augment Indian Head's local police department and the Hamilton County Sherriff's Office to ensure that America's first lunar astronauts were not bothered by the public on their gathering together at the home of their mission commander to celebrate Earth's first-ever manned deep space mission outside the solar system. "Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Armstrong, but there are two people from _Haida_ who are here to deliver a gift to your husband and his friends from Director Moroboshi," he said.

She turned to look…and then gaped on seeing the two smiling men in Navy blue — one clearly recognisable as a member of the United States Navy — on the front lawn, both at parade rest. "Neil!" she called out. "We have visitors!"

"What?!" her husband called out as he came over…and then stopped on seeing the two elderly servicemen standing now on his front lawn. A quick glance around revealed no immediate sign as to how these men had come here; to ensure privacy, the police had closed down all vehicle traffic within a half-mile of the Armstrong home, cordoning it off with the help of local units of the National Guard. Of course, their neighbours were quite appreciative of that; they didn't want to deal with media harassment because one of the residents of Indian Head was the first man who walked on the Moon…especially at a time like _this_! Instantly spotting the rank of a master chief petty officer on the American sailor, he was quick to note the Canadian coat of arms insignia on the lower sleeve of his companion indicating he had to be from _Haida_; he wasn't an expert on Canadian Navy rank insignia, but he could guess that whoever this fellow was, he was the equal of his companion rate-wise. "Can I help you, gentlemen?"

Both men snapped to attention and saluted. "Lieutenant Armstrong, we're sorry to disturb you, your family and your friends today," CMDCM(AW/SW) Keith Hayward, the command master chief petty officer of U.S.S. _Arizona_, said after he and CPO1 Jacques Beaulieu relaxed themselves. "The Director passes her sincerest compliments to you, General Collins and Colonel Aldrin. We're sorry about coming here unannounced, but the Director requested that the present Chief Petty Officer Beaulieu has with him now was delivered directly to your hand."

With that, _Haida_'s coxswain walked up to present the box to Armstrong. The commander of Apollo 11 smiled as he took it — no doubt, Moroboshi Hiromi had learned of his strong aversion to any sort of public display; she had probably arranged for these two men to be beamed down via materialiser as even the small Space Dhow shuttles used on the Type One starships would be noticeable in the skies over southwest Ohio — and then he pulled the envelope marked _**To the Crew of Apollo 11**_ attached to the box off as he handed the box to Aldrin. Opening the envelope, he noted it contained three cards. Each of them had a fanciful picture on the cover, displaying the old U.S.S. _Arizona_ and H.M.C.S. _Haida_ sailing together on the high seas — something that could have never happened given that BB-39 was wrecked at Pearl Harbour twenty months before G63 (the famous Canadian destroyer was portrayed in her World War Two colours) was commissioned — with both SBB-72 and SBB-215 flying overhead. "Made for the occasion?" he asked.

Hayward — he had been the senior aircraft maintenanceman in Thomas Kazanski's last flying squadron — chuckled. "It's amazing what the kids can do with computers these days!"

"At least the Director's aide-de-camp doesn't care for computers," Beaulieu noted.

"You're kidding!"

"No. Ms. Hayashi actually called dataPADDs 'accursed contraptions' right in the operations room!" the senior electrical technician declared.

"That's your combat information centre, right?" Armstrong asked as the others — even the state highway trooper who had been standing post by the front door — all laughed.

"Yes, sir."

Chuckling, Armstrong handed two of the cards to his crewmates, and then opened his card to gaze on the beautifully scripted message within:

_To the Crew of Apollo 11,  
Apologies that we didn't invite you boys out for the trip. Your expertise would have been more than appreciated in the mission.  
You're always welcome aboard whenever you want to visit.  
Hope you like the Director's presents to you all.  
(signed)  
Brian A. Gamblin, OMM, CD & 2 Bars  
Captain (Navy)  
Commanding Officer, Her Majesty's Canadian Starship_ Haida  
_(signed)  
Thomas V. Kazanski  
Captain  
Commanding Officer, United States Starship_ Arizona

"Well, that was nice of them," Armstrong noted as he handed the card to his wife, and then opened the box that Beaulieu had given him. A second later, he gaped. "My God!"

The others looked. The box contained three dark wood rectangular wall plaques with a silver metal plate affixed to the top. With the wreathed globe and crossed crusader sword-and-katana insignia of the United Nations Earth Defence Force at top centre and the ship's crests of the ten starships that participated in the mission to Yaminokuni to either side of the crest, a beautiful inscription in English and Japanese was written there:

_**To they who made a giant leap for all mankind,  
Lǎo Zǐ once said this:  
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."  
No matter where we travel from this point onward, we will always walk forever in the shadows of your steps.  
Be well.**  
(signed)  
Moroboshi Hiromi  
Director  
Volunteer United Nations Earth Defence Force  
(signed)  
J.M.E.H. Thompkins, VC & Bar, MO1, CC, GOQ, DSO & Bar, DSC, CD  
Rear Admiral  
Flag Officer Commanding, United Nations Earth Defence Force_

"Oh, my God…!" Armstrong breathed out.

"Why didn't Hiromi come visit us directly?" Aldrin's wife Lois asked.

"Well, right now, ma'am, the Director is asleep. People here in North America tend to forget that she lives in Japan…and right now, it's a little after four in the _morning_ in Tōkyō," Hayward explained. "And even if she's got today off school, she's back in classes first thing Monday morning." He then gazed on Beaulieu. "Thank God that someone remembered to assign a flag officer to command the force. Eh, Jacques?"

"Amen to that, Keith," the Canadian starship's coxswain breathed out.

The members of Apollo 11 blinked before they laughed. "Why don't you boys come on inside for a coffee," Armstrong then said. "Unless you have to…"

"Miracle of Sagussan technology, sir," Beaulieu stated with a wink. "The Star Flare that brought us down from _Haida_ is just overhead…and it's got a materialiser on it. We can't stay for long, but a coffee would be nice."

"You like Starbucks, Jacques?" Hayward asked.

"Ugh!" Mrs. Armstrong moaned out. "None of that stuff here! We got Nescafé!"

"Won't complain about that, ma'am," Beaulieu stated.

More laughter escaped the others as they headed inside. Watching them go in, Highway Patrol Sergeant Donald Mason could only shake his head. His son Tom had — when he had watched _Arizona_ fly down from the stars on CNN Monday morning when he was in classes at Adena Elementary School — publicly vowed he would join the Earth Defence Force when he was of age. Of course, his classmates had razzed him about wanting to go into space, which had nearly driven Tom to tears — what was so wrong about wanting to serve your country and planet in the EDF? — and almost made his father want to plead with Neil Armstrong for an autograph to bring Tom's spirits up. But his personal sense of duty — not to mention the threats from his station commander about hassling the poor man for such a thing when he had long engaged in the practice to NOT give autographs even to children anymore! — clashed hard with the concern any father would have at his son being hazed by friends for something that was just plain stupid in the long term.

Little did he know…

* * *

West Chester, Ohio (fifteen miles [24 kilometres] north-northeast of Cincinnati), near Adena Elementary School, that moment…

"Don't let it get you down, Tom. Some of the guys in class are idiots!"

Tom Mason scowled on hearing his new best friend say that, and then he nodded as Jennifer Marlowe — the former master of the beautiful blonde, brown-eyed Terran-form Avalonian-American who worked part-time as a lunchroom monitor at Adena Elementary School had been a fan of some weird sitcom that was on television back in pre-history — handed him two ham-and-cheese sandwiches on a plate. "Yeah, they sure are," Tom mused as Jennifer's daughter Kaye sipped her glass of orange juice. "I mean, John's dad's in the Army; he's over in Afghanistan now. Paul's mom is in the Air National Guard; her squadron's based at Springfield. Yeah, the Navy's in charge of _Arizona_…"

A knock echoed from the front door of the apartment the Marlowes lived in. "Who's that?" Kaye wondered as she peered at the doorway.

"Don't recognise her," her mother noted as she walked over.

Tom watched her head over before moving to eat the sandwich he had been given. Ever since the Space Angels came to live on Earth, things had become a lot more fun for kids in America. Yeah, there were those dopes who thought Avalonians were evil — just like the creeps that tried to blow up the _Arizona_ on Monday before a wickedly cool Canadian pilot named Dan Cooper shot them down with missiles fired from an awesome space fighter called the Avro CSF-105 Arrow; everyone in class had learned from Paul Stonebridge that his mom told him Monday night that the Canadians virtually _**worshipped**_ the Arrow because its atmospheric version from the 1950s was the first-ever Mach Two interceptor fighter built…even before the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II ever went into the sky! — but you wouldn't find them in Ohio! But the creeps who tried to blow up the _Arizona_ were no different than the dorks that did 9/11 just before Tom was born; they were just too _**stupid**_ to realise that the American armed forces and their pals from Canada would be on the lookout for jerks like them. And with the idiots now in custody and about to get the book thrown at them — being the son of a law enforcement officer, Tom knew what those jerks were gonna face when they got hauled up before a federal district court; _Trying to attack a Navy ship with the PRESIDENT aboard?! Duh! Where the heck were those morons when God was giving out brains?!_ he mused on remembering that, and then he smirked. _Oh, that's right! They never_ got _brains in the first place! Dorks!_ — other idiots like them were going to either get flushed out by their neighbours to be locked away in jail…or go crawl back into their little dark holes and not come out for a VERY long time to come.

Which was, in Tom's eyes, really cool.

With a whole ton of Avalonians living in the metro Cincinnati area, a lot of the really annoying security procedures that Tom had grown up with over the years had been either dropped or modified to take into account that thousands of honest-to-goodness _**psychics**_ were now living in the area and were more than ready to protect any child that was close to them. There had been a case a month ago when one of Jennifer's friends had caught a child kidnapper before he could take away some poor girl while pretending to be the girl's father. The beat-down that woman had given the creep had put him into intensive care for a week before he was arrested and put into jail…where, as Tom's father told him when he asked about it with a knowing smile, the "honest" crooks were waiting to express their very dim views about those who would hurt little girls. After that story had broke out on CNN (along with the report that the Avalonian who had saved that child would _**not**_ be charged for assault and battery), the FBI soon noted that reported attempts at kidnapping children for sexual purposes — even if he was just nine, Tom knew what the "S" word meant; he had blushed for a WEEK after his dad gave him the Talk — had dropped to near-zero. Given how many Avalonian-Americans were now residing in the country — the best estimates put them about fifteen million — no paedophile was going to risk trying something on a kid if there were any pretty bystanders nearby; you just couldn't TELL who was an Avalonian like Jennifer Marlowe and who was some native of Hollywood!

So instead of riding the bus to school, kids now WALKED to school with an Avalonian guide like Jennifer staying close to them. While there were no Avalonian teachers yet at Adena Elementary, several were getting their teacher's certificates and would soon be hired on given the increase of students thanks to kids like Kaye Marlowe — who, unlike many other Niphentaxian-Avalonian hybrids, had a kind father from one of the distant colonies; he had sadly died defending his common-law wife and daughter when those Church of Lum jerks had come to try to arrest them when the Moroboshi siblings, the Noukiites and the Yehisrites arrived in system to deliver a major-league curb-stomping on those morons — coming to classes. And with the plans to open up the planet Columbia for settlement once these Seifukusu guys sold the planet to the United Nations, millions of Americans and Avalonian-Americans would be heading out there like people did back in the days of the old West after the Civil War. While it would be years before Tom and Kaye could take the Oath of Enlistment on joining the armed forces as servicemen — or the Oath of Office if they became officers — they hoped they would be in time to join a starship and escort new settlers out to Columbia or other worlds.

Just like it was shown in those old movies on television…mixed with _Star Trek_!

Then again, _Star Trek_ had — or so the class' resident Trekker, Mark Watson, stated — been originally conceived by Gene Roddenberry as a sci-fi version of a **western**!

Wickedly cool…!

"Tom!"

Tom perked, and then looked over…

…before his jaw hit the floor on seeing the very pretty Japanese woman standing there in jeans, jean jacket and T-shirt…and accompanied by some woman in a black duty uniform with two gold maple leaves on both her shoulder boards under a crown and crossed sword-and-baton with a black beret on her head, they also accompanied by a smiling United States Navy chaplain — a lieutenant commander, no doubt from the Navy Operational Support Center in Cincinnati — in dress blues. On seeing the youngest of the three visitors, Kaye gaped. "Oh, Lyna…!" she breathed out.

"What?" Tom asked.

"Tom."

"Yeah?"

"That's Moroboshi Hiromi."

He blinked. "Wow…!"

As both Heather Thompkins and Lieutenant Commander (Reverend) Mark Adams laughed, the director of the United Nations Earth Defence Force smiled. "Well, Young Master Thomas, it's come to my attention that you would — upon reaching the proper age, of course — come to serve with the Earth Defence Force." A gaze on a gaping Kaye, who was simply stunned speechless at the fact that one of the _**Liberators**_ themselves was in her family apartment! "What of yourself, Young Mistress Kaye? Would you also join us?!"

"Um…y-yeah! S-sure…!" Kaye sputtered out.

"Wow…!" Tom moaned out.

Kaye glared at him. "Hey, Tom! Reboot your brain!" she hissed as she swatted the back of his head.

"Wow…"

Hiromi gazed on the escorting chaplain. "I do believe, Wise Master Mark, he may have been taken a little too much away by the surprise of our visit," she mused.

"Wow…"

"Well, I doubt he'd appreciate the fact that his father is standing watch over Neil Armstrong and his friends from Apollo 11, Madame Director," Reverend Mark mused.

"Wow…"

"He's far too young to understand that, Thoughtmaster-prime," Jennifer noted.

"Wow…"

Heather leaned down to gaze into Tom's eyes, and then she snapped her fingers in front of his face…which made him jolt in shock before he gazed up at the magical member of the War Hawks. "If you're going to be a good serviceman in the Navy, young man, you need to pay a little more attention to your surroundings," she advised.

Tom blinked…and then his cheeks went very red. "Y-yes, ma'am…!"

Hiromi roared with laughter…

* * *

_Haida_ (now ascending from Niagara Falls), that moment…

"So why is it Hiromi's gone ashore?!"

Ataru smirked in barely-veiled amusement as he watched a fretting Sumai Takara pace to and fro in the flag officers' wardroom. "She found out thanks to an Avalonian working with a local school board close to Cincinnati that some kid pledged to join the Earth Defence Force when he came of age after he watched _Arizona_ be commissioned on Monday on CNN. Tsukihana programmed a special search engine into her personal dataPADD that would alert her to these sorts of things when they get out on the Hypernet."

"So why would Otō-san single this one brave young worthy out, Oji-san?" Kanami asked. All of Hiromi's daughters and her lovers were in the wardroom enjoying some tea, though both Izuku Mioko and Wan Miwaka weren't hitting the panic button as their co-lover was.

"Turns out that almost all this kid's classmates razzed him over it," Ataru noted as he sipped his coffee. Sebone Shikuko and Noberu Miyako had come with their boyfriend to the wardroom, as did Hiromi's reborn parents Koro Chōmi and Tadasu Takemi, Ataru's twin Tariko, Miyake Shinobu and Hayashi Kanami…not to mention the Miyamoto sisters, Ebisu Kyoko and Redet Hensō. "Hiromi hates that sort of thing, so she decided to go down personally and boost the kid's spirits up. Turns out his dad's an Ohio state trooper now watching over the Apollo 11 crew at Neil Armstrong-sensei's house just outside Cincinnati."

"The people Chief Beaulieu and his friend from _Arizona_ went to visit?" Shikuko mused.

A nod. "Same people."

"But why do that for **one** boy, Ataru-kun?" Shinobu asked. "There are probably hundreds if not thousands of young children now dreaming of wanting to work on these starships, not to mention the ships that would be built in the future."

Another nod. "Yeah, there is that. But the news of this is going to get out in Facebook and Twitter pretty darned quick. I'm sure whoever takes charge of the public relations for the EDF will put it out on the 'Net that given that Hiromi's just ONE person, she can't go out and visit EVERY kid that might want to join the EDF when they grow up…and that by visiting this one boy who now dreams of joining the EDF, she's trying to show all those who'd be interested that she cares for that interest."

"Which means that recruiting numbers will go up real quick soon," Shikuko noted.

The others nodded. "Sometimes, I really worry about Hiromi-chan," Shinobu noted.

"Why is that, Shinobu-san?" Mioko asked.

A sigh. "She tries to be TOO perfect, Mioko-san."

Miyako jolted. "How DARE…?!"

"Sit down, Miyako!"

The Rakuyō sophomore tensed, and then she relaxed on sensing her lover glare at her. As Miyako sat, Shinobu smiled in thanks to Shikuko's interference. "I know — at least, I think I know — how guilty Hiromi-chan feels at times when it comes to all the things she didn't do in her first life that caused all that trouble in China," she said. "But there are times I feel she goes a little TOO far in trying NOT to be like what Liú Hóng was like all those years ago." On seeing Miyako's eyes flare, Ataru's former girlfriend sighed. "I don't mean to insult my friend, Miyako-san. Yes, she's your reborn emperor…but she's my friend. I worry about her." As Miyako blinked — Miwaka and Kyoko were nodding in approval — Shinobu added, "I think when Negako-san told Hiromi-chan about how much people were hurt during the Three Kingdoms period, she took it way too bad. And she vowed she would NEVER ignore things like she did before."

"'Ryūkō Kyōrei'…"

That was Kyoko. "Hai," Shinobu said with a nod. "Hiromi-chan's past-self was too young to be given a style name before he was made Emperor, so he never got a style name like you two did." She gazed on Shikuko and Miyako in emphasis. "I don't know about you, though," she then admitted as she gazed on Akane's lover.

"I was Persian in my first life," Kyoko admitted. "Back then, I was not seen as worthy of having a style name. Neither were people like Ten'i; I have to admit, Hiromi-sama really did Somumi-chan good by calling her 'Orai' like she did."

The others nodded. "What sort of style name would you desire, Koshaji-dono?" Hiromi's daughter Kanami then asked as she gazed on the ninja-trained tōshi.

A demure smile. "My Prince, there is no need to plead to the Emperor about my poor self," Kyoko then said as her cheeks slightly reddened.

"'Ginyō.'"

Kyoko awked before she gazed on Akane, who had a twinkle in her brown eyes. "How written, Lady Akane?" Kanami then wondered.

"'Silver hawk,'" the youngest Miyamoto daughter translated.

"Koshaji Ginyō," Miyamoto Karin trilled out. "There is poetry in such a name."

As Kyoko turned a flaming red on hearing the reborn Poet of Dùshì Ford say that, Kanami nodded in approval. "Kōshō-dono, will you prepare a proper request to be presented to Otō-san so she could proclaim that as Koshaji-dono's proper style name?"

Akane's twin nodded. "It will be as you command, My Prince!"

"HEY!" Kyoko yelped out as people laughed.

Shinobu watched the tōshi start to joke away at the proposed add-on to Kyoko's battle name, and then she turned to see Hensō heading over to sit by the bar. Getting up, her former rival for Moroboshi Ataru's hand in marriage headed over to join her. The Oni-form Avalonian perked on sensing her old classmate approach, and then she sighed. "They're so strange," she quietly admitted as Shinobu sat down beside her and Yamaguchi Seina moved to serve some tea. "They seem the friendliest people you could ever meet…but you can sense the violence they're capable of unleashing at the drop of the hat deep inside their souls." A sigh. "Is Darling's sister like that?"

"She is," Shinobu mused as she sipped her tea. "Hiromi-chan is the most polite person you'd ever meet. But get her angry…and if she feels it necessary, whoever gets her mad will face an early grave. She would have ripped you to pieces had you been allowed to come back to Earth. She would have shown all your friends no mercy at all if they pulled some of the stunts they did before we ran into Elle." A sigh. "Then again, it's not so surprising when you sit back and think about it. Ataru-kun's family — as some see it — just threw him to the dogs when you declared he was your husband. His parents sucked up to your parents to get good lives for themselves on Uru, not caring at all that Ataru-kun might have wanted something else. Of course, Kyech-san put a big stop to that…and I don't think either of Ataru-kun's parents really liked having someone that powerful threaten them over how they treated their son."

"Is it true?"

"What?"

"Darling's twin brother? Naoko told me about him."

A nod. "Hai, it's true. Died when he was three…and his body vanished right afterward. No one — not even Negako-san — could figure out what happened to Kaeru-chan's body." Shinobu snorted. "You'd figure that after that, Ataru-kun's parents would have been delighted to have one child still alive and well. Even if he did vanish before he turned six for two months — he was taken to Sagussa, believe it or not! — he was still their child. And look how they ended up treating him!"

Hensō sighed. "I never really took note of that…"

"None of us did," Shinobu admitted. "At least Ataru-kun forgave us — even you — for all the stupid assumptions we made about him because of the mess his brain was in with Negako-san and Hiromi-chan being in there, not to mention how that split his soul apart to allow Tariko-chan to be her own person." She then smiled as Hensō picked up on the sense of both delight and satisfaction the other woman now felt on at least getting some part of her former boyfriend to become her bond-mate. "Pity we couldn't do something for you."

Lum's twin blinked, and then she sighed. "No, I'm okay with Naoko, Shinobu."

Shinobu gazed at her, and then she leaned over to kiss her old classmate on the lips, which made Hensō blink in surprise. "Don't be a total stranger, okay?" the Terran-turned-Avalonian whispered into the Oni-form Avalonian's ear before heading off.

Hensō watched her go, and then she turned back to sip her tea…

…not sensing the pair of brown eyes focused now on her from nearby…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) As stated in the writer's notes for Part 10, this story would be set just before the fifth episode of the 2006-7 season of _Maria-sama ga Miteru_, "Ciao Sorella!" By this time, **Ogasawara Sachiko** and **Hasekura Rei** are in the third year of high school, with **Fukuzawa Yumi**, **Tōdō Shimako** and Rei's cousin **Shimazu Yoshino** in their second year of high school.

2) Notes on the _Ikkitōsen_-based characters introduced here:

**Shūi** (**Meguru Kotoko**) is the current incarnation of Zhōu Yú's father **Zhōu Yì** (unknown dates of birth and death), who served as the Prefect of Luòyáng until Dǒng Zhuó seized power, then he moved his family to the territory then controlled by Sūn Jiān, which is where his son came to later serve Sūn Cè. In this life, Kotoko did marry a non-tōshi to give birth to her son Shūyu Kōkin (Meguru Ichiyu). Said person was Mago Hirosuke, the non-tōshi elder brother of Sonken Bundai (Mago Katahiko), thus allowing a blood-tie to be forged between the family of the Tiger of Jīangdōng and the family of one of the Tiger's most loyal subordinates. Hirosuke died when Meguru was young, but he willed all his money to his wife and child so they could live their lives in relative comfort; this explains how Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko) and her mother Goei (Mago Haeko) could come live at the Meguru residence in _Ikkitōsen_…not to mention the size of the property as shown in the manga.

**Teigen Kenyō** (**Sebone [_née_ Yoboro] Motoko**) is the current incarnation of **Dīng Yuán** (unknown date of birth, died 189 C.E.), who was Lǚ Bù's first foster father. A man who was a hard worker who never backed down from adversity when he served as county magistrate, Dīng was summoned with his troops — including Lǚ — to Luòyáng to help put down the Ten Attendants and their allies. Arriving too late to save Hé Jìn, Dīng would be seen as a threat by Dǒng Zhuó, thus making him bribe Lǚ into betraying his foster father and beheading him to present said head to his NEW foster father. In this life, Motoko was quite shocked to be giving birth to the reborn Lǚ Bù in her daughter Shikuko…but a mother's love proved too much for the spirit of Dīng Yuán to ensure Shikuko would be raised in a good home and have a good life for herself.

**Kabyō** (**Izuku Naemi**) is the reborn **Hé Miáo** (unknown date of birth, died 189), who was Hé Jìn's younger brother. Very little is known of him historically, though he was granted a high position in government when his younger sister was made Empress Consort in 180. After the deaths of his siblings, Hé didn't last long in government. In this life, Naemi graduated from Rakuyō a year after her elder sister Kashin Suikō (Izuku Susuko) would have graduated from that school; she wasn't affected by a Noukiite ch'uokyek as her siblings were. She currently is a freshman attending Meiji University; she currently seeks a degree in aeronautical engineering.

**Chōbaku Mōtaku** (**Haru Tōmi**) is the current incarnation of **Zhāng Miǎo** (155-195). A commandery prefect before everything went crazy in 189, he would be a general commanding one of Yuán Shào's divisions in the fight against Dǒng Zhuó. Dissatisfied with Yuán, Zhāng would eventually break away and join up with his friend Chén Gōng to become a commander in Lǚ Bù's forces. He would not live to see the Battle of Xiàpī in 198. In this life, Tōmi is a third-year high school student currently attending Rakuyō. She is a member of the faction her cousin belongs to, led by Ryofu Hōsen (Sebone Shikuko).

**Kashin** (**Izuku Masato**) is, naturally, the reincarnation of Hé Jìn's father, **Hé Zhēn** (unknown dates of birth and death). A butcher in his first life, very little is known of the elder Hé; it is not even known if he lived long enough to see his son become Grand General of the Hàn. In this life, Masato was a graduate of Rakuyō, going off to become an executive in one of Japan's largest food manufacturing chains. He was fully kept aware of what had happened to two of his daughters by Chōjō (Haru Yuzumi); that his youngest daughter is united at last with her reborn husband naturally fills Masato with great joy.

3) Translations: **Rosa Chinensis** — Rose of China, the Latin name for a deep pink/lavender-shaded rose native to southwest China; **en bouton** — French for "in bud," this phrase is added to the title of one of the three Roses of the **Yamayuri-kai** (literally "Council of the Mountain Lilies") that serve as the leaders of the student's council of the Lillian Academy to mark their chosen successors, i.e. _Rosa Chinensis en bouton_ ("the budding China Rose") as the title for Fukuzawa Yumi at this time in her life; **Rosa Gigantea** — Giant Rose, the Latin name for the physically tallest species of rose known (the rose trunk can grow up to twenty metres or more), which is native to the Himilayan foothills in northeast India; **Rosa Foetida** — Latin name for the Persian Yellow Rose, which is native to the Caucasus Mountains in southeast Europe (the word _foetida_ is derived from the Latin term for something foul-smelling, but I personally doubt Konno-sensei meant THAT when she chose this name for the Yellow Roses of Lillian); **Genroku** — The Japanese era name for the period between September 1688 and March 1704, the fifth year of which was 1692 (when — as fans of _Harry Potter_ will know — the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy went into full effect; in Japan, an **Imperial Magical Rescript** was issued by the **Higashiyama Emperor** [birth-name **Asahito**, lived 1675-1710, ruled 1687-1709] to show that nation's acceptance of the Statute).

4) **Tan'gun** (known properly in Korean as **Tan'gun-wanggŏm** [literally meaning "Tan'gun the Frugal King"]) was the mythological founder of Korea in 2333 B.C.E. A demigod in the Western tradition (his paternal grandfather was **Hwan'in**, the Lord of Heaven), Tan'gun was said to have established his kingdom — later known as **Go-josŏn** — which was said to have existed from 2333-108 B.C.E. As to what was the real truth behind Tan'gun — if he ever existed — it will perhaps remain a mystery forever; his earliest appearance in texts that have survived to this day is in the _Samguk Yusa_ ("Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms"), a 13th Century collection of tales and folklore written by the monk **Ir'yŏn** (1206-89). It is because of this legend that the Korean calendar is said to have begun from 2333 B.C.E. (Korean Year 1); the year 2010 C.E. is Korean year 4343.

5) **425e (Alouette) Escadron Tactique de Chasse** (short-form **425 ETC**) is the primary tactical fighter unit of **3e Escadre** (3 Wing) based at Base des Forces Canadiennes (BFC) Bagotville in the valley of the Rivière Saguenay (Saguenay River) near the city of Saguenay in south-central Québec north of Québec City. 425 Squadron was first founded in 1942 as a unit of No. 6 Group RCAF, flying bombing missions for the rest of World War Two. The squadron was reformed in 1954 as a fighter unit, serving all across Canada before taking up permanent residence in Bagotville in 1962. The squadron was always seen as a French-language unit; the name _Alouette_ is French for "skylark"…and the squadron's motto, _Je Te Plumerai_ (meaning "I Shall Pluck You") is derived from the famous folk song _Alouette_, first published in written format in 1879.

6) **First Air Force** (**1AF**) is the oldest numbered air force in the United States armed services; the unit was first founded as the "Northeast Air District" in 1940. These days, 1AF is a component formation of **Air Combat Command** (**ACC**), with headquarters at Tyndall AFB on the Gulf of Mexico coast of the Florida Panhandle near Panama City. The formation also serves as the commanding element for all fighting elements tasked to the **Continental United States Region** (**CONR**) of NORAD, thus making 1AF the mainland American counterpart to the First Canadian Air Division. Thanks to recent changes in USAF policy, the fighting elements of 1AF are mostly Air National Guard formations and units, such as the **120th Fighter Wing** (**120 FW**) from Great Falls in Montana, the **148th Fighter Wing** (**148 FW**) from Minneapolis and the **158th Fighter Wing** (**158 FW**) in Burlington in northwest Vermont near the border with Québec. The primary fighter element of 158 FW is the **134th Fighter Squadron** (nicknamed — as is the whole of the wing — "The Green Mountain Boys" from the famous name of Vermont's Revolutionary War soldiers), which was first founded in 1946 and perpetuates the old "384th Bombardment Squadron (Light)" that was founded in 1942 and converted to a fighter unit midway through World War Two.

7) The **Liberty League** mentioned here is my take-off on the **All-Star Squadron** concept that was created from DC Comic's World War Two-era heroes (the **Justice Society of America**) as published in the early 1980s. It was in the sequel series to _All-Star Squadron_, _Young All-Stars_ (published 1987-90), that the concept of bestowing the **Medal of Honour** to superheroes who died in battle was first explored. I carried that over to the Liberty League…whom the War Hawks worked alongside in the defence of North America from 1942 to the end of the war. It was in one pitched battle with Axis metahumans that Major Raeburn became the only living non-American to be awarded the Medal of Honour…though precedence was there; in 1921, the British **Unknown Warrior** was awarded the Medal of Honour by General of the Armies **John J. Pershing** (1860-1948) after he visited the Warrior's grave in London in 1921. This, of course, saw to it that the American **Unknown Soldier** of World War One would get the Victoria Cross in return during a visit to Washington by Admiral of the Fleet **David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty** (1871-1936) later that year on behalf of King George V.

8) I personally don't believe an explanation concerning the crew of **Apollo 11** needs to be included here.

9) To expand of what was spoken about here concerning the size of Canadian air cavalry regiments, attack aviation battalions of the United States Army fly 24 AH-68D Apache helicopters. You figure a switch of one Apache for one Camel III and you'd have a rather underpowered air cavalry regiment by Canadian standards; see Note 9 in Part 51 to understand what I mean.

10) When a United States Navy enlisted sailor reaches the rank of **Master Chief Petty Officer** and is made the senior rate on a Navy ship or unit, his rate and rating title changes to read **Command Master Chief Petty Officer** (**CMDCM**). In effect — regardless of what actual rating the person had before being appointed as command master chief — s/he becomes the representative of ALL enlisted sailors in a particular unit.

As an aside, CMDCM(AW/SW) Keith Hayward's enlisted warfare speciality is "**Air Warfare/Surface Warfare**." In other words, he's qualified to serve on both surface ships and with air units.

11) When she was first commissioned, the original H.M.C.S. _Haida_ was given the pendant number **G63**, which remained with her for all of World War Two. Only when the Royal Canadian Navy began adopting American-style hull classification symbol numbers in the late 1940s did she gain the pendant number **DDE-215**.

12) **Lǎo Zǐ** is the proper Pīnyīn spelling of the name of the founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu. Born with the name **Lǐ Ěr** and said to have lived in the time of the 6th Century B.C.E., he was given the name "Lǎo Zǐ" (literally "Old Master") in the wake of his death. He was said to be the one who wrote the famous Taoist text **Dàodéjīng** (known more commonly in English as _Tao Te Ching_ and meaning "The Classical Way of Virtue")…where, in Chapter 64, is contained the famous saying "_A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step_."

13) Heather Thompkins' medals noted here include one particular medal which comes straight from _Harry Potter_, the **Order of Merlin**. As the abbreviation "**OM**" directly represents the **Order of Merit** (a medal that is the personal gift of the Sovereign and normally awarded to mark distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art and literature), I had to switch the letters to "**MO**" in my _Icemaidens_ stories to mark an Order of Merlin recipient. The three grades of the Order are marked with a number after the order's abbreviation; **MO1** represents the winner of an Order of Merlin First Class. As the Order of Merlin was meant to represent BOTH gallant service AND service to wizarding society, I postulated in the _Icemaidens_ series that each level would rank equal to the three highest awards of bravery in the British honours system…but each level would be BELOW that of the equivalent non-magical award as follows:

FIRST TIER:  
**Victoria Cross** (**VC**) (_for military personnel in combat situations_)/**George Cross** (**GC**) (_for military personnel outside combat situations or non-military personnel_)  
**Order of Merlin, First Class** (**MO1**)  
SECOND TIER:  
**Conspicuous Gallantry Cross** (**CGC**) (_for military personnel in combat_)/**Distinguished Service Order** (**DSO**) (_for distinguished leadership or other equivalent service_)  
**Order of Merlin, Second Class** (**MO2**)  
THIRD TIER:  
**Distinguished Service Cross** (**DSC**) (_for action at sea_)/**Military Cross** (**MC**) (_for action on land_)/**Distinguished Flying Cross** (**DFC**) (_for action in the air_)  
**Order of Merlin, Third Class** (**MO3**)

As an aside, the "**& Bar**" (normally spelt out "and Bar") indicates a second award of the same medal. If there is a further award of the medal, the notation becomes "**& 2 Bars**" (normally spelt out "and Two Bars").

Heather's other medals include two special orders of merit. The first is the **Order of Canada**, Canada's national order which recognises outstanding merit or distinguished service by Canadians which made a major difference to Canada through lifelong contributions in every field of endeavour and one of the top-ranking medals that can be awarded to a native of the Dominion. This order is split into three levels, Companion (**CC**), Officer (**OC**) and Member (**CM**).

The second is the Québec provincial version of the Order of Canada, **l'Ordre National du Québec** ("National Order of Québec"). The Ordre National was intended to honour current or former Québec residents for conspicuous achievements in any field. While other like provincial orders are single-tier medals, the Ordre National is split into three levels, Grand Officer (**GOQ**), Officer (**OQ**) and Chevalier (**CQ**).

Also, the **OMM** in Brian Gamblin's post-nominals marks a person as having been awarded the **Order of Military Merit**, which is a medal that marks conspicuous merit and exceptional service by members of the Canadian Forces both regular and reserve. This order is split into three levels, Commander (**CMM**), Officer (**OMM**) and Member (**MMM**).

14) Fans of a certain sitcom that was televised on CBS from 1978-82 should recognise the references near the end of this part.

15) The **United States Uniformed Services Oath of Office** — which is the oath taken by officers and warrant officers upon entering service in the armed forces — reads as follows: "_I, [name], do solemnly swear/affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God._"

Its counterpart oath for enlisted personnel, the **United States Uniformed Services Oath of Enlistment**, reads as follows: "_I, [name], do solemnly swear/affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God._"

In comparison, this is the **Canadian Forces Oath of Allegiance** for all ranks: "_I, [name], do swear/solemnly affirm that I will well and truly serve Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors according to Law, in the Canadian Forces until lawfully released, that I will resist Her Majesty's enemies and cause Her Majesty's peace to be kept and maintained and that I will, in all matters pertaining to my service, faithfully discharge my duty. So help me God._"

Note that the underlined parts here get switched between those taking a religious oath and those making a non-religious oath. Of course, the "So help me God" part is not spoken for those making a non-religious oath.

16) A United States **Navy Operational Support Center** (**NOSC**) is the equivalent of a Canadian Naval Reserve Division like H.M.C.S. _Star_ (introduced in Part 29). Unlike units such as _Star_, American NOSCs are NOT given ship names; the local unit mentioned here is always addressed as **NOSC Cincinnati**.

17) In Chinese custom, the awarding of a **style name** (in Chinese, **Zì**) normally is not allowed until the person in question reaches adulthood (age 20 in the Orient). As Liú Hóng was made Emperor at age 12, it could explain why he never received a style name of his own (his son, Liú Xié, was given the style name **Bóhé** ["Peaceful Sire"]). Of course, the explanation as to why Ebisu Kyoko's past-self never got his own style name is just conjecture on my part.


	57. The Servant of the Wise Lord

H.M.C.S. _Haida_, in orbit west of Vancouver Island (Japan time: Just before dawn)…

"Hey."

Hensō blinked on hearing that voice, and then she smiled. "Hello, Darling."

Ataru walked over to stand beside her as they gazed out from the forward observation lounge on the vast Pacific many kilometres below, the west coast of Canada and the Alaskan Panhandle off to their right. "How are you feeling?" he wondered.

"Still a little hurt," his would-be wife confessed, and then she smiled. "Not by you, of course. Just…the whole situation with Onē-san and how everyone was just willing to go along with what Ōgi said after I was first woken. Nassur-cha, Cinba-cha and Dakejinzō-san are known never to lie about things like that…and to believe that they were just _**ignored**_ like that…!" A sigh. "Why…?" she wondered.

"People were too scared of the Ipraedies and the Seifukusu to think things through when it came to the Niphentaxians," he answered as he reached down to grasp her hand. She smiled on feeling that contact, not moving to shy away from the man who had publicly divorced her six months ago…though given how badly his own mind was messed up at the time, she couldn't really hold him at fault for doing that. "Atop that, Ōgi — and those before him — were just too good at suppressing the abolitionists; Ganzo-ojiisan was pretty damned lucky to get away with what he did." A hum. "I wonder…"

"What could have happened to us if Kyech-san didn't interfere?" she asked.

A nod. "Yeah. Right now, we'd be probably dealing with Rupa and his family's claim for your hand in marriage. Provoked something that would have given Onē-san more ki to use to create her own body. Tariko and Hiromi-chan would've still been stuck in my head. I would still be living with Baka Tō-san and Baka Kā-san since all of Oji-san's wards were scared off by Baka Kā-san from trying to interfere in my life. I would be probably very deeply in love with you…but still not allowed to act on it."

"And scared of the idea of having your freedom taken away," she noted.

Another nod. "Yeah…"

"Do they understand?"

He blinked. "Shikuko and Miyako?" A smirk. "They understand more than you think. Tōshi may be very good martial artists…but the fear they all have of the 'Fate of the Sacred Bead' — the influence of their past-selves on their lives — is just too damned strong. The idea of actually _defying_ their 'fate' is nothing short of a heresy to some." A weak smile crossed his face as his eyes teared. "Even worse, Shikuko was diagnosed with ALS before we met. She probably wouldn't have lasted to the Centre Test. Miyako would have killed herself to be with Shikuko." A shrug. "Well…"

"We're all pretty messed up inside, aren't we?"

"That we are."

They gazed on each other, and then they laughed before Hensō leaned in. Ataru smiled before they deeply kissed, and then they held each other for a moment before they moved to sit down. "I can feel it now," she mused as she put her hand on his chest. "I can finally feel your love for me, Darling. Oh, Lyna…if only…"

"Don't worry about that, Hensō-vayae," he whispered, making Hensō gape on hearing him call her "My Darling Hensō" in Sagussan. "What's happened has happened. You got a bright and wonderful future ahead of you now. A beautiful bond-mate who's going to be a sharp-dressed girl…" He then grinned. "Though not as sharp as him."

She noticed him nodding off behind them, and then she looked…before gaping on seeing the handsome fellow in the Red Serge standing nearby. "Tcha…!"

"I apologize for disturbing you two," Benton Fraser said as both of them got up. "Much that I understand your need to reconcile from what happened on Uru six months ago…but Assistant Commissioner Larsden needs something done right away."

"How so, um…?"

Benton introduced himself. "As you are now bond-mated to a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, Miss Hensō, that makes you a naturalized Canadian citizen under the amended clauses of the Citizenship Act of 1976 passed this year; the amendments covered the instances where a Canadian citizen — either Terran-born or Avalonian-born — was bond-mated to an Avalonian who is not a Canadian citizen. You would have to swear a citizenship oath to be formally registered as a Canadian citizen and be allowed to claim spousal rights as you are the bond-mate to Naval Cadet Takanashi Naoko. As you are no doubt aware, she was registered as a Canadian citizen in March this year because of her being assigned as part of this ship's crew. As I am permitted to administer that oath…"

Lum's twin laughed. "Please!"

"Very well, then. If you would place your hand on the Constitution…"

"You're using a copy of your country's constitution?" Ataru wondered; he would have expected that a Bible would be used in this case from what he knew of Western-style ceremonies when someone was to take any sort of oath.

Benton smiled. "An American influence, I'm afraid," he confessed. "For reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, I was attached as liaison with the Canadian Consulate in the city of Chicago from 1994 to 1999…"

"Benton, I fail to comprehend why you do not claim credit for what you did in the Northwest Territories after your father's murder," a familiar toneless voice stated from nearby, making everyone turn as Negako walked up, accompanied by Kaga.

"What did he do, Onē-san?" Ataru asked.

"In investigating his father's murder, Benton — assisted by his friend Raymond Vecchio, then a first-grade detective in the Chicago Police Department — uncovered a conspiracy by a company constructing a dam to allow the complete extermination of various species of wildlife…which would have badly affected the various Inuit peoples living in the area," the ninjutsu grandmaster stated. "Several of Benton's superiors were involved in this conspiracy, thus making them — to borrow the local colloquialism — 'dirty cops.' When it all came to trial, Benton's reputation amongst most members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was sullied." A sigh. "Which, as usual, proves that humans can be quite fickle creatures when the mood strikes them. However, with Martin's return to the Force in his current position, I believe whatever problems with 'dirty' members of the Force will be resolved…to the Force's considerable benefit, of course."

"Indeed," Benton stated before he turned to Hensō. "Shall we?"

"Tcha!"

A hand was placed on the red leather-bound copy of the Canadian Constitution as Hensō raised her other hand. "Please repeat after me," Benton said. "I, Redet Hensō…"

"I, Redet Hensō…do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance…to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of the Dominion of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors…and that I will faithfully observe the laws of the Dominion of Canada…and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen," Hensō swore before she added, "In the names of the Maidens of Aruka, I solemnly swear this oath."

Benton nodded. "May I be the first to officially welcome you as a citizen of the Dominion, Miss Hensō," he said as he offered his hand to her.

She shook it as Mulroney — who had accompanied his master aboard the _Haida_ and the _Bismarck_ ever since Benton Fraser and Martin Larsden boarded the German starship while she was close to Québec City — barked in approval. "As I believe you still require time to reconcile with your former boyfriend, I'll leave you be," Benton then politely stated. "Please excuse me." With that, he and Mulroney walked out of the lounge.

Hensō breathed out, "Wow…!"

"He is quite nice, isn't he?" Kaga mused before she gave Negako a knowing look. "Vesperia would be pretty impressed with him."

"We will get to her — and the other Canadian Steel Angels — as soon as we can," Negako stated before she gazed on her brother. "As I care not to remain aboard a ship high in the sky, I will return to Tōkyō and proceed to have Kurumi, Saki, Karinka and Aoi transformed into Avalonians. That should make Nako a very happy woman, I believe."

"She's probably name a child after you, Onē-san," Ataru stated.

Negako look confused…which, to those who knew the ninjutsu grandmaster, was quite a rare thing indeed. "Why would she do that?" she wondered before shaking her head, and then she moved to leave before stopping. "Oh, Hensō…"

Lum's twin tensed. "Negako-san?"

"Do not believe your months on Earth with Ataru were wasted," the ninjutsu grandmaster stated. "You managed to pull yourself away from a man you did not care for. You were relatively sheltered from the pressures your being the Niphentaxians' then-living goddess figure forced on you while you were on Uru. You were also very much isolated from those elements on Uru who would use you to your detriment. You also gained new friends and a new perspective of life that — even though you could not properly explore same due to Zōju's curse on your body — will benefit you well now that you and Naoko have bonded and you will make a life for yourself in Canada. Even more so, you — even if you did not know this at the time — contributed to helping Lum gain vengeance on Ōgi."

Hensō blinked. "I…don't understand, Negako-san."

"The ki I arranged to have collected under the Tarōzakura Hill in Tomobiki from yourself and others over the years was used to destroy the last fighting elements of the so-called 'Army of Lum' in February," Negako explained. "In the wake of your expulsion from Earth — not realising their comrades were being attacked by the ch'uokyek and the ib'f at the time — the commander of that force was determined to take Earth hostage to force Ataru to recant his proclamation that Paragraph Ten of the Tag Race Treaty would be placed into effect and enforced by the Noukiites. With Kyech's help, I used the ki under the Tarōzakura Hill to destroy that force. The survivors are now currently on Hichkyech'eng undergoing behavioural reforms."

Lum's twin took a moment to consider that…and then she smiled. While she had been rocked with self-doubt in the six months between Ataru's divorcing her and her being kidnapped by Rupa to be taken to Yaminokuni, she HAD felt a lot of delight on hearing how her sister's 'most faithful' had been badly humbled by the Noukiites and the Yehisrites. The "one true faith" itself was disestablished as the Niphentaxians' only legal religion two weeks after the destruction of Phentax Twelve at the order of a former Church of Hollywood high priestess who succeeded Ōgi as president of the Union of Phentax Two, Miree ot'ndai-Boghar. While the Church of Lum did exist still, it was presently lead by moderates — freed from imprisonment for being 'heretics' — who viewed Moroboshi Ataru as the "Goddess' Beloved Darling"…though the new Niphentaxian ambassador to Uru, Miree's elder daughter Jonna dai-Boghar, reported to President Hozan Lana three months ago that many older Lumites were "rediscovering" their old faiths.

As usual, Hensō — as Lum herself had been forced to do in the months between the bio-bombing of Lecashuto and the incident on Home Base — had been told by her father to say nothing publicly about the downfall of the Church of Lum. Remembering that, Lum's twin shook her head; at the time, she was just too heartbroken and hurt to care.

But now…

"That's good. Maybe now, they'll stop acting like warped, perverted versions of Megane-san and his friends and try to be good people for a change," Hensō noted.

"I believe the impetus is there for them to reform," Negako stated.

With that, she and Kaga departed. Ataru and Hensō watched them go, and then they exchanged looks. "Things might not have been too bad, though," he then mused.

"What do you mean, Darling?"

"Well, since Tsukihana-kun and Ayami-chan were busy using the factory satellite they found over Den'sha Two while we were dealing with Elle, they might have decided to deal with the Niphentaxians themselves," he noted as he moved to sit down. "After all, there were over a million Avalonian technicians and engineers serving on Ōgi's ships who could have crewed these ships AND the old Fourth Republic fleet. That alone would have wiped out your sister's so-called 'army,' then put up a screen around Earth to make idiots like Rei's uncle behave." As she laughed as she moved to sit beside him, he reached over to grasp her hand. "The Promise would still have been fulfilled."

Silence then fell as they considered that, and then Hensō sighed. "Darling…"

"Hensō…"

"I'm sorry!" both then blurted out.

They gazed on each other, and then they laughed before leaning in to share another warm kiss. "You'll always have a place in my life, Hensō-vayae," he whispered.

"And you'll always have a place in my life, Ataru-vayae," she promised.

He smiled…and then hummed. "What?!" she asked.

He patted his lap. "Sit here."

She did as he asked her. He then took out his comb and moved to gently brush her hair before he began gently braiding her beautiful locks. Hensō shuddered with delight as she felt his soft hands work away on her hair — though part of her was surprised that Ataru could do things like THIS! — and then she blinked as she felt him style her hair in a bun at the back of her head, allowing some of the bangs to fall over the tip of her ears to disguise them. "There we go," he then said as he pulled out a mirror to let her look at herself. "Nomade Shinobi lives again," he said with a flourish.

Hensō blinked. "Darling, it was '_Nobade_ Shinobi,'" she reminded him.

"'Nomade' is the French way of saying 'nomad,'" Ataru explained. "You're trying to keep yourself hidden from the xenophobes, remember?" As she laughed, he then added, "Besides, it fits you a lot more than what the guys in class thought up when they wanted to get back at Mendō for making the girls go ga-ga over him. You've migrated from Uru to Japan…and now you're going to live in Canada. In the future, who knows where else you'll go with Naoko-chan. She won't be in the Navy forever…"

A hum. "That's true." She then sighed. "Darling…"

"You want me to be the father of your children, don't you?"

She smiled at him. "Do you blame me?"

"I'm honoured…but not ready to be a dad just yet."

A smirk as she gave him a knowing look. "Your parents?"

"They married right out of high school because Baka Kā-san got pregnant with Kaeru and me, Hensō," he advised her. "Ever since that time, they've lived pretty boring lives." He shook his head. "I'm not ready to be a drone."

"No, you'll never be a drone," she admitted with a smile as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "You're just too darned unique to let _**that**_ happen to you, Darling."

He hugged her. "So are you."

They gazed into each other's eyes, and then they kissed…

* * *

Minutes later, Hensō stepped down from the lounge into Recreation Flats on Deck A5, which also led to the upper gallery entrance to the ship's gymnasium and swimming area. Waiting for her was a smiling Sebone Shikuko. Both gazed on each other, and then Lum's sister sighed. "I still love him very much, Shikuko," she advised the older girl.

"As much as he still loves you," the Rakuyō senior noted. "Right now, I need him to just focus on Miyako and me." As Hensō gazed at her, the reborn Flying General of the Hàn allowed tears to flow down her face. "I'm trying not to be selfish. I know there might be other girls who would want to seek him out. Many of his classmates at school are included in that, believe it or not." As Hensō gaped at her, Shikuko then sighed. "But ever since I woke up to what I am — and especially ever since I was diagnosed with ALS — I've felt like I've been living with the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head, Hensō-chan. Then your ex-husband came along…and gave me my life back. Yes, it was a promise he made to Nozomi-chan when he gave her a date before she finally passed through the Te'a into Heaven…but you know and I know that he would have gladly done things like that for any tōshi — or any girl for that matter — who was suffering like I did."

"That's always been Darling's best virtue," Hensō admitted. "It's a pity that Negako-san never had any good experiences when it came to dealing with normal people. If she had allowed that part of Darling to show more and more, he would have been more popular with the girls than Shūtarō. That would have been a big source of ki for her to make a body for herself if the Avalonians never came along to help her finally be free."

A chuckle. "Yeah, that's true…but we all came out winners in the end." Shikuko then smiled as she reached over to gently grasp the younger woman's hands before pulling Hensō against her as she leaned in to deliver a very deep kiss.

Hensō instantly responded to that show of passion. After a moment, they then parted. "After your sweetheart gets out of officer's training in British Columbia next year, c'mon over to the house for New Years," the senior student then whispered into the Oni-form Avalonian's ear. "He'll be legal at that time under Canadian law."

Hensō blinked, and then she giggled. "True. We are Darling's dolls…and we must make sure Darling knows how to properly play with his dolls," she advised back.

Both girls laughed, and then Hensō kissed Shikuko on the cheek before heading off to the nearest turbolift station. The older woman watched her go, and then she sighed before gazing at the deckhead as the image of Uneme Nozomi appeared before her mind's eye. "I still miss you, cousin," she whispered before heading into the lounge.

Once there, she walked over to Ataru…who was now gazing in the direction of the Moon, the bright beacon marking the bioroid factory shining in front of that pitted grey surface. Shikuko then paused on noting his left eye was glowing…though there wasn't the Antarctic-level chill in the air around him that warned of a possible transformation into the hideous monster that lurked in the darkest recesses of her lover's soul. "What is it, Ataru?" she wondered as she walked over to gently place her hands on his shoulders, allowing her ki to slowly flow into his body to comfort him.

He sighed. "**I've felt that from time to time**," he admitted, his voice echoing with the metallic twang that sounded like some computer speaking through a long steel tunnel. "**From the factory. Can you sense it, Shikuko?**" he asked as he nodded up.

Shikuko blinked…and then she looked as something seemed to flood her from head to toe. Power — raw cosmic power nearly at the scale she had felt when she first met Dean Raeburn and Heather Thompkins — matched to unchained passion…and a level of agony and heartache that would make most tōshi appear the happiest of people. "Oh, my…who on Earth is that?!" she demanded as she gazed down at her lover.

"**I don't know**," he answered as his right eye misted. "**I felt it first back in February when we attacked Phentax Twelve and wound up killing all the bastards inside the factory to clear it out and let the Avalonians be brought aboard…**"

* * *

_The Avalon bioroid factory on Phentax Twelve, Wednesday 17 February 2010 (Japan time: Three hours after midnight)… _

_"KILL HIM!" _

_The Cyborg calmly approached the line of Niphentaxian soldiers — dressed to the end like members of the Mendō Panzer Division in their World War Two Wehrmacht-like field grey uniforms; their weapons, however, were advanced particle rifles modelled after the standard issue for the Urusian Union Marine Corps — forming a barricade before the entrance of one of the gestation towers near the northwest end of the great craft he had boarded with his friends an hour earlier. Ignoring the multiple impacts of full-power shots on his body — becoming the technological image of the Master of Entropy allowed him to make use of the Stone-Body Shield Defence with ease, thus hardening the organic parts of his body to the strength of solid diamond — the transformed Ataru snorted through his metallic nose before casually tossing the severed head in his right hand towards the troops. That action made them stop firing as they looked down. _

_"**She refused to surrender**," Ataru declared, his voice echoing like the voice of God in the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille version of_ The Ten Commandments _all over this part of the factory's interior as the troops gaped in horrified shock at the head of Otako odai-Meinyak, the governor of Phentax Twelve and a very passionate follower of the Church of Lum. "**Right now, your fleet is being wiped out by our Noukiite and Yehisrite dragon friends. The System Destroyers protecting Phentax Two itself have been made to destroy each other, thus making your homeworld vulnerable to Ipraedies attack should old man Schwartz ever decide to remove your race from Existence. If you people are smart, you'll give in right now and let us take the Avalonians away…!**" _

_"_ATARU_." _

_He paused on hearing Negako's cold, dirge-like voice; as a way to further frighten the Niphentaxians, the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu had allowed her body to become as pale as a ghost and covered with black tiger stripes of anti-ki…thus echoing how she — then possessing Ataru's great-grandfather Moroboshi Ryūbi — looked like when s/he went out on the evening of 14 August 1945 to wipe out the Black Dragon Society. "**What is it, Onē-san?**" the machine-man then asked as the Niphentaxians nearby all cringed. _

_"_THE CONTROLLING MECHANISMS THAT LOCKED THE AVALONIANS INTO OBEYING THEIR 'MASTERS' HAS BEEN DESTROYED_," Negako reported. "_THE RECALL WAS JUST STARTED BY GANZO; WE'RE HAVING ALL THE CIVILIAN VESSELS WITHIN IMMEDIATE RANGE OF THIS SYSTEM SEIZED TO TRANSPORT THEM TO EARTH. GIVEN THE SHEER NUMBERS WE'RE DEALING WITH RIGHT NOW…_" _

_"**Right…**" _

_And with that, the glowing sensor-like ball that was mounted in the place of Ataru's left eye let out a burning beam of energy to rip the heads off all the crouching Niphentaxians before them before it swept back to kill off those who were standing. As the last of the decapitated enemy warriors dropped to the floor, Ataru walked over to a nearby control panel. A connecting probe extended from his left index finger to link into the panel, and then he ordered, "**Computer, beam out all Niphentaxians in this sector of the factory to the village to the south of the factory itself.**" _

_Materialiser beams took all the corpses away…including the spilt blood that was on the catwalk decks. Noting that, Ataru relaxed himself as he allowed the cold fire to transform him back to normal; he was now dressed in the Noukiite travellers' clothes Kyech had purchased for him when they had arrived on Okusei seven weeks before. He then tensed as a wave of incredibly intensive ki energy washed over him yet again from the direction of the gestation tower he had been advancing on. "Okay, let's see what was going on here," he whispered as he kicked aside the knocked-over desks and tables the enemy troops had tried to use to protect themselves. Coming up to the entrance and spotting the Sagussan number **98** on the plaque beside the door, he tapped a control to open it. A warning buzz then echoed from the panel. "Locked?!" he wondered before tapping the intercom switch. "Oi! Anyone in there?!" _

_"_**STAY AWAY!**_" _

_Ataru jerked on hearing that thundering voice echo from the speaker, and then he paused before taking a deep breath. "Relax! I'm not here to hurt you!" he called out. "Your so-called 'masters' are dead! We're here to get you people off this planet!" _

_Silence. _

_"I know…" the voice came back. "I saw what you did, Lord Ataru…" _

_He then smiled…though part of him wondered about the "Lord Ataru" bit. Whoever was in there clearly seemed friendly enough. "Can you open the…?" _

_"_**NO!**_" _

_He jolted._ Shit! What the hell happened here?! _he wondered before taking a breath to calm himself. "Okay! I'm going to help my friends with your sisters! I'll come back to you as soon as I can, okay?! You just sit tight and you'll be fine!" _

_"I know…the Master has blessed you, Lord Ataru," the voice then declared…as Ataru found himself realising she was speaking with a Sanuki-Shikoku accent. "Do His Bidding. I must…see to my friends here. Forgive me…" _

_He nodded. "You'll be okay…"_

* * *

"I totally forgot all about that!"

Shikuko blinked before she smiled. "Well, helping over TWO BILLION Avalonians on their first day of true freedom would make you forget about _one_ girl, Ataru."

He — Ataru's left eye had returned to normal after his memories of that incident faded from his conscious mind — considered that for a moment, and then he smiled as he stared up at Shikuko. "Well, I'm sure whoever that was, she's okay."

"We can go look in on her if we want," she offered.

He considered that for a moment, and then he sighed. "Let's do that later. We got to get you all settled down first at the house, then help deal with Ranma's family."

A nod. "No rest for the wicked…"

They shared a warm kiss…

* * *

The Avalon factory, an observation dome over Gestation Tower #98, that moment…

The humble servant of the Master of Light and Wisdom could only smile as she gazed upon the image of Moroboshi Ataru and Sebone Shikuko kissing.

With a thought, she dispelled the image — while watching the mighty servant of the Master of Entropy, the reborn Flying General of the Hàn and her reborn chief adviser and lover engage in wonderful carnal congress was enough to give her some very nice wet dreams, she didn't view herself as a perverted voyeur — as she took a deep breath, her pale blue eyes tearing with joy at the magnificent success the Task Force under the command of the Great Emperor of the Hàn enjoyed against the servants of the Evil One who would dare enslave all the Master's Children in the galaxy to their dark desires and false religion. Gripping the long shaft of the Staff of Gihan — a weapon she had bonded to that wonderful day in February when she had awoken in her new body almost immediately after she had been struck down by poor Kiriyama Kazuo by the tree in the middle of Oki-shima, which she had wrested from the hands of the vile creature who had wanted to enslave her and her wonderful friends — Inada Mizuho could only smile.

She knew the truth of what had happened to her.

The Master had shown her in her dreams about that truth.

She and her friends had been spared from learning the Master's Final Mystery — to know what truly lay beyond the Veil of the Te'a — for a purpose.

Soon, all those who had been systematically murdered over a period of fifty-three years in the "Greater East Asia Republic" many alternate timelines away from this dimension and point in space-time would breathe again…and would know peace.

The horrid fear that had struck many of her classmates about what might happen to them if they were discovered by their sister Avalonians aboard the factory — or worse, by Moroboshi Hiromi and her subordinates in the Earth Defence Force — could be dealt with.

Though — in periods when Mizuho wasn't fully devoting herself to her faith — she felt like tearing her hair out at some of the idiotic things others had said.

Even Noda Satomi — the brightest of their class from Shiroiwa — was flatly convinced that sooner or later, they would be forced to return to the dimension of their birth.

Honestly!

Didn't Satomi comprehend the basics about inter-dimensional travel?

Yes, under _normal_ circumstances, one who travelled to another dimension would be forced back to the dimension of one's birth within a solar year — dependant, of course, on the actual time one's planet of birth rotated around one's sun — of the initial crossing.

But the twenty-one girls from Shiroiwa now living in Tower #98 — and, hopefully, their twenty-one male classmates wherever they may be — had bodies created on the bioroid factory in THIS dimension.

As would all those others who had been forced to participate in _The Program_ since 1947; this was something that Kanai Izumi — whose younger brother was a passionate fan of the Greater East Asia Republic's most popular reality television show — had been urging for a while now.

THAT was the ONE exception to the question about inter-dimensional travel.

Making the others believe that, though…!

Mizuho sighed as she took a moment to calm herself. This was simply another trial forced on her by the Master. To prove her worthiness, she had to continue to say what she believed in…and hopefully, the others would finally listen.

Hopefully…

* * *

The Hodogaya Ward of Yokohama, the Kasuga Shrine, an hour later…

"A new day…a new day…Kurumi-chan…"

Hearing her daughter whisper away as she gazed on the beautiful sunrise over the hills of the Bōsō Peninsula beyond Tōkyō Bay, Kasuga Misaki could only smile.

Finally after five years — when a young Kasuga Nako discovered the hidden chamber below the shrine grounds where the sleeping bodies of Ayanokōji Kurumi, her sisters Saki and Karinka, and Tōgō Aoi had been placed by Dean Raeburn and Moroboshi Negako sixty-eight years before — her little baby's fondest wish was about to come true.

Sipping her tea, the elder Kasuga then glanced in the direction of the storage building off to one side of the grounds. The entrance to the chamber where the three Ayanokōji sisters and the Imperial Japanese Navy special police officer had been stored could be accessed from one of the basement rooms; before she had boarded the _Kirkpatrick_ to see Shichinohe Kaga transformed into an Avalonian, Negako had unlocked the main door to allow several technicians from the factory to get in there and made the necessary biometric scans to have the replacement bodies prepared. By the time Nako had sensed Kaga was human sometime late on Wednesday, the templation of the replacement bodies had been complete aboard the factory…though they had yet to be brought down. _No doubt waiting for Negako-san to come here to supervise the body-swap_, she mused…

…before she blinked on hearing the tell-tale ringing noise of a materialiser from the main grounds. Looking, she then grinned on seeing a familiar woman in black there…and then she gaped on seeing the beautiful tomboy standing beside her. Also with them were four gestation tubes, each of them currently obviously occupied by a freshly templated Avalonian body. "Oh, my heavens…" she gasped before looking towards the hallway leading to the bedrooms. "Otō-san! Negako-san's come back!"

Footsteps then heralded the arrival of a silver-haired man bearing the dark blue-grey eyes that seemed a Kasuga Clan trait. "You should learn to address the Earth Angel properly, Misaki," Kasuga Tsukahito sternly stated as he shook his head. As always, Kasuga Kamihito's son — the last person in the clan to weld the full powers of an onmyōji priest — was dressed in the beautiful robes of his station; Misaki often wondered if her father actually _slept_ in those clothes. "You know…"

"Ojii-san!"

He jerked on sensing Nako glaring at him from the front porch, fists on her hips as she gave him a scowling look. "How many times do _**I**_ have to tell you Negako-san doesn't care at all about the silly titles people put on her?! Negako-san is Negako-san!" she snapped. "Stop trying to put her on a pedestal! She hates that!"

Misaki giggled as Tsukahito sputtered in considerable disorder at his granddaughter's rant. Nako snorted before she turned to walk away from the living quarters towards the storage building. She was quick to see several technicians lifting stretchers bearing the shrine's four sleeping guests into the open air. Noting the beautiful long, pink hair on the first stretcher, Nako shuddered with joy. "Kurumi-chan!" she called out…

…before she found herself frozen still thanks to a handy shiatsu point at the base of her neck. "Nako, what did I inform you when it came to this process?" that familiar toneless voice then queried as Negako leaned into the younger girl's field of vision.

Nako jolted, and then she blushed. "Don't interfere," she said.

"Excellent. Remain where you are and be patient. Kurumi will be revived first."

Hearing that, Nako literally glowed with joy. Watching her from nearby, Kaga chuckled. "She's Nakahito's great-grandniece?" she asked as Negako gazed her way.

"She is." With a tap of a finger, Negako released the shiatsu lock on Nako's body, making her stumble…though, thanks to a couple months of hard training under the ninjutsu grandmaster's charge, Nako's chronic clumsiness didn't see her fall flat on her face. "Nako, I do believe you know of Kaga," the grandmaster then stated.

Nako blinked, and then she turned to bow to Kaga. "Welcome back, Kaga-san."

"It's good to be back," Kaga said with her own bow.

By then, the litters holding Kurumi and Saki were laid out on the ground as the other technicians moved to put Karinka and Aoi into position. Staying close to Negako as they approached to take a closer look, Nako felt her eyes tear. "Kurumi-chan…you won't have to sleep anymore," she whispered as she wiped her eyes.

"Indeed, she will not," Negako stated. "Nako, you do realise that once she is awake, she will be informed of Nakahito's fate. You must be prepared to comfort her."

A nod. "Hai."

"What about Aoi?" Kaga asked as the technicians moved to open the gestation chambers to pull out the replacement bodies for the Ayanokōji sisters and Aoi, moving to place them on anti-gravity gurneys that were then lowered to the ground, putting each of the new bodies within reaching range of their templates head-to-head.

"Ataru's lover Noberu Miyako is the great-granddaughter of Noberu Iemi," Negako explained. "She was the senior Army adviser to the Navy construction team that created Aoi. Iemi was also the last person to call herself 'Chinkyū Kōdai.' Miyako has all the memories of her great-grandmother's life, so she will know Aoi very well."

"Negako-sama, we're ready," the chief technician stated.

"Commence with Kurumi," Negako bade.

"Hai!"

With that, one of the technicians slipped on meson-lined gloves before taking a hand from Kurumi's replacement body, and then she shifted the hand onto the old body's face. Instantly, Kurumi's dark blue eyes snapped open as hidden runes on her body glowed. Within seconds, her old body vanished into sparkles that flowed into her new body. The protective bodysuit on Kurumi's new body then morphed into her dark blue maid's uniform with the frilly white undershirt, white petticoat, beige thigh-high stockings and walking shoes. Once the energy transfer was complete, Kurumi's new eyes then opened to allow her to gaze up into the early morning sky over the Kantō plain of Japan.

"Where…am I…?" she then asked.

Footsteps then made her turn left as a woman with dark brown hair and very dark brown eyes came into her view, dressed in a black martial artist's gi. "Welcome back, Kurumi," this stranger then stated in a voice that — despite the vast difference of sound from the LAST time Ayanokōji Kurumi had spoken to the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ in 1937 before the former had been made to go to sleep — was quite familiar to her.

Kurumi blinked. "Negako-san…?"

"Hai, it is I."

The pink-haired woman took that in…and then with a squeal, she vaulted herself off the gurney to swamp Negako with an embrace that — were Negako not prepared ahead of time; she was quite knowledgeable when it came to Kurumi's always-upbeat disposition — might have snapped her spine in half. "**NEGAKO-SAN!**" Kurumi cried out before she began rubbing Negako's face in her cleavage. "Negako-san! Negako-san! Ne-…!"

_CRUNCH!_

"Do you mind, Baka Kurumi?!" a snarling Kaga demanded after clocking the pink-haired Steel Angel on the head with one arm of her throwing star.

A pained moan escaped the other woman. "Itte desu…!"

Seeing this, Nako blinked…before she fell on her butt laughing…

* * *

Minutes later, Saki, Karinka and Aoi were also transformed into Avalonians. Once the other Steel Angels were awake and reunited with their sisters and their friend, introductions were made to Nako. Everyone then made their way to the shrine to meet Nako's relatives. Of course, Nako's grandfather — who had been born a year before the Steel Angels had allowed themselves to be deactivated and hidden away in 1937 — caused the Ayanokōji sisters to squeal out in delight as they swamped him with hugs and kisses before they started chatting away about how Kamihito's cute baby boy had grown up to be such a dignified elder priest. Watching her father turn a very bright shade of red on hearing those words, Misaki nearly fell off her chair in peals of laughter; it took a lot to make Tsukahito stop acting so sternly and be more human…but clearly, Kurumi, Saki and Karinka knew which buttons to push. Also watching this from nearby was Aoi, Kaga and Negako, the latter two holding hands.

"Shinobu's dead, isn't he?" Aoi then whispered.

Silence fell, and then Tsukahito took a deep breath. "Hai, Aoi-sama. Fortunately, he was not killed during the war you all predicted would happen during the early years of the Shōwa Era. He…" A sigh. "He took over my training to become an onmyōji-ka after my own father was killed in the twentieth year of Shōwa." He then gazed on Kurumi. "Forgive me, Kurumi-sama…but Oji-san also…"

A sniff. "I know…"

Instantly, Nako flung herself into Kurumi's arms as the eldest of the Ayanokōji sisters broke down and wept. The others fell silent as the young shrine maiden walked the other woman out of the living room, and then Karinka breathed out. "We shouldn't be so surprised," she noted as she crossed her arms. "Negako told us what year this is."

Saki nodded. "We all agreed that it had to happen this way…even if it hurt Nē-san and Aoi-san and all the others so much," she said in her normally quiet and demure voice. She then gazed on Kaga. "In a way, Kaga-san, you're the lucky one."

"Even if I wasn't as bound program-wise to the Academy as you two were to Kurumi and Nakahito, it doesn't mean I didn't feel any pain because of all the friends we've lost," the Angel of Destruction mused as she gave her friends a knowing smile.

Misaki then tensed. "Oh, dear…"

"What is it, Misaki-san?" Karinka asked.

"What's going to happen with you two now?" Nako's mother wondered. "All the journals Ojii-san left behind had notes about how you two got activated."

The younger Ayanokōji sisters both grinned. "It's alright, Misaki-san," Saki assured her. "It took us a while, but Negako-san helped wean us of being so intimately bound to Nē-san. We'll be alright." A sigh. "I guess we've got no choice now."

"What do you mean, Saki-sama?" Tsukahito asked.

"Well, given the number of Steel Angels that were created…" Karinka mused.

"We could seek out soul-mates with one of them," Saki finished.

Misaki gaped. "Negako-san! Don't tell me…?!"

"Misaki, I was not going to bring my friends back into this world as Avalonians without ensuring they were made aware of ALL their new bodies' capabilities," Negako stated.

Laughter then filled the room…

* * *

Outside the shrine hall, minutes later…

"Arigatō desu…"

"It's alright. I'll always be here for you, Kurumi-chan."

Kurumi blinked before she gazed down on the younger girl seated beside her. Now that she had a chance to cry her heart out at the fact that Kasuga Nakahito would not be part of her life anymore, the elder of the Ayanokōji sisters could finally concentrate on the young girl — the great-grandniece of her own beloved Goshujin-sama — who was clearly interested in her in a way that went beyond mere platonic friendship. Looking into those eyes that were not so different than Nakahito's, Kurumi felt a smile cross her face. "You want to be soul-bonded with me. Don't you, Nako-san?"

"Do you blame me?" Nako asked as she gazed on the taller woman beside her.

Kurumi's cheeks reddened slightly. "Well, we did just meet…"

Nako jerked…and then she stopped herself before she giggled. "Hai, that's true," she mused, nodding in agreement. "Still…"

"What?"

"It feels like I've known you all my life, Kurumi-chan," Nako confessed. "I mean…" A shrug. "I know you were asleep when I first saw you in the storage room five years ago — not to mention all the other times I came to visit you — but I…"

Kurumi smiled. "You talked to me?"

A nod. "Hai. I told you so many things…" Nako shrugged. "Yes, you couldn't hear me and answer me, but I always imagined you would say the right thing to make me feel better." Here, Nako sniffed. "I always wanted to be like Hiijii-san and his brother. To be powerful and know everything about what being an onmyōji-ka was all about. But Ojii-san couldn't find a way to awaken my abilities; I needed Negako-san to help with that." A smirk. "I wanted to kiss you awake and…"

"Become my new master?"

Nako shook her head. "No. Just be your friend…which eventually evolved into becoming your lover after I began to understand that sort of thing. I didn't really understand the whole thing about your loyalty programming until very recently." She then smiled at the taller woman. "And after I became an Avalonian a couple months ago, well…"

Kurumi blinked. "Did your bonding programming activate?"

A smile. "Hai. When I first visited you after I did my body-swap."

The most powerful of the Steel Angels blinked as her mind rolled over that revelation, and then she sighed. "Do you want to bond with me now?"

Nako blinked…and then she smiled. "Nothing would make me happier than to do that, Kurumi-chan…" She then winked at Kurumi. "But as we say it in this day and age, 'It takes two to tango.'" As Kurumi laughed — the tango was a very popular dance form back in the 1920s and 1930s, so she could understand the reference — Nako reached over to gently grasp the other woman's hand. "So let's just take it a day at a time, okay?"

Kurumi gazed at her, and then she nodded. "Hai desu!"

* * *

In the mansion next door…

"Nako…you're so _strong_!"

Sumeragi Uruka could only just gape as she lowered the binoculars from her eyes.

"Who could ever believe something like _that_…?" the young heiress breathed out.

"She always had that strength, Uruka."

She tensed, and then looked over her shoulder. "Otō-sama?"

Her father Tenkai came up to stand beside her. "It's alright, Uruka," he said as he squeezed her shoulder in reassurance. Fortunately, after Uruka herself had become an Avalonian the previous afternoon, she had been given some very thorough training by those like her working for the Sumeragi Group to ensure she knew how to use her new powers…and even more so, when _not_ to use them. "I know how much you love Nako-chan. I've always known that. But Nako-chan's devotion to Kurumi-san became quite apparent to me long ago." He shook his head. "I don't want to see you heartbroken. You're everything to me, Uruka. Seeing you hurt like this would…"

Uruka sighed. "Arigatōji, Otō-sama," she breathed out. "Still…"

"It's hard to believe that such a quiet girl like Nako-chan would be like this?"

A smirk. "Yeah. I…" She then sniffed…before movement around the area of the main shrine caught her attention. "Who's that?" she wondered before picking up her binoculars and glancing through them. "Oh! It's Negako-sama…EH?!"

Tenkai jolted. "What?! What is it?!"

Uruka gaped as her cheeks turned a very interesting shade of cherry. "_**Who — is — that — GODDESS?!**_" she cried out as her eyes focused on Ayanokōji Saki…

* * *

_Haida_, high over Tōkyō, that moment…

"What happened?!"

Tsukihana smiled after closing up his cell phone. "Negako-onēchan arranged to have some additions to your family home installed before she came out on the _Kirkpatrick_ to Yaminokuni with Kaga-onēchan to wake her up," he said as he gazed on Hiromi. "That was Hayasaka Asagi-san down in Tomobiki. She just called up to report that it's all done and everyone can now move into the new rooms." A smirk. "Even better, your idiot mom can't try to barge in on you, Tariko-onēchan or Ataru-oniichan like she loved to do before Shinobu-onēchan put her into intensive care."

The reborn emperor blinked as she took a moment to let that sink in. "So what would such mean, Tsukihana-kun?" Izuku Mioko asked. "I know after mind-melding with Hiromi here how the bedrooms are set up in the house, plus there being a guest house…"

"Well, it's all one building now, Onē-chan," the young genius from Chichibu stated as he tapped controls on his master computer to bring up an image on the screen. "All cleared through the town planning office, of course. Extra bedrooms for your real parents and a couple of guests, plus private rooms for your daughters. Ataru-oniisan's and Tariko-onēsan's bedrooms are expanded to double their original size so that there's room for their lovers as well. The living room of the guest house is expanded. Plus the dōjō building is connected to it so that Negako-onēchan and Kaga-onēchan don't have to go outside to join the rest of you all. And best of all…" A chuckle. "The doorways to Ataru-oniichan's and Tariko-onēchan's rooms are now sealed off from the main upstairs hallway so that your baka mom can't barge into their rooms. Ditto with the back door leading into the dōjō. And the south-side kitchen window is boarded up." He winked at Hiromi. "She'll have to walk OUTSIDE to get into their rooms!"

Hiromi and her lovers gaped, and then they laughed. "Well, that should be quite the deterrent in its own right. And it could ensure that we wouldn't have to ultimately move lock, stock and barrel down to the Hinata-sō if Okā-san got too out of control." A sigh. "What a pity…she seemed to actually be _improving_…"

"Ironic, isn't it?"

Hiromi gazed on Sumai Takara. "What is it, Takara?"

"That all of her 'normal' children now have multiple lovers…but Negako-sama only has _**one**_ lover," her reborn first wife noted before she held up a finger in emphasis. "Still, she could seek normalcy with her."

The four girls all laughed…and then they perked on hearing an intercom whistle. "Ops to Director," Michelle Anderson's voice called out. "Signal just came in from the other ships. We're ready to start beaming down everyone back to their schools."

Hiromi tapped a control on a nearby bulkhead. "Inform all ships they may proceed, Michelle-san. Once everyone is back on the ground, call me in my quarters."

"Aye-aye, ma'am."

"It's over now."

Eyes locked on Tsukihana, and then Hiromi smiled. "No, Kōgetsuei-dono," the reborn emperor stated. "It's only the start of the journey."

"I mean about us just being alone on these ships with the girls, My Emperor," he admitted.

A smirk. "It was the plan from the start, my friend. It's not our fault that things got rushed. Blame the Urusians and that dullard Ōgi for that."

He nodded. Even if he knew that a page had been turned in their great adventure, the future did seem much brighter than it did not more than two weeks before. "Hai!"

* * *

Tomobiki High School, an hour later…

"Oi, Mendō! Didn't you know that school was cancelled for today?!"

Mendō Shūtarō chuckled as he stepped out of his command car. "I'm more than aware of that, Megane," he said before nodding to the driver, and then he came over to join the Stormtroopers and many others of their class, all of whom were now milling in a group close to the front gate. "But given that everyone should be coming home…"

He then tensed as the noise of a materialiser echoed from somewhere close to the main doors. People's heads turned over…and then whoops and cheers escaped the onlookers on their recognizing who had just beamed down from one the starships that NHK had confirmed were now in high orbit over Japan. "Ataru! Tariko-chan! Shinobu!" Megane called out as everyone moved over to join them.

"Hey, guys!" Tariko called back, waving. "Did the world end while we were gone?!"

People gaped, and then they laughed before moving to surround their just-returned schoolmates and Ataru's lovers. "Nah! Boring as ever…which is a GOOD thing in comparison to what we had to deal with before the New Year," Perm answered before he sighed. "So how bad was it, really? We know no one got killed, but…"

"No permanent injuries and no damage to any of the ships," Ataru affirmed with a shake of the head, that eliciting a cheer from some of the people around him. "They just sailed right into an ambush and the artillery and armoured crews just blasted away until they got into orbit. After that, _Haida_'s gunners got a chance to do some target practice and all the pilots we could spare wrecked what was left. We saved all the Avalonians on that ship and captured all the other crew. Ōgi was there, too."

People tensed. "What happened to him?!" Chibi demanded. Even if no one from Class 2-4 had actually met the former Niphentaxian president, they didn't care at all for the man.

"Now rotting away in a jail on planet Vos for the rest of his life, Akira-kun…which is what the monster deserved," Shinobu answered, which made the others laugh. "Most of the Urusians who stole that cruiser are going to prison. Some of them turned out to be alright, so they'll be living on Earth. After becoming Avalonians, of course."

Nods. "And Hensō-san?" Mendō asked.

"She's bond-mated to Naoko-chan on _Haida_," Ataru answered, and then he sighed. "She needs some time to get her life put back in order, but she won't be a stranger. Chances are, she'll be living close to wherever they're going to put up _Haida_'s ground base. Kamen, Mienai and Damasu will be living here in Japan and going to Kyoshō."

Everyone smiled on hearing that as several of the boys exchanged high-fives; regardless of what had been revealed in Onishuto six months ago, many in Tomobiki still held kind memories about Redet Hensō and her friends. That they were finally free to live their lives was a good thing to them. "So where's Hiromi-chan?" Kakugari asked. "Isn't she coming down?"

"She'll be down soon," Tariko reported. "She wants to make sure everyone is back on the ground safe and sound before she comes down with her girls."

"Who now also include her first wife AND their child," Ataru added with a wink.

People gasped. "What the hell happened?!" Fujinami Ryūnosuke demanded.

"Well, let's go get some breakfast and we'll tell you," Ataru bade.

Laughter filled the air in Tomobiki as they headed off…

* * *

Kimitsu, the Meguru home, that moment…

"Tadaima!"

Nodoka gasped on hearing that cheery voice, and then she looked over. "Tsueko-chan?! Is that you?!" she called out as she stepped out of the kitchen.

"Hai, Oba-chan!" Tsueko said as she stepped out of the genkan after slipping off her shoes. Following her inside was Meguru Ichiyu, Sebone Mimōko and Kuonji Ukyō.

"Okaeri nasai, minna-chan," the voice of Ichiyu's mother Kotoko called out from the living room as she and Tsueko's mother Haeko came up to them. "Was it difficult?"

"Oh, they were pushovers!" Tsueko said as Nodoka headed back to prepare tea for the younger people. "Set up a fire-sack for them to sail into, blow the ship right out from under them and then put them in irons. Hardly any problem at all, Obaba!"

"There were a few injuries," Mimōko added as people headed into the living room to sit down and relax. The people who had been partying there earlier that morning had gone off to return to their own homes a couple hours before…save for Happōsai and the girls from Lillian, who were all sleeping in the other guest rooms. "Worst one was Tōtaku, but Kyech-san was there with a DNA-recombinant drug to help heal his spine." A sigh. "Ranma's cat-side got loose and he mauled one of the Oni on that ship; she could transform into a tiger-like creature and didn't see the danger until it was too late."

Haeko and Kotoko winced on hearing that. "Is he alright?" the former asked.

"Hai. He went with his sisters to see their grandmother, of course…"

Mimōko then gazed towards the doorway to the kitchen, where a sad-looking Nodoka now stood with a tray of tea in hand. After a moment, Ranma's mother took a deep breath. "Well, that's to be expected, I believe," she then said with a touch of hoarseness in her voice as she brought the tea over to the table, and then she sat down beside her bond-mate. "I haven't given him reason to come see me at all…"

"Don't worry about it, Nodoka," Haeko advised her. "Give it a little time."

Nodoka gazed on her, and then she smiled as she moved to serve everyone. Watching her from her place beside Tsueko, Ukyō tried not to frown as she felt the waves of guilt escaping her best friend's mother over what had happened during the last two weeks. While she hadn't got any good impression of Saotome Nodoka at first — especially given the older woman's attitudes towards all of the engagements made in his name by his father — she couldn't deny what her empathy was now picking up from Ranma's mother. And while it would probably be smarter for Hayashi Chiaki to remain as Ranma's legal guardian for the foreseeable future — even if Nodoka seemed to be unwinding a bit given the bond she now shared with Tsueko's mom; that was as clear as a bright light in a dark room to the okonomiyaki chef — it didn't mean that the poor woman didn't have to be totally cut off from her son…to say anything about her daughter and adopted daughters.

"Gokigen'yō."

People perked, and then they turned to look. "Who…?" Tsueko began.

"You're all Suishō's schoolmates, right?" Ichiyu asked.

"Ichiyu, they aren't fully aware of people's battle names," Kotoko gently scolded before she waved the people from Lillian over to the table. "Make yourselves at home, girls."

"Arigatō!" the people from Lillian said as they moved to sit down…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Fans of _Due South_ should recognise Benton Fraser's words when he casually moved to dismiss what led to his posting to the Canadian Consulate in Chicago after the events surrounding the murder of his father; it is often what Benton said to people throughout the third season of the series whenever he introduced himself to new people.

2) As the Urusians — as Uio Toma indicated in Part 49 — don't have codified forms of religion, the Maidens of Aruka have served somewhat as demigods to Lum's people. Thus, swearing an oath in their memory — as their deaths in the War of Liberation are seen these days as having helped freed Uru from Seifukusu domination — is seen as proper.

3) Inspector **Vesperia French** is — as hinted above — one of Canada's Steel Angels created in the 1920s. Her given name "Vesperia" is a Latin term meaning "land of the evening star;" this was one of the proposed names for the eventual union of Britain's North American colonies into a dominion in 1867 that was bandied about by the Founders of Confederation. Her family name "French" was named in tribute to one of the first leaders of the original North-West Mounted Police (which was given the "Royal" title in 1904), then-Colonel **George Arthur French** (1841-1921) of the British Army. Note that the rank of **Inspector** (short-form **Insp**) is equivalent to the Navy rank of lieutenant commander, the Army rank of major or the Air Force rank of squadron leader; most Steel Angels in military service were normally ranked as Navy lieutenants/Army captains/Air Force flight lieutenants. The RCMP officer ranks, however, begin at inspector, so Vesperia often found herself being selected to be a group commander whenever several Steel Angels came together to deal with specific issues.

As an aside, Vesperia is based on the unnamed black-haired, blue-eyed Steel Angel in the green dress that appears in episode #28 of the original anime series (at 4 minutes and 15 seconds into the episode as displayed at the Crunchyroll website). Also note that the _Kurumi_ manga timeline is what I adhere to when it comes to the Steel Angels; so the events of that episode — where Kurumi is forced to "defend Nakahito's lips" from her many sisters who wanted to become more powerful — never occurred in the timeline of this story.

4) The **Tarōzakura** is a large and old sakura tree that grows at the apex of a hill at the southern end of the Mendō estate in Tomobiki as shown in the fourth _Yatsura_ movie _Lum The Forever_. As shown in that movie, lurking beneath the Tarōzakura is a powerful and sentient node of energy calling itself the **Memory of Tomobiki**; it was the ultimate protagonist of the events in the movie (often referred to in fanfics such as _The Senior Year_ as the "Tomobiki Pseudo-War"). In the storyline of _TSY_ — as revealed in "Spirit-War Tomobiki" — the mana node which gives the Memory of Tomobiki life is what Moroboshi Negako uses to store anti-ki in a plan to eventually make a body for herself…which, as noted in this story, never had to happen.

5) **Miree ot'ndai-Boghar** and her daughter **Jonna dai-Boghar** are both characters from _Lonely Souls_.

6) As noted before, "**Nobade Shinobi**" made her appearance in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Even Though I Wait For You" (manga episode #27).

7) Translations: **Wehrmacht** — Literally "defence force," this was the name of the combined German armed forces (that were NOT elements of the ruling government party) during the years of the Third Reich between 1935-45; **NHK** — Short for _Nihon Hōsō Kyōkai_ (literally meaning "Japan Broadcasting Corporation"), the national public radio and television broadcasting network.

8) Fans of _Battle Royale_ will recognise the character that makes an appearance in this episode: **Inada Mizuho**. The first girl in Japanese alphabetical order in Shiroiwa Junior High School's Class 3-B at the time of their forced participation in _The Program_, she was one of the "Daydreamers" of the class alongside good friends **Minami Kaori** (Girl #20) and **Etō Megumi** (Girl #2)…though due to Mizuho's role-playing game-induced fantasies, Megumi and Kaori often found it hard to BE friends with the girl. Due to the profound influence of _Dungeons and Dragons_ and her parents being Christian scientists — as with many series, I tend to follow the manga interpretation of things even if _BR_ was first written as a novel — Mizuho would eventually evolve into a true Zoroastrian after her arrival in the dimension of this story. Mizuho views the central deity of the world's first monotheistic religion, **Ahura Mazdā**, as her true master. Thus, she now views all those who might harm what she desires to protect as servants of Ahura Mazdā's opposite number, **Aŋra Mainiuu**, the source of all evil in Zoroastrianism scripture; like other religions, Zoroastrianism imagines a world without evil once the **Frašōkereti** (literally "making wonderful/excellent") occurs and Aŋra Mainiuu is forever destroyed.

As an aside, Mizuho — as a native of the town of **Shiroiwa** (which means "Castle Rock") in Kagawa Prefecture (located on the northeast side of Shikoku) — speaks with the local dialect of Japanese, which is referred to as **Sanuki** after the Imperial Japanese province of the same name that, prior to 1871 when the prefecture system was first introduced as part of the Meiji Reformation, existed within the borders of modern day Kagawa-ken.

Mizuho, as noted here, currently possesses a weapon that can certainly aid her in her service to her master and her friends: The **Staff of Gihan**. A device that has appeared in both _TSY_ and _Lonely Souls_ — in the universes of those stories, it is the Staff that kills off the majority of the hard-core Church of Lum believers on Phentax Two due to a special "doomsday program" inflicted on it by the people who found it — the Staff is a prototype Haijo-ju from Sagussa, which was built 17,000 years ago by the scientist it was named after as the ultimate personal weapons system. Powered by the energy of the Te'a itself and only limited by the amount of energy that could be stored in its focusing crystal of mesonium, the Staff is quite a fearsome weapon…though, as shown in _Lonely Souls_, it also has a sentience of its own and would gladly serve a better "controller" if the chance comes along.

The situation of Mizuho and her classmates will be looked at further in a future story.

9) The three Steel Angel "daughters" of the man who perfected the Angel Heart design that appear finally in this part — **Ayanokōji Kurumi**, **Ayanokōji Saki** and **Ayanokōji Karinka** — are, of course, the three stars of the _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_ manga and anime series created by the Kaishaku duo. As they formed a family unit despite Karinka being created by a different person, they adopted the family name of Kurumi's and Saki's creator, Professor **Ayanokōji Hakushi** (the given name is my invention), as their own. And while what happened in this part concerning Kurumi and Saki gaining the interest of Kagura Nako and Sumeragi Uruka might be a play-off on the events depicted in the second anime series _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi 2-shiki_ from 2001, I tweaked things here to better conform the situation to how I envision what happened to the Steel Angels in the 1920s and 1930s.

The other Steel Angel who was stored in the hidden vault below the Kasuga Shrine with Kurumi and her sisters, **Tōgō Aoi**, was someone who appeared only in the manga; her first appearance was in the story "Decisive Match - The True Steel Angel of Japan" (manga episode #13). With Aoi, I broke the convention concerning using the family name of the person listed in the manga as the character designer; Aoi was designed by Okabe Yasushi. Noting in the opening art of Volume 2 of the manga that Aoi was reported to have been constructed by the Imperial Japanese Navy, I decided to make her an adopted "daughter" of the most famous commander of that service at the time of her birth in the early 1920s, Fleet Admiral the Marquis **Tōgō Heihachirō** (1848-1934), the leader of the Japanese battle fleet at the **Battle of Tsu-shima** against the Russians on 27-28 May 1905. In the universe of this story, Admiral Tōgō was more than happy to adopt Aoi — then a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy's secret police, the **Tokkeitai** (short for _Tokubetsu Keisatsu-tai_ or "Corps of Special Police") — as his unofficial daughter…though, of course, she couldn't inherit a peerage title upon his death three years before she allowed herself to be deactivated. However, in memory of Aoi, many of the Imperial Navy came to fondly address her as "Lady Tōgō"…though thanks to the 1947 Constitution, Aoi couldn't claim any sort of noble peerage these days.

As an aside, the "Shinobu" that Aoi speaks of was her own master, a young onmyōji priest and magical detective named **Jingūji Shinobu**. He — a peer of Kagura Nakahito — also made his first appearance in the same story as her charge.

Also note that the name I gave to Kagura Misaki's father, **Kagura Tsukahito**, is based on the naming convention for Kurumi's former master and her older brother. "Nakahito" is another way of saying the kanji that go into the term **nakōdo** (literally "go-between person"), the title for someone who acts as a go-between for prospective marriage partners. His older brother's name, "Kamihito," means "godly person." Thus, in devising the name of Misaki's father (who appears in the second _Kurumi_ anime series), I decided to use the phrase "messenger person;" the kanji for _tsuka_ is 使, which is read _shi_ in on'yomi format…and forms part of the word _tenshi_, written as 天使 in kanji and literally meaning "angel."

10) I first trialled the concept of **Noberu Iemi** in the Anime Add-venture as one of the personnel assigned to help create Aoi in the first place, thus making her Aoi's unofficial mother. She appeared in a flashback scene in episode #235306, "Angelic Gifts for Tōshi," in the _Restart Deluge - The Emperor's Army_ storyline.

11) Like some anime and manga characters, Ayanokōji Kurumi most often ends all her sentences with the word **desu**. This is a Japanese copula which links a sentence's subject and predicate phrases that is often translated as the polite version of the concept "to be," i.e. _Watashi wa Kurumi desu_ ("I am Kurumi"). Characters from other series that use this type of speech pattern include **Yotsuba** (or as I often name her in my fanfics using this character like _Lonely Souls_, **Yotsuba Nemain Dunn**) from _Sister Princess_ and **Suiseiseki** from _Rozen Maiden_.

12) As fans of _Maria-sama ga Miteru_ will gladly tell you, the very formal greeting/farewell **gokigen'yō** is quite commonly used at the Lillian Girl's Academy. It is properly written as "ご機嫌よう" and can be broken down this way:

ご (_go_) — An honorific prefix similar to the "o-" prefix;  
機嫌 (_kigen_) — Mood, how one is feeling; and  
よう (_yō_) — Conjunctive form of _yoi_ ("good")

As those who have done amateur translations of _Marimite_ can explain to you, one way that _gokigen'yō_ can be translated is "I do hope you're taking care of yourself." So this phrase can be used in both greeting someone and parting from someone.


	58. Indiana Jones Comes to Japan

Taitō Ward of Tōkyō, close to Ueno Park, after breakfast…

"Obā-sama, tadaima!"

"Okaeri nasai, minna-chan!"

The Hayashi siblings all perked on hearing that strange male voice, and then Kanami walked over to gaze into the kitchen. "Who are you?!" she demanded.

An amused chuckle escaped the elderly American man in the flight jacket and faded denim jeans standing by the stove as he waited for the water to boil for tea. "Oh, just a travelling archaeologist, Kanami-chan," he said in barely-accented Japanese as he winked at Ranma's twin. "Did you all get some breakfast?"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Hiijii-chan?!" Kanami eeped.

Indiana Jones smiled. "In person," he said as he reached up to his head…and then stopped himself on remembering that his hat was now hanging on a hook by the genkan. He then chuckled in embarrassment before bowing politely to his great-grandchildren.

Noting that, Miiko snickered and Kikuko giggled politely as Ranma and Kanami laughed. By then, their grandmother had come down from her bedroom to join them. "Keep forgetting you were in a Japanese home in lieu of a Western one, Jones-hakase?" she asked with a playful smile as she moved to accept Miiko's and Kikuko's embraces.

"It's hard to keep all the social conventions straight. Even if I'm retired now, I still travel around too much giving lectures to the new generation. I'm not as quick on my feet as I used to be," the centenarian — who didn't look much older than a man in his late fifties to Ranma and her siblings — confessed as the kettle on the stove began to boil. He moved to prepare a cup of sencha for his host. "So where's your wife, Kikuko-chan?" he asked as he gazed on the "youngest" of his great-grandchildren.

"She's aboard the _Zhèng Hé_ with Hiibā-chan, Hiijii-chan," Kikuko reported. "They need to get their passports from their home village before they could report to the local customs office and be properly stamped into the country first."

He nodded. "Well, since the matter between Shānpú and your brother is now cleared up, there shouldn't be too much of an issue when that happens," he mused as he handed the tea cup to Chiaki before he moved to prepare more tea for the four teenagers that just walked in. "I see Kělún's elected to train you, son," he mused as he gazed knowingly on Ranma, which made the transformed martial artist gape in shock. "It's a good thing in the end. It'll help her village finally break free of its isolation and give you some needed closure over what happened to you two weeks ago."

Ranma nodded. She was quite impressed that her great-grandfather had been able to tell who she was right away; both she and Kikuko looked exactly alike given their current modes of dress. "Hiibā-chan wanted the chance to put one over Sensei, Hiijii-chan. Even if he's moving to reconcile with her and the other elders after what he pulled in their village years ago, there's still some resentment there and it needs to get out of their systems," she mused before nodding her thanks as he handed her a cup of tea.

Kanami, Miiko and Kikuko were then served, and then everyone moved into the living room. "So what happened?" Chiaki then asked as people sat down on the mats around the living room table. "Did Raeburn-shōshō and Thompkins-shōshō get there in time to help out with the fight against the Oni? We know no one was hurt…"

Kanami shook her head. "They didn't show up for almost a half-day after it was all said and done, Obā-chan," she reported. "But it didn't matter anyway. The idiots who were running that stealth ship were more arrogant than Kunō Tatewaki. They should've smelt a trap was in the air when Hiromi and Rupa's great-granddad sent the signal to Lum's old man about Hensō getting married to Rupa's kid sister Ika. But…"

"I take it a repeat of Vimy Ridge happened," Indiana mused.

"Vimy Ridge, Hiijii-sama?" Miiko asked.

"The battle in 1917 that many Canadians view as the beginning of their nation's walk to full independence from Britain," the archaeologist replied before sipping his tea. "It was opened up with a massive creeping barrage of artillery that just flattened everything ahead of them before the infantry advanced to take the ridge."

The reborn governor of Yízhōu hummed. "Well, there was only one artillery regiment on the field when the _Redemption_ came through the Airport warp gate…but there were four armoured regiments there also. They certainly shot things up before the ship got out of range and flew right into _Haida_'s guns. And her fighters as well."

"What happened?" Chiaki asked.

Miiko then moved to explain. That took about twenty minutes even with the questions Indiana asked about specific points of the mission. After that, everyone just relaxed and moved to enjoy their tea…as the front door bell rang. "I'll get it!" Kanami said as she walked over to open the door…and then grinned. "Hiibā-chan! Shan! Get in here!" she bade as she waved in her sister-in-law and her great-grandmother.

"We're sorry to interrupt you, dear," Cologne stated before she gazed over with a knowing grin. "Indy! So there you are! When did you get to Japan?!"

As Shampoo and Kikuko shared a warm hug and kiss, Indiana came over to embrace the Nǚjiézú elder. "Got in yesterday while you were sailing across the skies of Russia," he said as people headed over to the living room table. Chiaki went to get two more tea cups for their guests as the others sat down. "So what's this about a husband-hunt?" he then asked as his eyes twinkled with barely-veiled amusement, that question making both Shampoo and Kikuko blush right down to their toes.

"Hiijii-chan!" Kikuko whined.

Cologne cackled as she moved to explain what happened. That took another ten minutes; during that time, Chiaki had returned with cups so the visitors from the Nǚjiézú could be served tea. At the end of that, Indiana shook his head. "My God! Experimenting on people while they were still in their mother's wombs?! How barbaric can you get?!"

"Aye, it is quite barbaric…but the Noukiites have a wise healer who can help the poor boy get over his problem. One must have vigour, of course…but there is such a thing as **too much** vigour." As the older people laughed and the younger ones blushed at the hidden sexual innuendo in Cologne's words, the Nǚjiézú elder then breathed out. "And speaking of which, there is a potential problem on the way here."

"What problem?" Chiaki asked.

"A would-be suitor of Shān's, I'm afraid."

Kikuko tensed as Shampoo began to shudder as her fists clenched and unclenched. "You mean Mùsī?!" the youngest of Ranma's sisters then demanded with a snarl. "I thought you said my bonding with Shān is seen as a proper marriage bond, Hiibā-chan!"

"I did. Even more so, the other elders in the village see it as well."

"Who is this person you're talking about?" Chiaki asked.

"His name is Liào Mùsī," Cologne explained. "He was a childhood friend of Shān's. He's the grandson of one of my sister elders on the Council, Liào Lǚoé. A master at the Hidden Weapons style; it's like a very fast version of slight-of-hand with ki mastery," she explained on sensing Ranma's and Kanami's curious looks. "The reason I say he 'was' a friend of Shān's is that, when puberty set in, he became quite attracted to her. And desired to seek her hand in marriage. He desires same to this day."

"What's the problem with that?" Kanami asked. "Shan's a very attractive woman."

Shampoo's cheeks reddened. "Sister-in-Law…"

The elders laughed. "It would be no problem save for two things," Cologne stated. "The first is this: Mùsī doesn't seem to care at all about how it is properly done in the village when it comes to courting a young woman for her hand in marriage."

"He has to fight her and defeat her. Like I accidentally did," Ranma noted.

"Aye," the Nǚjiézú elder affirmed. "I suspect Mùsī is one of a group of people calling themselves 'They Who Suffer in Silence.' It's a group that doesn't care for our laws when it comes to marriage. In a way, I agree with their ideas…but most of the elders are rather set in their ways, so the laws won't change anytime soon." As the others nodded, she then sighed. "Atop that — and this is the second issue — Mùsī's behaviour when it comes to Shān is practically no different than what this Kunō Tatewaki idiot did to your former fiancée, Ranma. And to you as well since he couldn't accept the truth about your curse." As Ranma's eyes widened in shock, she snorted. "That is called 'stalking' in every civilised country on the planet. And it is wrong. Not even the majority of They Who Suffer in Silence approve of Mùsī's behaviour concerning your sister-in-law."

"In other words, this guy thinks of Shan as 'his'…and will gladly beat the crap out of anyone who might actually want to try to date her," Ranma concluded.

"Such as Kikuko," Kanami added.

"Aye."

"So what happened, Elder?" Miiko wondered.

"Late Monday morning, he departed from the village and made his way to Qūmálái town to get a bus to Yùshù; he got there by mid-afternoon," the elder explained. "From there, he took an overnight bus to Xīníng, the provincial capital. Once he was there, he took another overnight bus to Běijīng, then a local bus down to Tiānjīn; he got there by early yesterday morning. And now he's on a boat headed this way."

The others blinked. "How do you know his travel itinerary, Elder?" Miiko asked.

A smirk. "He's an idiot, Miiko. And as arrogant as the Kunō boy. He always made calls back to the village to tell his mother where he was." As Ranma and her sisters moaned in disbelief, Cologne added, "Atop that — unlike Shān — Mùsī has learned much about the outside world, so he could navigate in it with ease. I fear that once he's in Japan, he'll make his way to Nerima as quickly as he can."

"To challenge me?" Kikuko wondered.

"To kill you," Cologne flatly declared.

Kikuko jolted…and then she relaxed as Shampoo reached over to gently grasp her hand and send her an empathic wave of reassurance. "He can try," Kanami warned.

"So we figure he might be in Japan by tomorrow at the earliest," Ranma mused. "He'll probably come ashore in Kyūshū close to Nagasaki. Take the train to Hakata, then the Shinkan-sen right into Tōkyō." A shake of the head. "Not like the way Oyaji and I came here. Eh, Kanami?" she breathed out as she gazed on her twin.

"Damn straight," Kanami acknowledged with a nod.

"How did you come to Nerima?" Chiaki wondered.

"Took the local trains from Nagasaki all the way into Tōkyō, Obā-chan," Kanami answered. "Took us at least three days when it could have taken us a few hours."

The others all moaned on hearing that. "And speaking of which, what of that selfish dullard we're forced to look on as our father in genetics?" Miiko wondered.

"He's at the Kunō home right now," Chiaki stated. As the younger people all gaped, she smirked. "Kunō Kodachi's manservant Sasuke came around to tell me he was there and he was trying to negotiate an engagement between Ranma and her." As Ranma and Kikuko shook their heads, Miiko snarled and Kanami rolled her eyes, the matriarch of the Hayashi Clan then smiled. "I think there's something else going on here, but I can't say what. Sasuke-kun had a very amused look on his face when he talked to me."

People exchanged looks. "Does Kodachi-san know about the curse?" Kikuko asked.

"Her brother seemed to take Nabiki's explanation last Friday when I saw the jerk at the school," Kanami noted. "Besides, there's the example of Tariko and Ataru. And people have known the truth about them for months." A nod. "She'll know. She may love pulling fast ones on people to get the win, but she's one smart cookie, that girl."

"Agreed, she is that," Miiko noted.

"So what can we do?" Shampoo asked before gazing on Chiaki. "No offense to you, Obā-chan, but I don't want that panda anywhere close to my wife's siblings, especially Ranma. He's got enough problems on his head to worry about that."

"Well, it's a lucky thing that we kept Sijo's old body on ice aboard _Bismarck_."

Eyes locked on Ranma. "Good point," Kanami mused…

* * *

Nerima, the Miyamoto home…

"Tadaima, Ojii-san!"

"Okaeri nasai, magomusume-tachi!" Miyamoto Shigeru said with a smile as he watched his granddaughters walk into the living room of his home, accompanied by the new teacher and lover to his youngest granddaughter. Also joining them — much to his delight — was a virtual twin sister to Akane, now bearing a green magatama earring. On seeing Karin for the first time in her new body, the retired financier smiled as she came over to stand before him. "And welcome at last to our family home, Karin-chan."

"Dōmo arigatō gozaimashita, Ojii-sama," Karin stated as she knelt before him, giving him a proper hand-over-hand salute as she bowed her head while Kyoko sat down and Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane headed to their bedrooms to drop off their overnight bags. "I also bear greetings from On Tsuguta-sama and the students of Yoshū. Just before we returned to Earth, the Executive Council unanimously declared that Nabiki-onēsama will be granted the right to attend classes at Yoshū alongside Akane-onēsama and myself. As we have had a rather busy time over the last few days in defending this world against the alien barbarians that dared threaten us all — not to mention the fact that several of us, myself included, presently require the assistance of the noble Men In Black to have our identities properly and legally established so we can truly feel at home here in Japan — classes will not resume for us until Monday morning."

A chuckle. "Excellent. That'll give me the chance to get to properly welcome my new granddaughter into the family," Shigeru stated as Kasumi returned from depositing her overnight bag in her bedroom, hurrying into the kitchen to get tea and snacks prepared. "So tell me, Karin; what exactly will you be doing now that you've rejoined your friends at Yoshū? Since you all don't have to worry anymore about replaying the battles of the Three Kingdoms period of China, how will you make a life for yourself?"

Karin sighed as she relaxed herself at the table. "All is not truly at peace with tōshi such as myself, Ojii-sama. According to the Ten Attendants — as they so reported to Hiromi-sama when they met up with her on our return to Earth — the students of Ugan High have become restless. They refused to heed Hiromi-sama's call to assist in the defence of Earth against the out-spin barbarians and no doubt will come to see the mass transformation of all of us into Avalonians — a process started with many female tōshi of the Seven Schools before we returned to Earth — as a direct threat to them. Naturally, Hiromi-sama intends not to bring harm to them…but making the leaders of Ugan realise that will be difficult given how much the thirst to remain free and independent has driven them over the incarnations." She took a deep breath. "There is also the matter of Yōshū. Due to the ugly dispute between the faction lead by Futoshi Itsuku-sama (he is Taishiji Shigi) and the faction lead by Koro Masarai-sama (he is Ryūyō Seirei), the chances are there that a potential civil war will break out within the walls of that school." She smirked. "Unless Sandi-sama directly gets involved."

Shigeru blinked. "'Sandi?'"

"Alexandra McLugh-sama, Ojii-sama," Karin replied. "She is a gaiscíoch, the ancient Irish version of a tōshi. In her first life, she was the famous Cú Chulainn, the warrior of Ulster who bested an army all by himself in an attempt to stop the armies of Connacht from absconding with a very prize bull known as the Donn Cúailnge from his then-master as a way of allowing the evil queen of that land to show she was as wealthy as her husband." She rolled her eyes on repeating the basic plot of that great tale; the very concept of sacrificing an _army_ just to obtain a single _bull_ out of arrogance struck her as a totally horrible and selfish waste of good warriors. "She is currently here in Japan; the Donn — who became a phoenix after his death — brought Sandi-sama here when he sensed the matter with the Oni was coming." She then giggled. "And in a true twist of irony, Sandi-sama has won the love of Seki Haneko-sama of Seito."

His eyebrows arched. "You mean Kan'u Unchō?!" Akane had long filled his ears with the tales of the tōshi of the Seven Schools, especially _that_ one.

"Hai."

The financier nodded as he crossed his arms and gazed in amusement at his new grandchild. "So tell me, granddaughter; I can sense something is somewhat off with your sisters. Were they given the chance to become Avalonians themselves?"

A nod. "Hai. Even more so, Nabiki-onēsama and Kasumi-onēsama both won the love of two of the commissioning crew of the Canadian warship _Haida_." She paused before a blush crossed her cheeks as she moved to hide her smile with her hand. "But I would say no more at this time, Ojii-sama; I do not wish to reveal things that concern them more."

"Oh, don't be so shy about it, Karin-chan," Kasumi then said as she came into the living room, a tea tray in hand. "It's nothing to be ashamed of." She then knelt beside the table as she moved to serve everyone just as the other sisters returned from their bedrooms and sat down at the table. "But it may cause problems, especially when Nabiki-chan graduates from school and heads on to university," she added.

"What of you, Kasumi-chan?" Shigeru asked, a touch of sharpness in his voice. Of all the things to have happened to his late daughter's beloved children after Kimiko had died, what had happened to Kasumi had been nothing more than a mortal sin. "When are _you_ going to go to university?! You got excellent results in the Centre Test when you wrote it before you graduated from Fūrinkan! You have no need to slave yourself in a damned kitchen! You were meant for better things than being a housewife! Or are you so enamoured with Ono Tōfū that you'll wait for him until Doomsday?!"

Kasumi gazed at him, and then she sighed. "No, Ojii-san, I have no real desire anymore to wait for Tōfū-kun. If he doesn't wish to properly do anything about his 'love madness' whenever he is close to me, I won't help him push himself forward. I don't think I could even hope to try to help him in that case." A sigh. "These last few days have been a very ugly eye-opener for all of us. I can't believe that it was only two weeks ago yesterday that Ranma-kun was hurt!" She closed her eyes before sipping her tea. "Well, no more of it. I'll need to brush up on my English before I apply to begin my pre-medical studies, but that shouldn't be too difficult."

Silence.

"English?" Shigeru eeped. "Are you going to study in…?" He then caught himself as he remembered what Karin told him earlier. "Oh, in Canada! Where exactly are you intending to go? Somewhere close to where _Haida_ will be based, I assume."

Kasumi giggled. "Well, the primary choice now is McMaster University in Hamilton; the chief medical officer of one of the armoured battalions who went to Yaminokuni with the Task Force has friends at that school and could help me get into the pre-medical program there. I could also go to the University of Toronto or the University of Western Ontario in London, which is west of Hamilton. No one knows exactly yet where _Haida_ will be based…but most likely, it may be in Ontario. Or Manitoba; if that happens, I could easily go to the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg."

"When did they say they'd announce the permanent home port?" Kyoko asked.

"Sometime in the next couple of months," Nabiki replied. "It's going to have to be a totally brand-new base built from ground up. All the current bases in Ontario and Manitoba — Borden, Trenton, Kingston, Petawawa, North Bay, Meaford, Winnipeg and Shilo — are just too packed up with other units. You'll need an airport there to house all of 21 Wing, the quarters ashore for all the crew, not to mention barracks for the infantry battalion and the other troops they'll put aboard her. They'll also need a place to train in the field, too. Atop that, all the support facilities they'll need as well have to be built." A shake of the head. "It'll be costly, but it'll be worth it."

"They could consider reopening one of the bases they shut down in the 1990s," Kyoko then mused. "There were bases in London, Toronto and Ottawa, not to mention Portage la Prairie out in Manitoba. Why not use one of those places?"

Nabiki shook her head. "Can't do it. The old bases in Ontario are all in urban areas; the land's been already pretty much sold off and redeveloped." She hummed for a moment, and then shrugged. "While Manitoba is closer to the geographic centre of Canada, they'll want _Haida_ based in Ontario, I think. They're reactivating the old Canadian Guards to provide the infantry battalions to serve on that ship; they used to run the Ceremonial Guard on Parliament Hill before they were shut down as a unit back in the Seventies and the duties of the Guard got switched to the Governor General's Foot Guards and the Canadian Grenadier Guards." A hum. "Probably somewhere close to Hamilton. That's where the old _Haida_'s docked now in retirement. Doing that would create a symbolic link in people's eyes between the Royal Canadian Navy of the past and the Royal Canadian Navy of the future. They'll need at least nine square kilometres for the planned ground dock for that ship, then you have the factor in the space needed for the aerodrome, the training fields and all the personnel barracks and logistics facilities. And it'll have to be close to major transportation arteries to make sure all the surface logistics run smoothly; it'll be a while before we get used to the idea of doing everything by materialiser." A sigh. "I'll have to look at the maps to see where it could go later."

"So what about yourself, Nabiki-chan?" Shigeru mused.

"Oh, it'll be Queen's University for me in Kingston," Nabiki answered as a smile crossed her face. "My girl's going to be an intelligence officer and the school where they learn all the tricks of that trade is based there. Kingston's within easy driving distance of most places in Ontario, so there's no problem about me staying close to Kyōko — that's my new lover's name, Ikusawa Kyōko — while I'm getting my degree."

"And what's the name of your lover, Kasumi-chan?"

A giggle. "Sasamoto Narumi; she'll be a medical technician, who can then train when they get enough seniority to become a physician assistant. In essence, someone who can literally act as a doctor when deployed out in an isolated unit," Kasumi then stated. "Their main trade school is in Borden, which is north of Toronto."

"So when exactly will I meet my future granddaughters-in-…?"

The phone then rang. "I'll get it!" Akane said as she got up and walked over to pick it up. "Moshi-moshi! Miyamoto residence, Akane speaking."

Everyone turned to gaze on her as they were quick to see a clouded look cross her face. "Hai, Tō-chan, what is it?" A pause, and then she shuddered. "What?!" she snapped. "What do you mean you found a solution to the problem about the schools?! There _**IS**_ no Tendō-ryū, remember?" She then ducked away as a wail echoed over the telephone line. Shaking her head, she then sent a pleading look over to Nabiki.

Noting that, the middle daughter picked up her cell phone and tapped a long series of numbers. A moment later, the other end answered, "Ikusawa."

"It's me," Nabiki stated. "Otō-chan's being a moron. Just as predicted."

"Let me guess? An arranged marriage between Akane and Kunō-san, right?"

"Most likely."

"Can you hold him off until tomorrow at noon?"

Nabiki looked over at Akane. "Twelve o'clock tomorrow?" the former quietly asked. The younger daughter nodded; she was still waiting for Sōun to stop crying. Nabiki then turned back to her cell-phone. "Twelve o'clock it is, Kyōko. What will you do?"

"That'll be a surprise," her lover then called back, an amused titter in her voice. "I'll need to talk to the officers on _Yamato_ as we don't have any sort of legal jurisdiction in Japan…but from what the Diet in Tōkyō arranged when _Yamato_ was commissioned on Monday, there's something that _**can**_ be done in this case. You're a prospective employee for the civilian side of the Earth Defence Force; so are all your sisters. Hiromi-onēsama wouldn't have allowed you to come with us on the trip if she didn't sense any sort of potential in any of you. I'll be there, too."

"Bring Narumi-chan, too."

"But of course!"

Both of them laughed. "See you then," Nabiki said before she cut the link.

By then, the Tendō patriarch had calmed down. "Now, Akane-chan, that's more than enough about all that silliness the Master said!" Sōun declared. "I AM your master! Not that pathetic creature who's been deceiving you all this time…!"

"**Tendō Sōun!**" Akane snapped in an icy voice that sent chills down the backs of everyone in the room save Kyoko, who was nodding in approval; learning how to use such a ki-charged voice was Akane's first lesson in the Ebisu-ryū. "**You say ANOTHER word about Kyoko-sensei and you will never see myself or my sisters ever again! And there is NOTHING you, nor that YAKUZA who thinks of himself as a modern-day 'samurai,' can do to stop that!**"

Silence.

"A-a-Akane…" her father gasped, stunned to hear THAT from her.

"**You listen well, you pathetic waste of human flesh!**" Akane growled as her sisters all calmed down and stared at her in awe. "**At twelve o'clock noon tomorrow, we will come there! You have until then to repent EVERYTHING you have believed in ever since Okā-san died! There is NO Tendō-ryū! You are NO master of any school of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū, not to mention any other Art, not even ****_Nihon-kenpō_****! You WILL acknowledge Ebisu Kyoko-sensei as my CURRENT teacher in the Art WITHOUT question! You will say NOTHING concerning what my future will be, not to mention my sisters' futures! And most of all, that equally useless waste of flesh named Kunō Tatewaki will NOT be engaged to me under ANY circumstances! Neither Kasumi-onēchan nor Nabiki-onēchan, either! He does ANYTHING to annoy me between now and then, you will NEVER see any of us again! That ALSO includes sending his stupid ninja to ****_spy_**** on me here at Ojii-san's home! We see or sense ANY of them, they go back to the Kunō residence as CORPSES! And you'll not be able to do anything to CHANGE that fact! Do you understand me?!**"

On hearing silence answered, Akane roared, "**_DO YOU?!_**"

"H-h-h-hai…!" Sōun sputtered.

"**Good!**" And with that, she hung up…before she slightly deflated as she leaned against the table. "Damn!" she wheezed. "That took a lot out of me!"

Kyoko came over to gaze at her before she gently reached over to tap several places on Akane's face and body to help her recover. "That was a good use of that technique, Akane," she said with a nod as the other people in the room all applauded. "Kasumi-san, will you prepare a large breakfast for your sister, please? We need it ready in an hour. We'll be busy working on getting her ki capacity expanded a bit between now and the time your father is finally made to face Reality!"

Kasumi blinked, and then she nodded. "Hai! I'll get on it right away!"

"Can I assist, Onē-sama?"

Eyes locked on Karin as looks of wariness flashed in the tōshi's adopted sisters' eyes. "Are you used to cooking?" Nabiki asked.

Karin smiled as she stood up. "My skills may not be suited for the wonderful modern equipment Onē-sama is used to, but I was quite the chef back in my last life!"

Sensing her sincerity, Kasumi smiled. "Then let's hope you can pass that skill on to Akane whenever she gets free of being brutalised by Kyoko-san, Karin-chan!"

Akane moaned. "Onē-chan's a meanie…!"

"Never you mind, student! Your sister has regaled me of all the culinary disasters you've been involved in!" Kyoko declared as she moved to help Akane stagger out the door. "Outside. I want a good hour out of you before you eat, and then we'll do _**two**_ more hours before lunch! After lunch, we'll keep at it until I see at least a _**hundred**_ percent increase in your total ki capacity AND your ability to use that as well!"

A moan. "Sensei's a bully…!"

Kyoko smirked. "**HUSH, YOU!**" she barked, the ki loud in her voice.

Akane yelped, and then she nodded. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai…!"

Shigeru watched her youngest granddaughter head out with her girlfriend/sensei, and then he chuckled as he gazed in amusement at Nabiki. "She's loving this."

"What do you expect from an adrenaline junkie like her?" Nabiki smirked.

Laughter filled the room…

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home…

"Oh, my heavens…"

"It's too BIG…!"

"Oh, hush, Dearest!" Hiromi scolded as she beckoned her parents, her lovers and their children through the back gate onto the property, and then made their way to the back door of the former guest house…which now served as the southern wing of the enlarged family home. Unlocking it and beckoning the others inside, she then guided them into the living room as their daughters moved to scamper around and start exploring their new residence. The reborn emperor then perked on sensing someone in the kitchen, and then she looked in before smiling. "Ara! Fūka-san! What are you doing here?!"

"Preparing some food for yourself and your family, Hiromi-chan!" Hayasaka Fūka answered with a smile as she monitored the miso soup she was now preparing on the stove. One of three Terran-form Avalonian adopted sisters to the senior Niphentaxian observer in the "holy city" up to four months ago, she was a lovely twenty-something girl with dark brown hair in a shaggy bobcut and dark brown eyes. Meeting her for the first time after they got back from liberating all the Avalonians, Ataru had been struck by the similarity Fūka had to a character from the popular slice-of-life manga series _Yotsubato!_ by Azuma Kiyohiko. Given his position as the chief of the observation mission for the Church of Lum in Tomobiki, Hoss bedai-Diyasbugh — or "David Höß" as he was known to neighbours; he pretended to be a businessman from Germany when people asked what he did for a living — was given the right to observe events in the "Holy Citadel" (the Moroboshi home) himself…though unlike other places in Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home had no remote listening devices inserted into it to allow the alien observers to eavesdrop on conversations there. Fūka and her older sisters Asagi and Torako — they had been genetically patterned after Hoss's late sisters, who had died in a shuttle accident six years ago…though, of course, they had been gestated as Terran-form Avalonians and not Niphentaxian-form — helped him do just that.

Along the way, the Hayasaka sisters found themselves growing quite attracted to Ataru's own father. Given their empathy and telepathy, the sisters were quick to sense how brow-beaten "poor Muchi-kun" had been by his wife over the years. While they certainly didn't approve of how Muchi and his wife treated their son, they did learn quickly that Muchi's love for and his willingness to defer to Kinshō was the primary driving factor behind their attitudes towards Ataru. Though they couldn't express such opinions in the open until Hoss was chained up and taken with his countrymen to Hichkyech'eng in late February, the Hayasaka sisters were quick to start spreading the word around to anyone who was interested in hearing what was really going on inside the Moroboshi home. Because of all the gossip that began to fly around town after that incident, Kinshō began to fear the possibility of Fūka and her sisters turning her husband away from her. Even more so, Ataru, Tariko and Hiromi were quick to capitalise on that; after they returned to the house full-time, they often invited the Hayasaka sisters to come over to visit for tea and snacks, plus to learn about what was happening with the other Avalonians in Tomobiki. Every time that happened, Asagi, Torako and Fūka were always happy to flirt with Muchi…which drove Kinshō up the wall. She couldn't do anything about it, though; Tariko was always there to smack her mother down to make her behave herself and "stop embarrassing us in front of the neighbours!"

Revenge, Tariko and her siblings knew, could be so sweet at times.

"And where are your other-selves?" Hiromi wondered as her parents and her lovers moved to relax in the living room. "Having all sorts of fun with Otō-san?"

"Naturally," Fūka stated as she winked at the reborn emperor. "He hardly blinked after Shinobu-chan put his wife into intensive care. Deep down — while he would have hoped you would only be lovers with Mioko-chan — he's more than pleased that you have made him a grandfather a second time; he doesn't know about Yayoi-chan yet."

A sigh. "So I heard. 'My baby's such a stud!'" A moan. "Idiot…"

"Don't be too harsh on him," Fūka stated. "Yes, what he did to your brother — and thus, by extension, to your sister — was wrong. But recovering from the loss of a child at such a young age is never easy, especially when there was no body to place in the family grave. True, they should have been happy that Ataru-kun was still alive and well, but…" A shrug. "Well, people react to things in different ways. Look at my sisters and me. Yes, we were technically slaves to Hoss…"

"But you were treated with kindness as Master Hoss saw you as his sisters returned to life," Hiromi finished with a smile and a wink; she had talked to the Hayasaka sisters about this topic many times over the last three months. "I know, I know. It doesn't make things any less annoying." She then sighed. "Well, as of now, it'll be much more difficult for Okā-san to try to be an annoying shrew to either Onii-san or Onē-san. I saw the walls put up to block off their side of the property from the rest of it. She'll have to get outside and walk around the block to get at our side of the house from now on. That won't sit well with her, especially since the doors into Onii-san's and Onē-san's bedrooms from the main house are now sealed off."

"Are you going to tell her that?"

"No. Let her find out on her own." Hiromi hummed. "Did you sense her mood before the medics took her to the Toranoseishin Finances building after Shinobu-san thrashed her?"

"Shock," Fūka confirmed. "Shinobu-chan's never DONE that to Kinshō in all the years she's been able to tap into her ki to augment her strength. Shinobu-chan is known to be very repsectful of family relations thanks to her Catholic upbringing. That she gladly did THAT to Kinshō was as much an emotional earthquake to her as learning about what Ataru-kun and all of you had been involved with on Okusei."

"Good. Maybe this will make her think with her brain for a change instead of allowing her mouth to do the thinking for her," Hiromi mused…and then she blinked as the back door opened. "Eh?! Oh, Onii-san! Onē-san! Minna!" she called out as people came inside.

"Tadaima!" Ataru, Tariko, Shikuko and Miyako called out.

"Please forgive us for disturbing you!" their companions chanted in turn…

* * *

Within minutes, a tea party had started up as introductions were made to Hiromi's reborn parents, her lovers and her daughters. As Kotatsuneko soon appeared with his space heater table and his own tea set to add to the party, everyone began to chat away as those people who had remained behind in Tomobiki prodded their classmates for more details about the Task Force's mission to Yaminokuni. As this was going on, Tariko and Shinobu sat off to one side, quietly relaxing as they watched Ataru use the holographic projection functions on his dataPADD to produce graphics of scans taken of Muzlim Madiina and the Dead Grove to show what happened where and why. As Kanami found herself being fawned over by many of the girls from Class 2-4 and Arami and Yayoi busied themselves with petting Kotatsuneko — which the giant cat-ghost certainly didn't mind at all — Shinobu then leaned over to kiss Tariko on the cheek. «Let's go somewhere private,» she telepathically called out to her lover.

Ataru's twin smirked as she stood up, pulling Shinobu up with her. As they headed off, Ataru watched them go, and then he sighed before noting that Mendō Shūtarō had given them an envious look. "What's wrong?" he wondered. "You know they started dating as soon as we got back to school and you learned about Asuka-chan."

The scion of Japan's richest family blinked, and then he sighed. "Hai, that's true. And I do wish your sister and Shinobu-san the best, Moroboshi. But…" He then chuckled. "Well, I don't think things between Asuka-chan and I will occur as my parents and hers originally planned. Which may be for the best."

"Oh?" Hiromi's reborn father Koro Chōmi trilled. "What has happened, young man? From what my wife and I learned from our child, your engagement to young Asuka was meant to help bring peace between your clan and hers. If it couldn't happen, your sister and her brother would be required to take up the engagement."

"Neither will happen, Oba-san," Mendō stated. "When Shinobu-san accepted the offer to obtain a body-swap from Yuzumi-sempai and Mioko-san's sister, Ryūnosuke-san and Nagisa-san moved to arrange body-swaps for anyone else from our class and our friends who would desire it. As you can probably sense, all the girls said 'yes.' As did Asuka-chan and my sister Ryōko. Once they emerged from the recovery chambers on Amenoukihashi Station and saw each other for the first time in their new bodies, they…" A shrug.

Ataru and Hiromi gaped at him. "Oh, my heavens…!" the latter breathed out. "Shūtarō-san, are you implying that they're now…?!"

A nod. "Hai. They bonded right then and there, Hiromi-san."

As the reborn emperor and her brother gaped at each other, Hiromi's reborn parents exchanged looks before nodding in approval. "Well then, the peace between your clans has been achieved, Shūtarō-kun," Tadasu Takemi declared. "You should be pleased."

Mendō blushed…before he chuckled. "Well, in a way, I am pleased that this has happened, Oba-san," he confessed. "As you might know, despite the rivalry between our clans, I've always looked on Asuka-chan's brother Tobimaro as a good friend. As your daughter, her brother and our friends can attest, I've never really cared for this insane rivalry between the Mendō and the Mizunokōji in the first place." As people around them laughed, he shrugged. "And knowing how deep the passion between Avalonians who form a bond-mating can be as witness what happened between Ryūnosuke-san and Nagisa-san when they first met, I'm sure that my sister and Asuka-chan will enjoy a very long and happy relationship." He then shrugged. "Our parents, however…"

More laughter as Fujinami Ryūnosuke and Shiowatari Nagisa blushed, though they were holding hands as they leaned against the other. In many ways, they were the oddest couple currently affiliated with Tomobiki High School. Ryūnosuke was the tomboyish "son" of a poor fisherman from Chōshi on the Pacific coast of Chiba-ken. She had been forced to come to Tomobiki in the wake of the destruction of her family business, the Hamachaya, by tōshi in March. She soon won the attention of Moroboshi Negako, who arranged to have her become an Avalonian to help her overcome the many childhood injuries forced on her by her rather bull-headed father Fujinami Fujimi, a man who — thanks to his grief over the loss of his wife Masako shortly after Ryūnosuke had been born — had raised his only child to be a "manly man" so she could succeed him as the owner of the Hamachaya. Once amongst girls her own age full-time, Ryūnosuke — who desperately wanted to be a girl but just didn't know how to be one thanks to Fujimi's constant interference — began to evolve into a tomboyish yet quite attractive girl who was now much more comfortable about herself and her life than she had ever been. While Fujimi had often "regressed" in his behaviour towards his child in recent weeks, Ryūnosuke had the skills — thanks to Negako — to put her father in his place if it got too out of control.

Still, despite the improvements in Ryūnosuke's life over the last few months, many of her classmates had found it quite ironic that her promised fiancé — which she herself hadn't learned of until a month ago — turned out to be someone like Shiowatari Nagisa.

Also the child of a widowed fisherman — Shiowatari Shin was Fujinami Fujimi's best friend from high school — Nagisa, who had been born as a boy, had been raised from birth to be as womanly as possible. While it clearly had been in reflection of how Ryūnosuke was being raised — Fujimi and Shin had vowed to have their children marry each other when the time was right — Nagisa came to like "her" life…and moved to be as much of a woman as "she" could be despite he being a boy genetically. Like the Fujinamis, the Shiowataris ran a small family teashop…though the Umichaya was on a sandbar island off the northern coast of the Sagami Sea near Fujisawa. It was because of their understandable lack of business that Shin came onto the wild idea of trying to market shaved ice cones covered in sea urchin roe; there was a large nest of the echinoderms they could cultivate off the shores of their island. However, in testing that product one day, Shin fatally poisoned himself by accidentally ingesting a shaved ice cone covered in venom that he mistook for roe. In his dying moments, Shin begged his child to keep the Umichaya going…and then lamented that — despite what he and Fujimi had promised each other long ago — he always wished Nagisa was a girl.

After Shin had died, Nagisa had been found by Avalonian-Japanese members of the Japan Coast Guard while returning from fisheries patrol to Yokosuka. Surprised to meet such a beautiful "girl" despite what he really was, those women immediately welcomed the orphaned tea show owner's child into their hearts…and, after getting to know him better, they made a proposition Nagisa was more than happy to accept. After a quick visit to Amenoukihashi Station — a geostationary factory satellite that was run by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on behalf of the government — the now-female Nagisa returned to Umichaya…whose business then began to pick up with Avalonian-Japanese from all across Kanagawa prefecture. Shortly after that, to finally resolve the honour issues stemming from her father's promise to his old classmate, Nagisa travelled to Tomobiki to meet the Fujinamis…

…and Avalonian genetics took care of the rest.

"The only problem I see is Asuka-chan's mother," Nagisa then mused. "Given how much she loves to strong-arm anyone who opposes her, she'll be determined to force her will on everyone to make everything 'proper' again. Even if Asuka-chan can beat her now…"

"It's still going to be annoying for her and Ryōko-chan," Ataru finished for Ryūnosuke's lover. "And knowing Ryōko-chan, she's probably going to make things a living hell for both her mom and Asuka-chan's mom if they get too obnoxious about it; the Kuroko will help there." As everyone else snickered — everyone in Class 2-4 knew well about Mendō's younger sister Ryōko and her often-macabre way of doing things — he then gazed on Mendō. "Still, both you and Tobimaro should be pretty happy in the long term." As his rival gaped at him, Ataru then winked. "Tobimaro's too much in love with baseball to think about settling down and you have all your so-called 'angels' to be there for you."

Mendō blinked…and then he sighed. "True…"

* * *

"Ryōko and Asuka?!"

"It shocked me, too!" Shinobu said as she and Tariko cuddled in the new loveseat that had been set up in the latter's expanded bedroom, gazing out the east-side picture windows at the beautiful morning over metropolitan Tōkyō. "Still, despite their mothers raising a huge stink over this, they're quite happy about it. Mendō-san should be happy about it, too; even if he tried his best to be a good fiancé to Asuka-chan, her being isolated for so long didn't do her any good in the long term."

Ataru's twin nodded. "Would you want to get back together with Shūtarō?"

A shake of the head. "No. Not only am I worried about you — and Kanami, too — and how uncomfortable you both would be sleeping with a man, I'm pretty much over him. He's a good friend…but nothing more. Besides…" She winked. "Anna-chan is now hell-bent and determined to make her 'Nii-chan' notice her in more than a friendly way."

Tariko laughed. Wakatsuki Anna was one of twelve Avalonian-Japanese girls who called themselves "Shūtarō's Angels" as a group these days as their Niphentaxian owners had been observers assigned to watch over the "Fifth Holy Apostle of the Goddess Lum" while they were living in Tomobiki. After the Niphentaxians were removed from Tomobiki, the Angels presented themselves to Mendō and — in repayment for their masters' actions concerning the violation of Mendō's personal space over the previous few months — vowed themselves to his service as Lum's Stormtroopers had once done to Redet Hensō. While nothing untoward had ever happened between Mendō and his Angels — despite his being attracted to all of them, Mendō did see himself as engaged to Mizunokōji Asuka and felt it only proper to not surrender to temptation — they were always there for him when he needed help…especially when it came to Ryōko's sometimes annoying habit of causing havoc to relieve her boredom; her brother was most often her favourite target. While Ryōko had often been quite annoyed at the Angels' interference in her fun, she did respect them as people.

Anna — who was currently a third-year middle school student attending the Butsumetsu Girl's Academy where the Stormtroopers' girlfriends were currently high school sophomores — had adopted Mendō as her "Shūtarō-niichan" and was always there for him whenever he needed someone to give him a hug and reassure him in a way that no one else had ever done for him. Remembering that, Tariko smirked on recalling an incident five weeks before when Anna had gladly chased off Asuka's mother Saeko with a Lawgiver pistol; the matriarch of the Mizunokōji Clan had stormed down to Tomobiki High School one day after hearing that her precious daughter was enjoying an outdoor picnic lunch with her fiancé and she felt it only right to chaperone the "date." Seeing Anna ruthlessly blast away at the taller, older and much stronger Saeko had been quite a laugh for everyone in Class 2-4…especially when Negako came out of her office and began giving the young Terran-form Avalonians spotting information to ensure the shots landed on target.

Saeko, of course, didn't appreciate THAT at all; she had wound up in private medical care for two weeks later healing from all the second-degree and third-degree burns all over her body as a result.

In spite of her superhuman strength, Asuka's mother had no equal level of invulnerability to protect her from such a vicious retaliation.

In reward for her defence of her "Nii-chan," Anna got a kiss from Mendō, a hug from Asuka, a "well done" from Negako — which was high praise from the ninjutsu grandmaster — a banzai cheer from all of the students at Tomobiki High and an invitation to transfer to the school from the Principal when she advanced to her first year of high school in the spring of 2011.

"He'll do it with her," Tariko mused. "He loves her very much and he knows how much she loves him. As soon as Shūtarō gets over losing Asuka-chan as his fiancée, he'll probably be very open to courting Anna-chan as his new girlfriend. Anna-chan already scares the heck out of Asuka-chan's mom…and since she was born as an Avalonian, the idea of forcing two people bonded in _marei'cha_ apart is the ultimate sin in her eyes. Any interference from Asuka-chan's mom and Shūtarō's mom is going to be put down real fast by Anna-chan and her friends."

"A pity that we can't really think of becoming that now," Shinobu lamented.

Tariko looked over. "Kanami's grandma needs something of her family close to her, Shinobu," she said as she gently threaded her fingers through her lover's hair. "Obā-chan was really fragile when she found out about Ranma; Onē-san told me later that if that didn't happen, she would have probably died around the turn of the New Year." As Shinobu winced, Ataru's twin then winked. "Besides, look at it this way: Kanami's as much of a jock as Ryūnosuke-chan is. She'll be happy to literally RUN from Taitō to here to see us when she wants to go out on a date." As Shinobu laughed, Tariko leaned in to kiss her on the lips. "So let's see what the future brings us, okay?"

A nod. "We should go over to see her. We need to introduce ourselves — at least, I need to introduce myself — to Kanami's grandmother, after…"

A beeping sound echoed from Tariko's work desk. Walking over, she opened the drawer and pulled out her dataPADD, tapping a control to open the communications link. "Hey!" she called out as Kanami's image appeared on the screen. "What's up?"

"Oh, some interesting things have been happening since we took off for Yaminokuni," Ranma's twin reported from her new bedroom at the Hayashi home in Taitō…

* * *

Nerima, close to Fūrinkan High School, over an hour later…

Miyamoto Karin could only smile as she walked down the street towards the Ōizumi Market with an empty grocery bag in hand. A delighted smile was on the reborn poet's face; as she had promised her new family, her culinary skills — while nowhere close to that of Kasumi's — had been quite good and she had created a big breakfast for Akane to enjoy before Kyoko got back to the business of training her bond-mate in the many fighting forms of the Ebisu-ryū. And while Karin had yet to personally decide herself as to what sort of martial arts school she might consider pursuing — after all, with Happōsai back on his feet and no longer dependant on absorbing female ki to live, he was available to teach Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū — she wasn't going to sit on her butt and write poems for the rest of her life. She was a tōshi, damn it all…and even if she was only an E-rank now, she wasn't going to be a helpless maiden.

No, sir!

Karin had, of course, inherited those feelings straight from Akane and the frustration and anger she had often felt at how much her father — and later Ranma — had simply _babied_ her like they had done over the last few years.

Honestly!

She wasn't fragile…

"Akane-chan!"

Karin perked, and then she looked to her left before smiling. "Ara! Sayuri-san! Yuka-san! Ohayō gozaimasu!" she called back with a smile.

As they approached her, both Asano Sayuri and Tokoro Yuka were quick to notice this woman's clothing. While Akane often modified her choice of clothes to ensure she could still fight without embarrassing herself — in other words, not wear anything that could rip apart and allow her to give some perverted moron a cheap thrill — she always did dress as girls their age would normally dress. This woman before them was dressed in form fitting blue jeans that literally hugged every contour of her legs, a T-shirt with the Yoshū logo on it and a jean jacket…which was so radically different than what Akane NORMALLY wore, it made both her friends blink in confusion for a moment.

Their eyes then locked on the green jewel hanging off this woman's left ear.

On seeing THAT, it all made sense to them.

"Ano…are you like Miiko-chan?" Yuka then asked.

A chuckle. "Hai, Yuka-san, I am. Miyamoto Karin at your service." A polite bow. "In my first life, I was Chén Lín of the Seven Scholars of Jiàn'ān; you would know me better by the battle name 'Chinrin Kōshō.' As Ranma-san's wonderful sister Miiko-sama was restored thanks to Negako-sama's intervention, so was I restored to life just prior to our departure to the dark lands far to the galactic south of here to deal with the alien barbarians who would threaten us all. As soon as classes resume on Monday, I shall be off to Yoshū and reunite with all my good friends there."

Sayuri and Yuka both blinked…and then they laughed as Karin winked at them. "Oh, gods! You can tell she's a tōshi, alright!" the former exclaimed.

"Yeah!" the latter snickered…and then she blinked. "Chinrin Kōshō, eh?! Oh, right! The poet that was famous for writing the challenge letter for Enshō Honsho to Sōsō Mōtoku before they went at each other back before the Three Kingdoms started in earnest!" Both then fell in on either side of their friend's new sister as they headed down to the market. "So how does it feel to be back on your feet again, Karin-chan?"

"Quite disorientating," the reborn Poet of Dùshì Ford confessed. "It has been many years since my past-self's soul has had a body to be bound to. All the changes that have occurred since that time…" A chuckle. "Well, at least I was able to mind-meld with Onē-sama after my awakening on the noble _Haida_ to learn what you all take so much for granted. Though I confess I feel a lot like Miiko-sama does when it comes to certain artefacts of technology that are just too complex for a humble warrior such as me. That, for example." Here, she pointed at a nearby cell phone store.

"Oh? How does Miiko-chan think of things like that?" Sayuri asked.

"As accursed contraptions whose inventors should have been struck down by the gods for inflicting humble people such as we with their insanity," Karin answered.

Both normal girls nearly fell on their butts in peals of laughter. "Well, maybe you can do something about Kunō-sempai then!" Yuka then noted.

"Oh? What of the Witless Wonder, anyway?"

Sayuri and Yuka gaped, and then broke down and laughed again. "'Witless Wonder?!'" the former guffawed. "Oh, gods! We got to tell the others about this!"

"So what has he done?" Karin asked.

They turned down a side street towards the market. "Oh, he's been just crazy since you guys went off to that Yaminokuni planet," Yuka stated. "It's bad enough in his eyes that Akane-chan was able to be transferred out of the school without his being able to stop it. It's even worse that she's now going to go to _Yoshū_. And with Nabiki-sempai out of the school and unable to give him more info on Akane-chan?" A shake of the head. "He's been whipping up the Hentai Horde to get them to march on Yoshū to 'rescue' Akane-chan and bring her back to Fūrinkan where she'll be safe."

A snort. "I was right. Witless Wonder."

Sayuri and Yuka laughed again; it was just TOO funny. They then stepped into the market area. Immediately making her way to a vegetable stand, Karin began to scan the wares. The elderly owner of the stand blinked in shock, surprised to see what he thought was Tendō Akane shopping for vegetables; normally, Tendō Kasumi did that sort of thing. He then saw the magatama before he hummed. "Um, excuse me…"

"Why am I doing the shopping for Kasumi-onēsama?" Karin asked as her eyes twinkled.

He jolted, and then profusely apologised before Karin introduced herself by both real name and battle name. Once that was done, a mixture of vegetables was procured and paid for, then Karin moved to analyse the other stalls. "So where will you be living if you're going to Yoshū?" Sayuri asked. "I mean, it's…what?"

"At least forty minutes one-way from Ueno to Utsunomiya on the Tōhoku Shinkan-sen. Add the additional travel time from Ōizumi-gakuen to Ikebukuro and then Ikebukuro to Ueno. And the times needed to transfer between the trains. About two hours at most," Karin noted; Nabiki had calculated that for Akane when Kyoko had started training her and the idea of actually going to Yoshū came up. "And while there is a travel allowance given to students at Yoshū so they can make their way anywhere around Kantō — after all, how else could they go face potential opponents if they had to splurge for railway and subway trips? — we'd like to spend our spare time doing things other than travelling to and from home." Karin smiled as she walked over to a fruit stand. "We'll be back with Ojii-sama on the weekends, of course, but Nabiki-onēsama and I will stay at apartments the school provides for out-of-town students. Akane-onēsama, of course…"

Akane's friends gaped. "Oh, my!" Yuka gasped as she and Sayuri exchanged looks, and then they stared at Karin. "You mean…Akane-chan and Kyoko-sempai are…?"

"Bonded and very much in love with each other. Hai. They'll be living together at Kyoko-san's family home in Utsunomiya."

"So Akane-chan's an Avalonian now?!" Sayuri wondered.

"Of course! So are my other sisters!" Karin said before she moved to acquire some fruit with the rest of the money Kasumi had given her for this quick shopping trip. "I wasn't going to allow my beloved sisters to grow old and die when I myself would reach the Avalonian equivalent of my early twenties, Sayuri-san! It just isn't proper!"

Both girls gaped, and then they leaned close to Akane's sister. "Do Kasumi-san and Nabiki-sempai have their own bond-mates?" Yuka demanded.

"Of course they do," Karin affirmed. "If you want, come around the home tomorrow after lunch and you'll get the chance to meet Narumi-san and Kyō-…!"

"**_TENDŌ AKANE!_**"

All three girls jolted before Karin moaned. "Just my accursed luck…!" she muttered under her breath as she turned to look, and then she sighed. "Whatever would be disturbing you this pleasant day, oh Master of Mental Malformed Mentality?!" she demanded.

As Sayuri and Yuka laughed on hearing the latest insult Akane's sister had just dreamt up concerning a certain bokken-welding upperclassman, Kunō Tatewaki — who had been out enjoying a pleasant constitutional about Nerima when his wanderings had led him into the Ōizumi Market — blinked several times as his mind tried to interpret the sight of his fierce tigress with a MAGATAMA hanging off her left ear. After a moment, he raised his trusty weapon to an overhead striking position, and then bellowed, "**_I SHALL SAVE YOU FROM THE UNDYING DEMON POSSESSING YOU, TENDŌ AKANE! HAVE AT THEE, MONSTER!_**"

_CRUNCH!_

One well-aimed football-like kick down _there_ sent the poor kendō-ka flying off towards his family home…without even causing any collateral damage to any of the nearby stalls. As all the people there all whooped and cheered, Karin flustered as she moved to bow apologetically at them for causing such a disturbance in the first place.

Then, much to her personal surprise and embarrassment, Karin managed to get free fruit and vegetables from several stall owners before she could extract herself from the market!

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) To explain about the **Battle of Vimy Ridge** — a small part of the overall **Battle of Arras** that occurred from 9 April to 16 May 1917 on the Western Front in the First World War; the engagement at Vimy only lasted until 12 April 1917 — and its significance to Canadian history, this was the first time that the four divisions of the **Canadian Corps** had fought together to seize a single objective in a single battle. Before this battle — as it was believed back then — most soldiers of the Corps never really identified themselves as "Canadian." Most of the fighting men saw themselves — unless they hailed from Québec — as British or any of the other cultures that immigrants to the young Dominion had hailed from beforehand. After Vimy Ridge, a strong sense of "Canadian-ness" began to develop amongst the English-speaking troops of the Corps; for the French-speakers in the Corps, they already possessed their own sense of nationality — as _les Canadiens_; any links to their ancestral homeland in France had long since faded — which eventually came to define the Canadian character for good and ill in years to come. Even more so, Vimy Ridge had — by the time of the battle — been assaulted time and time again by Allied troops to no avail.

A known anecdote about this battle was a comment a French soldier made about Vimy Ridge, reporting that capturing it was impossible. When told that the Canadians had pulled it off, said soldier then declared, "_Ah! Les Canadiens! C'est possible!_" (literally, "Ah! The Canadians! It's possible!").

Even more so — especially when one considers the see-saw nature of war on the Western Front — once Vimy Ridge had been captured by the Canadians, it remained in Allied hands until the end of the war.

To this day, the **Canadian National Vimy Memorial** — first dedicated on 26 July 1936 — stands on Vimy Ridge to mark the battle and the sacrifice that had been made during those April days in 1917; of a total of 170,000 men involved in the battle, the Canadian Corps and attached British troops lost 3,598 dead and 7,004 wounded.

2) The concept of **They Who Suffer in Silence** was first introduced in my fanfic _Three Sisters_. It served as my explanation as to why Mousse doesn't go forth and challenge Shampoo for her hand in marriage; his reasons for that remain unexplained in the _Ranma_ manga series.

3) Translations: **Magomusume** — Granddaughter; **-ken** — Name suffix for a prefecture (outside Tōkyō, Ōsaka and Kyōto, of course); **Umichaya** — Sea Teashop (which is inspired by the name of the Fujinami family teashop, **Hamachaya** ["Beach Teashop"]); **Roe** — The name applied to masses of eggs in the ovaries of fish and certain other marine animals (such as sea urchins).

4) The tōshi of **Ugan High School** — which are meant to personify the warriors of the **Wūhuán** tribe that were active in the area in and around the region of modern-day Běijīng before the start of the Three Kingdoms period — first appeared in manga episode #52 of _Ikkitōsen_.

5) Notes on the Canadian Forces bases spoken of here:

**CFB Borden** is located twenty kilometres from the city of Barrie and fifty kilometres north-northwest of Toronto. This is the primary support trade base of the Canadian Forces; Borden is under the administrative command of the **Canadian Defence Academy** in Kingston. It also serves as the support base for **16 Wing** of Air Command, which is the primary ground crew trades training wing of the Air Force; Borden is seen as the birthplace of the original Royal Canadian Air Force.

**CFB Trenton** is located 140 kilometres east of Toronto south of King's Highway 401 on the shores of the Bay of Quinte. The home of **8 Wing** of Air Command, this is the primary military air transportation hub of the Forces; all deployments overseas normally stage from Trenton.

**CFB Kingston** is located across Cataraqui Bay from the city of the same name at the northeast corner of Lake Ontario eighty kilometres east of Trenton. An Army facility, this base serves as the primary training facility for communications personnel. 1st Canadian Division Headquarters and the Royal Military College of Canada are located here, as is 1 Wing Headquartrs.

**CFB Petawawa** is located on the western shore of the Ottawa River 170 kilometres northwest of Ottawa. Petawawa is the home base of 2 Canadian Mechanised Brigade Group and provides the largest ground training facility for the Army in Ontario.

**CFB North Bay** is located northeast of the city of the same name on the shores of Lake Nipissing approximately 330 kilometres north of Toronto. An Air Force base, this is the home of **22 Wing**, which serves as the controlling formation for all operations of the **North American Aerospace Defence Command** (short-form **NORAD**) in Canada.

**Camp Meaford** is located on the shores of Georgian Bay sixty kilometres northwest of Borden. Meaford is not a Canadian Forces base per se even if it possesses the second-largest training area in Ontario outside Petawawa; unlike a true base, Meaford doesn't possess the necessary support infrastructure for operational units of the Army. Currently, the camp serves as the headquarters of the **Land Forces Central Area Training Centre** (**LFCATC**), which provides combat arms training courses for Army personnel in Ontario.

**CFB Winnipeg** is located at the Winnipeg International Airport in the northwest part of Manitoba's capital city. The home of **17 Wing** of Air Command, this base also serves as the site of the headquarters of both 1st Canadian Air Division and the **2nd Canadian Air Division** (**2 CDN AIR DIV**), which is the controlling formation for all training wings of the Air Force (including 16 Wing in Borden and 17 Wing in Winnipeg).

**CFB Shilo** is located fifteen kilometres east of Brandon and 200 kilometres west of Winnipeg. The traditional home base of the Royal Canadian Artillery, Shilo provides a large training area for all Army units located in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and northwest Ontario. It is also the home base of two units of 1 Canadian Mechanised Brigade Group, the **2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry** (**2 PPCLI**) and the **1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery** (**1 RCHA**).

**CFB London** was an Army base in the downtown section of the city of the same name located north of Highway 401 half-way between Toronto and Detroit. The historic home of the **Royal Canadian Regiment** (1st Battalion was based there for years), the base was downgraded to an **Area Support Unit** (**ASU**) in 1996. Today, ASU London serves as the headquarters site for 31 Canadian Brigade Group.

**CFB Toronto** was an Air Force base located in the Downsview section of old North York north of the old city of Toronto off Highway 401. Home originally for **2 Wing** of the Air Force, the base also provided space for the headquarters of the Army in Ontario. In 1996, the base became an ASU and now serves as the site for the headquarters of both Land Forces Central Area and 32 Canadian Brigade Group.

**CFB Ottawa** was an Air Force base formed in 1972 from the amalgamation of two separate bases in the territory of Canada's capital city, CFB Rockcliffe (on the shores of the Ottawa River northeast of downtown) and CFB Uplands (south of downtown). The home of **7 Wing** of the Air Force, CFB Ottawa also served as the support base for National Defence Headquarters. In 1996, CFB Ottawa was shut down and the support functions for NDHQ were consolidated into a new unit, **Canadian Forces Support Unit Ottawa** (**CFSU Ottawa**).

**CFB Portage la Prairie** was an Air Force base located near the city of the same name 75 kilometres west of Winnipeg. A primary training base for pilots, CFB Portage was closed down in 1992 before the Air Force reformed its subordinate formations into the modern wing concept. These days, CFB Portage serves as a civilian airport…but still serves as the site of **3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School** (**3 CFFTS**), which is a detached unit of 17 Wing in nearby Winnipeg.

6) The **Governor General's Foot Guards** (**GGFG**) and the **Canadian Grenadier Guards** (**CGG**) are the senior-ranking Militia infantry regiments in Canada; in a joint parade with Regular Force troops, the members of these units would march after the full-time soldiers. Both regiments are seen as traditional elements of the Household Guards; like the Canadian Guards in Canada and the various Guards regiments in Britain, these soldiers serve as traditional bodyguards to the Sovereign. The Foot Guards were first founded in 1861 in Ottawa as the "Civil Service Rifle Corps" and currently is a fighting element of **33 Canadian Brigade Group** (the Militia in eastern and northern Ontario). The Grenadier Guards were first founded in 1860 in Montréal as the "First 'Prince of Wales' Regiment" and currently is an element of **34e Groupe-Brigade du Canada** (the Militia in and around Québec's largest city). During the time the Canadian Guards were active between 1953-70, the GGFG and the CGG were seen as the Fifth and Sixth Battalions of the Canadian Guards respectively. In the universe of this story, both the GGFG and the CGG would reform working bonds with the Canadian Guards, but would remain administratively separate units.

As an aside, the **Ceremonial Guard** — which is normally formed of volunteers from both the GGFG and CGG; in recent years, volunteers from other elements of the Forces have marched with the Guard — serves the same ceremonial function in Canada as the Household Guard units do in Britain at the various palaces in London. However, since the Guard is composed of reserve soldiers, it normally parades only in summertime, not throughout the year. The Guard's primary public performance is the **Changing of the Guard** ceremony on Parliament Hill, which is run every day before lunch. Elements of the Guard also provide sentries at places such as **Rideau Hall** (the residence of the Governor General) and the **Canadian War Memorial** southeast of Parliament Hill where the Canadian Unknown Soldier is buried. In the universe of this story, with the influx of Avalonian-Canadian volunteers to both the GGFG and the CGG bringing both battalions to full wartime manning strength (about 1,000 soldiers each), the Guard is now gearing up for full-time sentry duties and daily performances of the Changing of the Guard.

7) In German, the letter "**ß**" personifies twin consonants sounding like an English "s" which can often be written as "ss" or "sz" in other languages. Normally, this letter type is used after long vowels or diphthongs in German; the letters "ss" are written out after short vowels. Thus, Hoss bedai-Diyasbugh's Earth family name matches that of the infamous SS _Obersturmbannführer_ ("Senior Assault Unit Leader," the equivalent to a Navy commander, an Army lieutenant colonel or an Air Force wing commander) **Rudolf Höß** (1901-47), commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940-43.

8) _Yatsura_ character notes:

**Fujinami Ryūnosuke** and her father **Fujinami Fujimi** (the given name is my invention) first appeared in the manga story "Battle Family" (manga episode #147). The former is the classic tomboy taken to quite an extreme as descibed above. She was also a very prominent character in the manga series after she joined the cast…though her character depiction in the anime became something of a one-joke character as time went on; it was only saved by the excellent work her voice actress, **Tanaka Mayumi** (born 1955), did. Ryūnosuke's favourite catch-phrase — normally accompanied by a swift uppercut to the chin — is "I'm a chick!"…which is normally said using masculine voice tones and words. Her father's favourite catch-phrase — which is normally accompanied by a huge tsunami in the background — is "I love the sea!"

Ryūnosuke's lover **Shiowatari Nagisa** first appeared in the manga story "Nagisa's Fiancé" (manga episode #339). Of course, his/her story as told in this part is much different in the original manga series. His/her father — the name **Shiowatari Shin** is my creation — also made his first appearance in that story. As an aside, the site of the Umichaya was selected due to the background imagry of the anime OVA inspired by "Nagisa's Fiancé." Near the start of the film, Fuji-san was clearly visible off in the distance, so "Ryōnosuke-shima" (as I came to call the island in my stories) had to be somewhere close to Tōkyō.

**Mendō Ryōko** and **Mizunokōji Asuka** are both secondary characters from _Yatsura_. The former was first introduced in the manga storyline "The Mendō Family" (manga episodes #121-122). The latter was introduced in the manga storyline "That Mizunokōji Girl" (manga episodes #221-224). In the universe of this story (as noted in _Long Way Home_), an engagement was agreed to between Mendō's mother Haruka and Asuka's mother Saeko (her given name is my invention) ultimately as a way of keeping Mendō away from such an "abnormally strong commoner" like Miyake Shinobu. Of course, as Asuka has NEVER encountered a man before her return from the convent where she was raised, Saeko got Moroboshi Negako's assistance to help Asuka adjust to outside society.

9) **Amenoukihashi** (literally meaning "Floating Bridge of Heaven") is the mythological bridge that connects Heaven and Earth in Shintō mythos. According to those myths, it was from this bridge that the youngest of the first generation of kami, **Izanagi-no-mikoto** and his sister/wife **Izanami-no-Mikoto**, stirred up the primordial sea of chaos with the naginata **Amenonuhoko** ("Heavenly Jewelled Spear") to form the first islands of what eventually became Japan.

Its modern namesake was one of the many factory satellites seized by the Avalonians from the Niphentaxians during the Liberation and brought to Earth. The station received its Earth name at the personal suggestion of the Emperor himself, who viewed the new Amenoukihashi as the bridge between the past on Earth and the future amongst the stars.

10) The **Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency** (**JAXA**) is Japan's answer to NASA in America. Formed in 2003 from the merger of three separate agencies (the **Institute of Space and Astronautical Science** [**ISAS**], the **National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan** [**NAL**] and the **National Space Development Agency of Japan** [**NASDA**]), JAXA is responsible for the development and launching of all space vehicles, including satellites. Its primary operational base is the **Tanega-shima Space Center** on the island of the same name off the southern coast of Kyūshū. It should be noted that JAXA is a strong player in the creation in the **International Space Station** (**ISS**); the _Kibō_ ("Hope") module launched in three sections into space in 2008 and 2009 — properly designated the **Japanese Experiment Module** (**JEM**) — is the largest single working element on the ISS.

11) **Wakatsuki Anna** — modelled after the character of the same name from the Libido adult dating simulation game _Hōkago Ren'ai Club_ (also known in English as _Casual Romance Club_) — and the other members of Shūtarō's Angels first appeared in _Long Way Home_.

12) **Ōizumi-gakuen Station** is located on the **Seibu Ikebukuro Line** that passes through Nerima. The station itself is southwest of the Ōizumi Junction between the **Kan'etsu Expressway** (which connects Tōkyō to Nagaoka) and the **Tōkyō-Gaikan Expressway** (which is the ring road expressway that orbits the northern wards of Tōkyō itself). I've always placed the Tendō home and dōjō very close to the Ōizumi Junction.


	59. The Downfall of the Hentai Horde

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home, lunchtime…

"Miyuki-san! Diana-san! Fleur-san! Tamami-san! Please, come in! Come in!"

"Thank you for your kindness, Moroboshi-himesama," Ōta Diana — she had been the aide-de-camp of Ayanokōji Hakushi in his capacity as "Doctor X," the secretive director of the Academy of Advanced Sciences that supported the creation of Steel Angels worldwide in the early 1920s — said as she, Kirihara Miyuki, Fleur Champrade and Kirigakure Tamami bowed politely to their host. All four just-woken Steel Angels — they had been stored in an underground cavern near the site of the Academy's primary work base, Mahoroba, near Nara — were revived an hour before by Negako with the assistance of Tōgō Aoi and Shichinohe Kaga. Those two Steel Angels had come with their newly-woken sisters to their friend's home while the Ayanokōji sisters had remained with the Kasuga family in Yokohama so they could catch up with all the things they had missed over the past seventy years.

Fleur — she was a captain in the Armée de Terre who had been trained as a cavalry officer in the 3e Régiment de Dragons; she also was trained in magic at l'Académie de Magie Beauxbâtons near Avignon thanks to her late mistress, Professor Barbara Pucelle, who had been deeply involved in the development of France's first Steel Angel — moved to present a beautifully-wrapped gift to Hiromi. "It is not much, but we felt it appropriate," the blonde, blue-eyed French army officer said with a polite bow.

The reborn emperor of the Hàn bowed in turn. "It was not necessary, Fleur-san!"

Another bow. "A token of our esteem for you and your family for giving us such a wonderful friend in Negako-dono," Fleur emphasised, her eyes twinkling as she flashed a mildly amused Negako a humorous look. "_S'il vous plaît_."

"_Merci beaucoup, Capitaine_ Champrade," Hiromi affirmed with another bow of her own.

"_Il n'y a pas de quoi, Marquise_ Moroboshi."

The package was taken and opened, revealling a beautiful bottle of Philippe Pacalet Vau Ligneau Premier Cru Chablis which had been made in 1957. On seeing that, Mendō Shūtarō gaped. "Gods! How on Earth did you get this wine, Fleur-san?!"

Fleur laughed. "Well, the Champrade family — they adopted me after I was activated — were very close magical friends to the Pacalet family; they're the ones who own the vineyard where this was bottled. Every year since I went to sleep in 1937 — save for the time during the Second World War and the reconstruction afterward — they set aside a bottle of their wine for me to partake the day I was reactivated. Negako contacted the _Richelieu_ to have a bottle beamed over from my family home for this occasion."

As Hiromi set the gift of wine aside, everyone smiled as people shifted around to allow the just-arrived visitors places to sit down in the living room; fortunately for the people who had come to this party, the actual room in the old guest house had been expanded to triple its original size thanks to the new additions installed in over the previous days. At that moment, footsteps heralded the return of one of Ataru's lovers. "Hey! What's going…?"

Miyako's voice screeched to a halt as her eyes locked on the silver-haired woman in the gold-trimmed green double-breasted jacket, green slacks and white tabi socks. As Aoi gazed in confusion on the just-returned Rakuyō sophomore with her deep brown eyes, Miyako turned very pale for a moment as her own eyes teared in delight before she screamed out, "_**AOI!**_"

The former Imperial Navy officer gasped as Miyako lunged at her, swamping her with an embrace as her lips landed on Aoi's. As people watched this, ki began to billow around the two for a moment before they parted. Aoi's eyes were now wide with recognition as she felt her mind link into Miyako's — not to mention the magatama hanging off the younger woman's left ear — as a particular memory began to replay itself…

* * *

_Somewhere in the mountains north of Tōkyō, Sunday 25 July 1937, early afternoon… _

_"WHY?!" _

_The others in the room all ducked the shocked scream of the woman standing at the corner desk in the central officer of the Imperial Army Special Weapons Unit. "They all made that decision, Iemi-san," Major Amagi Reiko stated as she gazed sadly on the other woman. "It took us all by surprise. As to where they are now…" _

_"They couldn't have killed themselves," Captain Noberu Iemi stated. "They would NEVER do something like that! They're not programmed…" _

_"That's ENOUGH, Captain!" _

_Iemi jolted as Reiko gazed intently at her, and then she sighed. "They announced their decision to have themselves deactivated as a whole to His Majesty in a letter delivered to him at the Kōkyo two days ago by Raeburn-san," the major in charge of the research branch of the Special Weapons Unit reported. "And when he learned their reasons why, His Majesty accepted it with understanding. Sadness, but understanding." _

_Iemi jerked. "That_ GAIJIN _was involved?!" _

_Reiko glared at her. "You forget yourself, Captain!" she snapped. "That 'gaijin,' as you call her, is the current GRANDMASTER of the Tensei-ryū!" _

_The younger woman gasped on hearing that, and then she slumped down on her desk. "So where are they?!" she then pleaded as she gazed on her commander with eyes full of anguished tears. "Damn it, Reiko-san! Aoi's as much my child as Kurumi, Saki and Karinka are yours and your husband's! I have to see her! I have to…!" A sob stole her voice as the strength in her body drained from her. "Aoi-chan…" _

_"Iemi-san." _

_The captain blinked, and then she looked up to see a letter being handed to her by Reiko with both hands. "This is from Aoi-chan," the major stated. "Hakushi, Kamahito-san and Nakahito-kun have already read the letters from the sisters." _

_Iemi blinked, and then she took the letter in hand. Quickly recognising Aoi's very neat calligraphy, she opened the envelope and slid out the beautiful paper within. Opening it, she gazed blankly at the words written there: _

Okā-sama,  
If you are reading this now, I am now asleep. As are all the Steel Angels.  
Please don't be angry at me. And please don't grieve for me.  
We all took this decision when the news began filtering in from Germany, Italy and China about events there. Even if very few can see it, it didn't take us all long to realise what is happening in this world you all worked so hard to make us a part of.  
A war is brewing.  
A war more terrible than anything that has ever been unleashed on Earth.  
All of us — regardless of which country we call home, which society we call our own — love humanity as a whole so much that we cannot allow ourselves to be part of such a war.  
We all decided only two people will be entrusted with the knowledge of where we are going to allow ourselves to be stored. One is the heir of the late Master Hosan. The other is the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_, an entity that is as much a Steel Angel as we are. They are the only ones we can truly trust to ensure that we are not found and used to hurt those we have sworn deep in our hearts and souls to protect.  
This is hard for me to write, both to you (who gave me life) and Shinobu-sama (who gave me purpose). I can guess now how much pain Kurumi-san is in, knowing that she has agreed to keep where she will be secret from Nakahito-sama. But we all realise that while each of you are quite noble and wonderful people, you are also servants of those who can use what you created in us for terrible purposes.  
I hope, I pray, that when this horrible time finally goes away, Deannette-sama and Negako-sama will come to you and show both you and Shinobu-sama where I am. That once again, Shinobu-sama's lips will awaken me and I can be once more part of society, a happier and more peaceful society than what has happened to our land as of late.  
I love you, Okā-sama.  
Your daughter,  
Aoi

_Iemi sniffed back tears as she gazed on the letter. "Aoi…" _

_She then blinked on seeing the postscript: _

P.S. By the way, _Kōdai-sama_, it may have taken me a while to realise what you really are, but I'm glad I did. And I hope one day that you find your Hōsen-sama.

_The woman known to her tōshi peers at Chōan Junior High School as "Chinkyū Kōdai" could only smile; no one in the unit, not even Reiko, had guessed what her magatama earring truly represented. "My daughter…one day, we will see each other again…"_

* * *

"Okā-sama…I'm so sorry, Okā-sama…I'm so sorry…Okā-sama…"

People watched sadly as Aoi — who looked so strong and proud when she had first come in with her friends, the perfect picture of the modern-day samurai — tightly held a weeping Miyako as she moaned out apologies for the latter's great-grandmother. As Shikuko leaned against Ataru — as the former was well-aware, Noberu Iemi had died during the execution of Operation: Meetinghouse by the B-29s of XXI Bomber Command on the evening of 9 March 1945 at the side of her then-fiancé and Shikuko's predecessor as the reincarnation of Lǚ Bù, Imperial Navy Lieutenant Sebone Hironuno — for comfort and the others fell respectfully silent to allow Aoi the chance to weep, Negako took a deep breath. "Miyako, take Aoi to the guest room and let her rest for a while."

Miyako gazed at the ninjutsu grandmaster, and then she nodded her thanks. Diana came over to help her walk Aoi out of the living room. Watching them go, Tamami shook her head. "Aren't you scared, Fleur-chan?" the ninja-trained Steel Angel then asked her friend.

A weak smile. "I already know Barbara's fate, Tamami. It's alright."

People gasped. "What happened, Fleur-san?!" Marubeya Momoe asked before her breath caught in her throat as she realised the serious faux pas she just committed.

"It's alright," Fleur mused as she smiled at the younger woman. "_Oui_, she has gone through the Veil of the Te'a to whatever awaits good people on the other side…but she did so as a fighter in the magical version of the Maquis resisting the forces of Gellert Grindelwald." A sniff as Tamami immediately came over to hug her friend. "I would have probably done the same thing, to be honest with you…even if the very idea of bringing a human being to harm was so repugnant to me, I would have gladly ripped out the Angel Heart I was fitted with after the Steel Angel War and killed myself." As the others nodded, she then shrugged. "And even now that I'm not bound by all the loyalty programming that made Barbara my mistress after I was activated…"

"You will have to decide if you wish to continue to pursue a career in the French Army," Negako finished for the adopted native of Burgundy. "As would Jeanne and Thérèse concerning continued service in the French Navy and Air Force respectively."

"Would you continue to serve, Fleur-san?" Hiromi wondered.

The blonde Frenchwoman shrugged. "Possibly. They disbanded my regiment some years ago, but it's being reformed right now by Avalonians…"

"Hey!"

People turned as Tariko and Shinobu walked into the living room. "What is it, Tariko-san?" Mendō asked on seeing the annoyed looks on their faces.

Tariko held up her dataPADD. "Oh, nothing much, Shūtarō. Just that Kanami's old man is trying to arrange another engagement between her brother and Kunō Kodachi."

People gasped on hearing that name, and then Hiromi smiled. "Isn't _that_ a fact?"

Eyes locked on the reborn emperor. "What do you mean?" Mioko asked.

Hiromi chuckled…

* * *

_A park near Tomobiki High School, Saturday 17 April 2010, mid-morning… _

_"Who are you?!" _

_The four members of the Tomobiki High martial arts rhythmic gymnastics team blinked on hearing the Black Rose of Saint Hebereke snap out that question, and then they turned to look at the woman now standing about three metres away from Kunō Kodachi, calmly holding all of the equipment the attacker from Nerima had tried to use on them in her outstretched hand. Since this was a weekend, everyone was not in school uniforms. _

_Much to Kodachi's displeasure, her opponents had been ready for her when she came to duel with them; the Tomobiki team captain, sophomore Yamagata Masako, had managed to get some nasty hits on the Black Rose's legs and arms before Kodachi had moved to deploy her "special" equipment. Unfortunately, she had no chance to use it; all of it had been snared with a_ glowing kusarigama _before she could attack! _

_Standing there, Hiromi could only sigh before she turned to gaze at a now-grinning Masako. "Masako-san, would you care to introduce us, please?" _

_Masako cackled, delighted that her classmate had come onto the scene to help put this bitch down. "No problem, Hiromi-chan. Meet the chief_ cheater _of Saint Hebereke Girl's School in Nerima, the so-called 'Black Rose,' Kunō Kodachi. She's the reason they've been having an unbroken winning streak as of late; she goes out and attacks the other team's gymnasts ahead of time, hurting them to the point where the other team has no choice but to default." She then smirked. "Lucky for us that Mendō-san was so kind to have all of his nice Kuromegane out on the street as soon as we received your school's challenge, Kodachi-_chan_!" Kodachi jolted on hearing the sneer in the older woman's voice as she said that honorific. "We knew you were coming an hour ago!" _

_"So what do we do with her, Sempai?" freshman Maeda Eiko then asked. _

_"Why don't we send her back with shattered arm and leg bones?" sophomore Arakida Yui then proposed. "Let's see how Saint Hebereke likes going through this!" _

_"Lucky thing I brought Mister Clean Sweep with me!" _

_Kodachi jolted on hearing that ominous statement, and then she spun around to see the fourth of the Tomobiki team, freshman Higashiyama Echiko, smirk as she drew out a very_ big _twenty-pound sledgehammer from behind her. As the other Tomobiki girls all cackled ominously on seeing that tool, Echiko moved to calmly pat that massive steel striking head on the palm of her other hand. "You made a stupid mistake, Kunō. This is_ Tomobiki_! We're not the pathetic wimps you'll find in Nerima and elsewhere! Up to when Hiromi-sempai's brother finally disposed of that alien bitch we've had no choice but to deal with for over a half-year, we went through stuff you could_ never _imagine! Cheating so-called 'martial artists' who don't have a shred of_ real _honour are just par for the course for us! Now, if someone would kindly tie her down…?" _

_"_Must _you do this, Echiko-san?" _

_The Tomobiki team all blinked on hearing that calm question from the woman who had just disarmed Kodachi. "Hiromi-chan, if we_ don't _do this, she'll keep coming back and attacking us again and again until we're not able to compete against her team," Masako warned. "We have to deliver a hard message to that petty little private rich-bitch school over in Nerima! Seeing their 'black rose' all_ black and blue _with_ broken bones _might clue them into Reality!" She grimaced as her team all braced themselves. "I don't really want to do this at all, Hiromi-chan, but when it comes to_ monsters _like this little bitch, we've got no choice! Okay, girls, let's…!" _

_"_**GET THEM! SAVE THE CAPTAIN!**_" _

_The Tomobiki girls all jolted on hearing that scream from a nearby bush, and then spun around just as a half-dozen other girls, all dressed in the fighting uniforms of Saint Hebereke, charged, their weapons at the ready. Seeing that her friends had come in time, Kodachi cackled. "I'm afraid I_ didn't _make a mistake, Masako-san!" _

_"Neither did Masako-chan, rich girl!" a new voice snapped. _

_Hiromi jolted. "NAYOKO-SAN, DON'T…!" _

_The Saint Hebereke team all then cried out in shock as a half-dozen women, all in black hakama trousers and white gi tops, stepped out from behind trees, each with a daikyū in their hands, arrows notched on the strings, all locked on targets. As Masako and her friends dove for the deck, the leader of the Tomobiki High women's Zen archery team, senior Karamorita Nayoko, barked, "__**HIT 'EM! **_**HANARE!**_" _

_Six arrows instantly leapt out, zeroing in on the gymnasts from Nerima. All of them quickly either ducked for the ground or leapt for the air to avoid being skewered by the deadly shafts. All save Kodachi, who had froze in shock on realising that not only had this strike against the Tomobiki High rhythmic gymnastics team had not just spectacularly failed, but had invited vicious retaliation from a group she had never trained to defend herself against! That act of immobility made sure that the arrow loosed by Nayoko would close to within killing range of her very head…! _

THUNK!

_Silence fell before Masako looked up, and then screamed, "_**HIROMI-CHAN!**_" _

_Kodachi blinked, and then blinked again on seeing that her vision was now blocked by a woman's lower arm, that having been punched through by an arrow shaft whose tip had stopped no less than fifteen centimetres from the bridge of her very own nose! As the Black Rose's mind took that in, the arm then lowered away, making her slowly turn to stare wide-eyed at Hiromi, who — while looking somewhat in pain for having an arrow shot through her left forearm — hadn't either screamed out or fallen aside in the wake of being badly hurt by her very own schoolmate. As the strength in Kodachi's legs left her, making her collapse to her knees, she watched as Hiromi stepped back, tossing all of Kodachi's equipment to her left — and away from any of the Black Rose's teammates — before she lifted her wounded arm up. Calmly, she snapped the aft end of Nayoko's arrow away from her body before reaching over and pulling out the rest of her shaft from her arm, the blood dripping away to form a puddle by her feet. _

_Seeing her schoolmate bleeding like that, Echiko then screamed out as she picked up her sledgehammer and moved to leap over to bash in Kodachi's head with it. "_**YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU MAKE SEMPAI BLEED LIKE THAT?! DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE…!**_" _

_"_**ECHIKO-SAN, STOP! STAY YOUR HAND!**_" _

_Everyone was blasted down by the sonic boom of that scream from Hiromi. Silence then fell before Echiko dropped to her knees, her eyes tearing. "Sempai…!" _

_Hiromi sighed, and then she calmly pulled a BlackBerry smartphone out of her jacket pocket, tapping controls on it. "Moroboshi to_ Haida_," she then called out. _

_"_Haida_, Takanashi here, Hiromi-sama," a calm, almost icy, voice called back. _

_"Naoko-san, lock materialisers on the woman now two metres in front of me, plus the six other women to my right at three to five metres' range, then beam them out of the park I am in now," Hiromi calmly ordered. "Make them go for a swim at the outdoor pool at Saint Hebereke Girl's School in Nerima. They need a chance to cool off." _

_"Hai!" _

_And then Kodachi and her classmates screamed out as they were whisked away…_

* * *

"**_She — drew — your — BLOOD?!_**"

Everyone save Negako, the Steel Angels present at the time, Hiromi, her daughters, Takara and Miwaka began to draw back from the shuddering Mioko as ki bloomed around the reborn empress of the Hàn and her eyes transformed into dragon-like golden slits. "Oh, do stop that, my wife," Hiromi said as she calmly drank her tea, holding up her left arm, which had no mark on it. "The arrow barely touched my bones or either the ulnar or radial arteries. It only required a couple hours of ki healing from Onē-sama."

"_**SHE DREW YOUR BLOOD!**_" Mioko shrieked out. "**_SHE SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH FOR DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO YOU, HUSBAND! HOW CAN YOU JUST _****SIT****_ THERE AND DISMISS THAT?!_**"

Hiromi smiled. "Because she now owes me her _life_, Dearest."

Silence.

"Oh…!" Mendō breathed out. "Well thought out, Hiromi-san."

"I don't get it," Megane mused.

The scion of Japan's richest family gazed on the leader of Lum's Stormtroopers. "Megane-san, it's simple. Despite the insanity that rocks that family, the Kunō Clan ARE descent from samurai who once served the Abe Clan in their place as one of the daimyō of Musashi-no-Kuni during the Edo period. Because of that — even if that idiot Tatewaki takes it to unbelievable extremes as witness what he allowed to unleash on poor Tendō Akane before Kanami-san's brother got involved — members of that family are fully immersed in Bushidō. Given that Hiromi-san SPARED Kodachi-san's life after that ambush back in April before the martial arts rhythmic gymnastics match between our school and Saint Hebereke, why do you think that the match went so well?"

The others hummed as they considered that as Negako went over to whisper things to Kaga, Miyuki, Fleur and Tamami to clue them in to what martial arts rhythmic gymnastics was all about. "So that's why they didn't do any sort of follow-up attack after you sent them for a swim in their school pool," Yamagata Masako then breathed out. "Yeah, they still pulled off a victory, but there were no attacks in the night prior to the bout like Kunō tried to pull on Akane-san when Saint Hebereke went off to challenge Fūrinkan."

"Still…!" Mioko hissed.

"Dearest, either behave…or you're banished from the Palace for a MONTH."

Mioko's breath caught in her throat, and then she shrunk down on herself as the bloom of ki around her vanished. "I'll be good!" she eeped out.

People gaped at her, and then they laughed…save for Hiromi's daughter Yayoi, who was shaking her head at yet another reference to all the "silly adult stuff" her parents and her papa's reborn wives loved to engage in. _Boring…!_

"So perhaps this could be a way we could resolve all the issues concerning Kanami-obasan's family," Yayoi's sister Kanami then stated.

Eyes locked on the reborn last emperor of Hàn. "What do you mean?" Ataru asked.

"Well, is not an _**omiai**_ the best way to ensure this woman would learn what has happened to the man whose hand she now seeks, Oji-san?" Kanami then asked.

People blinked, and then Tariko smirked. "At the same time, we can finally do away with Kanami's moron father," she noted. "He IS cursed by the Xióngmāonìquán, after all. Aren't people like that made to become totally lazy over time, Onē-san?"

"Indeed, that is a known psychological effect of that particular curse," Negako stated with an amused smile as she sensed where this conversation was going.

The sound of a door opening and closing then echoed through the living room. "Hey, Negako-chan!" an aged voice then bellowed out from the entranceway of the old guest house. "I'm back! What the heck did you do to this place, anyway?!"

"I am here, Happy," Negako called back as a smiling elderly man bounded into the room. "We simply expanded it to allow Hiromi's true parents and her children — not to mention Ataru and Tariko — a much larger place to live without the necessity to step outside to walk between the various bedrooms and other rooms of the property."

"So I saw!" Happōsai mused before he gazed in appreciation at the four Steel Angels present. "Good to see you girls again," he said with a polite bow.

"As it is good to see you as well, Sensei," Tamami mused as they returned his bow.

Immediately, Kotatsuneko moved to serve tea to the elderly grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū. As people moved to relax, Ataru asked, "So what do you plan to do for Ranma and his idiot old man, Hiromi? Even if that dork can't legally demand anything of him — much less his sisters — now, he doesn't seem to care about that. Yeah, Kodachi-chan's a first-class cheat, but she doesn't deserve to be a victim."

Happōsai perked. "What are you talking about, Ataru?"

Tariko quickly explained what Kanami had told her about her father's scheme to find some way to make it rich and get control over Ranma again. On hearing that, Happōsai shuddered as a faint bloom of ki formed around him, making some of the people there balk and shy away from him. Tamami — who had actually trained under Happōsai while he was striving for his mastery in the Tensei-ryū during the early 1920s; she was his first true student and the only female student he had ever possessed due to his ki-depravity issues — reached over to gently squeeze his shoulder in reassurance, which made him blink before he smiled at her in thanks as the ki aura faded from around him. Once the explanation was done, Happōsai then hummed as he considered that point before he smirked. "Well, this would be quite simple to resolve," he noted.

"How so, Sensei?" Shinobu asked.

A smirk. "Genma's curse, of course. I know of a couple very special manoeuvres…"

* * *

Nerima, the Miyamoto home…

"Thank you for taking care of our friend like that, Kyoko-sempai."

Ebisu Kyoko chuckled as she nodded in acknowledgement. "You need not thank me, Yuka-chan," she noted before sipping her tea. "I became attracted to Akane right away — we tōshi all know her story — so I was more than pleased to arrange for her transfer to Yoshū when the chance provided itself." She then gazed on Asano Sayuri and Tokoro Yuka. "It's a pity you two aren't martial artists yourselves. If I could, I'd get both of you out of that place as well. No one deserves to put up to the so-called 'Shooting Star' of Fūrinkan. Or whatever he calls himself these days."

Akane's friends from Class 1-F at Fūrinkan giggled. "We'll be alright, Sempai," Sayuri then noted. "Kunō-sempai doesn't pay attention to either of us. All he's ever been interested in is Akane-chan…but you'll settle his hash tomorrow, right?"

"So we plan right now," Karin mused. Akane, her twin, her friends and Kyoko were relaxing in the living room; Kasumi was busy in the kitchen cleaning up and Nabiki was with her grandfather in his study as they reviewed some stock portfolios. "Given our status as potential civilian employees to the Earth Defence Force, the government needs to get involved in this. I doubt that the Witless Wonder — no matter how rich his family is — has the ability to fight off the decrees of the Diet."

Akane laughed out loud at her sister's new nickname for Kunō Tatewaki. "I wonder what else we could call that moron?" she then mused. "After all — as Ranma proved so well — hurtling insults at people is an effective way to make them lose a fight." She then hummed. "Ne, Karin, what would you call all the idiots I had to fight before Ranma came to school? We all know them as the 'Hentai Horde' at Fūrinkan…"

"'The Incompetent and Impotent Idiots of Fūrinkan,' perchance?" Karin proposed.

Sayuri and Yuka laughed on hearing that while Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Yep, she's back and in full fighting trim," the ninja-trained tōshi from Utsunomiya declared.

More laughter. "Still, once Kunō passes the word to the Horde, they're not going to take this lying down," Sayuri then mused as she crossed her arms. "They were already discussing the possibility of starting up the morning fights for Akane-chan's heart again after Ranma-kun got hurt. Now that they know about Akane-chan transferring to Yoshū, they'll gladly do anything to pull her back into Fūrinkan."

"Not to mention Gosunkugi," Yuka muttered.

Akane perked. "Who?"

"Gosunkugi Hikaru, Onē-sama," Karin noted. "You barely noticed him in class, so it's not surprising that you don't know him. He is the skinny lad with the shaggy black hair and the pale skin who sits in the aft starboard seat by the back door of the classroom."

Akane blinked…and then she hummed. "Oh, right! I hardly know him!"

"Well, Daisuke-kun and Hiroshi-kun both overheard him mutter a few times about getting a chance to win your love, Akane-chan," Yuka noted. "Turns out, he's into occult studies. And he was the idiot who helped reveal Ranma-kun's ailurophobia, remember?"

Akane gasped. "He did that?!" she demanded. "Why didn't Ranma tell me that?!"

"Most likely because Ranma-san wouldn't consider him a true threat to either him or you, Onē-sama," Karin mused. "He's no martial artist by any stretch of the imagination. At the time, Ranma-san wasn't capable of acknowledging anything beyond martial arts, remember?"

Her sister took a moment to consider that, and then she sighed. "Right…" She then crossed her arms. "So we have to find some way to defuse the Idiots…" — she winked at Karin as the others snickered on sensing her capitalise that last word, which meant that the term Karin just cooked up from the Hentai Horde was now the _official_ nickname for the group as far as Akane was concerned — "…from committing suicide by trying to attack Yoshū directly."

"Agreed. Even if they are driven by their hormones and pressure inflicted on them by the Witless Wonder, they are nowhere close to being skilled enough to challenge even E-rank tōshi such as myself," Karin noted before sipping her tea.

The others nodded…and then they perked on seeing Kasumi step out of the kitchen and proceed to the genkan. "What is it, Onē-chan?" Akane asked.

"Visitors," Kasumi said before she headed out.

She returned a minute later with two young men, both in casual clothes. "Hiroshi-kun! Daisuke-kun!" Akane called out on recognising Bosabosa Daisuke and Chanpatsu Hiroshi, two men who had become friends with Ranma when he was going to Fūrinkan High.

"Hey, Akane-chan…URK!"

Everyone blinked on seeing both men freeze on seeing that there were TWO Miyamoto Akanes now seated at the living room table. Noting that, Kasumi gazed at them for a moment…and then she giggled. "Oh, dear! You two haven't been informed of Karin-chan yet," she mused before waving to Karin to commence introductions.

After hearing the story of the reborn Poet of Dùshì Ford, both men then relaxed. As Kasumi moved to get more tea prepared, they moved to sit down close to Sayuri and Yuka. Akane and Karin were quick to sense their wanting to give Kyoko a wide berth. Then again, it was understandable; Kyoko was one of Yoshū's A-rank tōshi and her fighting prowess was quite well-known to many across the Kantō basin…even if, as one of the Oniwabanshū, she did most of her work in the shadows. "So what does bring you fine fellows here anyway?" Karin then wondered as tea was served.

"Well, we came by to warn Akane-chan that the Hentai Horde is active again…and they're now planning to challenge Akane-chan to force her back to Fūrinkan, Karin-san," Hiroshi noted. "Kunō put the word out that Akane-chan was 'possessed' by the spirit of a tōshi, so she had to be 'saved' from such an evil thing. We kinda suspected this was the same sort of situation that Ranma got into when it came to Miiko-san…"

"Though I gotta admit that we were quite taken aback on seeing you with Akane-chan, Karin-san," Daisuke finished for his best friend, which made Karin chuckle. "So…"

"Pity Ranma isn't engaged to Akane-chan anymore," Hiroshi noted. "If he was still involved, Akane-chan wouldn't have to worry about that sort of…ITTE!"

That was thanks to Yuka smacking him across the back of his head. "Baka! Don't you know that Akane-chan HATES it when people say others should fight for her?!"

Hiroshi moaned. "Sorry…"

"So what do we do?" Akane wondered. "I don't want to deal with those creeps now…and given what Kyoko's done for me this last week, I could put all of the Idiots into intensive care if I wanted to. I don't want to do that."

"Refuse them."

Eyes locked on Kyoko. "What do you mean, Sempai?" Yuka asked.

A smirk. "Akane was taught that stupid 'never refuse a challenge' ideal by her former father, Yuka-chan," Akane's lover stated. "That's the reason she believed she had no choice but to beat down the Idiots when they challenged her every morning until her engagement to Ranma-kun became public. But now that she's MY student in the _Ebisu-ryū_, I can ORDER her to refuse any further challenges from the Idiots, much less Kunō himself." She then winked before she gazed off in the direction of Akane's old high school. "As a matter of fact, I think they're coming here right now."

The others save Karin tensed. "Oh, no…!" Yuka breathed out.

"Pay it no mind, Yuka-chan. Kasumi-san, would you call the police, please?"

Kasumi gasped. "Is that necessary, Kyoko-san?"

"Yes, it is," the silver-haired sophomore from Yoshū answered. "They're moving this way, clearly intending to invade your family property to press an attack on your sister. Since there's no dōjō here, they can't disguise it as any sort of formal martial arts challenge. So it's a potential case of attempted _rape_." A wink.

Everyone save Karin gaped at Kyoko. Kasumi then giggled. "Kyoko-san, that's EVIL!"

"No, attempting to force oneself on another against her wishes — especially in any sort of sexual manner — is evil, Kasumi-san. Now go make that call."

"Hai!"

And with that, she headed to the telephone…

* * *

Near the Miyamoto home, ten minutes later…

"Is that the place, Gosunkugi?"

Gosunkugi Hikaru nodded. "H-hai, Sempai! The Miyamoto residence!" the frail freshman from Class 1-F reported. "That's where Akane-san is now living…!"

"Good!" Takuichi Daikon snarled as he brandished his bokken. The vice-president of the Fūrinkan High kendō club — despite he being a year older than Kunō Tatewaki, Daikon had always deferred to the son of the missing principal of the school, Kunō Godai — had called together all his friends once he got the message from the club president about a tōshi _possessing_ poor Tendō Akane; like many of the "Hentai Horde," Daikon simply REFUSED to acknowledge her recent change of family name. "Once we get rid of whatever monster is now possessing poor Akane-san, we can finally get dates with her!"

"Damn straight!" the leader of the school sumotori team, Hitomaru Ichirō, snapped.

"Remember the plan!" Daikon then declared as he faced the other fighters; there were about forty people from a dozen school clubs present. "This isn't the same sort of situation that we faced before Saotome came to school! We can't fight Akane-san like we did before! Tōshi are tricky bastards! We have to swarm her all at once to take her down, then we take the magatama Tatewaki-sama saw on her earlier today off her and let Gosunkugi here destroy it! It's the only way to save her! Are we ready?!"

"HAI!" the others of the Horde screamed out.

Daikon then swept his bokken towards the main gate of the Miyamoto home. "_**CHARGE!**_"

With a roar of determination, the Horde lunged forward…

…as the main gate of the Miyamoto home opened to reveal a calm Akane, followed by Sayuri and Yuka. On seeing the object of their desire, the Horde cried out in delight as they all moved to attack her…only to crash face-first into the asphalt at their feet when Akane turned to gaze on them and they saw no magatama hanging off her ear. On noting that, Hikaru — who had, naturally, remained behind as the Horde moved to attack Akane — breathed out in relief. "Oh, thank the gods! She's safe!"

Silence fell as Akane's former schoolmates all blinked owlishly at her before Daikon got to his feet and lunged over to peer intently at the younger girl. "Akane-san…?" he whispered as hope seemed to bloom within his heart. "Is that you?"

"Of course it's me, Takuichi-sempai," Akane then stated. "Who would I be?!"

"We heard you were possessed!" another kendō-ka, freshman Koriko Nagao — he was one of Akane's old classmates — declared.

"Possessed by what?!"

"A TŌSHI!" many of the Horde bellowed out.

Akane blinked, and then she sighed. "Kunō, right?" she rhetorically asked before turning to gaze towards the house as two people WITH magatama hanging off their left ears came out to join them. "You were sure right about that, Karin-chan!"

"I honestly wish I was not, Onē-sama," Karin noted as she calmly sipped her tea.

On seeing this lovely double of Akane in the jeans and T-shirt having joined them, all of the Horde — even Gosunkugi Hikaru, who was now hiding himself behind a telephone pole some distance away — gaped in shock before Nagao blinked on seeing the magatama hanging off the newcomer's left ear. "Wait a minute…!" he declared before pointing at Karin. "You're like that Miiko girl that came by the school last week to get hold of Saotome's records, aren't you?!"

Karin calmly sipped her tea. "I was right, Onē-sama," she breathed out as she gazed in amusement at Akane, making Nagao jolt as he realised she was completely ignoring him. "A perfect title for these witless dolts who follow the Witless Wonder of Fūrinkan. 'Incompetent and Impotent Idiots.'" As everyone in the Horde there today face-faulted into the asphalt yet again, Karin turned to Sayuri and Yuka. "Dear friends, you WILL tell everyone at Fūrinkan that Onē-sama has decreed that to be their name. Won't you?"

"No problem at all, Karin-chan!" Yuka said as she and Sayuri nodded.

"_**ENOUGH!**_"

That was Daikon, who was back on his feet and pointing at Akane. "Akane-san, much that we are more than happy that you were not possessed by such evil creatures as tōshi, we CANNOT and WILL NOT allow you to be taken away to Yoshū!"

"It's too late, fool," Kyoko coldly declared. "The transfer was made on Monday morning and it can't be reversed. Live with it."

"_**NEVER, YOU MONSTER!**_" Daikon screamed back. "Akane-san, please forgive us, but we have no choice! _**WE CHALLENGE YOU!**_" he bellowed as he pointed at Akane. "**_IF WE DEFEAT YOU, TENDŌ AKANE, YOU WILL RETURN TO FŪRINKAN WHERE YOU BELONG!_**"

"I _refuse_ your **honourless** challenge."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

It was SO silent, people could hear crickets chirping in the background.

And then…

"You…_**refuse**_?!" Nagao gasped. "**_YOU CAN'T! YOU'RE A STUDENT OF MUSABETSU KAKUTŌ-RYŪ! YOU CAN'T REFUSE A CHALLENGE! YOU_**** SIMPLY CAN'T****_!_**"

"Well, that's a problem. I'm NOT a student of Musabetsu Kakutō!"

The Horde gaped. "But…!" Daikon sputtered.

Akane smirked. "I'm a student of the Ebisu-ryū of the Edo Oniwabanshū-ryū," she then declared, which made many of the Horde croak in shock on hearing that; they knew of the reputation of the Guardians of the Garden. "My so-called 'father' NEVER had any license from the founder of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū to open his dōjō. Everyone in Nerima knew that; why do you think the Tendō Dōjō NEVER has had students in the last ten years?!" As the Horde — not to mention several onlookers from neighbouring houses — gasped on hearing that, Akane then smiled at Kyoko. "So my TRUE sensei — that's Koshaji Ginyō-sama here — felt she had no choice under the traditional koryū rules but to take me on as her student so I would have some sort of OFFICIAL standing!" She waved to a now-blushing Kyoko; while the news of Akane's proposal for the style name element of Kyoko's battle name had gone forth thanks to Karin, it was still hard for the ninja-trained tōshi from Utsunomiya to accept being called that in lieu of being called simply "Koshaji." "If she didn't, people would've seen me as a _**berserker**_ that had to be put down as quickly as possible!"

Several of the Horde exchanged looks as they tried to process what had just been revealed, and then the leader of the sumotori present today shook his head. "This proves that Akane-chan's been POSSESSED by those tōshi monsters!" Ichirō snarled. "No matter what, we have to save Akane-chan from these beasts! _**CHARGE…!**_"

A shrill whistle echoed through the air. "_**HALT! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!**_"

Several of the Horde balked on hearing that police whistle. "_**IGNORE THAT! IT'S A TRICK!**_" Daikon then bellowed. "_**TATEWAKI-SAMA WILL PROTECT US! CHARGE!**_"

"_**TARGET THE PEOPLE TRYING TO ATTACK AKANE-SAN! HEAVY STUN! FIRE!**_"

A thunderous chorus of _cracks!_ echoed through the air as stun-bolts leapt out from various locations to slam into the bodies of all the Horde who were charging headlong towards Akane. As they all dropped to the street in unconscious heaps, several very beautiful women in police uniforms came out of their hiding places all around them, Lawgiver pistols in hand as they kept them aimed at the unconscious Fūrinkan students. "Lucky thing we were in the area to put a stop to this attempted mass rape of you, sister," one of them mused as she winked knowingly at Akane. "We'll take care of them."

Akane nodded. "Thank you so much, Ozaki-junsa," she said with a polite bow, having spotted the name of this particular officer with the shaggy chestnut brown hair and the sparkling blue eyes on the nametag mounted on the right breast of her jacket.

With that, the members of the Horde were quickly disarmed of any weapons or other implements they had before they were cuffed and carried off to a nearby van for transport to the Hikarigaoka Police Station at the southeast corner of the park of the same name located nearby. As this was happening, Akane walked over to allow Kyoko to hold her. "Oh, Kyoko-vayae! Those awful boys were so SCARY!" she moaned out loud enough for her former classmate nearby to overhear. "They actually wanted to RAPE me!"

* * *

Hearing that, Hikaru turned white in horror as three ugly realisations hit all at once:

_**One**_: Akane was now an _**Avalonian**_.

_**Two**_: Akane was now _**bond-mated**_ to a TŌSHI of all people.

And _**three**_: Being an Avalonian, she clearly had sensed the Horde's emotions with her empathy…

…and had sensed something that NO Avalonian would EVER condone.

_Rape…!_

Shuddering as a dark pit of guilt and despair appeared in his heart — regardless of his own feelings for the youngest daughter of Tendō Sōun, there was just NO WAY IN HELL that any of the actions launched by Kunō Tatewaki against her could be seen as acceptable after THIS! — the frail freshman turned and staggered off…

* * *

Watching him go, Ozaki Leona could only sigh. "A little TOO much there, Akane-san," she whispered to Akane as she nodded off towards Hikaru.

"He's not going to…?" Karin breathed out.

The auxiliary police officer waved it off. "I'll take care of it."

The others nodded…

* * *

Chichibu, Seito High School…

"You actually got your passport, Sandi-san?"

Sandi McLugh smiled as she held up the dark blue booklet. "The stupid cow went to my house in the Bronx to get it, and then took it to a helpful lass at the Kantō Magical Association to get me a ninety day tourist's visa on Monday. Also managed to get my international driving permit, too; I'm lucky some cop hasn't pulled me over to see my license since I started riding with the Kōshi Kasshi." She pocketed the passport and driver's permit. "Well, I'll have three months here and then I can go home or apply for an extension."

She awked as a pair of tanned arms drew her right into Seki Haneko's bust. The couple were now sitting on Sandi's motorcycle, which had been parked with the machines owned by members of the Kōshi Kasshi at the residence of the Hari siblings near Utsunomiya. "Where the hell does that leave us then?" the Seito senior demanded.

Sandi hummed. "Well, you can visit the States for ninety days without a visa," she then mused. "How soon can you get your pass-…?"

A tired squeal then echoed through the air. Everyone perked on hearing that pained noise, and then they looked around before Sandi stared somewhere to her left. "Hey, little one!" she cooed as she got off her chopper and walked over to kneel before a cute black, pot-bellied piglet with a golden tiger-striped bandanna wrapped around his neck. He had been dragging a rather large backpack with a bamboo umbrella wrapped atop it before he wandered onto the back lot of Seito and saw all the tōshi gathered nearby. "Well, what the hell are you…?" the American began before she tensed. "You're no piglet," she then declared. "What in the name of Danu are you…?"

"Zhòuquán-xiāng, no doubt."

Sandi turned as Haneko came up to stand beside her. "What?"

"The valley of cursed springs Ryomō's new boyfriend visited."

The American nodded. "Oh, _that_ place!" She then gazed down at P-chan. "Now what the devil were you doing wandering around in a dark place like _that_?"

The transformed wanderer moaned as others came up to gather around him. "Well, if he is a victim of Zhòuquán-xiāng, we'll need hot water to get him transformed back to being a person again," Koro Sonami said. "Let's get him inside and to the washroom so he can turn back and we can find out what happened to him. Someone get his pack!"

"Got it!" Haru Asumi called over.

With that, Sandi picked P-chan up and carried him off. "Anyone touches my ride, I bloody hell start breaking arms and legs!" she bellowed at the group of freshmen that were ogling the motorcycle — naturally, a black Harley-Davidson 2008 VRSCDX Night Rod Special painted with a chariot-and-rider motif on the fuel tank — the American normally rode, which made the younger tōshi scream out as they backed away from the cruiser.

Walking beside her lover, Haneko could only shake her head in amusement; in the short time she had come to know Sandi McLugh, she had come to realise that the Irish-American had some rather interesting mood swings. In Sandi's hands, P-chan perked on hearing the American shout out to the other people, and then he looked over before his eyes went VERY wide on seeing the black racing motorcycle. He then turned back to stare at her for a moment before recognition dawned, and then he squealed in shock, which made Sandi look down at him for a moment before memory clicked in and she gazed intently at him before her eyes widened. "Well, I'll be damned! You're Ryōga!"

P-chan squealed in relief as Sandi then shifted her fingertips to touch his head so she could send a telepathic probe into his mind. _Oh, thank the gods! It's you! I was so worried! When we walked into that biker's camp, I thought they'd kill you!_

"Oh, don't fret, Ryōga!" Sandi immediately scolded. "The bikers were all tōshi; they're the Kōshi Kasshi group. I'm a gaiscíoch; same type of being, but my soul came from old Ireland, not the Three Kingdoms of China. They accepted me alright."

"Bweeep?!" _Huh?! How'd you hear my thoughts?_

"Well, I'm a touch-telepath now, like Mister Spock is on _Star Trek_. Soon as I recognised your bandanna, I realised who you were."

"Bwip?!" _A mind-reader! Wow! How'd that happen, Sandi-san?!_

"Ah, it's a damned long story! Let's get you back to being human again and we'll fill you in on all the gory details!" She looked back to see Asumi easily carrying Ryōga's backpack as they headed into the school building.

P-chan nodded…

* * *

Sometime later, a clean Hibiki Ryōga walked out of the men's washroom, dressed in his normal traveller's clothes and feeling quite refreshed thanks to the long shower he had taken after Sandi had helped get him back to being human again. "Arigatō," he called out to the small group of tōshi and the lone gaiscíoch from the Bronx that had been waiting for him to clean up, and then he nodded as Asumi handed him his backpack. "Damn! Gotta be more careful about those puddles…!"

"So how did you wind up in the valley of Zhòuquán-xiāng, Ryōga-kun?" Haneko then asked as they moved to head to the student council lounge, Sandi moving to hold onto his arm to make sure the wanderer didn't make a wrong turn and end up in the Himalayas or somewhere else quite exotic and far away. "The place is considered cursed."

An embarrassed chuckle. "I was tracking down an old middle school classmate of mine, Saotome Ranma." Ryōga then hummed as the people around him all perked. "Oh, that's right. His grandma got him away from his idiot dad; he's Hayashi Ranma now." He then sighed. "I challenged him to a duel back in middle school a few years ago, but because of my direction curse, I didn't make it to the lot where we were going to fight in time; Ranma's bastard old man had dragged him off by then. I didn't know about that, so I thought he had chickened out on the duel. I went after him." A sigh as they all walked into the council room and took seats. One of the freshmen tōshi — a redheaded girl with green eyes under round-frame glasses named Mawari Kurami (Shūsō), who had a long crush on Haneko but had come to accept the senior's new relationship with Sandi McLugh — moved right away to prepare tea for everyone. "I finally caught up with him and his dad at Jusenkyō. I had the bad luck to arrive there just after Ranma got cursed in the Nyanniichuan; he had totally lost it and was chasing his idiot father all over the valley. I walked right into his path and he bashed me right into the Heitowenniichuan. _Boom!_ Instant Sunday dinner!" He closed his eyes, and then smiled as Kurami handed him a cup of tea. "Dōmo. Anyhow, I kinda lost it myself and vowed revenge on him for what he did to me. I chased him back here and confronted him shortly after he started attending Fūrinkan. We've been at it until he got hurt."

"Well, you'll be pleased to hear he's back on his feet again," Sonami said, which made Ryōga's eyes brighten. "And yes, he's legally separated from his foolish father finally. I think he'll be going to the Nan'yō Academy in Kimitsu now; after all, his new girlfriend's a senior there and they want to stay together. After all, there's no way that his father can realistically force an engagement between Ranma-san and Akane-san if he's in Chiba and she's in Nerima." She then hummed as she remembered something else. "Actually, Akane-san is lovers now with a sophomore that goes to Yoshū in Utsunomiya, so she'll be most likely attending school there from now on."

"She will be," Katsura Tōko affirmed.

Ryōga breathed out. "Well, that's good. Akane-san never really liked the idea of being forced into an engagement like that anyway. I hope her idiot father doesn't do anything stupid to her, like get her engaged to Kunō or something like that."

"Won't happen," Haneko stated. "Akane and her sisters are now legally separated from their father and live with their grandfather; they're listed as Miyamoto now, not Tendō. The whole stupid 'join two non-existent schools' garbage is done away with."

The wanderer blinked. "'Non-existent?'"

"Saotome Genma and Tendō Sōun never got proper teaching licenses for Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū from the only qualifying authority that could grant those licenses to them," Sandi explained. "All their claims about being masters in that Art are nothing more than wasted breath. They still might cause trouble, but they're both dealing with busted flushes, so they're nothing more than petty annoyances these days." She then stared at him. "So now that you've decided to leave Ranma alone pretty much, what will you do with yourself now? I know your direction curse can be bad, but still…"

"Well, I'll try to stay in touch with Ranma," Ryōga mused. "He did always see me as a friend — even if he really didn't understand what friendship meant and all that; his idiot dad never really taught him things like that — and he is very gifted in the Art. He'll need sparring partners and he does inspire me to be better. And if he's going to Nan'yō now, he'll be with pretty good fighters that'll keep him in trim once he gets his fighting form back; I can guess how much he's got to catch up after he was laid up for two weeks, thinking he'd never be able to walk again." He then hummed. "By the way, what happened to his sisters? Miiko-san and Kikuko-san?"

"Miiko will be coming here; she's lovers with a friend of ours, Koeru Kumomi — Chōun Shiryū, in other words — and since Miiko was Ryūen Kunrō in her first life, she'll be more at home here at Seito than at Nan'yō," Haneko answered. "We're not sure about Kikuko, though. She elected to take up Shānpú's marriage claim on Ranma as a way of allowing her to get her honour back amongst her people and they're pretty much seen as married now among the Nǚjiézú. Kanami will be pretty much going to Tomobiki High."

The wanderer blinked. "Who's Kanami?"

The tōshi all gazed at him. "Um, Hibiki-san, did you know that your friend's soul got split in half because he was trained in the Neko-ken?" Kurami asked.

Ryōga blinked, and then he turned sheet-white. "_**WHAT?! RANMA WAS TRAINED IN THE**_** CAT-FIST****_?! WHAT TOTAL LUNATIC DID_**** THAT ****_TO HIM?!_**"

"Guess!" everyone else chanted out.

He blinked, and then he moaned. "Genma! Right…!"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Ōta Diana**, **Fleur Champrade**, **Kirihara Miyuki** and **Kirigakure Tamami** are all characters from the _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_ manga series. As noted in this part, Diana was the senior assistant to "Doctor X," the leader of the Academy of Advanced Sciences…which was the identity assumed by Ayanokōji Hakushi when he arranged to launch the "Steel Angel War" in the manga story "Secret Assembly" (manga episode #12). Fleur was France's champion in the Steel Angel War; she appeared in the following story, "Decisive Match - The True Steel Angel of Japan." She bested the American champion (whom I would give the name **Liberty "Red" Pfalz**) in a preliminary bout before being taken down by Tōgō Aoi. Miyuki first appeared in the manga story "Kurumi's Spy Mission" (manga episode #11); she was a worker at a local sukiyaki restaurant where Saki had got a part-time job to repay the Imperial Army for the damage she had caused in the wake of her activation. And Tamami appeared in the latter part of the first episode depicting the Steel Angel War where Fleur and Aoi first appeared; she often tried — and miserably failed each time! — to challenge Kurumi to a fight to be declared Japan's "official" Steel Angel.

As I stated before, the family names used here for each of the Steel Angels in this story are often based on the names of the person who actually created their design. With Diana, it was quite easy: The person credited for her design was an "Ōta-san" from Tōkyō…who is most likely one-half of the Kaishaku duo that wrote the original manga, Ōta Hitoshi. Fleur was created by Ōkita Toru…but since she is said to be fighting for France in the Steel Angel War, I gave her a proper French family name. Miyuki was noted as having been created by a "Seppuku-san" from Tōkyō. For her, I used the kun'yomi reading of the kanji 切腹…which, when reversed around, helps form the often-used nickname for seppuku, _hara-kiri_. With Tamami — who was introduced only as "Kirigakure" in the manga; she was named in tribute to the likely fictional ninja **Kirigakure Saizō** — I gave her the given name "Tamami" as her creator in the manga was Pfatz Pearl (this person also created Red) and I used the kun'yomi reading of the kanji 珠; the artist's name is written with katakana for "Pfatz" and the kanji 真珠 to represent "pearl" (which is normally read _shinju_).

As an aside, **Barbara Pucelle** is my name for the hooded woman that monitored Fleur in her battle with Red in manga episode #12. As she was depicted as having a scrying ball in hand, it made a lot of sense that she would have to be a magical of some sort…thus having her be a Beaubâtons professor made a lot of sense. **Amagi Reiko**, of course, was one of the background players in the _Kurumi_ manga and the first anime series; she is the one who saw to it Saki was initially activated without the proper activation sequence — a kiss from a mystic such as Kasuga Nakahito — being followed as it had been for Kurumi herself.

2) Translations: **Armée de Terre** — Literally "Land Army," this is the official title of France's ground forces; **l'Académie de Magie Beauxbâtons** — Beauxbâtons Magical Academy; **S'il vous plaît** — If you please; **Merci beaucoup** — Thank you very much; **Il n'y a pas de quoi** — Think nothing of it; **Marquise** — Marchioness; **Kōkyo** — Literally "Imperial Residence," this is the proper title for the Imperial Palace in Tōkyō's Chiyoda Ward on the site of old Edo Castle; **Maquis** — Literally "thicket" though normally translated as "the bush" (stemming from the hilly region of southeast France where such scrub ground is normally found), this was the nickname of the rural French guerilla bands who fought against Nazi occupation during World War Two; **Daikyū** — Literally "great bow," this is the standard long bow used by practitioners of Zen archery (_kyūdō_); **Hanare** — The technique in kyūdō when the bow is drawn and the bowstring is released to fire the arrow at the target; **Musashi-no-Kuni** — The Japanese imperial province covering the modern-day territory of Metropolitan Tōkyō, most of Saitama Prefecture and some elements of Kanagawa Prefecture; **Junsa** — Literally "patrol investigator," this is the rank title for a basic police officer in Japan (the equivalent of a constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police).

3) The **3e Régiment de Dragons** (literally "3rd Dragoon Regiment") (short-form **3e RD**) was a cavalry regiment first formed in 1649 during the years of the **Ancien Régime** ("Old Regime") for the son of the-then Prince of Condé, the Duke of Enghien. Originally a normal cavalry unit under the name "Bourbon Cavalerie," it was converted into a dragoons (mounted infantry) unit in 1776 and was designated the 3rd Dragoon Regiment in 1791. It was finally disbanded in 1997, but like other disbanded military units across the planet, was brought back to life by the Avalonians in the spring of 2010. However, given the fact that the town of Enghien is located in the Walloon (French-speaking) part of Belgium, 3e RD was re-established just across the border in the city of Lille sixty kilometres to the west of Enghien. The regiment is currently tasked to provide reserve force augmentation to the **1re Brigade Mécanisée** (**1re BM**, meaning "1st Mechanised Brigade") in Châlons-en-Champagne when requested by Army headquarters in Paris…and would help form **1re Division Blindée** (**1re DB**, meaning "1st Armoured Division") in times of full national mobilisation.

4) **Operation: Meetinghouse** was the code-name for what is often seen by many as the most destructive bombing raid in all history. Launched at the order of the commander of **XXI Bomber Command**, then-Major General **Curtis LeMay** (1906-90), Operation: Meetinghouse involved 334 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses dropping 1,700 tonnes of bombs on areas to the east and south of the Kōkyo. This raid wiped out forty-one square kilometres of the city thanks to a hideous firestorm unleashed by the mixture of incendiary and high explosive bombs used on this raid, killing an estimated 124,711 people according to the Tōkyō Metropolitan Police Department; the actual true numbers are believed to be MUCH higher. In comparison to the attack on Hiroshima by the _Enola Gay_ on 6 August 1945 (which killed approximately 80,000 in the initial firestorm) or the attack on Nagasaki by _Bockscar_ three days later (which killed approximately 75,000 people), the Meetinghouse raid was far more destructive in an immediate sense…though, thanks to the effects of radiation poisoning, the combined Hiroshima and Nagasaki casualties over the following four months eventually climbed past over 240,000 fatalities.

5) Fans of one of Shirō Masamune's earlier works from the mid-1980s should recognise the police officer who was in charge of the arresting party that took down the Hentai Horde seeking to drag Akane back to Fūrinkan High School in this episode.

6) **Shūsō** (**Mawari Kurami**) first appeared in the special in Volume 14 of _Ikkitōsen_ where Mōtatsu Shikei (Kashira Tōko) also made her appearance; she was shown giving a birthday present to Kan'u Unchō (Seki Haneko)…before running off in embarrassment. She is based on **Zhōu Cāng**, a fictional character from _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ who became an admirer of Guān Yǔ's while fighting as part of the Yellow Turban rebels. Forced to become a bandit in the mountains after the Yellow Turbans were put down, Zhōu would eventually encounter Guān again and eventually join him as his weapons bearer. He would eventually kill himself in grief when the reports of Guān's death at the hands of the forces of Sūn Quán under Lǚ Méng got to him. In this life, Kurami is one of many girls at Seito who have a huge crush on Haneko.


	60. Nodoka Faces A Choice

Nerima, the Kunō mansion, sometime after lunch…

"AH-CHOO!"

"Bless you, Oji-san! Are you alright?"

A moan escaped Saotome Genma's lips before he turned to nod in appreciation at Kunō Kodachi. "Hai, Kodachi-chan. I'm fine. No doubt, it's someone talking about me."

The young heiress to the Kunō Clan could only smile before she turned back to her tea as they relaxed in her sitting room. "So how was the herbal solution I gave you for those awful wounds you received thanks to those disgusting tōshi on Sunday?"

"It worked perfectly. You're as much a genius at herbalism as you are at rhythmic gymnastics, Kodachi-chan," the older man said as he toasted her with his tea cup before he took a sip, and then he relaxed. "I'm still a little stiff — one of those shafts got close to my left hip joint — but doing some stretches for a few days will make it all right. Now, what news have you heard about what's happening with my son?"

"Well, I expect him…"

"**_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT…?!_**"

Both perked, and the Kodachi turned. "Oh, dear. I wonder what's bothering Onii-san now," she wondered as she got up and walked over to open the door into the hallway that passed between her living quarters area and that of her older brother's. "Onii-san!" she called out through the open door of Tatewaki's sitting room. "What is wrong?!"

"**_ARRESTED?! HOW COULD THIS BE?!_**"

Kodachi blinked for a second before she turned to head back into her sitting room. As Genma gave her a curious look, the young heiress of Nerima's richest family put her fingertip to her lips before waving him with her into her bedroom. Once there, she walked over to the telephone unit by her vanity. Pressing a control to turn on the external speakers, she then tapped a button to link into her brother's private line.

"…cannot be allowed, Kentō-san! You KNOW that, don't you?!"

Genma perked. "Your family lawyer?"

"Hai," Kodachi affirmed with a nod.

"I do apologize for that, Kunō-sama," the family lawyer, Kentō Seisuke, stated. "But unlike the situation at Fūrinkan High — which is private property ultimately owned by your family — your associates tried to attack Miyamoto Akane…"

"**_DO NOT CALL HER THAT!_**"

"That is her legal name…"

"**_DO NOT CALL HER THAT!_**"

Genma was quick to hear a faint tired sigh. And while he did feel sympathy for the poor lawyer now facing Kunō Tatewaki's wrath — given how single-minded the boy was when it came to Tendō Sōun's youngest daughter and Tatewaki's unwillingness to listen to ANYONE who tried to explain Akane's true feelings concerning him — he needed information and he needed it fast. Police involvement in any affairs concerning himself, his friends — or especially his son — was something he avoided like the plague. While a small part of him did feel remorse over all the things he had done that violated the letter of the law, he felt safe in the knowledge that Happōsai had gained his mastery from the Immortal Master himself, who had enjoyed the favour of the Imperial Throne for over a thousand years…and even if the old pervert gladly denied it now, Happōsai HAD verbally told his last students that their path to mastery in Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū lay in defeating him, _**which they had done when they buried him in the cave**_! Besides, things went missing and were stolen all the time; there was just no way that police investigators would be able to possibly trace _anything_ he himself had done during the training trip with the boy back to him. Even more, hadn't Genma teamed with Sōun when they were younger to clear out all of Nerima of the Yakuza and the bōsōzoku who had run rampant in this town in years past?

Didn't the people of Nerima OWE Happōsai's old students for that?!

Honestly!

No respect at all…

"As you wish, Kunō-sama," Seisuke stated. "Your associates tried to attack _Tendō_ Akane on the street near her grandfather's home, where she and her sisters are currently staying given their recent estrangement with their father. Because of that — and because _Tendō_ Kasumi contacted the police to alert them of this situation before the attack actually could have begun against her sister — the arresting officers had no choice but to stun them unconscious and arrest them, AFTER they were told that police were moving to apprehend them. Even more so, your club's deputy president, Takuichi Daikon, loudly asserted that YOU would ensure they would remain free of jail!" A pause. "Furthermore, it was police officers from the Hikarigaoka Station who dealt with your friends. No one from the Shakujii Station was involved in that take-down!"

"_**THAT IS NOT RELEVANT! I WANT NAMES, MAN! WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THIS?!**_"

"Ozaki Leona-junsa was the group leader."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"L-l-Leona-s-s-san…?" the elder Kunō sibling croaked out.

"Hai. You are aware of her tracking down the Park Rapist back in May?"

Genma nodded sagely. While he personally didn't care at all for rapists — and if he had been asked by the authorities, he would have gladly helped track such a monster down — he had been quite impressed by what Ozaki Leona had done. Even Ranma had given his approval to her actions when the news had got out. Then again, it was quite understandable; given the boy's curse, he had gained his own fear of being raped…though he hadn't openly expressed same to anyone. Remembering that, Genma smiled. Regardless of how far the boy had strayed thanks to the China girl and the boy's senile old grandmother, there was still time to put him back onto the right path.

And maybe even…

"H-hai, I do remember the good and valiant Leona-san doing just that," Kunō stated. "But surely this sort of thing wouldn't interest someone such as she!"

"Unfortunately, Akane-san demanded that your associates be charged with _attempted rape_," the lawyer advised. On hearing that, Kodachi gasped as she tried not to cringe on hearing what just befell the Hentai Horde…though she did privately admire Akane's cunning in dealing with that disgusting lot. "Akane-san is now a Terran-turned-Avalonian. Her empathy picked up your associates' feelings. As did the empathy of Leona-san and all the women who assisted her in the take-down of your associates."

"**_WHAT?! HOW DID MY FIERCE TIGRESS BECOME ONE OF_ THEM_?!_**"

"It was offered to her — and her sisters — while they travelled with the Task Force to the planet Yaminokuni, Kunō-sama," Seisuke answered. "They accepted."

"Then they must be turned back! Surely that can…!"

"That simply cannot be done, Kunō-sama," the lawyer cut in. "Their original bodies were cremated and they intend to deliver the ashes to their father as a final act of severing all ties for him if he continues to refuse to acknowledge that he has no martial arts mastery in Happōsai-sensei's school," the lawyer quickly cut in.

"Which is a lie," Genma snarled.

"That — given the skills of Tendō Sōun — would most likely destroy the man once and for all time," the lawyer then added.

Genma winced on hearing that…though he did pat himself on the shoulder yet again at his decision to finally turn his back on Tendō Sōun and his traitorous children. Having the boy's so-called "sisters" around would be bad enough; Genma was still trying to think of ways of getting those three creatures out of the boy's life once and for all. But to give those damned psychic powers to Sōun's girls?! There wouldn't have been a single secret safe in the Tendō home if something like that happened!

Shaking his head at how much his friend and training partner had fallen over the years, he then perked as Kunō moaned out, "Those fiends…!"

"I'd hardly call any Avalonian a 'fiend,' sir," the lawyer stated.

"No! I meant the tōshi, man!" Kunō spat back. "Especially that monster Koshaji! Ever since she got involved, my fierce tigress has been blindsided by her evil! You MUST do something about THAT, man! Surely you can see that, can't you?!"

"Given that Ebisu Kyoko-sensei participated in the Task Force's mission to Yaminokuni — _**and has been given the thanks of His Imperial Majesty for her involvement in the matter**_ — I doubt anyone in any level of government would agree with you, Kunō-sama."

A shocked gasp of breath. "WHAT?! The EMPEROR has given the tōshi his THANKS?!"

"That is quite correct; such will be announced in the form of an Imperial Rescript to be broadcast tonight from the Kōkyo…or so the current rumours flowing around the various agencies of government have reported since the first reports of the success of the mission came from _Yamato_ early on Wednesday morning." A sigh. "Furthermore, when I spoke to her about this incident, Ozaki-junsa reported that Akane-san and Kyoko-sensei are now soul-bound in the _marei'cha_ process Avalonians often engage in with each other. Because they're now seen as the equal of a _**married couple**_ in Avalonian society, ANY interference by ANYONE in their relationship will not be tolerated."

"_**WHAT?! MY FIERCE TIGRESS IS**_** SOUL-BOUND _TO THAT MONSTER?! I FORBID IT!_**"

"I doubt either Akane-san or Kyoko-sensei would **_care_** now what you think, Kunō-sama," Seisuke warned him. "I also learned that when your associates tried to attack her, they attempted to trick her into fighting them via formal challenge. One she REFUSED!"

Genma jerked on hearing that statement. _Oh, Kami-sama! How far did Sōun allow that stupid girl to fall?!_ he moaned to himself as he shook his head.

If the boy had ever done **_that_**…!

"**_SHE CAN'T DO THAT!_**" Kunō screamed out.

"She **_did_**, Kunō-sama," Seisuke stated, surprising Genma with how calm he was sounding. "Furthermore, she declared their challenge to her 'honourless.'"

"**_WHAT?!_**"

"So I believe it IS in your best interest to not bother _Miyamoto_ Akane anymore, Kunō-sama," the lawyer then declared. "What is to stop her from doing that to _you_?"

"_**NEVER! MY FIERCE TIGRESS HAS JUST BEEN BLINDED BY THE EVIL TŌSHI! THIS WILL NOT STAND! IT WILL NOT STAND! I WILL SEE TO IT THAT SHE SEES THE TRUTH SOON ENOUGH!**_"

"Then I will _**not**_ be able to save you from your own foolishness, Kunō-sama. That was NOT what your father hired me to do when he asked me to serve as your family lawyer during his time in Hawai'i. You've been warned now: Attempt to do ANYTHING to _Miyamoto_ Akane, her family or her bond-mate, YOU will be the one who suffers!"

"_**DO NOT CALL HER…!**_"

"Good day."

_CLICK!_

"Eh?! Moshi-moshi! Moshi-moshi!"

As another rant began to thunder through the Kunō mansion, Kodachi reached over to flick off the speakers. "Poor Onii-san," she mused aloud. "I doubt he'll survive his encounter with Akane-san or her lover tomorrow lunchtime."

With an amused titter, she waved Genma to follow her back into the sitting room…

* * *

Kimitsu, near the Nan'yō Academy…

"Well, I can say this, Mimōko-kun: You are certainly in the prime of health right now. Lucky thing that when you made love to your boyfriend after you got that new body of yours, it wasn't capable of actually ovulating." Here, the man born Hana Hokaji and known to his fellow tōshi by the battle name "Kada Genka" could only smile as he gave Mimōko a warning look. "So PLEASE, Mimōko-kun, in the future…"

"When he's a boy — which won't be for over a month now — use protection," the Nan'yō senior mused as she grinned knowingly at the thirty-something doctor who had been treating her problem with Zǐmíng for the last two years. "Which means I best get over to Tomobiki when I can to learn the shiatsu trick Negako-san knows to block the ovaries from producing eggs before I make love to my man when's he's finally a man."

Hokaji laughed. "Well, if anyone knows how to deal with something like that, Negako-sama would know," he mused before gazing at her. "So what's she like anyway? Does she live up to all those 'Black Death of the Martial Arts' tales everyone believes in?"

"In a way, yes," Mimōko stated as she moved to dress. She knew that past incarnations of her current host had not got on the wrong side of the pre-awakened _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ during the early years of the Tokugawa period. And no tōshi had run across the post-1808 version of who would later be called "Moroboshi Negako;" no doubt, given the fact that Negako had quested for over TWO CENTURIES to finally have a body of her own, the Moroboshi Clan priests had worked overtime to keep her suppressed. "Most of the time, she is just as emotionless as Spock appears in _Star Trek_. But there are times that you see a light smile appear on her face or a look of annoyance or she shakes her head at something really stupid…" A chuckle. "I know ninja had to be super-calm when doing a job, but she really takes it to an extreme." She then shrugged. "I like her. I might even want to do some real training with her, too. But that will have to wait until I'm out of Nan'yō and into a university when I can have the time to travel between Kimitsu and Tomobiki. Until then, I've got other things to do."

"So Ranma-kun agreed to Elder Kělún's proposal to remain frozen as a girl for a month in repayment for her taking him on as her student," Hokaji mused.

"Hai. He — well, 'she' now! — sees it as a way to better understand both 'herself' and me…and to put one over that idiot father of his. Not to mention make his mother realize that he isn't going to care at all about that 'man above men' pledge."

The doctor shook his head. He had learned all he wanted to know about Saotome Genma from the advertisements Hayashi Chiaki put out last week. Whatever details Mimōko's cousin Dō Kazua passed onto the older doctor in the wake of Ranma's final release from hospital around that time hadn't done anything to raise Hokaji's opinions of the man.

Honestly!

The _Neko-ken_ of all things…?!

"Well, I hope it works out for you, Mimōko-kun," he then breathed out as he waved her out of the examination room. "I suspected something about the man calling himself 'Saji Genpō' for a while…but I couldn't put my finger onto what exactly was going on. He wasn't any patient of mine." A shrug. "Then again, if he was…"

"Doctor-patient confidentiality," she stated as she gave him a smile. "Don't worry about it. Even if he did lie to a whole tonne of people and nearly did kill Michiji-kun — thank the Fates for Hiromi-san, of course! — he did it supposedly for honourable reasons. That's what Negako-san ultimately discovered. And she wouldn't lie about something like that, I think." She then smirked. "Anyhow, I'm going to meet my man over at U-chan's. I'll try to stay away from this place from now on."

"Have fun," he noted.

They exchanged bows, and then Mimōko headed out of Hokaji's clinic, which was not too far away from Kimitsu JR Station on the Uchibō Line that connected the western and southern parts of the Bōsō Peninsula with the rest of Chiba. As she headed down the street towards Okonomiyaki U-chan's, she was quick to sense several familiar people inside the restaurant, including someone who had now become more important to her than life itself. Sensing a touch of guilt then fill her at that thought, Mimōko then shook her head. No! Nozomi would certainly understand. Hell, she'd APPROVE of Mimōko getting a boyfriend and moving on with her life…as much as she would definitely approve of Shikuko actually taking Nozomi's place in Moroboshi Ataru's life.

_I miss you so much, cousin_, she thought to herself as she gazed into the bright sky overhead, her eyes misting as the image of Uneme Nozomi appeared before her mind's eye. _One day long in the future, we'll meet again in a better place than this…!_

"Look! Look! It's Ryomō Shimei-onēchan!"

"Eh?! That's Ryomō Shimei-onēchan?!"

"It can't be! Onē-chan's not wearing her eye patch!"

A tired sigh then escaped Mimōko as she gazed towards a nearby convenience store some distance away. Several young elementary school children were gazing curiously at her. And while she personally didn't get annoyed at the attention they gave them — despite how violent tōshi could be, it was seen as the lowest of the lows to attack helpless children — she was surprised that they had noticed she was no longer wearing the medicinal eye patch that had been part of her life for two years. Reaching into her jeans pocket, she pulled out one of her grappling handcuffs and twirled it, winking at the young kids as she passed them. As they all gasped in awe on realizing that YES, this was the awesome Ryomō Shimei, Mimōko slipped the cuffs back into her pocket.

A moment later, she slipped through the open doorway of U-chan's. "Hey, guys!"

"Irasshaimase!" Kuonji Ukyō called out automatically. "Usual, Mō-chan?!"

"Please!"

"Ah, Ryomō-san!" Tano Tsukuhito called out from the counter as he, Oka Yuzuko and Oroka Shikumi smiled at their schoolmate. "C'mon over!"

Mimōko nodded her thanks as she took her seat. The door to the washroom then opened to reveal Ranma. "Hey, there you are," the transformed martial artist said as she walked over to sit down beside her, and then they shared a warm kiss.

"What's wrong?" Mimōko then asked on sensing some discomfort from her lover.

A sigh. "Got some news from Obaba when we got back to her house over in Taitō," Ranma warned. "Turns out that Kunō Kodachi found Oyaji and took him into her house after we left Earth to go to Yaminokuni. He's trying to negotiate an engagement with her."

The older woman blinked before a disgusted snort escaped her. "The rhythmic gymnast from Saint Hebereke over in Nerima? The girl who's the kid sister of that blowhard kendō-ka that chased after both you and Akane-san all the time?" A smirk. "Don't worry about it, Ranma. Your fool father has no legal authority over you, so anything he says doesn't wash these days. Atop that, everyone outside Nerima knows how much of a pair of crazy loons the Kunō siblings are. No one would care about what they claim, especially if you go to a school either in Taitō or come here to Nan'yō."

"Can that be done, Onē-san?" Yuzuko then asked.

A nod as Mimōko smiled in thanks when Ukyō gave her a glass of water. "We have the same type of rules when it comes to non-tōshi relations coming to our school as Yoshū does," she stated. "Ranma would fit in a lot better with us at Nan'yō than Akane-san or Nabiki-san could at Yoshū…though I suspect that Kyoko-san'll whip them both into shape before they face the reception committee on Monday morning."

"Does your grandma want to arrange an omiai between you and Mō-chan, Ran-chan?" Ukyō then asked as she moved to flip okonomiyaki onto her other customer's plates.

"She wants to," Ranma stated. "It's the best way to counter whatever Oyaji is doing with Kodachi right now. Even better, she'd want to hold it here in Kimitsu. Say at Ichiyu's place since Ofukuro's living there now with Fu-chan's mom."

"How are your sisters reacting to this, Ranma-san?" Tsukuhito then asked.

"Well Kanami doesn't really care. She'll be definitely staying with Obaba in Taitō. Obaba's thinking of getting her to go to Shinobugaoka High School; that's pretty close to the house there. Wouldn't be too much for her to travel to Tomobiki to go visit Tariko and Shinobu-san; just hop the train at Ueno, ride it to Ikebukuro, then take the train out to Tomobiki-chūō to go visit them." Ranma smirked. "Miiko's definitely going to Seito; Kumomi-san's not going to hear of her being anywhere else."

"And Kikuko-chan?" Shikumi wondered.

"She's wavering between staying with Obaba and going to school with Kanami…or coming to Nan'yō with me. Shan'll go anywhere her wife decides to go."

The senior strategist — and now the acting student council president given that On Michiko no longer attended school — of Nan'yō hummed. "It would be workable. You are Mimōko's lover, so you are seen as a 'relative.' Kikuko's your sister and Shānpú's your sister-in-law, so they could be allowed as well. Since all of you are top martial artists, you can weather any reception party put out to welcome you to Nan'yō with ease." She gazed at Ranma. "You would still have to do an entrance exam, Ranma."

Ranma sighed. "Well, if I've got to, I've got to. Haven't had much schooling thanks to Oyaji." A smirk. "I never thought to ask how I could have got into a private school like Fūrinkan, though. Never sat back to really think about it until after Obaba got Mii-chan to get my school records out of that place last Tuesday."

"Let me guess," Mimōko breathed out. "Akane-san's father called the school and threatened to pull her out of the place if you weren't accepted in, right?"

"Yeah," the younger martial artist said before nodding his thanks as Ukyō flipped her okonomiyaki onto her plate. "Kinda shocked me when I thought about it after I learned how Kyoko-san's friends got Akane's and Nabiki's records out of that place. I doubt that Kunō would've stood by and let his 'fierce tigress' slip his grasp like that."

"Well, if he was so adamant on 'respecting the old ways,' it would have made Kunō look like a total hypocrite if he refused Akane's father like that."

"True."

"So it looks like we're going to need to do some studying."

Ranma blinked, and then she sighed. "Don't know how much I can do about that."

"Oh, relax!" Mimōko stated before nodding her thanks as Ukyō served her. "It's not as scary as it might seem to you right now. Given that a lot of students at Nan'yō normally come from the countryside, their education may not be as up-to-date as what city folks like Akane and her sisters could experience. You'll do fine."

Ranma gazed at her lover for a moment, and then she nodded…

* * *

The Meguru home, mid-afternoon…

"Thank you for receiving me on such short notice."

"Pay it no mind, Hayashi-sama," Meguru Kotoko stated as she, Mago Haeko and Saotome Nodoka bowed politely to Hayashi Chiaki. "Given the current legal situation between your daughter-in-law and your grandchildren, anything I can do to help make things more peaceful in your overall family is only the right and proper thing to do."

Chiaki nodded as she gazed intently at Nodoka for a moment. As the younger woman shied away from that intense stare, the matriarch of the Hayashi of Inarichō smiled. "So you decided to follow your children's footsteps and become an Avalonian yourself," she mused. "I assume given that you're holding Haeko-chan's hand right now…"

"Hai," a blushing Haeko answered on her lover's behalf.

A smirk. "Well, that certainly will not please Genma one bit."

"And we should care for that man's opinion?" Haeko then wondered.

A chuckle. "A good point, Haeko-chan. A good point." A sigh. "There are two reasons I've come here today. First, I am here with a warning concerning Genma's latest attempt at trying to regain some sense of control over Ranma."

"Oh? What's that idiot doing now?" Kotoko asked.

"He's currently staying at the Kunō residence in Nerima…"

The explanation took a couple minutes to complete. At the end of it, Nodoka sighed. "This is the same girl whose brother harassed Sōun's youngest child for so long. Is that not right?" she asked. "Not to mention Kanami-chan while she…"

"Was still within her brother's mind. Hai, the very same fellow. As a matter of fact, Kanami learned from Nabiki-chan before I came here that this fellow has approached Tendō Sōun to formally seek out Akane-chan's hand in marriage."

Nodoka gaped. "Regardless of what Shigeru-sama did for them?!"

"Regardless of same," Chiaki confirmed.

"Oh, ye gods…!" Haeko moaned.

A nod. "Hai. Fortunately, the girls are now moving to permanently deal with both their father and the Tatewaki boy tomorrow at lunch, so that won't be an issue anymore. Which leads to the second thing I wish to tell you." Chiaki sighed. "Ranma has elected to go to the Nan'yō Academy in Kimitsu to continue his education so that he will be able to remain close to his girlfriend." As Nodoka gasped in shock on hearing that, the older woman held out a cautioning hand. "While I personally will not object to you trying to reconcile with him, Nodoka, I will warn this: You will NOT be allowed to make _any_ sort of demand on his honour for _**any**_ reason. To ensure that happens, I will continue to be his legal guardian for the remaining period he is underage."

Nodoka jerked on hearing that, and then she slowly nodded. "I understand."

"Good. Thus, to counter Genma's stupid little plot concerning Kunō Kodachi, I will arrange for an omiai between Ranma and Mimōko, to happen tomorrow morning." Turning to Kotoko, Chiaki added, "Given that Mimōko is a student at Nan'yō and currently lodges at the residence here in Kimitsu — and given that she will no doubt insist on Ranma living with her at that residence for the rest of her senior year — I would like to have the omiai here at your home with yourself as the unofficial _nakōdo_ for them, Kotoko-chan."

Kotoko blinked, and then she nodded. "Given how much my niece and my son both care for Mimōko-chan, I would be more than honoured to serve as such, Hayashi-sama."

"Do you intend to make any formal announcement about the omiai, Oba-san?" Haeko asked.

"In tomorrow morning's _Mainichi_," Chiaki answered. "Sasuke-kun was kind to inform me that his master and mistress do NOT read that as they're devoted _Yomiuri_ subscribers."

"So they can't really complain about NOT being warned ahead of time," Kotoko noted.

"Indeed they can't," Chiaki stated. "Once that's done, we can finally dispose of Genma at our leisure. Kanami is brainstorming something with her lovers as we speak." As Nodoka stared curiously at her mother-in-law, Chiaki added, "No doubt, given the Kunō Clan's total reliance on ninja, it may involve Negako-sama. She'll be busy for the rest of today in Britain getting the Steel Angels there back on their feet, but she could come back quick quickly to act as the _nakōdo_ for any 'omiai'…" — again, she made finger-quotes on saying that word — "…between Ranma and Kodachi."

"Given Genma's arrogance, he should be drawn into that sort of trap without any problem at all," Haeko noted before sipping her tea.

"Indeed. I think it would be best to have such an 'omiai' late in the day. This will give Ranma a chance to properly write the entrance exam for Nan'yō; Mimōko is moving to prepare him for that test as we now speak. With that out of the way, we cover all the bases." Chiaki then sighed. "If you'll kindly excuse me for a short time, ladies, I wish to speak to my daughter-in-law alone about certain other issues."

"Certainly, Hayashi-sama," Kotoko stated with a nod…

* * *

Outside, minutes later…

"Kanami has two lovers?"

"Hai," Chiaki said as she and Nodoka stood in the front lawn. "You already know about Moroboshi Tariko. The other girl is Ataru-kun's former girlfriend, Miyake Shinobu. After Tariko-chan and her siblings came back to Earth in March, she and Shinobu-chan began dating; it was around that time that Shinobu-chan's then-boyfriend, Mendō Shūtarō, found himself engaged to the younger child of Mizunokōji Saeko, Asuka-chan."

Nodoka frowned. "Is that proper, Hayashi-sama?"

Chiaki sighed. "Nodoka, do you TRY to be a hypocrite all the time?!"

The younger woman jolted on hearing that scathing comment. "But…"

"Your nieces go to _Lillian_, for Buddha's sake. Multiple-partner relationships are seen as acceptable among Avalonians," the older woman declared before she gave her daughter-in-law a knowing look. "Would you say that if Kanami was a _boy_?!"

Nodoka's breath caught in her throat…and then she sighed before nodding her head in acknowledgement of that particular hit. "I'm just worried that some people wouldn't understand that sort of thing, Hayashi-sama," she protested.

"There are people who would object to _anything_ under the sun, Nodoka. Don't worry about it. Kanami is loved and cared for by two very decent young people, one of which was directly responsible for literally helping her be finally free of her brother's mind…not to mention helping her brother get back on his feet in the wake of what Shampoo-chan did to him two weeks ago. Doesn't that matter?"

Nodoka stared at her, and then shook her head. "No, of course not."

"So don't complain." A sigh. "She's still very upset at you, Nodoka."

A pained nod. "I…expected that."

Chiaki blinked, and then she nodded. "Good. There's hope for you yet. The same thing applies to Kanami as it does to Ranma when it comes to you. I'm not stopping you from trying to reconcile with her, but I will NOT allow any demands on her honour. No idiot ideas about making her a 'woman above women' or something like that. She needs time to adjust to BEING a woman before she decides what type of woman she wants to be. That's what makes her relationship with Tariko-chan all the better for Kanami; Tariko-chan underwent those same experiences after she was pulled out of Ataru-kun's head back in January, so she can help Kanami overcome the problems she'll face in the next while."

Nodoka nodded. That did make a lot of sense…and to ignore what Tariko had done for both Kanami and Ranma would be wrong. "What of Miiko-chan and Kikuko-chan?"

The older woman smiled on noting that her daughter-in-law had come to accept the two "adopted" sisters of her children without any problems whatsoever. "Miiko plans to attend Seito; she'll do the entrance exam tomorrow. Since she was Ryūen Kunrō in her first life, she'll be reuniting with old friends. Also, her own bond-mate is a sophomore there." At Nodoka's surprised look, Chiaki took a moment to tell her about Koeru Kumomi. "As for Kikuko, I suspect she'll want to remain at Ranma's side, which means she'll be going to Nan'yō as well. Shampoo-chan will be at her side."

Nodoka shuddered. "I can't believe you've allowed the woman who put Ranma into the hospital to come together with Kikuko-chan, Hayashi-sama! How…?"

"Nodoka, are you saying that Shampoo-chan's own honour means NOTHING at all?!"

The younger woman jolted. "Of course it means just as much as anyone else's honour, Hayashi-sama! But can we trust these people with Kikuko-chan?!"

"We can," Chiaki declared. "Kikuko chose to forge a marriage bond with Shampoo-chan per the laws of Shampoo-chan's tribe. Yes, the whole _marei'cha_ thing was probably the driving factor behind it, but it was Kikuko's choice and it will be respected."

Nodoka gazed at her, and then she sighed, slowly nodding. Given what she had felt when _that_ part of her new body compelled her to bond with Haeko, she could understand the overwhelming emotional pressures Kikuko must have faced when she sensed that Shampoo was indeed her perfect bond-mate…even if Kikuko's current bond-mate was one Nodoka personally wouldn't have approved of in a million years. "You can't ask me to condone her actions when it comes to Ranma," she then warned.

Chiaki stared at her. "So there _was_ something else other than honour which drove you to go see Ranma in the hospital after my husband's will was put into effect," she noted before turning away. "It would have probably spared you a lot of pain to have admitted something like that right then and there, Nodoka. Do you know how much you hurt Ranma that night?! Especially with his oldest friend standing there and you demanding she become nothing more than his _mistress_ — when it was quite obvious that he would NEVER dishonour ANY girl in THAT manner! — because you couldn't see your husband for the monster he is?!" A shake of the head. "Ye gods! Was THAT how much you had allowed yourself to sink in the years Genma was gone from your home?!" A sigh. "Well, better late than never, I suppose." She looked at Nodoka. "Tell me, did Haru Yuzumi tell you about what was discovered about your old body before it was cremated on Tuesday?"

Nodoka blinked before shaking her head. "No. I…well, after I woke up…"

Chiaki chuckled on seeing the younger woman's cheeks redden. "I can understand that. Still, she did pass on some things to Miiko," the matriarch of the Hayashi of Inarichō stated. "Your body was showing signs of gearing up for a stroke thanks to a blood clot somewhere in your brain within the next year or so, Nodoka. Such strokes have not occurred anywhere in your family history…and yes, I'm including your American relations in that." Ignoring Nodoka's shocked breath on being reminded yet again of her family's darkest secret, her mother-in-law added, "While the tension of wondering what was happening to Ranma over the last decade certainly didn't help you…"

"The curse…"

A nod. "Hai. Given your bond to Haeko-chan now, you know that whatever you might have believed concerning the influence of the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail and the Crystal Skulls of Akator on the lives of all your family members — except your sister and her daughters, of course — is nothing more than wasted breath."

Nodoka scowled. "You can't ask me to accept that man after what he did to Obā-sama!"

"What did Jones-hakase do?" Chiaki wondered. "Yes, he left your grandmother pregnant with your father after a party when the sake was flowing a little too freely. So why on Earth didn't your great-grandparents send a cable out to him to inform him of what had happened? Especially after he GAVE them that sword you once have as a BRIDAL GIFT to the Saotome Clan when he decided he wanted to _marry_ your grandmother…"

"_**THAT'S A LIE!**_"

Chiaki smirked. "Well, then…come tomorrow, you'll learn the _**truth**_."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"What?" Nodoka eeped.

"Your grandfather is at my house as we speak," the older woman announced, ignoring her daughter-in-law's shocked gasp. And that sort of reaction was quite understandable; given Indiana Jones' worldwide fame, his arrival in Japan would have merited immediate mention on the evening news. "As he is Ranma's great-grandfather, he has every right to attend the omiai tomorrow morning, so he will be with us. I warn you this now, Nodoka: Do ANYTHING to interfere with your children's desire to get to know the man…and I more than GUARANTEE that NONE OF THEM will EVER speak to you EVER AGAIN."

With that, Chiaki headed off, leaving a pale Nodoka standing there…

* * *

Yokota Air Base (in the city of Fussa, twenty-five kilometres west of Nerima), Saturday 10 July, after dawn…

"Damn…!"

"Look at those beauties!"

"How many are the Canucks getting again?!"

"Over THREE THOUSAND! Thirty regiments, plus the school and the hangar queens!"

"Fuck…!"

"Gentlemen."

The ground crew perked on hearing the warning voice from their own senior formation commander, and then they flustered in embarrassment. Noting that, the former B-1B, B-2 and B-52H bomber pilot now in charge of all American military personnel within Japanese national territory nodded before he turned as a man in Canadian Forces naval combat dress came up to join him. "Ready to meet a couple of real heroes, Captain Walker?"

The former commanding officer of Her Majesty's Canadian Ships _Chaleur_ and _Moresby_ — who had just been assigned as the Defence Attaché to Japan — smiled as he saluted the three-star general who was also in charge of the Fifth Air Force, the only numbered air force in the United States' aerial warfare service that had been on active duty continuously since 1941. "I only wish Admiral Thompkins did time in the Fleet Air Arm before she retired, General," Captain (Navy) Bruce "Skip" Walker stated with a delighted grin. "Given that both General Raeburn and General Dover are rated pilots — and Commissioner Larsden dabbled in it as well — that Admiral Thompkins didn't…"

The older man chuckled. "True, true," Lieutenant General Edward Rice stated as the first of four CSF-198s moved to a parking position close to the northernmost hangar west of Runway 18/36. As ground crew from the 374th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron moved ladders in place to allow the flight crews to disembark, the other Camel IIIs came to a stop in a perfect row to the flight leader's left. "Beautiful aircraft."

"Like Eurofighter Typhoons on steroids," the command chief master sergeant of United States Forces Japan/Fifth Air Force mused, nodding in appreciation.

"I heard that your people are looking at getting them," Walker stated.

Rice smirked. "Or something designed by one of our companies similar to this model."

The Canadian nodded in understanding. As was well known in both the Dominion and the United States, the Camel III's namesake from World War Two had been offered to the United States Army Air Forces by Sopwith Canada as a dedicated ground attack aircraft. The So-48 Camel II — given the proposed USAAF designation "XP-48 Camel II" — had been ultimately rejected for the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. Military historians on both sides of the 49th Parallel were still debating whether that had been a smart decision. The Camel II — the "Humper" as it was lovingly nicknamed by its pilots — was the same size as a Messerschmidt Bf-109 yet faster, better armoured and could carry up to FOUR TONNES of ordnance. Even better, the large ordnance load allowed an eclectic mix of weapon types that could be used dependant on missions: Anti-tank cannons, anti-ship torpedoes, high-velocity aerial rockets, bombs and multi-weapon packs of the famous "Ma Deuce" heavy machine guns. The Thunderbolt — the "Jug" as USAAF pilots warmly called the P-47 — was the physically largest single-engine fighter aircraft in service at the time. They were fitted with eight Browning M2s in the wings as standard kit, plus were massive enough to absorb unbelievable levels of punishment while still able to return to base. However, it could only carry half the Canadian aircraft's ordnance load.

Also, P-47s in the United States Army Air Force flew in separate _**squadrons**_ of up to twenty-four aircraft…while So-48s in the Canadian Air Cavalry Corps flew in whole _**regiments**_ of eighty aircraft each. Atop that, Air Cavalry regiments were each assigned operationally to a ground infantry or armoured brigade as tactical air support. This would gave any Canadian division a total of 240 Camel IIs in three regiments to serve as the formation's in-house tactical air force…which made II Canadian Corps' total in-house air assets number _eight hundred_ aircraft in ten regiments — three "division air cavalry brigades" of three regiments each, plus an additional regiment assigned to the separate 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade — to cover a front of fifty miles while it was advancing through northwest Europe in 1944-45. Army Air Force squadrons in Europe were assigned to a numbered tactical air command directly controlled by a general in charge of a ground army. XIX Tactical Air Command — Third United States Army's tactical air division — had an average of _seven hundred-and-ninety-two_ aircraft in thirty-three squadrons to cover a front a hundred miles wide.

And while it would ultimately do Magellan Industries/Sopwith Canada a lot of good to get an order from the _**United States Air Force**_ as they moved to replace the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II — the famous "Warthog" — with a space-worthy aircraft, Walker could understand why the Americans would desire to buy locally first.

Still, the CSF-198 Camel III — to be possibly given the American model code "F-48S" — was being considered by the United States Army as a potential replacement for the Boeing AH-64D Apache attack helicopter in its combat aviation battalions…and the United States Marine Corps was also eyeing the Canadian aircraft as a possible replacement for the Boeing AV-8B Harrier II in ground attack squadrons assigned to its air groups.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all…

"By the way, what's the saluting courtesy for a Victoria Cross winner?" the American general then asked as he spotted the blonde hair of one of the Camel pilots as the eight people who had just flown in from Ottawa moved to disembark their aircraft.

"It's not required, General," the Canadian navy captain replied.

The older man nodded. While not seen as mandatory, servicemen of the American armed forces were _**always**_ encouraged to render honours to a Medal of Honour winner before all others regardless of the rank of the person rendering honours in comparison to the one receiving honours. Because she led the War Hawks in personal defence of the President in the late summer of 1942 against a concerted attack by members of the Übermenschen Gruppe — being badly wounded along the way — which was mounted in hopes of demoralizing the American people by killing their leader, it was decided that Major Dean Raeburn would become the first (and so far, only) living non-American to be awarded the Medal of Honour. A special Act of Congress was passed unanimously on Veteran's Day in 1942 to allow that to happen at the request of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and he bestowed said medal to Earth's Jewel Warrior on Thanksgiving Day that year in the presence of her friends and the Liberty Legion.

Remembering that, the commander of USFJ/5AF then recalled that — _**after**_ it had been announced that the War Hawks' leader would be awarded America's highest decoration — the government of Iosef Vissarionovič Stalin declared that the Canadian air cavalry pilot would be declared a Hero of the Soviet Union and be co-awarded the Order of Lenin. This was for her coming to help in the defence of the Motherland in the fall of 1941 against Axis metahumans attacking the hidden home of Vladímir Rusalovič Tayčeško — "Lord Rjazán'" as he was better known — in hopes of killing the twenty-five millennia-old Praetorian Guardian of Earth, thus allowing the Nazis to call upon the old Germanic divinities to aid them in winning the war. Both medals were awarded by Stalin on May Day in 1943 and properly presented to the War Hawks' leader by the Soviet Union's first ambassador to the Dominion, Georgij Nikolaevič Zarubin, on Dominion Day in 1944.

Because of the award of America's and Russia's highest medals of bravery onto one of the Dominion's soldiers, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King then submitted a private member's bill in Parliament to permit Dean Raeburn — and other Canadian service personnel in her wake who might be also awarded in such a manner — the right to wear "all medals of valour bestowed by other nations which possess the equal moral value of the Victoria Cross and are awarded by the equivalent moral and legal authority of the Crown" in primary order of precedence after the Cross itself.

It probably didn't do Stalin's pride any good when Dean Raeburn began wearing the red ribbon of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the red-and-gold ribbon of the Order of Lenin AFTER the star-embossed light blue ribbon of the Medal of Honour!

Rice was then shaken out of his contemplation as the United States Air Force Band of the Pacific-Asia assembled nearby struck up _Ride of the Valkyries_, the official march-past of the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry. That was followed by the _Air Force March Past_ in salute to the former member of the War Hawks who had flown the second Camel III in from Ottawa to Yokota. Everyone stood proudly to attention and saluted the massed flags the Fifth Air Force colour party held aloft nearby.

Once the band fell silent, he marched up to the Canadians, saluting the one with the gold beret and the two soft gold maple leaves in vertical formation on her epaulette slip-ons. "General Raeburn, on behalf of Fifth Air Force, welcome back to Japan."

Dean Raeburn saluted back before they shook hands. "General Rice. Always a pleasure to meet a bomber pilot," she stated before waving to her companion. "I believe you know of my very good friend and former teammate, Air Vice-Marshal Jessica Dover."

Rice laughed on seeing the amused sparkle in the Canadian army officer's eyes, and then he accepted the salute from Air Command's new Chief of Air Force Transformation. "Indeed I do, General," he declared. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last, ma'am."

"Hopefully, the government will do as my friend is doing now and allow us to start using our proper rank titles again, sir," Major General Jessica Dover stated as she shook Rice's offered hand, her own dark blue eyes twinkling with amusement. "You qualified as a command pilot on both the Bone and the Buff, didn't you?" she then asked.

A proud look crossed his face. "Not to mention the Boomerang, General Dover."

Both Canadian officers' eyes widened. "The Spirit, eh?" Dean breathed out. "Hoping to get the chance to fly the new B-70S the Avalonians are building?"

Their host hummed. "Actually, I'd like a crack at the new Lead Sled first."

Dean and Jessica both nodded. "The Blackbird, eh? Better product by far from Lockheed than that spending SNAFU they're trying to make now," the former breathed out.

Rice didn't comment; the many questions concerning the F-35 Lightning II were as bothersome to people in the United States Air Force as they were to the Canadian Forces Air Command. "You ARE going to introduce me to these kids that developed the Starfire, aren't you?" Jessica then whined as she fluttered her eyelashes at her friend.

A roll of the eyes. "Yes, Mother!" Dean groaned back.

More laughter, then Rice moved to introduce his senior staff and the Canadian Defence Attaché to Japan. Once done, the visiting Canadian generals were allowed to inspect the guard of honour drawn together from the personnel from both United States Forces Japan Headquarters and the 374th Airlift Wing for this visit. "Sorry to get you folks up so early," Dean said after exchanging salutes with the guard commander, a smart-looking Marine Corps major; given the early hour and the fact that the Canadians were all in flight suits, the American servicemen were all in utility uniforms.

"Never too early to parade, ma'am," Major John Blake replied with a smile.

The leader of the War Hawks gazed intently at him for a moment. He had a certain look on him which was all too recognizable to her. "What was your last regiment?"

He puffed with pride. "Second of the Eighth, ma'am. I commanded Golf Company."

Dean hummed. "Is that a fact?" She then turned to wave to the oldest-looking Canadian soldier present. Blake was quick to spot the rank insignia on his shoulders, which was the Dominion coat of arms over the tri-service badge of the Canadian Forces…which in turn was poised over a pair of crossed cavalry sabres over a maple leaf with wings emitting to both sides. "Sergeant-Major Jackson here was originally of the Toronto Dragoon Guards before our Avalonian friends arrived here in March. When volunteers moved to reform the Frontenac Regiment in Kingston, he was placed in charge of a detached troop sent there to make sure the new regiment would turn out smart."

"Still a member of the Guard at heart, but glad to have helped restore a good regiment like that back to duty," Pilot Chief Warrant Officer Donald Jackson — who had been appointed Sergeant-Major of the Corps of Air Cavalry two days ago; that was the reason he had the tri-service badge of a formation chief warrant officer on his rank insignia — said as he saluted the Marine officer, who returned that salute with his own, smiling. The 8th Marine Regiment and the Frontenac Regiment (RCCAC) had shared a bond of friendship from the end of the Second World War — when both regiments had fought alongside each other as operational parts of the 2nd Marine Division on Guadalcanal, Saipan, Tarawa, Tinian and Okinawa — to when the Canadian unit was placed on the Supplementary Order of Battle in 1970. "Matter of fact, Major, some of your friends from Marine Air Group Fourteen are in Kingston helping the new regiment organize."

A nod. "Outstanding!" Blake then noted three women standing nearby, all of whom were — despite their wearing Canadian aircrew G-suits — clearly not Terran human; the horn-buds on their heads and the pointed ears were dead giveaways. And that didn't count the fact that two of the women were visibly pregnant. "Trying to recruit some people straight out of the brig, ma'am?" he then quietly asked Dean.

A knowing look came his way. "You read about Hayashi Ranma, son?"

Blake blinked before a scowl crossed his face. He was fully fluent in Japanese, which made what he had read in the local papers a week ago all the more disgusting to take in. Especially when that particular lad's maternal ancestry became known to him the previous day. "Professor Jones' great-grandson?! Aye, ma'am!" he coldly declared.

"Captain Sijo has a problem with the lad's father," Dean stated with an equally cold voice. "It requires a proper resolution once and for all."

Hearing that, Blake nodded before he gazed on Mith Sijo. He was quick to see the gold wedge cap covering her head. _She'll probably be part of the Royal London Rifles when she's fully brought into the Corps_, he mused to himself. "Bad?"

"Near-death experience thanks to the Cat Fist on Yaminokuni."

The major paled — THAT had been quite a prominent point in the advertisement Hayashi Chiaki had put out in the newspapers last week — before he steeled himself. "You need some Marines to come with you to deal with this particular 'gentleman,' ma'am?" he then wondered, his voice barely showing the sheer outrage he now felt on hearing that the young alien-born captain had been a victim of Saotome Genma's madness when it came to his child. "I can get some folks from Camp Schwab up here right away."

Dean smirked. Camp Schwab was a Marine Corps base on the Pacific shore of Okinawa about thirty-five kilometres northeast of the prefecture capital of Naha. It was the home base of the Marines' 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion…which would automatically include a company of Force Recon Marines qualified in special warfare duties. "Killing him is far too easy, Major," she stated politely in answer to the very generous offer the American amphibious infantry officer had given her. "But don't you worry about it. By the time we're done, Indy's great-grandson will get his justice. And much more."

A nod. "Aye-aye, ma'am."

* * *

Minutes later, everyone — save two of the flight crew, both of whom would remain at Yokota to keep watch over the Camel IIIs — made their way to a waiting limousine. Standing by the right passenger door was a smartly-dressed fellow in a formal business suit…though Dean was quick to see the badge of the Imperial Guard of the National Police Agency on his jacket lapel. The Canadians were accompanied by several junior American airmen, who were carrying overnight bags for the visitors from Ottawa.

As the airmen slipped those bags into the trunk of the limousine, the Japanese police officer bowed to the grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū. "Raeburn-shihan, it is good to see you again," he stated after Dean nodded her head in return. "His Imperial Majesty was most overjoyed to hear that you were given the right to restore your most honourable corps to proper service. Her Majesty the Queen called to inform him of that on Tuesday."

"I trust His Imperial Majesty is well," Dean mused, switching automatically to the reverent tone and words always used by people when speaking of the Heavenly Sovereign.

"His Imperial Majesty is well, Shihan-sama. He requests a few minutes of your time before you proceed to assist Moroboshi-shihan in dealing with Happōsai-shihan's errant student."

A smirk. "I assume this also has something to do with my honoured friend who arrived at this airport a couple days ago to visit his great-grandchildren."

A smile in return. "You assume correctly, Shihan-sama."

"May we have some place to change clothes first?"

"The Palace staff is already waiting to assist."

"We should not keep His Imperial Majesty waiting."

"This way, please."

Everyone soon was seated inside the limousine. "So what the hell was that all about, ma'am?" Sijo then wondered as the driver moved to close the trunk.

Dean sighed. "Remember what I told you about different ways of doing things, Captain?"

A nod. "Yes, ma'am."

"You're getting a crash course in that lesson right now."

The former starfighter pilot jerked on hearing that, and then she nodded. Watching this from his place, P/CWO Jackson tried not to smirk too much. "«I hope Commissioner Larsden won't have his hands full dealing with her before you send her to Saint-Jean, ma'am,»" he mused in French — he knew that Sijo didn't know the language and she didn't have a universal translator with her at this time; she had only been allowed to learn English after she acquired her new body — as he gave his new top boss a concerned look.

Dean winked at the former regimental sergeant-major of the Queen's Own Toronto Dragoon Guards (RCCAC) before she turned to watch the cityscape pass by…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The status of **Fūrinkan High School** — whether it is a government-controlled public school or a privately-owned institution — was never made clear in the _Ranma_ manga. However, given the daily attacks by the Hentai Horde on Akane prior to Ranma's arrival in her life, certain things can be assumed.

2) **Kada Genka** (**Hana Hokaji**) was first introduced in Part 5.

3) The _Mainichi Shimbun_ (literally meaning "Daily News") is one of the five top daily newspapers in Japan. First founded as the _Tōkyō Nichi-nichi Shimbun_ ("Tōkyō Daily News") in 1872, it merged with the _Mainichi Shimbun_ of Ōsaka (founded 1876) in 1911. Both parts of the _Mainichi_ would publish separately until it was made one single broadsheet in 1943 under its present title. Unlike the better-known _Yomiuri Shimbun_, the _Mainichi_ is the only Japanese daily newspaper to have ever been awarded a Pulitzer Prize…and two of its editors later became Prime Ministers of the country. As hinted in this part, the _Yomiuri_ caters more to the conservative crowd in Japan while the _Mainichi_ is a liberal broadsheet.

4) **United States Forces Japan** (**USFJ**) — whose commander is also dual-hatted as the commander of **Fifth Air Force** (**5AF**) — is the administrative formation command for all American military personnel based in Japan regardless of specific branch of service. USFJ emerged from the post-World War Two occupation of Japan by the Americans; the formation was properly established in 1951. USFJ is a subordinate administrative formation of **United States Pacific Command** (**USPACOM**), which is headquartered in Hawai'i. 5AF was first formed in the summer of 1941 and — as stated above — is the numbered air force that has remained on duty for the longest period of time; First Air Force (introduced in Part 56) was inactivated for the periods 1958-66 and 1969-85.

5) Canadian warship notes: H.M.C.S. _Chaleur_ (**MCB-164**) was a Bay-class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later Maritime Command from 1957-99. She was the second ship of the name in the same class; the previous _Chaleur_ (**MCB-144**) was first built in 1952, but was transferred to France shortly after her commissioning in 1954, where she served as F.S. _la Dieppoise_ until 1985. H.M.C.S. _Moresby_ (**MSA-112**) was an Anticosti-class training minesweeper converted from an oil rig supply tender. First commissioned in 1989, _Moresby_ was decommissioned in 2000 after the Kingston-class minesweeper/coastal patrol ships were commissioned.

6) American military unit notes:

**374th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron** (**374 AMS**) is the ground maintenance group of the **374th Airlift Wing** (**374 AW**) based at Yokota. The wing itself was first activated as an operations group in 1943, serving as a troop carrier formation in the Pacific theatre during the Second World War. Based in Japan after the end of that war, 374 AW and its component squadrons provided tactical troop transport until 1967, when it became a tactical airlift wing. The "tactical" part of the wing's title was dropped in 1992. The wing has the unique distinction of having **_never_** been based anywhere in the sovereign territory of the United States.

The **United States Air Force Band of the Pacific-Asia** is the full-time musical group that provides both concert bands and marching bands for all Air Force functions in USPACOM's area of operations. Based primarily at Yokota, it has a detachment at **Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson** outside Anchorage in Alaska and **Joint Base Pearl Harbour-Hickam** near Honolulu in Hawai'i. The band can trace its ancestry all the way back to 1941 and a three-man ensemble formed in Florida.

The **8th Marine Regiment** is an infantry regiment of the Marine Corps which is nominally headquartered at Camp Lejune in North Carolina. Split into three battalions, it is a fighting regiment of the **2nd United States Marine Division**, the primary ground force of **II Marine Expeditionary Force** (**II MEF**); this is the Marine Corps' primary fighting formation tasked to operate in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

**Marine Air Group Fourteen** (**MAG-14**) is a flying element of the **2nd Marine Aircraft Wing** (**2 MAW**), which is II MEF's in-house tactical air group. All elements of 2 MAW — including MAG-14 — are currently based at **Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point** in eastern North Carolina close to the Atlantic Ocean coast. MAG-14 is divided currently into four attack squadrons of Boeing AV-8B Harrier II V/STOL fighters (including one training squadron), four electronic warfare squadrons of Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, one tanker transport squadron of Lockheed KC-130 Hercules air tankers, plus a maintenance squadron and a logistics support squadron. MAG-14 was first formed in 1942 for service in the Pacific theatre of World War Two, deactivated in 1946, then reactivated for service in the Vietnam War. The group also served in the first Persian Gulf War.

**3rd Reconnaissance Battalion** (**3 Recce Bn**) is the ground reconnaissance force of the **3rd Marine Division** and **III Marine Expeditionary Force** (**III MEF**), which is the Marine Corps' forward-deployed formation in the western Pacific; the fighting elements of this formation are based in Hawai'i and Okinawa. The battalion itself was first formed in 1942 as a company-sized unit, deactivated at the end of World War Two, reactivated in 1952 and expanded to battalion-size in 1958. The battalion was inactivated once more in 1992, its component parts spread across other battalions and regiments of the Marine Corps. The battalion was reactivated again in 2000.

As an aside, in the American Marine/Air Force administrative model, a **group** of flying squadrons (commanded by a colonel) is subordinate to a **wing** (commanded by a major general). In the British Commonwealth (including Canadian) administrative model, squadrons are group together in wings (commanded by a group captain/colonel), which are then united together in either a group (commanded by an air commodore/brigadier general) or air division (commanded by a air vice-marshal/major general).

7) The **Browning M2** — known properly as the "**Browning Machine Gun, Calibre .50, M2, HB, Flexible**" and nicknamed the "**Ma Deuce**" by its users because of its military model number — is one of the most popular machine gun designs active in the world today. Originally designed by the famous gunsmith **John Moses Browning** (1855-1926) in answer to a requirement for a heavy machine gun, the M2 was initially a water-cooled weapon which was later re-worked as an air-cooled weapon. Firing a very heavy cartridge at a rate of up to 600 rounds a minute, the M2 has seen service in every theatre of operation the United States military deployed to since its introduction in 1933, including aboard aircraft and on ships at sea! The M2 — in a modified version called the "AN/M2" — was standard forward-firing offensive armament on American fighter aircraft during and after World War Two…and would also be fitted in defensive turrets on bombers during that period as well.

8) **Lord Rjazán'** (**Vladímir Rusalovič Tayčeško**) first appeared in my fanfic _Wanderers_; back then, I spelled his battle name as "Lord Ryasan" in following the usual English-language spelling convention for that city's name.

9) **Jessica Victoria Dover** — also known as **Firebird** — is the Royal Canadian Air Force's representative in the War Hawks. Like Heather Thompkins, I created the first version of this character back in the early 1980s. She was inspired very much by the character of **Phoenix** (**Jean Grey**) from Marvel Comics; at the time, I never knew of the character of **Bonita Juarez** that had been introduced around that time period. Unlike Jean (who gained her powers thanks to a sentient force that arose in at the nexus of all realities in the Marvel Universe) or Bonita (a mutate who gained her pyrokinetic powers thanks to cosmic radiation), Jessica is more magical in nature. When she was much younger — and thanks to her being part-Ukrainian — she merged body-and-soul with the living power of a **žar-ptjcja** (literally "heat bird" or "ember bird"). The rough equivalent of a phoenix, the _žar-ptjcja_ — I use the Ukrainian spelling here; in Russian, such an entity would be addressed as **žar-ptjca** — in Slavic legends serves as both a symbol of **_blessing_**…and equally, a symbol of **_doom_**. Jessica's other-self was trapped millennia ago in a crystal of pure ebony meson, which both nearly destroyed the creature and allowed its power to be magnified to a god-like level which makes her Dean Raeburn's near-equal power-wise. The downside of her power is that she has to literally consume the souls of evil beings every once in a while to ensure her own soul is not consumed in turn…though Dean also helps out in keeping her friend sane.

As an aside, the person who was responsible for the ages of effective torture that Jessica's other-self endured is the creator of the **Übermenschen Gruppe** ("Group of Supermen"), **Josef Wilhelm _Freiherr_ von Taserich**. An immortal in the same general vein as Dean's teacher Hosan Hirosuke, von Taserich is believed to be at least ten thousand years old. His actual age is unknown, as is his birth name; the name he is known by these days is the name he adopted for himself when he became part of the Prussian nobility (the word _Freiherr_ itself literally means "free lord" and is the German equivalent of a British baron). He is frightfully amoral in comparison to his spiritual "son;" he helped in the creation of the Übermenschen Gruppe for the simple fact that he desired to study the effects of ebony meson when injected into the blood of normal people…which he has done, to one extent or another, for millennia. To say von Taserich is similar to the DC Comics character of **Metron** is a very accurate comparison. The fate of von Taserich after World War Two remains a mystery, though it is believed he is still alive.

10) Jessica's World War Two-era service is the **Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division** (**RCAF WD**). Like the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (introduced in Part 51), the RCAF Women's Division was founded in real life in 1941 and served until 1946, when it was disbanded in the post-World War Two demobilization of the Canadian armed forces. Unlike the Canadian Wrens, the WDs — as members of the Women's Division were called — were welcomed as equal elements of the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1951 and not a separate service as the Wrens were vis-à-vis the Royal Canadian Navy until Unification. In the universe of this story, the WDs were first established in 1939 and went into an administrative limbo in 1946, remaining that way until 1950, when it was fully absorbed administratively into the Air Force proper.

Like the Wrens, the WDs also had their own unique rank titles. Jessica's World War Two rank was known as **Squadron Officer**, which was the WD equivalent of a **Squadron Leader** in the regular RCAF and a major in the modern-day Canadian Air Force. The WD rank insignia, however, was the same as what an equivalent male officer would wear at the time: A thin light blue band trimmed in black sandwiched between thicker blue bands trimmed in black.

11) Aircraft nicknames:

**Bone** — The **Rockwell B-1B Lancer** (derived from the type's model number written out, "B-One");  
**Buff** — The **Boeing B-52H Stratofortress** (short for "Big, Ugly, Fat Fucker" or "Big, Ugly, Fat Fella" depending on adherence to political correctness);  
**Boomerang** — The **Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit** (due to its flying-wing shape); and  
**Lead Sled** — Currently, the **Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird** (a nickname always applied to aircraft with **_very_** fast take-off and landing speeds).

As an aside, the **B-70S** mentioned here is the Avalonian-built space-capable version of the **North American XB-70 Valkyrie** prototype Mach 3 nuclear-armed deep penetration strategic bomber that first flew in 1964 and was officially retired five years later due to a change of emphasis to low-level penetration bombing, the increased threat of surface-to-air missiles, the introduction of intercontinental ballistic missiles and — just like what happened to the Avro CF-105 Arrow years later — massive cost overruns. The space-capable Valkyrie would serve as a long-range anti-starship strike aircraft…and would be constructed by Boeing, which inherited North American Aviation's assets via Rockwell International (who built the Lancer).

12) In the Canadian Forces, when a person holds the rank of **Chief Warrant Officer** (**CWO**) (in the Army and Air Force) or **Chief Petty Officer 1st Class** (**CPO1**) (in the Navy), they can be appointed as a **Formation Chief Warrant Officer** or **Formation Chief Petty Officer** if they are made the senior non-commissioned member of a formation such as 1st Canadian Division. When such an appointment is made, the "tri-service" emblem is added to the rank insignia under the standard CWO/CPO1 rank insignia, which is modelled on the 1957 version of the Canadian Coat of Arms. The tri-service emblem is a flying eagle (for the Air Force) over crossed crusader swords (the Army) over a fouled anchor (the Navy). However, air cavalry pilots wear winged cavalry sabres under their rank as symbolizing their right to fly aircraft; as they are also qualified military pilots, they would also wear the traditional pilot's wings on their left breasts above any decoration ribbons. Thus, when he was appointed to the position of **Sergeant-Major of the Corps of Air Cavalry** (**SMCAC**), Donald Johnson adopted the wing sabres marking him as a pilot chief warrant officer under the tri-service emblem marking him as the senior non-commissioned member of the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry.

13) As stated before, the regiments of the Canadian Air Cavalry mentioned here can be read about in my special file on those units at the FictionPress website.

14) The **Imperial Guard of the National Police Agency** (_Kōgū-Keisatsu Honbu_) is the national police unit assigned to the protection of the Imperial Family of Japan. The Imperial Guard is an infantry battalion-sized unit with detachments at the palaces in Tōkyō and Kyōto, not to mention the imperial treasure house in Nara as well as imperial villas across the nation.


	61. Ranma and Mimōko Have an Omiai

Nerima, the Miyamoto home, breakfast…

"…Yokota Air Base was more than honoured to allow General Raeburn, General Dover and Air Cavalry Corps Sergeant-major Jackson to land here when they came to Japan earlier this morning," the American public affairs officer stated to the media scrum gathered in the main briefing hall at United States Forces Japan Headquarters. "They were accompanying three Urusian-form Avalonians who were rescued earlier this week from the control of enemy forces by personnel of the UNEDF Task Force dispatched to Yaminokuni. One of them — because of her ability to transform into a tiger-like creature, just like Miss Redet Hensō's late fiancé Lieutenant Seq Rei could transform into a cow-like creature — was unfortunately nearly mauled to death by Professor Indiana Jones' great-grandson Hayashi Ranma when he was seized by the madness that is always unleashed in that situation. This — as we are all quite well aware now — was thanks to the Neko-ken training his father, Saotome Genma, forced him through when he was a child. As the general public in Japan is now aware, the 'training' one endures in an attempt to 'master' the Neko-ken — as revealed by Ranma's grandmother, Hayashi Chiaki, in advertisements she published in various daily newspapers last Friday — is nothing short of torture that is always doomed to fail. Fortunately for the young lady, Canadian militia soldiers of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles got to her in time and saved her life. I'll now take questions."

"Question," a Fuji News Network reporter called out. "How does the American government view such torture when it applies to the great-grandchild of a Medal of Honour winner?"

"I've not been briefed on any response by the State Department concerning that matter," the officer replied. "I'm sure that if such viewpoints require public airing, our ambassador to Japan will be more than happy to brief the media as soon as he is allowed to do so by Washington." A stern look then crossed her face. "I will state that in the opinion of those personnel in USFJ that I spoke to concerning Ranma since Professor Jones came to Japan a couple days ago, the idea of any blood-relation of the professor — a man who was awarded the highest medal of valour the American people can bestow for his actions in helping preserve the treasures of the Abbey of Monte Cassino while facing enemy troops seeking to destroy those self-same treasures during the Italian campaign of World War Two — being subjected to such torture would make any serviceman forget his or her sense of professionalism and desire to go forth to deal with Saotome Genma in an ugly and quite terminal manner." As rueful laughter echoed from the crowd, she smirked. "Unfortunately for him, American service personnel are held to a much high standard of behaviour, even in the face of such child abuse."

More laughter. "Did Raeburn-shōshō tell Rice-chūjō anything about what she — in her capacity as Grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū — might do in this case?" a TV Tōkyō reporter then asked.

"The general did not say anything…"

"Oh, my! I don't think Oji-san will like having THIS made public."

The other women seated around the living room table didn't react to Kasumi's comment. "His opinion no longer matters, Onē-sama," Karin stated before sipping her tea. "Besides, given the sheer arrogance of the man — as witness his accepting the offer of the Selfish and Honourless Harlot of Saint Hebereke to negotiate a marriage between Ranma-san and her — I doubt he'll even _**see**_ that." She nodded to the television.

Nabiki, Akane and Kyoko all laughed at the insult the reborn Poet of Dùshì Ford used for Kunō Kodachi while Kasumi gave Karin a scandalized look. "That's true!" Akane's bond-mate breathed out before she tensed as a faint wave of ki energy seeped past her from the general direction of Chiyoda Ward. "Damn…!" she hissed out.

"Who IS that, anyway?" Akane asked.

"Dover-shōshō, I think," Kyoko answered. "Given what she is, I wonder how all the tōshi bonded to haōryū are actually reacting to her being in Japan."

"Is she that dangerous, Kyoko-san?" Karin wondered; given her lack of skills in comparison to her twin, she barely felt that surge of ki.

"She's bonded body-and-soul to a Slavic firebird that was trapped in a crystal of ebony meson for thousands of years thanks to the man who created the Übermenschen Gruppe," Kyoko answered, which made Karin gasp in horror. "What do you think?"

Akane's twin made a face. "_Disgusting_…!"

"I hope Ojii-san or Cologne-hiibāsan won't be bothered by it," Kasumi noted.

"Raeburn-shōshō's with her," Nabiki noted. "Things'll be okay."

"Will Dover-shōshō be there when Ranma finally deals with his father?" Akane asked.

The middle daughter hummed. "Possibly…but I don't see Genma getting his soul ripped apart by Dover-shōshō's other-self if that ever happens."

"Why?" Karin asked.

"Too easy," Nabiki answered with a wink.

The others all laughed, and then Kyoko moved to finish her tea before she gazed on Akane. "Let's get some final practice in," she then bade.

Akane nodded…

* * *

Kimitsu, the Meguru home, after breakfast…

"Elder Kělún. Lady Shānpú. Welcome to our family home."

Both visitors from China — dressed to the nines in formal gowns with sheathed weapons at their sides — bowed respectfully to their host. "Meguru-guìmǔ, we humble warriors greet you and thank you with profound humility for allowing us to rest a short while within your noble home," Shampoo declared for both herself and her great-grandmother, and then she proceeded to introduce Cologne to Meguru Kotoko.

"Be welcome here, good warriors…and please, there's no need for such levels of formality," Ichiyu's mother stated with a respectful bow of her own before waving them into the living room after accepting the wrapped gift from Shampoo. "Make yourselves at home and have some tea while we wait for the others to come."

"You are too kind, Oba-san," Shampoo said with a smile.

Both proceeded into the living room to join the small crowd there. In addition to Mimōko — who looked positively regal in a beautiful furisode-pattern kimono — and her parents, there were Kotoko's son Ichiyu, Mago Tsueko and her mother Haeko, Kuonji Ukyō and Saotome Nodoka. Save for Mimōko's father Toshihara — who was in dress uniform — everyone was wearing beautiful traditional clothing befitting their current station in life. As the two visitors from Qīnghǎi sat down on the other side of the room, Cologne rested herself as she focused her eyes and ki senses on Ranma's mother. Chiaki had warned the Nǚjiézú matriarch about the depth of the blind hatred most of Indiana Jones' Japanese relations held for the man…and how it was all based on the actions of Nodoka's paternal great-grandparents and their total refusal to acknowledge Saotome Miyami's desire to see her son raised safely in America with the famous archaeologist regardless of her own fate. And while Kikuko's cousins and aunt accepted Indiana Jones without any hesitation — and were all quite healthy as a result of same — the adamant refusal of Nodoka and others of that family to accept that truth had been KILLING them off time and time again since shortly after the end of World War Two!

And while Nodoka was healthy now given she was in an Avalonian body, would her adamant desire to NOT accept Indiana as her grandfather make the combined curses of the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail and the Crystal Skulls of Akator come after her again…and kill her, thus depriving Kikuko and her siblings of their mother YET AGAIN?

The next few minutes would decide that.

A knock was then heard at the front door. "I got it!" Tsueko said as she walked over to open the door, and then she grinned. "Ojii-chan! Come in! Come in!"

"Thank you, my dear!" an aged male voice called out, making people turn as Happōsai came into the room. He was dressed in a man's kimono. Immediately spotting Cologne, the grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū walked over to deeply bow to the elder of the Nǚjiézú. "It is more than agreeable to see you again, Mistress Kělún."

A deep bow in return. "As it is just as agreeable to see you, Master Happōsai."

"You received what I dispatched back to you through your great-granddaughter?"

"We did. And we are grateful for your actions, both in returning those objects…and warning us of the dangers some of those objects may present."

"It was the least I could have done."

Both gazed on each other, and then Happōsai smiled as he gently grasped Cologne's hands. Watching this, Nodoka was quick to sense the two aged masters struggle to overcome many years of hatred and disrespect they felt for each other. She knew of what had happened that made her husband's former master be the way he was for so long…and how, with the assistance of Moroboshi Negako, he had overcome his infirmary and moved to provide proper restitution to Shampoo's people for what he had done to them decades ago. She could also feel flashes of deep longing in both of them; no doubt, they had been strongly attracted to each other in their youths. Had Happōsai actually defeated Cologne in battle as Ranma had accidentally done to Shampoo years later?

_Better late than never, I suppose_, she mused before smiling as Haeko squeezed her hand.

Everyone who could sense it then tensed on sensing two VERY powerful nexi of ki emanate from the direction of the main gate. "Who's THAT?!" Ukyō demanded.

"Dean Raeburn…and a friend," Cologne quietly stated.

"Thompkins-shōshō?" Mimōko's mother Nagiko asked.

"No, it's not," Happōsai stated with a touch of real fear in his voice.

The doorbell then rang. Kotoko headed off to answer it. A moment later, she came back inside, escorting a party of six into the room. Those who had been on the voyage to Yaminokuni were quick to recognize four of them. "Sijo-chan! Miyu-chan! Hama-chan!" Tsueko called out as she moved to embrace Sijo and her lovers before she stood back to gaze appreciatively on the former's new Number 3 dress uniform with the army captain's stripes on the lower sleeves. "Whoo! That looks great on you, Sijo-chan!"

"The uniform is sadly not complete, young lady," the elderly gentleman — who had the look of an experienced bush pilot even if he was also in the green dress uniform of the Canadian Army — who came with Sijo and the others to the omiai stated. The people in the room were quick to see he was speaking English…though he did have a universal translator slipped into the inside lapel of his tunic. "Not yet, at least."

"I wanted to join the general's old regiment," Sijo confessed as she waved over to her new boss, who was meeting Mimōko's parents. Standing beside her was Jessica Dover…who, given that she was a former member of the Royal Canadian Air Force's Women's Division, was presently in Air Force blue and not Army green like both her former unit commander and P/CWO Donald Jackson currently wore. While she shared with her former teammates the right to wear the Victoria Cross as the first of her medals, Jessica didn't have the interesting mixture of ribbons on the first row of Dean's six even rows under her pilot's wings. She was also the only one of the War Hawks to have just won the Victoria Cross once; both Martin Larsden and Heather Thompkins were two-time winners while Dean Raeburn was the only three-time winner in the Cross' history.

"Why can't you?" Tsueko asked.

"Tradition when it comes to composing the office staff for the Master General of the Air Cavalry, young lady," P/CWO Jackson answered. "If the Master General comes from one particular regiment, his senior staff cannot be of the same regiment. It's seen as favouritism towards that regiment by the Master General. To that end, while she can join the Corps, the captain cannot be affiliated with the Saskatchewans. Lucky for her that she took a liking to the wedge cap when General Dover visited General Raeburn before we came here, so she elected to become part of the Royal London Rifles once the Regular Force regiment is properly reconstituted at the turn of the year."

The younger people nodded. "Is that a good unit?" Tsueko then asked.

"When you count the Militia regiment, the Rifles are the oldest regiment in the Air Cavalry," Sijo explained. "They march at the same pace as the Royal Winnipeg Rifles."

Tsueko grinned. "Whoa! That's cool!" The doorbell then pealed. "That must be Ran-chan!" she declared. "I got it!" With that, she headed off.

A moment later, she came back, escorting Ranma and his family into the living room. As people stood up to bow to the prospective groom, Nodoka's eyes instantly locked on the elderly American man accompanying her son, daughters and mother-in-law…who was dressed in a formal tweed suit in the Western style. Her empathic powers instantly reached out towards this elderly man before her bond-mate could stop her…and then she jolted on feeling something she DIDN'T expect from Indiana Jones.

_**Worry.**_

Nodoka nearly dropped to her knees in shock on feeling THAT from the man whom she had been made to believe had done unpardonable crimes against her family.

Yes, there was guilt there…

…but there was no sense of _**evil**_ accompanying that feeling.

If he actually wanted to steal the family honour blade as her late grandparents had made her believe for so long, wouldn't there be…?

But…

There wasn't…

Then…!

"I'm sorry about this, magomusume-chan."

Surprised to hear this man speak in fluent Japanese, Nodoka blinked as her mind interpreted his calling her "granddaughter," and then her eyes teared before she stumbled into his embrace, a pained wail escaping her as she hugged him close…

* * *

An hour later…

"So how are they adjusting to being flesh-and-blood now?"

Negako lightly smiled. She was communicating with her original creator's last student from her guest quarters aboard H.M.S. _Hood_; Sijo had been more than happy to help Dean master the dataPADD so that a holographic image of the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū could be projected for others to see. _Too many damned_ Star Wars _lovers amongst the Avalonians!_ the grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū mused to herself as she tried not to glare at the device; while she was much more experienced in modern technology than Ranma's sister Miiko, she still didn't really care for computers.

"They are quite pleased with the results and are considering returning themselves to full military service," Negako answered. It was two hours after midnight in Great Britain at this time. The levée that had been held on _Hood_ which was attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in celebration of the British starship's first mission had ended three hours before…which had given Negako the chance to proceed to a secret cave located close to Stonehenge to retrieve the bodies of Britain's three Steel Angels and transport them to the _Hood_ to allow them to become Avalonians.

"Hello, Dean!"

Dean perked as three women walked into the range of the holographic projection system fitted into Negako's dataPADD. All three — who, like all the Steel Angels that had been woken in the 1920s, were moulded as exceptionally beautiful women of about twenty years of age — were now in the pattern of work dress for their particular services. As they had been gynoids when they were first awoken in 1922, Royal Navy Lieutenant Cambria Nelson, Captain Britannia Wellesley of the Life Guards and Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant Caledonia Mannock had been granted the King's Commission as officers in their services and not the women's auxiliaries attached to those services; those had been disbanded a year after the end of World War One. "Hey, girls! Nice to see you on your feet!"

"And human," Britannia added. Her blue eyes then widened as she gazed on the twenty-four decoration ribbons on Dean's right breast; the Master General of the Air Cavalry had slipped off her jacket and tie so she could relax…though, as was standard with the Canadian uniform, the undress ribbons marking one's medals and decorations were always worn on the left breast of the undershirt beneath any special qualification badges like pilot's wings. "Bloody hell!" the blonde-haired tomboy who had been adopted by Britain's senior Household Guard regiment on her activation breathed out. "_Three_ Victoria Crosses AND the Medal of Honour?! What in the name of God happened to you after we all deactivated ourselves?!"

Dean gave them a wan smile. "Remember what you girls finally concluded about where humanity was going before you put yourselves to sleep, Britt?" As her friends nodded, she took a deep breath. "It was worse. Believe me, it was worse."

"And if we were still operational?" Caledonia wondered as her hazel eyes flashed with pain; even now with her being truly human in body as well as soul, the test pilot with the long raven hair was visibly sickened at the idea of hurting other people.

The grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū sighed. "It would have made it even more worse, Callie."

The Steel Angels from Britain all winced on hearing that. Noting this, Negako took a deep breath. "Girls, go lie down and rest for a while," she bade, making all three gaze on the woman who had restored them to life. "You need to take time to assimilate what has just happened to you. I can approach Gringotts on your behalf to see to it you gain the services of an energetic administrator for your accounts there."

"But Captain Kerr wanted to talk to me about the possible courses I could take to update my knowledge before I returned to duty," Cambria protested.

The grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū sighed as she gazed on the grey-eyed woman with the shaggy dark red hair. "Cambria, you are presently not in any psychologically fit condition to be discussing your future training opportunities. Go to bed. I will inform Nathan that he will have to wait to discuss those matters with you until you can clearly contemplate what future path you would desire to take as an officer in the Royal Navy."

Cambria jolted, and then she sighed before nodding. She and her sisters bade Dean good night before stepping out of Negako's cabin. "Energetic, aren't they?" Dean mused.

"As you and I are both well-aware, Deannette, there is such a thing as being _too_ energetic," Negako stated as she gave her friend a knowing look, ignoring Dean's annoyed look at her addressing the Canadian by full first name. The grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū had always wanted to strangle her late father Daniel for sticking her with such a weird name in the first place; the name — a contraction of "Deanna" and "Annette" — had been chosen to honour both of Dean's grandmothers. That was the reason she had always taken up the short-name "Dean" even before she elected to disguise herself — with help from her future co-workers — when she wanted to fly for the 10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment before World War Two began. Given that she was already an experienced bush pilot and — while she had been in Japan training under Hosan Hirosuke's tutelage — had helped in training other pilots, the senior staff of the Canadian Air Cavalry Corps gladly looked the other way when "Dean Anthony Raeburn" was commissioned into the Saskatchewans. "What of Ranma and his relationship with Mimōko? All is well?"

A nod. "Ranma's mom finally clued in to the truth about what Indiana really intended to do when he fell head-over-heels for Miyami," Dean answered.

Negako's eyebrow arched as a disapproving look crossed her face. "Why does Henry continue to insist on being called by the name of his old family dog?"

"Because I _loved_ that dog, Negako!"

Dean turned around to see an annoyed Indiana standing at the entrance to the kitchen where the Canadian had relocated herself so she could speak to Negako. Standing with the American archaeologist was his granddaughter, who had a surprised look on her face. "Your family _dog_, Ojii-sama?!" she asked. "Why do that?"

"Indiana's proper name is 'Henry Walton Jones, Junior,'" Dean supplied. "He didn't want to feel like a clone in the long term. Atop that, his father — for all his scholastic skill — wasn't a very caring man with his son. He was too damned obsessed with his studies on the Holy Grail to be a father."

Nodoka sighed. "Ojii-sama…"

"Ah, it's alright," Indiana stated. "Dad finally came to stop calling me 'Junior' like he did after we found the Grail and met the Last Knight of the First Crusade in 1938."

His granddaughter gaped. "Oh, my…!"

Dean suddenly hissed them to silence as her head snapped around. Indiana and Nodoka both froze as they looked her way. Peering towards the northeast corner of the Meguru property, the grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū then sighed. "Intruder," she whispered.

She then picked on something else, and then she relaxed. "What?" Indiana asked.

"Someone got him. One of Tsueko's friends," Dean said.

Footsteps echoed from the hallway beyond, that accompanied by concerned voices. Indiana and Nodoka walked into the sitting room just as Futoshi Itsuku walked in from the back porch, escorted by a grinning Tsueko. Slung over the shoulder of the Yōshū senior was a dazed elderly ninja, one Ranma — who had been relaxing with her new fiancée now that the official engagement had been agreed to between Indiana and Chiaki on Ranma's behalf and Mimōko's parents on hers — was quick to recognise. "Sasuke?!"

"You know this clown, Ranma?" Itsuku asked.

A nod. "Yeah, Sempai. He's one of the Kunō ninja…but he's an okay guy deep down."

Hearing that, the older tōshi nodded as he gently put the elderly ninja down on the floor. With a gentle tap to the sleep spot on the back of Sasuke's head, Itsuku then smiled as he sensed the older man awaken. "You're lucky you got friends here, pal. We don't take too kindly to one of our own being spied on by outsiders."

Sasuke grunted before he blinked, and then he looked around before his cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "I do apologize," he confessed before his eyes locked on Ranma, who was dressed properly for her current gender in a furisode kimono depicting a sunrise scene with dragons and bald eagles — representing both her land of birth and the land where her paternal great-grandfather came from — watching the sun rise over the ocean, with stars in the sky overhead. "Ah, Ranma-san! My heavens, you look beautiful!" His eyes then twinkled in amusement. "If my master saw you like _this_…!"

"No thanks," the transformed martial artist said with an amused smile.

A nod. "I understand that. Again, I do apologize to you for intruding on your omiai with Mimōko-san here, but my mistress can be quite insistent…"

"Your loyalty to your mistress is absolute," a strange voice then bade as footfalls heralded the approach of the grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū.

Sasuke nearly went white on seeing Dean Raeburn — he had NOT sensed the Canadian's presence when he had come here to spy on the target of his mistress' desire — standing there…though given the thousands of years of skill and knowledge she had been literally gifted by the Immortal Master on his death in 1937 at the hands of an adopted son of the leader of the Black Dragon Society, it wasn't so surprising. "Raeburn-shihan…!" he nearly croaked out before bowing apologetically to her.

"Relax," Dean said. "What is your mistress' interest in Happōsai's and Kělún's student…and my friend's great-grandchild?" she asked as she squeezed Indiana's shoulder in a show of support.

The elderly ninja sighed. "As I'm sure Ranma-san could easily explain to you, Shihan-sama, my mistress, the Lady Kodachi of the Kunō of Ōizumi, fell in love with him when he rescued her from nearly breaking her neck some weeks ago," he stated. "While she did not initially react when the news of his being hurt at the hands of Shānpú-san got to her — taking the attitude that because Ranma-san was crippled, he was of no use to her as a potential husband — she did learn later that Negako-sama had taken over his care from Mimōko-san's cousin and was moving to make him whole. Because of that — and because of Ranma-san's move to accept his grandmother's offer to dispense of all honour obligations forced on him unknowingly by his father by being adopted 'back' into the Hayashi Clan, thus eliminating his engagement to Akane-san — she felt that she stood a chance to win his love."

"So why is it she rescued Oyaji after Kyoko-san's pal from Yoshū shot his butt up with arrows when we headed out to Yaminokuni?" Ranma then demanded.

Sasuke smirked as an amused look flashed in his eyes. "Ranma-san, my mistress is fully aware of what your father did to you during your training trip. Believe me, she wishes not to have anything to do with him if she could help it."

People considered that, and then Tsueko gaped. "She's setting him up!"

"What do you mean?" Chiaki asked.

A smirk. "Obā-chan, it's simple. Given what you put into the papers last week, Kodachi-chan HAS to know of what Ran-chan's father is capable of doing!"

Ranma's grandmother considered that for a moment, and then she chuckled. "True."

"What does Kodachi want, Sasuke?" Kanami asked.

"She would desire a chance to pursue a relationship with your brother, Kanami-san," Sasuke stated before he gazed on Mimōko, who instantly tensed on hearing that. "However, I realize that Ranma-san does care for Mimōko-san. Much that I personally don't wish to see people hurt, my mistress wouldn't care at all — in fact, would violently disapprove — of Ranma-san being pursued by a _**tōshi**_ of all people."

"She wants a fight, we'll give it to her," Mimōko growled.

The elderly ninja nodded in understanding. "I understand that as well, Mimōko-san."

Kanami looked up at Dean. "Um, ma'am, are you still talking to Negako?"

Hearing _that_ name made Sasuke gasp in shock. "She's on the PADD now," Dean said.

Ranma's twin smirked before she got up. "C'mon," she bade Sasuke with a wave of her hand before heading over to the kitchen. "Negako!" she called out.

Sasuke followed her…and then froze in place on hearing a familiar toneless voice ask, "Is there something the matter, Kanami?"

"How'd you like to officiate at an omiai?"

A pause, and then, "Kanami, I fail to appreciate the humour in this."

Kanami laughed. "Well, let me put it to you this way, Negako: It involves Ranma, not to mention Kunō Kodachi…and it's a perfect opportunity to finally stick the screws where Oyaji can't ever pull them out again!"

Another pause as the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū considered that, and then she hummed. "Sasuke, can you hear me?!" she called out.

The elder Kunō retainer gasped. _**The Ultimate Grandmaster was actually speaking to HIM?!**_ "H-h-h-HAI?!" he sputtered out after racing into the kitchen, then prostrating himself before Negako's image now emitting from the dataPADD on the table there.

"Control yourself, Sasuke," Negako then snapped as ki echoed in her voice, which made the older ninja freeze, a look of panic crossing his face. That was understandable, of course. It was said that earning the displeasure of the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū was said to be far worse than committing seppuku! "We will move to help Kodachi come to grips with her problems today. Return to her home and inform her this; as Happy believes that Genma has _**no**_ right to demand anything of Ranma because of Genma's many failures when he took Ranma on their training excursion over the last ten years — and noting that Kodachi HAS expressed very honest interest in Ranma as a future life-partner — he requested that I officiate at an omiai between Ranma and Kodachi to ensure that truth and honesty are observed in this case. That will occur this evening; I expect her to come to the Moroboshi home in Tomobiki, with Genma, at seven o'clock tonight. Understood?"

"HAI!" Sasuke barked out as he bowed low. "PLEASE…!"

"_**SASUKE!**_"

He froze as Kanami winced, her ears echoing with that sonic boom that just burst from the dataPADD. "H-h-hai…?" he sputtered, his face now a very sickly white.

"One last thing," Negako stated in a voice that had the chill of mid-winter Antarctic ice. "Inform Genma this: If he interferes in any way, shape or form to try to prevent or disrupt this meeting, I will personally hunt him down, freeze him in his panda-body, employ the ultimate weakness moxibustion on him to forever remove all his strength from his body and then deliberately erase all knowledge of the Sen-ken forms — even the Yamasen-ken forms he sealed away in his mind! — so that he cannot do anything to regain any advantage over Ranma or anyone else again. Now go!"

"_**HAI! PLEASE EXCUSE ME!**_"

With that, the old ninja vanished…just as Ranma and Mimōko came into the kitchen. "You didn't need to be _that_ harsh with the old guy, Negako!" the former protested.

Negako sighed. "Much that I care not about this 'ultimate grandmaster' title many who work in the shadows have long bestowed on me, it does not mean I will not employ the respect other ninjutsu-ka give me when it is to my advantage." She then sighed. "Now, if you will all excuse me, I have another issue here to deal with. I will see you at the dōjō in Tomobiki at six o'clock this evening." She then cut the signal at her end.

Ranma and Mimōko blinked, and then they gazed at each other. "You sure you want to get some training from her?" the former wondered.

"She doesn't procrastinate as some other masters do," the latter said with a smirk. "That will be a very refreshing change in my eyes."

Both her lover and her future sister-in-law laughed…

* * *

Some minutes later…

"_**AN OMIAI?!**_" Nodoka and Indiana shrilled together.

Ranma — who, after taking the opportunity to get out of her kimono and dressing in her usual Mandarin tang and trousers — had been allowed by Cologne to revert to male form until the whole matter with Kodachi was resolved. The Nǚjiézú elder had — once she got the full lowdown on Kodachi — decided that saving a practically orphaned female martial artist from a life of madness was more important that obeying the letter of tribal law, so doing anything to make Kodachi more comfortable with Ranma at the planned omiai this evening was clearly required. "Yeah. As I'm sure you know, Oyaji's up to his stupid tricks again." At the nods from his mother and great-grandfather, he added, "Atop her bein' the sister of the idiot that chased after Akane all the time, Kodachi's also part of the richest family in Nerima. To Oyaji, getting me hitched to a rich girl's just icing on the cake."

"What do you plan to do, my son?" Nodoka asked.

He considered that for a moment, and then he sighed. "I don't want anything to do with Kodachi romantically, Ofukuro. But she's a lonely girl deep down. I _did_ save her once when she attacked Akane, so she does have some reason to like me. Like Sasuke said earlier, I know why she didn't do anything when I got hurt; I was effectively crippled and who'd want to support that?" He ignored Nodoka's wince on saying that as he added, "She's got her problems. A lot of them. But like Sasuke hinted, there's some good inside her. It needs the chance to get out. She ain't gonna get it as long as her old man stays in Hawai'i and her brother continues to act like a moron, so we're gonna have to help her. And since Oyaji's involved, we can settle his hash once and for all."

"The matter concerning Sijo-san, you mean."

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. We got her old body on ice on _Bismarck_; Negako or Hiromi can make a call to get it beamed down. It was a really ugly sight to see once that part of me got done mauling Sijo-chan to pieces in the Dead Grove. She deserves to confront the idiot that made sure I could do that to her. Kodachi needs to really understand why she shouldn't trust Oyaji at all even if she's probably settin' him up to take a fall at the omiai. And he needs to realise that all his talk about honour and holding up promises don't mean a damned thing since he don't practice what he preaches. Look what he did to you! Look what he did to U-chan and all the other girls! Look what he was prepared to do to Akane and her sisters! And look what he did to Kanami and me! Do we want to let _anyone_ go through that?!"

A shake of the head. "No."

A cough. "If I may propose something, Okā-sama?"

Eyes locked on Miiko; the Hayashi family, Nodoka, Indiana, Mimōko and Shampoo were meeting alone in the dōjō next to the Meguru home. "Hai, Miiko-chan?" Nodoka asked.

"My lover Kumomi can mimic the ki cloak of the Umisen-ken with her own skills," the reborn governor of Yízhōu stated. Koeru Kumomi had not been able to physically come to the omiai between her lover's brother and Mimōko, but the Seito sophomore had been monitoring things via the _marei'cha_ bond the two now possessed. "There's no doubt that Genma will realise this may be a trap he's being made to walk into. He's greedy and selfish, but not stupid. Negako-sama just made quite an ugly threat against him through Sasuke-san. If I were him, I'd flee as quick as I could and never come back."

"He won't do that, Mii-chan," Kanami stated as she crossed her arms. "It ultimately means finally admitting defeat. He'd be forced to renounce every hope of ever regaining any control over Ranma again and living destitute for the rest of his days."

"He certainly won't do that," Chiaki noted.

"Agreed, Obā-sama," Miiko said. "Genma still quite fervently believes he is in the right about everything and he despises you enough that he will not resist a chance at taking Onii-sama away from you even if the law now stands against him. He also wants to try to find some way to remove the Avalonian powers Ranma-san recently gained thanks to Onē-sama. To _not_ do that means that all his secrets would now be open to scrutiny and he will not allow that as that denies him any hope of controlling Onii-sama to press his own goals." A smirk crossed her face. "He knows he's entering a trap, but I believe he's now desperate enough to try anything to gain a victory." Her eyes narrowed. "Even stepping over the one line he's strongly avoided all along."

A chill fell over the room. "Killing Brother-in-law?" Shampoo gasped.

"It's a possibility, Shānpú. We'd be total fools if we ignored that."

"Agreed," Mimōko stated, nodding.

Nodoka blinked, and then he scowled. "He will not honour his promise to me."

"He never cared for it all along," Kanami said with a smirk.

"I kinda liked what Hiromi pulled on the Urusians over Yaminokuni," Ranma added. "Hell, I _**really**_ liked what she did to that slime Ōgi, sendin' him to that Vos planet to let him rot in jail for the rest of his life because he sent that bio-bomb to their capital city six years ago to get at this Mikado clown 'cause he tried to kill Lum-san." As the older people in the room paled on hearing that, he took a deep breath. "_Death_ is way too easy for Oyaji, Ofukuro." A shake of the head. "He don't deserve that."

Nodoka blinked, and then she sighed as she felt a little part of her deep in her heart finally die. She then blinked on feeling her grandfather's comforting hand fall on her shoulder. Gazing gratefully at the man who had never stopped loving his Japanese relations regardless of what they had been tricked into doing to him in return, Nodoka took a deep breath before she gazed on Chiaki. Seeing her mother-in-law nod in approval, she gazed on Miiko. "Please tell Kumomi-san to do what she feels is necessary when the omiai happens this evening, Miiko-chan. Since we're imposing on the Moroboshi family to resolve this issue, I'm sure Hiromi-san would like her cousin from Seito present." She then winked. "Including all her friends, of course."

"But of course, Okā-sama," Miiko said with her own knowing grin…

* * *

Nerima, the Kunō home, an hour later…

"_**AN OMIAI?!**_"

As her mind crashed from what Sasuke — who had been transported over to Nerima from Kimitsu thanks to a helicopter — just reported to her, Kodachi covered her mouth to barely mask the shocked look on her face, her tea cup instantly dropping from her other hand. Fortunately, one of Sasuke's fellow ninja was quick enough to catch it before it made a mess on the carpet covering the sitting room floor. "Oh, my! I never expected…!" She swooned. "Oh, Ranma-sama! I KNEW you'd see it at the end!" She turned back to Sasuke, ignoring the dropped jaw and surprised look on Genma's face. "Well, tell me more! When will we meet?! Will it be a formal _cha no yu_?! Speak, man!"

Sasuke chuckled. "Please, Mistress, do be calm!" he urged. "I have all the news about it! Master Ranma has agreed to meet you tonight at seven o'clock at the Moroboshi family dōjō in Tomobiki!" He then took a deep breath. "Moroboshi Negako-sama herself has agreed to properly officiate it as the _nakōdo_, Mistress; you will no doubt know that she is very good friends with Master Ranma's current grandmaster, Master Happōsai. She is expecting both yourself and Master Genma to be there promptly at that time."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"NEGAKO-SAMA wants to…?!" Kodachi cried out before she turned away, her pale cheeks turning quite red as she recalled all of Sasuke's tales about the "Ultimate Grandmaster" (as most ninjutsu-ka in Japan called Moroboshi Negako given that she was a living repository of over a _millennium_'s worth of fighting knowledge _**and**_ that she had been the creation of the Immortal Master himself), realizing she had been personally invited by one of the most powerful — if not _**the**_ most powerful! — and skilled warriors in all of the Home Islands to come to _**her**_ dōjō so that Kodachi could finally have a proper omiai with the man she now loved. "Oh, my! Sasuke, I don't think I'm really ready to meet _**Negako-sama**_ of all people! What would happen if…?!"

"Mistress, calm down!" Sasuke said as he accepted the tea cup back from his friend, it now touched with a special powder that was good in soothing the nerves. "Here, drink this; this will make you feel better," he urged as he handed the cup to her. As the gymnast took the cup and drank from it, breathing out as she felt the herbs go to work on her, the elderly ninja bowed his head. "I've already taken the liberty of having your formal kimono prepared. I've also arranged to have a formal hakama and kimono prepared for Master Genma. It'll be ready in several hours, which will give us more than enough time to proceed to Tomobiki to be there when Negako-sama desires you to come. Just relax and remember your breathing exercises. It will be alright."

"Sasuke, I don't think there's no need to bother someone like her about this," Genma then said, doing his best to hide his nervousness as he projected a mask of solemn seriousness to the older warrior. "Contact the boy and tell him to come here at once. Why involve outsiders in this at all? This is a private arrangement…!"

Kodachi gasped. "OJI-SAN! How could you even THINK of something awful like that?!" she demanded as she rose to her feet, and then walked over to the window to gaze out on the lawn around her palatial home. "Refusing a direct invitation from Negako-sama would be as grave a sin as refusing an invitation from the Heavenly Sovereign himself! It is simply NOT done! If she is willing to officiate this, then I am SURE that Ranma-sama is more than willing to go through with this! Now that he doesn't have to worry about your friend's daughter anymore, much less the remainder of those pitiful girls that believed they were engaged to him…" — she was doing her best to not express her true feelings for women like Tendō Akane and Kuonji Ukyō, who were clearly all low-born strumpets who didn't deserve to stand in the presence of someone as magnificent as her own beloved Ranma-sama! — "…he clearly wishes to start totally afresh." She turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, if you can, please contact Negako-sama. Thank her most profusely for her willingness to assist in this matter. Inform her we'll be there at the time she requested and ask her if we should bring refreshments to the omiai."

Sasuke bowed. "I will do that right now. Excuse me please, Mistress."

He headed off. Genma turned to stare at his host. "Kodachi-chan…!"

"Oji-san, please calm down. I know you're upset because of what your mother did with Ranma-sama," Kodachi said in reassurance as she returned to her seat to finish her tea. "That foolish old woman — even if she did me a great favour in eliminating all of Ranma-sama's so-called 'obligations' — had no right to impose herself on you after she _abandoned_ you like she did when you married your wife. That's why I'm willing to help you get her actions overridden as soon as your son and I are properly engaged at last."

Hearing that, the self-proclaimed "master" of the "Saotome-ryū" took a deep breath. "I am truly sorry, child. But I deeply fear my former master is trying to meddle in this whole matter. He is supposedly friends with Moroboshi-sensei — though I somehow strongly doubt they _are_ friends — and he may have given her a biased story concerning what had happened between my son and me during our training trip. I fear that this may not succeed if he's somehow managed to poison Moroboshi-sensei against this…"

She laughed. "Oh, please relax, Oji-san! That's utterly impossible! Negako-sama is many things, but she is above all the most pure adherent to Taoism there has lived on this planet since Master Rōshi himself!" Kodachi moved to finish her tea. "Negako-sama is quite blunt — almost to the point of rudeness! — but at times, such bluntness is needed to cut through all the masks we protect ourselves with to allow the pure truth to shine forth. _That_ is what we need in this case. You yourself explained to me how much Ranma-sama was deceived by your mother when he was recuperating in the hospital, no doubt feeling abandoned and alone, desperate to find somewhere to belong after it seemed as if the whole world abandoned him when that gaijin almost succeeded in striking him down." Her eyes bowed in shame. "I admit that I myself didn't react as I should and gone to his side when he was injured. While I certainly don't know of any means in Terran medical science to repair a shredded spinal column, I could have tried something to give him hope at such a dark hour." She then smiled. "And that is another reason we should be thankful to Negako-sama. And her sister Tariko-san as well. They DID help Ranma-sama recover from his wounds fully, after all."

A nod. "Hai, I too had given up hope when I saw how badly hurt the boy was," Genma admitted, thankful that his host's many personal delusions were helping in masking his own tsunami of fears and questions concerning this situation. "And I should have been there for him when he needed me the most. No doubt, my reticence in going to the hospital when he was in intensive care contributed to his willingness to accept his grandmother's offer to get his family name changed." A nod. "And yes, I am grateful to Tariko-san and her sister for what they did. But I am also concerned, especially with the extra powers that came with the blood-transfusion from his 'sister.' I fear he's not ready for that sort of thing. And I have other concerns as well."

Kodachi blinked. "You don't trust the Avalonians?"

A shake of the head. "No. They are a power that is still too unknown to the people of Earth. Why was it the governments of the world and the United Nations held off on making the existence of the Earth Defence Force known to the general public until the start of this week? Those ships have supposedly been here for FOUR MONTHS before they came down to be commissioned! And what do these alien women really want with us? I still haven't heard or read an answer that truly satisfies me, Kodachi-chan!" A sigh. "Ah, perhaps I'm getting old. I don't think I'm fit to consider these sorts of vast questions. And I know the boy won't be ready to consider such things. He has no experience in that. And while some may say I did the boy wrong by isolating him as much as I did from society as a whole, I believed — and still believe! — it was for the best. His concentrating on the Art made him very good! Yes, he was unlucky that one time with the gaijin woman…but defeat is always a lesson in and of itself!"

She nodded. "Hai, true. And that makes this omiai all the better with Negako-sama officiating it. She has simply no tolerance for lies and deceit. If indeed your old master is there and tries to do something to make things worse, she will step in. We must be strong and confident in our desires, Oji-san. Negako-sama will not care for us if we are not." She then handed the tea cup to the ninja, who then vanished to get it washed, and then she stood. "So let us cast aside our fears and hold our hopes and dreams high for others to see. I'm off to getting myself prepared. Excuse me."

And with that, she was off to her bedroom to get changed…

* * *

A half-hour later…

_What are you up to, boy?!_

Sitting now in his own guest bedroom — which was worlds better than what he had experienced in the Tendō home — a now clean and washed Genma relaxed in front of the vanity mirror as he gazed at his image, his arms crossed as he concentrated his ki on his muscles to better prepare himself for what was coming up. And while there were many unknowns facing him now — and admittedly, only a few hours to prepare himself before he would face his son again in the presence of the Black Death herself! — he _**did**_ feel confident at being able to get the boy back under his control, away from the fools and monsters that would turn him from his proper role in life, and get things back to what Genma felt was the correct path for himself and his boy for the future.

A path that, regrettably, no longer include Tendō Sōun and a marriage between the boy and one of his old friend's daughters, but there clearly was no help coming from that quarter. As he had finally had to admit to himself on Tuesday morning, Sōun had allowed himself to totally fall apart even more than Genma had feared when he first came to the Tendō home with his son months before to find the other man in such a dilapidated state. While he could understand his friend's love for the former Miyamoto Kimiko — as Genma had once deeply loved Saotome Nodoka in more innocent times — that the woman's death had so utterly destroyed the man was something Genma could no longer deny. And in the destruction of Sōun's soul, any hope of seeing the boy married to any of Sōun's daughters was lost. While they had their good qualities, there were the bad ones. Kasumi was an excellent housewife…but had no interest in the Art at all. Nabiki was a Yakuza in the making and Genma wouldn't trust the boy with her whatsoever. And Akane, while she did have the talent to succeed in the Art, was too out of control for her own good. No. They were no longer worthy of the boy.

Kunō Kodachi, however…

The master of the Saotome-ryū smiled. She had talent in the martial arts…even if her chosen Art wasn't one Genma was comfortable with due to its complete reliance on weapons, which was a gross vulnerability in Genma's mind. But Kodachi was obviously glad to engage in skullduggery when necessary, so she could be persuaded to accept the basic tenets of the Saotome-ryū with little persuasion. Even more so, she had gladly expressed interest in Ranma without an engagement to force them together. She was naïve enough to accept Genma's words without question, which meant that she could be used to make sure the boy didn't rebel. And she was rich, which was _always_ a bonus.

And while she currently did have an older brother who was the _de facto_ head of the Kunō Clan of Ōizumi, he was completely smitten with Tendō Akane — Genma, despite his acceptance now that his old friend's youngest daughter would not marry his son, refused to acknowledge the legal name change Sōun's children had undergone recently — and would not brook any attempts by anyone from deterring him in his mad pursuit of her. A clear case of stalking in the eyes of the law, which made Kunō Tatewaki vulnerable in a way that could be exploited when necessary. And given Kodachi's obvious disgust at her brother's insane acts, she would be the perfect accomplice in seeing Tatewaki slammed into a psychiatric facility when the proper time came to get him out of the way.

As for Kodachi's missing father Godai, that situation was even sweeter. The man was currently vacationing in Hawai'i, clearly having abandoned both his children in his own grief for the loss of his wife, Hitome. And with that, he had clearly demonstrated a clear, total unwillingness to do anything for either of his children. So if he _did_ ever come back to Japan, it would be child's play to get him out of the way. Kodachi had no use for the man — neither did Tatewaki — and given Godai's supposed mad passion for all things Hawai'ian (as Sasuke had described to him once), it would be child's play to see that fool slammed into an insane asylum should he ever return to the Home Islands. And with Tatewaki out of the way, Kodachi would become the _de jure_ head of the Kunō Clan. Once she married the boy, that leadership would then pass to Ranma.

And thus, all the Kunō fortune would be under Genma's total control.

Wonderful.

But there were problems…

Despite what she had done the previous week, Ranma's grandmother would soon be no longer a concern; old age would see to that. Ranma's mother was also no longer a concern; the seppuku agreement Genma had used to get the boy away from Nodoka a decade ago had become the perfect wedge to keep Ranma from ever accepting her in his life again…especially since her views of "manliness" were of the Happōsai variety and the boy had utterly NO use for that thanks to his Jusenkyō curse and how Kunō Tatewaki had reacted to that over the last few months. And if this strange curse that had been latched on the destroyed Saotome honour sword was still active, Nodoka — not to mention her stupid cousins from her uncle Isao and their moronic sons — would soon be dead and out of the way once and for all; there was just NO way that a traditionalist like Nodoka would EVER accept her relationship to Indiana Jones even if not doing so would ultimately kill her. Once she and her cousins were gone, Genma would be left as the eldest holder of the Saotome name, thus becoming clan patriarch by default. He would allow Isao's grandsons to live long enough to see the curse kill them; he'd make very damn sure they'd never marry so as to subject some poor girls to such a horror, thus disposing of them once and for all time and allowing him to take control of whatever remaining wealth the Saotome Clan had by default. He would adamantly refuse to sign any divorce papers that Nodoka might try to force on him, which would shame her even more and keep her away enough for the curse to finally dispose of her. And while there was a part of Saotome Genma that did miss his wife, the practical side of him had come to realise she had just become too much of a liability. She simply had to go.

Now, there were the boy's so-called "sisters"…

Even though Kodachi clearly had accepted the story behind Kanami and how she had come into being — noting the stunning similarities between the story of Ranma and Kanami with that of Moroboshi Ataru and his sister Tariko — Genma didn't believe a damned word of it. No, there was no doubt that Kanami was just a trick unleashed by Happōsai to find a way to cement the boy's loyalty to the old pervert, so she had to be done away with one way or another. But not right away; Genma knew NOTHING about the strange powers Avalonians possessed. And while he now risked much in allowing the boy to have those powers thanks to the blood-transfusion he received from Kanami, Genma could use the girl to learn how to block those powers, thus rendering them ineffective and giving him an advantage over the boy to make sure he didn't get it into his head to rebel once more against his father. And the other sisters were not relevant in the long term. Miiko was a tōshi and Genma would simply allow her to be swallowed up by the dark world that consumed them generation after generation; he knew how easily Ryūen Kunrō had fallen, so it was clearly obvious that someone from Seito would dispose of Miiko to ensure the current incarnation of Ryūbi Gentoku would still remain in charge of that school. And Kikuko had nicely moved to neutralize the Chinese bitch, so she could be encouraged to go back to the Nǚjiézú village once and for all with Shampoo, thus removing any potential influence by those creatures on the boy forever.

Then there was Sebone Mimōko…

While Genma personally didn't care too much for women martial artists, he did know that some tōshi welded a strange and dangerous power that was quite deadly when uncorked; Mago Haeko's late husband Katahiko had been one such man as Genma had learned to his cost years ago. And while Genma knew that his normal skills would be hard-pressed to deal with a woman like Sebone even with him at full battle trim, he _**had**_ sensed what that eye patch she wore over her left eye really was meant to do. Clearly, she had a "dragon" inside her, but she had simply no control over its power; hence, the eye patch she wore. So that obviously meant that while she was dangerous if that power was unleashed, she would clearly NOT want to see it unleashed. She would hold back even if she was pushed to her limits. And Genma would push her if she pressed it.

That meant he would have to unseal the Yamasen-ken.

And while he _**did**_ realise what the skills of the Thousand Fists of the Mountain could ultimately do to someone, in the end, would it really matter?

After all, the stupid bitch _**was**_ a tōshi!

Who really cared for them?

And then, there came the Master…

Genma sighed. He would have hoped he could have waited a while before moving to get the boy back under his control again and away from Happōsai. While there was the risk that Ranma might drift further away from what he had been taught if Genma had left him alone, there were the many potential benefits as well. While Happōsai no longer seemed dependant on women's ki anymore — how THAT had happened, Genma had no idea — he _**was**_ in his third century of existence. And while he was still very formidable as he had shown when he dragged his former students from the Tendō dōjō the previous week, he was quite old and noticeably weaker than he had been not even twenty years ago. Taking that in mind, Genma knew that his own plans in ultimately dealing with Happōsai — to make Ranma strong enough to directly challenge and destroy the old letch at the right moment — could still be used. All that was needed now was to get the boy back.

But what of this "Black Death"…?

Genma had never personally met Moroboshi Negako, but he had heard all the tales about her. Most of them had come from Happōsai…and while they had been frightening, Genma now wondered if there was any truth to them. Yes, if she really was what people claimed her to be — a living repository of a _**millennium**_ of accumulated martial arts knowledge that somehow had acquired sentience over two centuries ago and become a living being in her own right — she would be even more formidable than the Master by many degrees! But what if becoming human had weakened the creature? Genma had, since Sōun had told him about Negako actually being in her own body and now living in Tomobiki, tried to train his ki senses in that direction to see if he could perceive what sort of being Negako actually was. He had sensed nothing. While this could mean that she was perfectly masking her ki signature from being sensed by him (no doubt at Happōsai's suggestion to keep her true power hidden), it could also mean…

…that she wasn't as powerful as people said she was.

If that was so…

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

There was risk…

…but the risks could be overcome.

He would win.

He _would_ get the boy back.

He _**would**_ make sure the boy never again rebelled.

And then…

Then…

A knock. "Master Genma?"

He turned. "Yes?"

One of the Kunō ninja leaned through the doorway. "Forgive me for disturbing you, but there's a gentleman who's come to visit you. His _meishi_." And with that, he came over to hold out a business card with both hands for Ranma's father to take.

Genma nodded, and then scanned what was written there. His eyes then widened in surprise on seeing the name there, and then they widened in surprise. "He…?" he began before a delighted grin crossed his face, and then he nodded. "Send him in!"

"Hai."

A moment later, a very massive bald man walked through the door, moving with grace and discipline despite his sumo-like bulk. Much to Genma's total surprise, the Dōjō Destroyer wasn't in his normal white gi with the string of captured dōjō signs wrapped around his neck; he was in a very formal kimono and hakama, similar to the model Genma had been given by Kodachi's servants so he could present himself properly at the omiai.

"Michiba Hatatsu!" Genma said with a laugh. "How are you?!"

"You look well, Genma!" the Destroyer said as they exchanged bows…

* * *

"There we go…"

Gazing at herself in the mirror, Kodachi could only grin as she took a moment to pose herself, ensuring that every part of her dress kimono was perfect and that she would present the proper vision of regal loveliness to her Ranma-sama when they met at last at the Moroboshi dōjō in Tomobiki eight hours from now. Noting nothing was wrong, she took a deep breath, and then moved to sit down, doing as Sasuke had advised her to do earlier and perform some breathing exercises to calm her beating heart down and help her relax before she would take that momentous trip to embrace her future.

"My sister! Why are you so wonderfully adorned this day?"

She turned, and then smiled. "I must confess, Onii-sama, you look like a true daimyō from years past," she said as her brother stepped into the room, dressed like a true lord of the Tokugawa era in a _kami-shimo_ jacket-and-hakama trouser combination that was the normal duty dress of samurai during the last true warrior age of Japan. He didn't bear the Kunō honour sword with him, though; he only had his normal bokken at his side now, though it was properly tied to his clothes as a sheathed katana would have been centuries before. Besides, despite their witless father having been gone from their lives for years — he did visit the family home from time to time; his latest visit being before the start of the current school year — Kunō Tatewaki was not as yet the proper patriarch of their clan. Only the death of Kunō Godai would allow that to happen; despite the man's insane passion for all things Hawai'ian — as he had loudly demonstrated to both his children on his last visit home — he still had enough of his senses to keep firm control over the clan's holdings and businesses. Hopefully he would have a fatal accident trying to conquer the monster _Pe'ahi_ tsunami that crashed often onto the northern shores of the island of Maui where he was staying now; neither of his children wanted him to come home, especially with his _**other**_ annoying fetish of cutting people's hair. "What exactly is the occasion, if you don't mind my asking?" she asked.

"A proper engagement with Tendō Akane, of course," her brother announced with grave dignity. "Now that her father has been made aware of his friend's final rejection of any idea of 'uniting the schools' for this generation, he was more than happy to accept my generous offer for the fiery tigress' hand in matrimony. I will be meeting with him at noon today at the Tendō home; Akane will be there. And now that you will be seeking out Hayashi Ranma's hand in marriage, there is nothing that will stand in my way of properly demonstrating how much I truly care for Tendō Akane."

Kodachi hummed, though she did make sure she didn't vent her true feelings for that violent maniac so as to not start an argument with her brother when she had to go to Tomobiki later in the day. "I hope you didn't yet pay any sort of dowry to her father, Onii-sama. You did remember what Sasuke relayed from Akane's grandfather."

A laugh. "Of course not, sister dear. Only when Akane is in my hands will I deal with her father as he deserves to be dealt with." Tatewaki then shook his head. "What of Hayashi Ranma's father? Surely you're not going to support him once you are properly engaged to the poor man, sister. Saotome's past actions are too shameful to consider. To even appear to act as if that man is _honourable_ in any way…!"

She smirked. "He is but a means to an end, Onii-sama. I will not see all that has been done to fully rescue Ranma-sama from the darkness his father plunged him into undone. Do not worry; when this is all over with, I'll have Sasuke dispose of the creature in a nearby zoo. Perhaps even obtain Negako-sama's assistance to see him rendered powerless during the omiai; she threatened same when she invited us to come to her dōjō should the panda step out of line." Remembering what Genma had told her about the curses forced on him and his son by the springs of the valley of Zhòuquán-xiāng, Kodachi tried not to shudder as she recalled the times she had physically and verbally abused her poor Ranma-sama (when he was a she). She had to apologize for that — which she fully intended to do — when she met up with him (and hopefully his lovely sister Kanami as well) at the Moroboshi dōjō just over an hour hence. "Actually, as we speak, he is now meeting with a _dōjō-yaburi_ named Michiba Hatatsu in his guest room."

Her brother winced. "A dōjō…?" He then paused as the name came to him, and then he chuckled. "Ah, Michiba-sensei! Of the family that were trained by Master Hosan to make sure the independent koryū did not become hotbeds of rebellion!" A flash of confusion then crossed his face. "Why would he come here, then?"

Kodachi tapped the earphone now fixed to her left lobe. Seeing that, Tatewaki nodded in understanding; Genma had no idea that he had been spied on ever since he had been brought into the Kunō home, normally by passive means he wouldn't expect. "Michiba-sensei is pretending to be yet another wounded student of the 'evil' Happōsai, offering his services to Genma to help him gain control of Ranma-sama and take him away from his grandmother. Naturally, I suspect that Happōsai-sensei and Negako-sama are allowing this to occur to make Genma believe he stands a better chance."

"I see," the elder Kunō child said, nodding in understanding. "Let us hope things go well for you, sister. I do want to see you happy and now that he is free to pursue his own life, Hayashi Ranma should be able to give you that happiness. In the meantime, I will go forth to meet the lovely Akane. I will see you this evening."

"Good luck, Onii-sama," she said with a smile as he left her room, and then she relaxed after the door closed after him. "You'll definitely need it," she added…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The **Fuji News Network** (**FNN**) is part of the **Fuji Television Network, Inc** group that was first formed in 1948 and has stations scattered across all the prefectures of Japan. The station whose reporter attended the briefing at USFJ HQ at the start of this part came from **JOCX-DTV** based in Tōkyō. **TV Tōkyō** (often shrunk to **Teretō**, short for _Terebi Tōkyō_ or "Tōkyō Television") was first formed in 1951 and is part of the **TX Network** group, which has six stations scattered across the major metropolitan cities of Japan. The call-sign for TV Tōkyō is **JOTX-DTV**.

As an aside, **DTV** literally means "digital television."

2) Translations: **Guìmǔ** — Literally "honourable mother"; **Furisode** — Literally "swinging sleeves," this is the type of kimono pattern whose sleeves range in length from 85-114 centimetres (33-45 inches), which is the pattern unmarried women in Japan normally wear when they dress up; **Rōshi** — The Japanese way of pronouncing the Mandarin "Lǎozǐ"; **De facto** — Literally "concerning fact," this is the Latin term that (in the situation described above concerning Kunō Tatewaki) indicates something or someone has assumed a position of responsibility without being formally appointed to that position; **De jure** — Literally "concerning the law," this is the contrasting term to _de facto_, which indicates that (in the situation described above) someone has properly assumed a post of power by the letter of family by-laws; **Meishi** — Business card used to introduce oneself to another; **Kami-shimo** — A form of traditional formal dress worn by samurai in the Tokugawa period, composed of a pair of hakama trousers and a waist-length coat with exaggerated shoulder boards that extend well past the curve of the deltoids.

3) The **Royal London Rifles (1st Canadian Regiment) (RCCAC)** (short-form **RLR**) is the second-senior regiment in the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry after the 10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment of Canada (Air); it's earliest incarnation was founded all the way back in 1840 and its modern incarnation first was formed in 1871. Its history and traditions are described in Part Four of _The Air Cavalry Regiments of Canada_ at the FictionPress website.

4) The levée that Negako attended aboard H.M.S. _Hood_ was shown in Part One of _Wizards and Avalonians_. The "other issue" she hinted to Ranma and Mimōko about was the problem concerning **Ginny Weasley** as noted in the latter half of the first part of _W&A_.

5) The three British Steel Angels introduced here first appeared in my _The Emperor's Army_ storyline at the Anime Addventure, in episode #235416, "Harry Gets A Harem and Negi Gets A Big Sister." Each of them represents a different service of the British armed forces and their names were chosen to reflect ancient names of Britain as well as great heroes of the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.

Lieutenant **Cambria Nelson** takes her given name from the classic term for Wales; it is the Latin version of the Welsh _Cymru_. Her family name makes her a spiritual descendant of Britain's greatest naval hero, Vice Admiral **Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, KB** (1758-1805), the victor of the Battle of Trafalgar (where he died).

Captain **Britannia Wellesley** takes her given name from the ancient term that had once applied to the island of Great Britain as a whole and the Roman province that was established on the island between 43-410 C.E. Her family name marks her as a spiritual descendant of one of Britain's greatest generals, Field Marshal **Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH** (1769-1852), the Irish-born victor of the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815 against Napoleon.

Flight Lieutenant **Caledonia Mannock** takes her given name from the Latin term that was applied to modern-day Scotland when the Romans were in charge of modern-day Britain and Wales. Her family name marks her as the spiritual daughter of Major **Edward "Mick" Mannock VC, DSO & 2 Bars, MC & Bar** (1887-1918), the highest-scoring British-born air ace of World War One with 61 victories before he was killed in action while on a sortie on 26 July 1918.

Like I did with Inspector Vesperia French of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (introduced in Part 57), I modelled the British Steel Angels after some of the unnamed characters who appear in episode #28 of the _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_ anime series. Brittania is the blonde-haired girl standing behind Nadeshiko-san at the left side of the screen (at 3 minutes and 54 seconds into the episode). Caledonia is the girl with long blue hair in a purple-and-gold uniform with cap standing in the second row off to the right of the screen at 4 minutes and 42 seconds into the episode. And Cambria is the girl with shaggy dark red hair and grey eyes in a blue-and-white uniform with gold bustier in the front row to the left in the same scene as Caledonia.

As an aside, the **Life Guards** (**LG**) are — as noted above — the senior of the two regiments forming the **Household Cavalry**, which serve as the honorary cavalry guardians of the Sovereign; their sister regiment is the **Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons)** (**RHG/D**). As cavalry is always ranked higher than any other corps of service in terms of precedence, this makes the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals the two senior-ranking regiments in the whole of the British Army. The Life Guards can trace their ancestry all the way back to 1658; from 1788, the regiment existed as two separate tactical regiments until they were amalgamated in 1922. The present name of the regiment was assumed in 1928.

6) **Pe'ahi** is the Hawai'ian name given to a big wave surfing reef break off the northern side of the island of Maui, just north of the Hāna Highway (Hawai'i State Routes 36 and 360) between mile markers 13 and 14. This is often the site of one of the largest and most ferocious surfing waves — yet also, in the eyes of surfing enthusiasts, the pace where the best and most well-shaped surfing waves are consistently formed — known to man. Known in English by the term "**Jaws**," the area of Pe'ahi produces surfing waves as high as 36.6 metres (120 feet), which roll into the beach at a speed of 48.3 kilometres/hour (30 miles per hour). The best waves, ironically, happen in the winter months, between December and February.


	62. The End of Hollow Dreams Part 1

Nomozaki (fifteen kilometres south-southwest of Nagasaki on Kyūshū), an hour before lunch…

"You have my deepest thanks for helping me come across."

The aged fisherman chuckled. "You Nǚjiézú just pay too good," he answered in accented Mandarin as he gazed fondly on the raven-haired lad with the coke-bottle glasses over a pair of intensive turquoise eyes. His own dark eyes then twinkled in amusement. "Going after that nice girl that came by here a few weeks ago?"

Liào Mùsī blinked before he nodded. "Yes," he answered, the gravity in his voice quite apparent to the older man. "Poor Shānpú somehow got herself married to some local man…and then got married to some GIRL!" He shook his head. "I have to make sure all is well with her. Unlike myself, she's never travelled beyond our home valley. She must feel lost and confused in this place. Regardless of what brought her here, I have to help her and ensure she's not trapped in something she can't escape from."

The fisherman blinked. "Married to a man AND a girl?" He knew of the Nǚjiézú combat-for-marriage laws as he had gladly transported members of the Noble Tribe across the East China Sea from their homeland to Japan many times in the past. In his eyes, they were quite quaint in a cute way…but it wasn't his cup of sencha. "Is this girl an Avalonian, perhaps? One of the Space Angels? If she's bonded to Shānpú…"

Mousse — the fisherman had pronounced his given name quite properly, though the master of Ànqì did accept both the Japanese and English slurred ways of saying that name — blinked as he considered that, and then he breathed out, "The Space Angels…?"

"If she's bonded to your girl, you'll be having TWO girlfriends instead of one!" the fisherman said with an amused twinkle in his eyes. He then nodded towards the local bus stop. "Anyhow, if you want to catch the next Shin-kansen into Hakata from Nagasaki, you better get going."

The young warrior nodded. "Again, my thanks. I'll contact you if required."

"Good luck, son."

With that, Mousse jogged up towards the bus stop. Fingering his change purse, he counted out the necessary coins needed for a local trip from Nomozaki — which was on the end of the Nagasaki Peninsula separating Tachibana Bay to the east from the arm of the East China Sea separating mainland Kyūshū from the Gotō-rettō to the west — to downtown Nagasaki, where the local train station is. _Hopefully, if what I've heard of what the Space Angels have done to local transportation networks in the last few months is true, the Nagasaki branch of the Shin-kansen has been completed and I can travel to Fukuoka in just under an hour in lieu of the two hours it would have taken on the older service_, he mused to himself as a bus came up to him. Boarding it, he took the boarding ticket, then moved to take a seat. _With that, I can be in Tōkyō in less than four hours without any delays at the stations. As soon as I'm in range, I can sense Shānpú out by her qì signature, then get to her as soon as possible._

While a small part of him knew that openly pursuing Shampoo in this manner would be seen as quite vulgar if not against the book of tribal law, Mousse was both determined to prove his love for the beautiful warrior-maiden…and make _damn_ sure she was safe in Japan. As he had told the fisherman earlier, Shampoo had next to no knowledge of life outside the valley of the Nǚjiézú…which made what Saotome Ranma's actions some months ago in the village against her all the more galling.

It _had_ to be punished…

_Pity poor Ranma wasn't a real girl_, the weapons-master mused to himself as he felt the sealed bottle of Niángnìquán water hidden inside one of his sleeves, along with his overnight bag and weapons. _Well, 'she'll' be a real girl soon enough…!_

A lethal smirk crossed his face…

* * *

Nerima, near the Tendō home, just before lunch…

"Um…Akane-san?"

The small group of people from the Miyamoto home paused on hearing that voice, and then they turned to look as someone stepped out from a side street. Akane — now in the standard Yoshū girl's uniform of a white long-sleeved button blouse under a V-neck light grey vest sweater over a blue-trimmed dark grey thigh-length skirt; she also had adopted her bond-mate's preferred thigh-high stockings — was quick to note the haunted look on his face, the pale skin and the limp black hair. Confusion seized her for a moment, and then she blinked before words Karin spoke yesterday came back to her.

"Hikaru-kun?"

Gosunkugi Hikaru nearly turned sheet-white on hearing her speak his name. _Akane-san knows my name?!_ he swooned as blissful joy flooded him…before he remembered what brought him out to this place at this time. Taking a deep breath, he bowed his head. "Akane-san, please forgive me for the inappropriate thoughts and desires I personally have felt towards you for some time now," he solemnly stated. "While I would not have physically acted on them given my lack of martial arts skills, I did feel them and did not realize how much the actions of Kunō-san and those others who answered…"

A comforting hand then landed on his shoulder as a finger shifted his chin up to allow him to stare into Akane's beautiful eyes. He blinked on seeing the light smile on her face. "Hikaru-kun, I accept your apology…on one condition."

He stiffened. "Anything within my power, Akane-san."

"You will apologize also to Ranma for helping expose his ailurophobia to the public."

He considered that, and then bowed his head. "Hai!" He blinked before he handed her a bag. "Here. These are rolls of film and developed pictures I took of you without your permission. Again, I'm sorry about this." Another deep bow.

She took it, then reached in to draw out pictures. Nabiki — who was also in a Yoshū uniform, though she wore black thigh-highs in lieu of the white ones Akane and Kyoko had — leaned over her sister's shoulder to gaze on them. "Nice camera angles," she critiqued. "You have a future as a professional photographer, Hikaru-kun. These look good."

"Nothing risqué, I pray," Karin — also in a Yoshū uniform, though her beige stockings only went up to mid-calf — then stated as she gazed at her sister's old classmate.

A rapid shake of the head as the Miyamoto sisters and their new sister-in-law sensed an explosion of profound embarrassment escape Hikaru's heart. "No! I could never do that!" he wailed out as he clapped his cheeks, and then he blinked as Akane reached over to give him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Akane-san…!"

She chuckled. "Until I became an Avalonian, I never really understood how boys felt around me. All I could think of before I did my body-swap was all the lewd things I overhead other boys say about whatever 'conquests' they might have made amongst the girls." She then sighed. "After the Idiots were finally done away with, I could feel the shame you felt after I said they wanted to rape me." A wink. "I know it wasn't really true; a lot of them are just like you deep down. Girls fascinate them…but scare them, too. So many say a good game…but they all turn out to be a bunch of lies in the long term." As the others laughed, she added, "Still, since they tried to subdue me every day in the weeks before Ranma came…"

He nodded. "It could've gone that…"

"Kyoko!"

Everyone tensed, and then they turned to see a pair of familiar faces. Like the younger Miyamoto sisters, both Takai Mirumi and Kuruwa Hakana were in proper school uniform. Akane was quick to sense that the latter had her bow and quiver of arrows stowed somewhere on her person, ready to be used if required. "Sempai-tachi!"

"Are we too late?" Mirumi asked as everyone exchanged bows.

"No, we were just heading in," Kyoko stated…before she perked on hearing a materialiser beam echo from the direction of the front gate of the Tendō home. "Ah! Looks like a couple of friends have just arrived!" she then added.

Everyone turned as four people in Canadian Forces naval combat dress appeared, accompanied by three people in Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force dark blue work uniforms. Nabiki and Kasumi both smiled on recognizing two of them, and then they opened their arms as Ikusawa Kyōko and Sasamoto Narumi raced up to embrace and kiss them. The others who had just beamed down from _Yamato_ followed them more sedately. On seeing the Japanese naval lieutenant, the three Yoshū tōshi all gaped in stunned recognition. "Enko-sempai! What are you doing here?!" Kyoko asked.

"Making sure those who would take advantage of future employees of the United Nations Earth Defence Force are stopped, Koshaji-kun," _Ittō Kaii_ On Motosuke — to tōshi, he was known as "Enko" — stated as he saluted his younger brother's friends, winking.

"You're on the _Yamato_, young man?" Akane's grandfather Shigeru asked.

"The ship's security officer, Miyamoto-dono," Motosuke answered before he waved to the Canadian Army captain with the scarlet beret, that embossed with the thunderbird hat badge of his branch. "My opposite number on the _Haida_, Captain Douglas Tremblay."

The Canadian officer saluted, receiving bows in return. "Good morning, everyone," the native of Calgary stated with a polite smile. To allow himself to be fully understood by the natives, he had a portable universal translator pinned to his jacket. "I hope you don't mind our bringing Naval Cadet Sawada with us." He indicated the chestnut-eyed redhead nearby. "She'll help control this Kunō fellow if it's required."

"Are you sure you want to take the Witless Wonder on, Lady Minako?" Karin asked.

Sawada Minako winked as she lifted her bokken to rest it on her shoulder. "I was programmed at the start to be a kendō-ka, sister. Rest assured, he won't be a bother to me."

Noting that, the tōshi nodded; they were quick to sense Minako's maple leaf-shaped magatama on her person — given that she was now in uniform, she was wearing that jewel on a necklace under her work shirt — which guaranteed that she would also have whatever fighting knowledge her unknown past-self once possessed to call on if required. "And what of Shimizu-san and Sanokura-san, Enko-sempai?" Hakana then wondered.

"We're the long-range fire support, Onē-sama," Shimizu Kaho said as she winked, her hand falling on the holstered Lawgiver strapped to her weapons belt. Like her namesake from the _NOëL_ dating simulation game series, she was a green-eyed woman with deep lavender-red hair that extended to her waist…though now, it was tied in a thick French braid. Even though she was one of a dozen of _Yamato_'s plank owners who had volunteered to become a junior officer on the Japanese starship, she currently had the blank rank tabs of a _santō kaishi_ on her shoulder straps; she wouldn't be enrolled into the National Defence Academy in Yokosuka until April in 2011, which would allow her and others like her the chance to do some on-the-job training both aboard _Yamato_ and ashore before plunging into studies. "If this Kunō creep steps way out of line…"

"Just remember one thing," her brown-eyed companion with black hair in a bobcut — who, like Kaho, had been modelled on one of the main _NOëL_ characters — warned.

"What's that?"

"Don't go over Level Twelve," Sanokura Emi advised with a wink.

"Hai, hai!" Kaho moaned out.

The others snickered. "Well, since it's about time, I think we best go inside and see Otō-san," Kasumi stated before she smiled as Narumi wrapped an arm around hers.

Kyōko did the same with Nabiki as Kyoko paired with Akane, Emi with Mirumi, Kaho with Hakana and Minako with Shigeru. As they — followed by Douglas and Motosuke — walked towards the front gate of the Tendō home, Hikaru sighed…before he jolted on feeling an arm slip around one of his. Gazing wide-eyed at Karin, he blinked several times before he felt a surge of reassurance from the reborn Poet of Dùshì Ford. "Shall we go inside…um, Karin-san?" he then asked, pausing to recall her name.

"Lead on, Master Hikaru," Akane's twin bade before they headed off.

Everyone soon made their way to the front gate of the Tendō home, heading inside without pausing to ring the door bell. Once inside the compound that Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane had called home for all of their lives, the daughters of Tendō Sōun were quick to sense how DEAD it was now inside. Very little had changed since they had moved out a week before to live with their grandfather…but it felt as if the whole place had been abandoned for many years. Instantly, all three girls tensed as they tried to firm their emotional guards against the surge of lifelessness that was threatening to encompass them from all sides. "Oh, my…!" Kasumi moaned out.

Narumi's hand squeezed hers in reassurance. «I won't let you be hurt,» the would-be medical technician instantly transmitted to her lover. «Relax!»

«It's so hard, Narumi…!»

"You people okay?" Douglas Tremblay asked.

"No, Tremblay-taii," Hakana stated as she gazed sadly at the Alberta native. "They're now realizing how dead their lives really were when they lived at this place. If Akane's former fiancé was here, he'd probably confirm on how the _wa_ of this place now is so similar to the way it was when he was first brought here by his father."

"Worthless…!" Shigeru hissed out before he sighed, and then he perked as Minako gave him a reassuring squeeze of her hand. Nodding his head in appreciation, he then sighed. "Let's get this over with. This way," he bade, beckoning them to the dōjō.

As they approached, everyone who had Avalonian blood in them was quick to sense the lone person inside the dōjō itself…not to mention the four others who were hiding all around the property. «You marking them?» Minako psi-flashed her sisters; they had set up a low-level bond between them before beaming down from _Yamato_.

«Marked,» Emi vowed as Kaho and Kyōko both nodded, their hands falling on their sidearms. «We'll put them down if they act stupid.»

Everyone relaxed as they looked into the dōjō. "So _there_ you are!" Shigeru growled on seeing his son-in-law seated before the kamidana and dōjōkun at the south end of the building. "Why weren't you at the gate to greet your daughters, Sōun?!"

The slumped figure twitched slightly before a tear-streaked face slowly turned to gaze at the entrance. On seeing how thin and aged their father was now, Akane and her sisters visibly winced; they had seen their father depressed before…but he had not been _**this**_ bad since shortly after their mother died years ago. Physically, he looked as if he hadn't bathed or eaten for several days; on seeing that, the sisters' hearts nearly broke. Immediately, auras of reassurance were forced into Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane from their lovers, which made them relax…as Sōun seemed to come alive.

"Akane-chan…you came back…!" he moaned as he staggered up…

…before he froze on seeing her new school uniform. "WHAT IS THAT?!" he screamed.

"My school uniform, Otō-chan," Akane calmly stated. "What does it look like?"

"THAT'S NOT THE FŪRINKAN UNIFORM!" Sōun protested.

"No, it's the _**Yoshū**_ uniform!" Akane declared as she tried not to groan. _Good gods! He hasn't changed a damned bit since I last saw him!_ "Ojii-chan arranged to have me transferred out of Fūrinkan on Monday morning before we went to Yaminokuni." She then gazed fondly at Kyoko. "Thanks to my girlfriend here, I'll be going to a much better school than the one which is practically run by a _**yakuza**_ like Kunō Tatewaki!"

Sōun jerked before he shuddered. "I never gave you permission to…!"

"_**QUIET!**_"

The ki-charged sonic boom of Akane's shout slammed into her father like a runaway Shin-kansen train, smashing him down with ridiculous ease. At that moment, the kamidana — which had been cleared out of the ashes of Tendō Kimiko when her daughters had moved out; those remains would be interred in the Miyamoto family grave as soon as it could be done — and the dōjōkun both collapsed to the floor behind the now-dazed "master" of the "Tendō-ryū." Seeing that, the tōshi from Yoshū shook their heads in disgust. "You can tell this was never a _**legitimate**_ dōjō in the first place!" Mirumi mused.

Hakana snorted as she drew out her bow and her quiver, notching an arrow into the string. "Well, this shouldn't take too long," she said as she moved to a place to give her a clear shot at Sōun in case he got out of control and attacked someone.

Mirumi put herself on the opposite side of the dōjō from her friend as Minako pulled away from Sōun's father-in-law to post herself in a position between the dōjō and the main gate so she could intercept Akane's would-be fiancé before he could get close to his ultimate target. Noting that, Shigeru turned to the others. "Please come inside," he bade. "No need to take your shoes off, of course," he added with a smirk as the two Yoshū tōshi hadn't bothered to remove their footwear before heading in.

"You have our thanks, Miyamoto-dono," Motosuke said as he and Douglas stepped in, walking to the far corners of the dōjō space from Sōun as they rested their right hands on their holstered sidearms. Kaho and Emi followed them, putting themselves in a guarding position beside the two older officers. Once they were in place, Sōun's daughters walked in — also keeping their shoes on — and moved to sit in a line-abreast formation parallel to the doors. Shigeru himself sat to Kasumi's right by the west wall of the dōjō. The sisters' lovers took their places behind them as Karin walked Hikaru over to the back wall to place themselves in a position between Emi and Kaho.

As Sōun moved to pick himself off the floor, all the Avalonians in the room were quick to sense the overwhelming shock emanating from him on experiencing such a ki-charged scream from his youngest daughter. That was also mixed with small doses of fear and outrage; no doubt, he was now coming to realize that his precious daughter had done a lot of training since she had left this place…and that training had clearly been provided by someone Sōun would _**never**_ approve of. Noting that, Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane were also quick to note that there was NO sense of acquiescence, much less acceptance, in their father's heart towards what had been done over the last week and more.

"«He's been blinded too much by his own delusions, Nabiki,»" Kyōko then whispered to Nabiki in English, which she knew her lover and her lover's sisters could understand. "«I don't think you'll be getting anywhere with him today. If at all.»"

Hearing that, Nabiki slowly nodded as she reached into the small carrying pouch she had slung over her shoulder to draw out a golden urn. Noting that, Akane and Kasumi moved to take out the urns they had carried with them to the dōjō. Putting them on the floor beside them, they then focused on the man they really could no longer view as their father. Seeing that, Kaho and Emi both drew out their Lawgivers, clicking off the safeties as they adjusted the power lever to Level Twelve, the highest non-lethal setting. Noting both would-be officers were controlling themselves in the face of a clear case of child abandonment — which would have any self-respecting Avalonian spitting fire in outrage — both Motosuke and Douglas nodded in approval.

Groaning, Sōun shook his head before he turned to gaze upon his daughters…and then he froze on noting all the extra people in the dōjō. "Wait! What…?!"

"_**BE SILENT!**_" Akane bellowed out.

He was slammed down once again. Noting that the fear was overcoming his anger, his daughters all relaxed themselves as they waited for him to pick himself off the floor once more. Once he had done that, he then jolted as Mirumi's and Hakana's eyes focused on him. Recognizing the latter as the girl who had nearly destroyed his hand with an arrow a week before, he turned to gaze once more on his daughters. Those eyes then focused on Nabiki's and Akane's new school uniforms. "Wait! Why…?!"

"_**I SAID 'BE SILENT!'**_"

Yet again, Sōun physically recoiled from the blast of ki and sound Akane sent his way. "Like a damned Timex," Douglas whispered. "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking!"

The others all snickered on hearing that old advertisement slogan for those particular models of watch, and then they turned back as Sōun turned to face them once again. This time, he was quick to note the military people all present…including one obvious foreigner. "Wait! What are you doing here…?!"

"_**WON'T YOU EVER SHUT UP, YOU USELESS SACK OF FLESH?!**_" Akane roared out.

Sōun was once more blasted down by that scream. Noting that, Shigeru could only shake his head as he crossed his arms. "By the looks of it, he didn't hear a damned word you said to him yesterday, Akane-chan," the retired financier breathed out.

This time, Sōun was able to recover more quickly than before. Gazing at the strangers who had invaded his precious training hall, he balked on seeing the pistols in Kaho's and Emi's hands. "Now, see here!" he bellowed out. "How dare you step in-…?!"

"_**SHUT UP, YOU FOOL! THIS**_ **IS **_**NO DŌJŌ!**_" Akane screamed. "_**THEY'RE BOTH SERVANTS OF THE EMPEROR! HOW**_ **DARE **_**YOU DEMAND ANYTHING OF PEOPLE LIKE THEM?!**_"

THAT made Sōun freeze in place. "The…_Emperor_…?!" he squeaked out.

Surprised to note that he had comprehended _that_, Akane gritted her teeth as she felt a miniscule bloom of hope deep in her heart. Yes, she had agreed to everything that had happened to her since her family had begun interacting with the Moroboshi siblings almost two weeks before…but there was still a small place deep in her soul which hoped that the strong man her father had been before the passing of her mother was still somewhere inside him and could be coaxed out again. "Yes, Otō-chan. The Emperor," she said, dropping the level of ki in her voice to a level that would keep his attention yet not hurt him. She then waved to Motosuke, Emi and Kaho. "They're officers of the Maritime Self-Defence Force, assigned to _Yamato_. Their friends are from the _Haida_. Because we all have become persons of interest to the Earth Defence Force, they came down here to help put down that _yakuza_ you want me to marry!"

Sōun jolted. "'Yakuza?!' Kunō-kun is no yakuza!"

"What do you call several school weeks' worth of attacks without provocation on your youngest daughter every time she tried to go into school?!" Motosuke instantly demanded, putting a little ki into his own voice to make sure that their current host was paying attention. "Something that you — her _father_! — didn't ONCE try to stop whatsoever! Something that was only stopped when a young man who was ignorant of so many things was forced into becoming Akane-chan's fiancé!"

"That was Ranma-kun's responsibility!" Sōun protested.

"When was Ranma-kun supposed to arrive, Otō-san?" Kasumi then asked. "You had no guarantee whatsoever that Ranma-kun and his former father would have survived the training trip!" She then blinked. "Or did you know ahead of time?" she demanded.

He jerked. "Now, Kasumi! That's not your place…!"

"_**YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME?!**_"

Sōun wailed in terror as a powerful ki aura exploded from Akane, that forming a very twisted image of her own face. As the others in the room all nodded in appreciation at her first attempt at a Demon Head, she then took several breaths to calm herself before she felt Kyoko's hands fall on her shoulders and a surge of control flooded her. As her father began to quail in horror on realizing that his youngest child now had the ways and means to overcome him in every way possible, Akane slowly got up. Picking up her urn, she walked over to loom like an angry goddess over her father, her eyes burning with outrage on realizing that he willingly ALLOWED her to suffer at the hands of Kunō Tatewaki and his idiots for _**weeks**_. Instantly, ki billowed in her free hand as she moved to raise it and form a fist over her father's head. On seeing THAT, Sōun became as pale as a ghost as it suddenly dawned on him that his daughter was about to explode into a berserk state that would make her next to unstoppable.

Sensing his fear, Kyoko shook her head. She warned Sōun when she told him that she had taken over Akane's training that his daughter had been sliding towards becoming a berserker because of her total lack of anger management training. He hadn't listened to her, feeling safe in the mass sea of delusions that had kept him somewhat alive for a decade and more…not to mention the belief that with Akane's fiancé close by, whatever problems could be resolved by him. And _**now**_, he was facing her in the wake of her having taken some big steps towards mastering her own ki, which made her far better than she had been when they had first met…and she was now VERY angry at him…

"_**No…!**_"

Everyone blinked on hearing Akane's ki-charged voice, and then they looked as the aura billowing around her began to face. As Sōun blinked in confusion — not to mention feeling a touch of relief that Akane wasn't going to hospitalize him — he jolted on hearing his daughter's voice say words he never thought he would ever hear:

"_**You are dead to me, Tendō Sōun.**_"

As Sōun froze as that final declaration sank in, Akane reached over to uncap the urn bearing her old body's ashes…and then she dumped those ashes onto his head. He croaked out in surprise…before his own ki senses picked up the VERY familiar feel of the DNA fragments within those flakes of burnt flesh. As his heart froze in horror, Akane shook out the last few ashes from the urn, then tossed it aside. With that, she turned her back on the man who was now her father just in genetics.

"_**And I am dead to you. Never darken my life again,**_** eta**_**!**_"

A howling scream exploded from Sōun on hearing her call him by _that_ insult. As the tōshi and Shigeru nodded in admiration at what she had done, Kasumi and Nabiki both rose. Taking up their own urns, they walked over to unceremoniously dump their contents over the man who had literally abandoned them all years ago…and all for a mad fantasy that — because neither of them were martial artists — would have denied either of them the chance to live their own lives for a very long time. As he gargled on feeling the ashes of his other children's old bodies fall on him, he turned to stare wide-eyed at Kasumi and Nabiki. Both had cold looks on their faces.

"You are dead to me as well, Tendō Sōun," Nabiki icily declared. "As I am dead to you. Be assured, your actions this day will be spread broadside across the nation."

"It is fortunate that our mother is not alive to see this," Kasumi added, her voice just as frigid as her sister's. "No doubt, she's turning over in her grave."

As THAT slammed home, Sōun screamed out as he shot up. "_**HOW DARE YOU…?!**_"

"Target: Tendō Sōun! Very heavy stun!" two women's voice chanted out.

"_Target: Tendō Sōun! Very heavy stun!_" two computerized voices echoed those commands.

Two Lawgivers barked, sending bolts of energy to swing around Kasumi and Nabiki to slam into Sōun's head from both sides. He barely was able to croak before the energy of both shots shut down his brain and he collapsed to the floor. Silence fell before Akane — who had stood still when her sisters had come up to face their father for the last time, her back turned away — took a breath, her eyes misting. "Why…?"

"He was so used to getting his way," Kasumi breathed out. "And we…"

"_**HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, BUSTER!**_" a woman then barked from outside.

Everyone perked on hearing that voice, and then Akane hissed out, "Kunō…!"

* * *

Having walked onto the property without knocking — feeling he had no need to knock as the master of this beautiful home told him personally that he was welcome to come any time after the agreement was made the previous day to see him properly married to the fierce tigress Akane — Kunō Tatewaki was nearly scared right out of his clothes by that thunderous shout. On recovering, he then blinked on seeing the quite lovely young woman standing in his path between the main gate and his final goal, dressed in a military uniform composed of very dark blue material with a black beret on her head, a bokken of her own at her side. Taking a moment to drink in this lovely redhead's features and noting she spoke with a Kyōto accent, the scion of the Kunō of Ōizumi gave her a stern look as he drew his practice sword, though he did not try to appear in any way threatening. After all, this lass was beautiful _and_ a sister kendō-ka, so she deserved respect. "Stand aside, Ojō-sama!" he declared as he assumed a basic fighting stance. "I have business with the lovely Tendō Akane today and I will not be denied!"

The woman blinked. "'_Tendō_ Akane?!' That person ceased to legally exist under that name six days ago. She is now _Miyamoto_ Akane. And because Tendō Sōun has _**no**_ legal authority over her — much less her sisters — anymore, you have _**no**_ business with her at all unless you have made some sort of arrangement with her grandfather and legal guardian, Miyamoto Shigeru-dono. Do you wish discuss such business with him?"

Kunō jolted on hearing that, and then he perked as an elderly man came out to stand at the dōjō doorway. "Even if he did, Minako-chan, the answer is _**and will always be**_ 'NO!'" Shigeru declared. "I will not have this blind, selfish, _**criminal stalker**_ come close to my granddaughter now or _**anytime**_ in the future!" As Kunō gaped in shock at the older man's words, the retired financier then smirked. "Kunō-san, if you don't finally cease and desist in harassing my granddaughter, you will find out that all your wealth and all your power in this town will not be enough to save you — OR that absent lunatic you call a father! — from a prolonged stay at the nearest _**insane asylum**_!"

Jolting on hearing that, the captain of the Fūrinkan High man's kendō team instantly moved to surge around Sawada Minako to directly confront Akane's grandfather…

_KK-KRACK!_

…and then screamed out as the sharp edge of Minako's bokken cut into the bridge of his nose, nearly cracking the skull underneath and causing a terrible arc of pain to slam right into his eyes and make him go blind for a moment. And then…

_KK-KRACK!_

…Kunō howled as Minako's bokken swept down to smash into the inside of his left kneecap, instantly dislocating it and causing him to drop to the ground, his mind overwhelmed by the sheer power and ferocity of the strike. Then…

_KK-KRACK!_

…the kendō-ka yelped as the future military police officer hit him this time in the inside of the right wrist, causing several bones to break and making his hand let go of his own bokken, which was pitched by the impact of Minako's strike right at and through the kitchen window to clatter somewhere on the floor beyond.

As a pained moan escaped Kunō, movement then caused Minako to turn as someone leapt out of the cherry tree near the koi pond towards him. Before she could react as one of the Kunō ninja moved to snare his master and flee for the family home, a black-haired blur whipped past the Canadian naval cadet, a Lawgiver out and aiming on target.

_ZZ-ZZARK!_

The poor ninja was hit right in the chest by the stun bolt, which sent him flying back to land in an unconscious heap on the ground close to the main entrance to the Tendō home. Standing now protectively in front of Minako, Emi relaxed herself as her eyes moved to scan around, her empathic senses reaching out to mark the new locations of the other unwanted visitors that were lurking nearby. She wasn't disappointed as three other Kunō ninja leapt out of hiding places in and around the house. As she drilled the second one with her weapon, Kaho and Kyōko came out of the dōjō to drop the last two with well-placed shots. Once that was done, all three would-be officers relaxed as they took one more chance to scan around again, and then they exchanged looks and nods. "Narumi!" Minako called out. "We need four people under sedation!"

"Hai!"

Narumi then stepped out, medical bag in hand. Ignoring the still-moaning Kunō, the would-be medical technician from _Haida_ quickly moved to inject an anaesthetic into each of the unmoving ninja, thus making sure they wouldn't cause trouble when the effects of the stun shots Emi, Kaho and Kyōko had fired wore off. Once that was done, Narumi got the help of her sisters to drag the ninja onto the porch where Tendō Sōun had often played games of go with Saotome Genma. Minako remained in place, her eyes locked on the moaning kendō-ka that she had just taken down to ensure he didn't surge up from the awful beating she just delivered him. Watching this, Shigeru sighed before he turned to gaze once more at the empty dōjō that he had helped paid for. Shaking his head, he gazed on Motosuke. "Could you summon an ambulance and the police, son?"

"Insane asylum?" the Japanese security officer wondered, a knowing look on his face.

A smirk answered him. "Hai. It's high time that he be forced to confront all his fantasies," the retired financier said as he pulled out his pipe. He then nodded thanks as Douglas came up to help him light it. "Matter of fact…"

"Might be a two-for-one today," the Canadian officer stated with a smirk.

"Indeed…"

As Motosuke pulled out his cell phone to make a call, everyone then moved to leave. "What do you want done with the building, Ojii-san?" Kyoko asked.

"Wreck it," he ordered.

The ninja-trained tōshi smirked. "We can do that."

Mirumi and Hakana headed over to grab the unconscious Sōun and pull him out of the building. Everyone else soon followed as Motosuke reported that the police — once again coming from the Hikarigaoka Station as officers from the Shakujii Station simply couldn't be trusted because of the Kunō wealth having been used in the past to make them look the other way when things such as the actions of the Hentai Horde were reported to the authorities — were on their way. As soon as the last person was clear, Hakana moved to load some fire arrows into her bow…before she was stopped by a slender hand. "Don't, Onē-sama," Kaho then bade as her eyes twinkled with mirth. "A filthy place like this is not worthy of a true warrior's attention."

The archer blinked before she relaxed herself. "Be our guest!"

"Dōmo!" Kaho then levelled her Lawgiver, her thumb pulling the power lever back to its top setting. "Target: Tendō dōjō building! Full power, free-fire!"

"_Target: Tendō dōjō building! Full power, free-fire!_" the pistol's on-board computer replied before the weapon barked out a storm of shots.

People ducked as the bolts of energy slammed into the walls several dozen times. Each time, the disintegrating-level bursts of energy rapidly ate away at the structure, leaving only cloudy smoke behind as beams of hardwood, rice paper walls and every other element that had gone into its construction was rendered into their component atoms. As the stunned Kunō moaned in horror on seeing such a beautiful training hall be burned away by such a ghastly weapon, shocked and panicked cries echoed from neighbouring homes as people peeked out from windows and over the walls to see what was going on. By the time half the mass of the dōjō was gone, one such neighbour was coming through the front gate. "Kasumi-chan, what on Earth is going on here?!" Yamada Masako — whom Ranma knew as the "ladle lady," the person who triggered his curse almost every day when he had walked to school — asked as she stared frightfully at the sight of some girl in a uniform shooting apart the dōjō building that had stood there for over a decade.

"Some necessary housecleaning, Masako-san," Shigeru answered, which made the elderly woman gaze his way. "My _**former**_ son-in-law…" — the small crowd of people who were now milling at the front gates were all quick to sense the emphasis on that word — "…simply refused to acknowledge the many truths that have come out over the last couple of weeks, so I'm just closing out my investment in this useless place."

Hearing that, Masako took a breath. "I see. I'm sorry to hear that, Shigeru-san."

"That's very kind of you, Masako-san…but not necessary."

She nodded in understanding before her dark eyes flashed with mischievousness as she then gazed on Kasumi. "Well, now that that useless sack of flesh is out of the way once and for all — and that poor Ranma boy is free to pursue whatever relationship he would desire — what say I try to arrange some nice dates for you." She snorted as she pulled out her own pipe, and then she smiled as Mirumi lit it with her ki. "Dōmo!"

"Much that I would appreciate that sort of thing given that Tōfū-kun doesn't seem to want to do anything to cure his own love-madness whenever he's around me, Obā-san, I won't be here to participate in any omiai," Kasumi said with a tone of polite regret before she smiled as Narumi slipped an arm around one of hers. "I'll be busy starting university in Canada in September so I can finally become a doctor. Not to mention bond-mating with my companion on New Year's Day morning."

Masako blinked, and then she gave Narumi a frank look before she hummed, nodding on noting how exceptionally beautiful the shaggy-haired redhead with the green eyes and the tanned skin was. "I assume this bonding urge you Avalonian girls always go through triggered when you met up with Kasumi-chan, young lady."

"Hai, Obā-sama, it did," Narumi stated with a polite bow of her head, sensing that the elderly lady did deeply care for Kasumi's welfare.

A nod. "Good! After all she's been through, Kasumi-chan needs a supportive lover!"

People around them laughed before Masako led some of the neighbours into giving Kasumi and Narumi a banzai cheer. The couple in question blushed furiously on hearing those best wishes from the neighbours, and then they shared a look before they kissed. That elicited another cheer from the crowd…which was then punched through by a roar of out-of-control rage as someone nearby bolted up. "_**I — WILL — NOT — HAVE — IT!**_" Kunō screamed out as he — ignoring the fact that his right wrist was now badly damaged and he could barely stand — swept up his spare bokken and moved to lunge towards Kasumi.

A Lawgiver barked!

Given the angle of the shot and the very close range, the bolt sheared a good hunk out of the charging kendō-ka's left hand before shattering the handle of the bokken and shearing of the right hand from just above the wrist. People cried out in panic on hearing the Zephyrite-built pistol discharge, ducking away as the pieces of Kunō's bokken twirled off over Nabiki's head to drop into the koi pond by the main house. Silence then fell…before a howling shriek of agony escaped the wounded scion of Nerima's richest family, that making people gaze wide-eyed at him…before another bolt slammed into his forehead to knock him out. As he dropped unconscious to the ground, people then turned to see who had fired those shots…before many nodded in approval.

Nabiki sighed. "Aren't you supposed to be a _medic_, Narumi?"

Narumi blinked before she set the safety of her weapon, and then she holstered it. She then gave her future sister-in-law a smirk. "The Geneva Conventions allow it, Nabiki."

A nod. "Just checking."

The others who had seen this also nodded as sirens echoed through the air…

* * *

An hour later…

"Excuse me, Lady Leona. Could we be allowed through?"

Ozaki Leona — who was one of the officers that had been called out to help deal with Kunō Tatewaki finally — turned on hearing that polite voice, and then she smiled on recognizing the woman standing there. "Hiromi-san," she breathed out before noting that the reborn emperor of the Hàn wasn't alone. "Your bond-mate?"

"One of them in the future," Hiromi stated as she gazed in amusement at Wan Miwaka, who gave her a saucy grin and wink in return. "I got the call from Tremblay-taii and On-kaii concerning this sordid incident. Is Narumi-chan alright?"

A nod. "Hai, Hiromi-san, she's fine," Leona stated. "Matsui-keibu was called in from Metropolitan Police Headquarters in Kasumigaseki when the word got out that excessive force with a Lawgiver was needed to put that brat Kunō down. He's discussing matters with both Tremblay-taii and On-kaii right now. I don't think there'll be trouble."

"You wouldn't mind if I checked on her myself, would you?"

Leona smiled. "Go right on ahead. They're inside the house."

"You have my thanks, Leona-san." With bows of their heads, Hiromi and Miwaka slipped under the police tape strapped around the open main gate and headed onto the grounds…before they both winced on sensing the miasma of lifelessness within the walls of the Tendō home. "Ye gods…!" Hiromi hissed.

Miwaka grimaced. "Are you going to be alright, my love?"

The reborn emperor grimaced. "It's a fortunate thing, Beloved." She then smiled at her reborn mistress. "We saved several innocent souls from this decrepit place."

"As all good warriors should do," the older woman affirmed with a nod. "Especially when it comes to such bright young warriors as Ranma-san and Akane-san, ne?"

"Indeed. Well, let's go speak to Matsui-san."

Both headed towards the house. "What do you know of him?" Miwaka asked.

"One of the most honest officers one could ever deal with," Hiromi answered as they stepped into the genkan to slip off their shoes. "A first-rate detective who doesn't allow anything to slip past him. He's called in every time there are sensitive issues. Given the sheer wealth of the Kunō family and their influence here…"

The would-be Buddhist nun nodded as both walked into the living room. Everyone seated around the living room table perked on sensing their arrival. "Ah, Hiromi-san. I thought you'd be on your way here soon enough," Matsui Takahiro — a man built like a fireplug with a disposition towards his work which one might associate with the English puritan leader Oliver Cromwell — called out. "Your medic's in the kitchen right now with Kasumi-san. She's taking what's happened quite well, but the idea of using such force — even in the defence of another person's life — is still quite repulsive to her."

A deep bow of thanks. "You have my gratitude for coming here to help deal with this horrid business, Lord Bailiff Matsui," the reborn emperor stated, making Matsui blush on hearing her call her by such a classical title. As the young Avalonians from both _Yamato_ and _Haida_ giggled on seeing the normally stern and dedicated investigator react that way to their own Hiromi-onēsama's very polite words, she then gazed on the four tōshi from Yoshū in the room. "Was it truly difficult, my friends?"

All four girls — who had gone to one knee and given Hiromi a fist-in-palm (or in Karin's case, hand-over-hand) salute — gazed upon her. "It was, regretfully, most heartbreaking for my beloved and her sisters, My Emperor," Kyoko answered for them all as she gazed upon the other girl. With a wave of her hand, Hiromi bade them to relax, which they did as they returned to their place around the table. "No matter what I did to help my beloved learn things to give her the strength to try to make her father see reason, he refused to bend to the very end. We had no choice but to destroy his false dōjō — at the request of my beloved's honoured grandfather — to make him understand that his delusions would no longer be tolerated. He…" A bow of the head.

"His brain just shut down when he woke up and saw the dōjō disintegrated, Onē-sama," Kaho then spoke up. "When Narumi mind-probed him after he passed out, he just wasn't there anymore."

"We'll have no choice but to have him committed," Shigeru added before shaking his head. "It's not that Sōun was evil, Hiromi-san. Just…"

"Hideously misguided and still grief-stricken because of the loss of his wife years ago," Hiromi offered.

"Hai."

A sigh before Hiromi gazed on Akane and Nabiki. "How are you two?"

Akane weakly nodded as Nabiki gave the reborn emperor a wry smirk. "It's to be expected, Hiromi," the latter answered. "Deep down, no one really wants to turn their backs on their parents…but we had no choice. He just wouldn't budge. No regret, no acceptance, no understanding, NOTHING!" she then spat out before taking a deep breath. She then perked as Kyōko's arm wrapped around her waist before allowing a real smile to cross her face. "Still, it is kind of liberating at the end…"

"Yeah, it is," Akane affirmed as she tried to smile herself. "At least we finally got rid of Kunō. A lot of people at Fūrinkan will be jumping for joy."

"What did happen to that dullard?" Hiromi asked as she crossed her arms.

Karin smirked. "The Witless Wonder just marched in as if he was the lord of this place, ready to sweep poor Onē-sama off her feet…or so he deluded himself into believing, Majesty," she answered. "Fortunately for her as well as my other sisters, the good Lady Minako and her own trusty weapon were available to force him down."

"It wasn't enough though, Onē-sama," Minako added. "Just as the neighbours came in — as you know, a Lawgiver can't be silenced, so the shots from Kaho's weapon could be heard several blocks away — to see what was going on, people learned of Narumi's friendship with Kasumi-onēsama. As they declared their approval…"

"The suspect — even after suffering a broken wrist and a broken knee — tried to attack Miss Kasumi with his weapon, Director," Douglas Tremblay finished on behalf of his future subordinate. "Narumi had no choice but to shoot him with her Lawgiver."

Hiromi's eyes flashed; she had been told that Narumi had been forced to use her sidearm, but had believed it had been in defence of Kunō's true target. "He attacked _**Kasumi-san**_?!" she frostily asked, stunned that even a blind moron like Kunō Tatewaki would do THAT to HER of all people.

"We've arrested him for attempted assault with a deadly weapon," Matsui declared. "He's in Nerima General Hospital right now, under both sedation and guard. Dō Kazua-sensei is one of the surgeons assigned to his case." A smirk. "The man lost his right hand thanks to Narumi-san and the left hand may have to be amputated as well. He won't be practicing kendō — much less any other martial art — anytime soon. If ever."

The reborn emperor blinked before she nodded in understanding. Indeed, to deliver such crippling wounds like _that_ would emotionally destroy next to anyone…as witness what nearly had happened to Hayashi Ranma two weeks ago before Hiromi's sister Tariko got to him. If THAT didn't finally make Kunō Tatewaki wake up to Reality, nothing would. "I'll have to ensure that Onē-san isn't assigned to his ward when she returns to her weekend volunteer work at the hospital next Saturday." She then hummed. "What was his sister's reaction?"

"We contacted Kunō's lawyer, Kentō Seisuke-san, about this issue," Matsui answered. "He confessed that he DID warn the man about not doing anything to press anything further concerning Akane-san here…and that, if it ever did go too far, he couldn't rescue him as he's been made to do in the past." A smirk. "He'll inform Kunō's father and his sister, but given what I've heard of that family…"

"Wasted flesh cut away," Miwaka finished.

A nod. "Hai."

"What's happening with Ranma now, Hiromi-san?" Akane asked.

"As you all know, an omiai was held between Ranma-san and Mimōko-san earlier today. I suspect he's writing his entrance examination for Nan'yō right now as we speak," Hiromi answered. "As you might also know, Kunō Kodachi-san also wishes to pursue Ranma-san romantically…and has enlisted Ranma-san's witless sire to assist her." She then winked. "It turns out, however, that Kodachi-san intends to perform her own double-cross on that fool. So to assist, an omiai between them will be held tonight at seven o'clock at my family dōjō in Tomobiki with Onē-sama as the _nakōdo_."

People blinked before Nabiki hummed. "There might be hope for her."

"She's as obsessed with Ranma as her brother was with Kanami!" Akane instantly protested.

"Fret not about that, Akane-san," Hiromi declared. "There's one thing I don't believe you're aware of when it comes to your former rival."

Akane blinked. "What's that, Hiromi-san?"

"She owes me her life."

Jaws dropped. "What happened?" Kyoko wondered as she, Mirumi, Hakana and Karin all tensed.

"Allow me to explain…"

* * *

The Kunō mansion, that moment…

"Is that true, Kentō-san?"

"Hai, Kodachi-sama," Kentō Seisuke answered from his office. "Your brother was arrested on charges of assault with intent to bring harm to both Miyamoto Akane and her sister Miyamoto Kasumi." As Kodachi gasped in shock on hearing that — having met Kasumi a couple of times since her brother had become insanely infatuated with Akane, the rhythmic gymnast knew what sort of pure and beautiful soul the elder Miyamoto (_née_ Tendō) sister possessed — he added, "Since the Miyamoto siblings are persons of interest to the United Nations Earth Defence Force, officers from both _Yamato_ and _Haida_ were present. Kasumi-san's would-be bond-mate, Sasamoto Narumi-nitōsuihei, was forced to defend her against your brother."

"And what did the good lady do, my friend?"

She could practically sense the smirk on his face. "She shot his hand off."

Kodachi's eyes went wide, and then she laughed. "Oh, poor Onii-sama! How terrible!" she sobbed crocodile tears before she wiped her eyes clean. "Anyone else hurt?"

"Just four of your family retainers. Matsui-keibu is having them held for questioning, but they'll be probably let go since they were following your brother's orders."

A nod. "I understand, Seisuke-san. Have you contacted Otō-sama about this?"

"I'll have to wait until he's done surfing today," he warned, the humour in his voice quite obvious; dealing with Kunō Godai gave the lawyer a very big headache.

She laughed. "Well, don't bother him if he's at a lū'au…or whatever they call it in Hawai'i. We don't want to ruin Otō-sama's fun, do we?"

Now she _knew_ her was grinning from ear to ear. "I think I can do that, Kodachi-sama."

"My thanks for your call, good friend."

"Please have a good day."

"You as well."

The line was cut, and then the Black Rose of Saint Hebereke breathed out before she reached over to her cell phone and flipped it open. Going to her picture files, she flipped to one particular image, which had been taken back in April at the Tomobiki Sportsplaza after her school's team had defeated the local team in a free-spar bout. One that — much to Kodachi's shock — hadn't involved any sort of "preliminary bouts" against their opponents when they least expected such a thing.

"Hiromi-san…"

She sighed before she perked as a howling laugh echoed through the device she had fixed to her left ear so she could listen in to her "father-in-law's" conversation with the Dōjō Destroyer. _No doubt, Michiba-sensei has now convinced dear 'Oji-san' of his intentions_, she mused as she reached up to pull off the earphone, and then she moved to set it on her vanity. While she was proceeding to Tomobiki to present herself to Moroboshi Negako, the servants who would remain behind would quickly produce a written transcript of the conversation so that she would have it on her person when she met with Ranma, thus making sure he would have it and see for himself what his father — now only in genetics — ultimately had in mind. _Though I somewhat suspect it may not matter in the long run_, she mused as she fondly gazed on the picture she had of Ranma's male self on her vanity. _Ranma-sama is quite cunning in his own right…and given what happened after he was stabbed in the back by the gaijin — with his gaining the favour of the Moroboshi siblings, especially Tariko-san and Negako-sama! — he will no doubt want nothing further to do with his witless sire. This_ has _to be a trap on his part to further shame and humiliate the panda, defeat him one last time to prove his superiority and show he is worthy of a mastery in his Art! And with the panda's best friend now finally destroyed at the hands of his own daughters and Ranma-sama's grandmother and mother refusing to have anything further to do with the beast, Happōsai-sensei's last student will be left alone, reduced to destitution and forced to capitulate! Hiromi-san wouldn't have invited the Miyamoto sisters on their mission to Yaminokuni without good reason…!_

Thinking of the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor of the Hàn Dynasty, the gymnast then felt a smile cross her face. As far as Kunō Kodachi had been concerned for the longest time, the tōshi attending the Seven Schools were nothing more than the true scum of the Earth. Creatures that allowed the insane and dark passions that drove their namesakes to rule their lives and force them to re-enact events from eighteen hundred years ago…_**in a time and place where such things were no longer needed!**_ And no matter what others might try to pull them away from such madness, such attempts failed spectacularly and many innocents — especially students of the so-called "neutral schools" who were effectively forced to officiate in the Great Fighters Tournaments, then sooner or later killed or permanently maimed by rogue fighters for some insane reason or another — would die, property would be destroyed, other lives would be disrupted…

…and it all ultimately led to _**nothing**_ in the end!

It was madness. Pure and simple madness.

And while some may accuse Kunō Kodachi of being insane, she had _**never**_ gone _**that**_ far, even when dealing with potential opponents in martial arts rhythmic gymnastics!

In essence, the tōshi were lost causes right from birth.

It would simply be better to exterminate them — or make _**damn**_ sure they never had children — to have the mad souls of their namesakes never again arise.

It was simple humanity in the end.

When she heard that Moroboshi Hiromi — one of the bioroid sisters of the wonderful man who had saved the whole human race from alien invasion a year before, along with the Ultimate Grandmaster herself, not to mention a woman who had actually been split from Moroboshi Ataru's very own _soul_ because of his taking the Sacred Promise of Bunka Go-nen on his sixth birthday — was a tōshi, Kodachi had first thought the same of her: A pathetic beast in human form that would soon either destroy herself or be destroyed once other tōshi learned of her existence. A being who, no doubt, had somehow earned the pity of Ataru, Tariko and Negako-sama and was welcomed into their lives out of simple mercy…which would ultimately prove for nought. Indeed, when she learned Hiromi had actually been _Reitei_ himself in her first life thanks to Sasuke going to Tomobiki to observe the Ultimate Grandmaster and her new family in late March, her fate was clearly all but sealed; any reader of _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ knew the madness that saw the Hàn Dynasty fall and the Three Kingdoms rise only truly began once Liú Hóng was dead.

But then something quite remarkable happened…

* * *

_Nerima, Saint Hebereke Girl's School, the girl's change room, Saturday 17 April 2010, lunchtime… _

_"We were fucking lucky today…!" _

_Kodachi blinked, and then she sighed. "_Must _you swear, Takako-chan?" _

_Her nominal number two, Takahisa Takako, took a deep breath. After they all were made to appear a metre above their school's outdoor pool — fortunately, it had been filled recently and prepared for the spring swimming classes — and made to go for a chilly dip in the water, the seven members of the Saint Hebereke team who had gone to Nishitōkyō to deal with their opponents from Tomobiki High had crawled into the change room for long hot showers. Even with that, Kodachi realized that some of them would be down with colds over the next week or so; it had been a chilly day. "Kodachi-chan, with all due respect, Moroboshi could have done a lot worse to us if she wanted to! Even if she did take that arrow for you, her friends were ready to fight!" _

_"Now they'll be out for our_ blood_!" Takako's best friend, Kijō Mana, warned. "We made sure that __**Moroboshi Ataru's**__ own __**sister**__ got hurt! And she's the fuckin'_ tōshi _of that bunch! Can you imagine what might happen if any of the loons from Rakuyō find out about this?! You heard what Tōtaku did to the captain's brother last year!" _

_"Do not be concerned about that, Mana-san. Everyone, catch!" _

_They all spun around…and then blinked as tastefully-wrapped bentō all landed in their hands. "Hey!" Takako called out before she turned…and then gaped on seeing who had just walked into the change room. "Moroboshi…?" _

_Clearly not the least bit bothered by the fact that she had been shot in the arm with an arrow two hours before, Moroboshi Hiromi moved to relax herself against the wall close to the door, her hand holding a bag that Kodachi was quick to realise now held all her personal gymnastics gear. "I was able to call off the hounds, including Mendō Shūtarō-san and his sister Ryōko-san," the reborn emperor stated, which made Kodachi wince; the power and wealth of the Mendō of Musashino made the Kunō of Ōizumi look like paupers in comparison. "As for Chūei-dono and his schoolmates at Rakuyō, do not fear; save for the Kōshi Kasshi, all my brothers and sisters from that age are unaware of who I once was…which, at this time, is the way I desire it to remain. The bentō I gave you contains a herbal solution you can prepare as a tea; it's in the pill bottles there. Onē-sama makes it as a very good remedy for the common cold; one teaspoon per cup of hot water. I recommend you take it with honey, sugar or sweetener; it can be quite bitter if you drink it straight. No milk or cream with it, though." _

_"Why…?" _

_Eyes locked on Kodachi. Hiromi stared at her, and then she smiled as she walked over to place the bag down beside the Black Rose. "There is much difference between a simple sporting match and open warfare, Kunō no Mae," she stated, making Kodachi gasp on hearing the other woman address her as "Dame Kunō." "Ladies, word of warning: Since my schoolmates are now quite vexed with you all, I would strongly suggest you do not enter the town limits of Tomobiki until the match at the Sportsplaza. I will spend time calming Masako-san and her friends down, plus reprimanding both her and Nayoko-san for bringing killing weapons into play. I truly look forward to the match. Ja ne." And with that, she turned to leave. _

_"You can't be a monster…but you are still doomed to die…" _

_Hiromi stopped before she looked back. "We all die in the end, Kodachi-san." _

_"You are_ Reitei_, Hiromi-san!" Kodachi hissed, her eyes tearing as her body began to shake. "You are no different than any other tōshi alive today or when you lived in your past lives! To be consumed by darkness and destroyed so all the other monsters out there can fight and kill each other, just like so many…!" _

_A finger tapped the tip of her nose, making her gasp as she found herself gazing into Hiromi's amused face. They gazed into the other woman's eyes for a moment, and then Hiromi leaned over to gently kiss Kodachi's forehead, which made the Black Rose's cheeks turn a brilliant cherry. "As the Americans are rather fond of saying, Kunō no Mae…" the reborn emperor said. "'Been there, done that.'" A shrug. "But I never got a T-shirt. Rather unfair, I believe. So I decided that I'll do something different in this life." She then turned and walked to the door before she stopped. _

_"And by the way, Kodachi-san…" _

_The Black Rose looked at her, and then blinked as Hiromi gave her a daring smile. "My battle name is 'Ryūkō Kyōrei.'_ Reitei _has been dead for eighteen hundred years. I will ensure it stays that way." A sigh. "Hopefully, I will sooner or later show my brothers and sisters throughout Kantō they can do the same. Good day, ladies." _

_And with that, she left. The girls in the change room all blinked several times as their minds tried to absorb what they had just witnessed, and then they seemed to relax as many moved to open the bentō Hiromi had brought them. "Weird girl," Takako mused. _

_"Yeah…but she's kinda cool, too," Mana stated. _

_The others nodded as Kodachi gazed nowhere in particular, eyes still tearing… _

* * *

_"My battle name is 'Ryūkō Kyōrei,'" Hiromi-san said…_

Kodachi smiled as she remembered what had happened that day, and then she perked on hearing a knock at the door. "Come!" she called out.

The door opened to reveal Sasuke. "It's time to prepare, Mistress."

She then nodded…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Ànqì** — Literally "Covert Instruments," this is the term that is often translated as "Hidden Weapons" to describe Mousse's Art; **Qì** — Mandarin way of pronouncing the term "ki" (the life-energy in people); **Ittō Kaii** — Literally "First Rank Sea Officer," the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force equivalent title for a navy lieutenant; **Santō Kaishi** — Literally "Third Rank Seaman," the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force equivalent title for a seaman recruit in the United States Navy or ordinary seaman (recruit) in the Canadian Navy (NATO rank code OR-1); **Kamidana** — Literally "Shelf of the Gods," this is the miniature household altar that can be found in most Japanese homes and dōjō; **Dōjōkun** — Literally "training hall rules," this is the scroll mounted on the wall of the training hall which outline both the acceptable and unacceptable behaviour within the hall; **Eta** — Literally "abundance of filth," this was the term often used in the Tokugawa period for those people who would be known as **burakumin** these days; **Keibu** — Literally "guard section," this is the title used in Japan to indicate a police inspector/captain (who, in the ranks of the Japanese police services, would be a police station squad commander or riot squad company commander); **Nitō-suihei** — Literally "Second Rank Sailor," the Imperial Japanese Navy equivalent rank for an ordinary seaman (recruit); **Lū'au** — Traditional Hawai'ian party that is composed of a feast followed by some sort of entertainment involving local music and dancing (the word is normally spelt "luau" in English).

2) It has long been planned to construct a branch of Japan's **Shin-kansen** trains to connect the city of **Nagasaki** on the western coast of Kyūshū to Hakata Station in **Fukuoka** (the largest city on Kyūshū) so that people from the famous port city — known both for it being the target of the second atomic bomb used in warfare on 9 August 1945 as well as being the only Japanese port where trade with European nations was allowed during the Tokugawa period — could travel to other places in Japan much more quickly than before; normal express trains nearly take two hours to get between the two cities. This route — known properly as the **West Kyūshū Route** — has been in planning since 1973. In real life, a stop-gap measure using the **Super Tokkyū** high-speed narrow gauge system is being constructed, which could shrink the travel time between Nagasaki and Fukuoka/Hakata to 1 hour 24 minutes. Another proposal for this part of the network was to introduce what are known as **gauge-change trains** — where the axles can adjust their width from the standard 1.435 metre (4 feet 8.5 inch) gauge used by the Shin-kansen service to the narrower 1.067 metre (3 feet 6 inches) gauge used by most Japanese railroads — on the West Kyūshū Route, potentially shortening the travel time to 1 hour 19 minutes. It is planned that the West Kyūshū Route will be up to full Shin-kansen standards by 2022.

In the reality of this story, the standard Shin-kansen standard gauge tracks were put into place by Avalonian-Japanese engineers working for JR Kyūshū (the branch of Japan Rail responsible for operations on Kyūshū), thus lowering travel time between Nagasaki and Hakata to 41 minutes.

3) **Enko** (**On Motosuke**) is the elder brother of Enshō Honsho (On Tsuguta) and Enjutsu Kōro (On Michiko). An alumnus of Yoshū as noted here, he graduated from high school in 2001 and proceeded to the National Defence Academy in Yokosuka to become an officer in the Self-Defence Forces. As noted here, he specialized in law enforcement, thus became a security officer after he got his degree and his commission. His past-self was **Yuán Jī** (unknown dates of birth and death), who was the Minister Coachman during the reign of the Xiàolíng Emperor. In this life, Motosuke became friends with many of the future command crew of J.D.S. _Mirai_ after he graduated from training; he — as shown in _Long Way Home_ — earned the nickname "Crazy Enko" because of his passion for his work…though his friends never really understood why he was the way he was until they were assigned to _Yamato_ and met Moroboshi Hiromi.

4) **Shimizu Kaho** and **Sanokura Emi** are — as noted above — characters from the _NOëL_ dating simulation games released by Pioneer LDC in the late 1990s. In the original game, they were both best friends to Okano Yuka (introduced in Part 46). Emi loved to play the piano while Kaho was a very genki girl who also liked karaoke. Kaho and Emi also appeared with Yuka in _NOëL 3_ in 1998.

5) The **National Defence Academy** (known in Japanese as _Bōei Daigakkō_ or _Bōdai_ in short) is the Japanese equivalent of the Royal Military College of Canada at Kingston. A four-year undergraduate school that is fully accredited by the national government as well as offering graduate and post-graduate studies, the Bōdai is located near the grounds of the old **Imperial Japanese Army Academy** (_Rikugun Shikan Gakkō_) at Yokosuka five kilometres southeast of the joint Japanese-American naval base there. Personnel seeking to become officers in the Self-Defence Forces attend the Bōdai for four years, then proceed to a service-specific officer's training school before reporting to a line unit. The service school for naval officers — in effect, the equivalent to H.M.C.S. _Venture_ in Canada — is the **Officer Candidate School** (_Kanbu Kōhosei Gakkō_), located at the site of the old **Imperial Japanese Navy Academy** (_Kaigun Heigakkō_) on the island of **Eta-jima**, ten kilometres south of Hiroshima. The course at Eta-jima is a year long.

6) The **Geneva Conventions** are the basic international treaties which concerning the conduct of fighting personnel and how such conduct affects other people during wartime. While such have not been always adhered to by various powers — as note the actions of both the Japanese and the Germans during World War Two — countries such as the United States, Canada and Great Britain do their best to ensure their personnel understand and obey these laws. The specific convention which rules the actions of medical personnel that Narumi hints to here is the **Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field**, which was signed on 12 August 1949. This convention — in the first provision in Article 22 of that convention — permits medical personnel to be "…_armed, and that they use the arms in their own defence, or in that of the wounded and sick in their charge._"

7) **Kasumigaseki** (literally meaning "Barrier of Fog") is a district in Tōkyō's Chiyoda Ward, located just east of the National Diet building and south of the Imperial Palace grounds on the Sakurada-dōri. Located in this district are the headquarters of various cabinet-level ministries. The district name itself is often used as a **metonym** (where a place location is often used to indicate a particular government group, industrial group or social group, like using **Hollywood** to indicate the American cinema industry or **Westminster** for the British Houses of Parliament) for the Japanese government bureaucracy.

8) **Matsui Takahiro** is a minor character from _Patlabor_. A detective in the Tōkyō Metropolitan Police, he often assists Second Division commander **Gotō Kiichi** in investigative work when the latter couldn't deal with matters himself. He has appeared in all versions of the series.


	63. The End of Hollow Dreams Part 2

Kimitsu, the Nan'yō Academy, mid-afternoon…

"So, Shunmi…how did my children do?"

The headmistress of Nan'yō was a old classmate of Nodoka's and Haeko's from middle school, Aka Shunmi (Shushun Kōi). While she had yet to become an Avalonian in body in following the unofficial "imperial decree" given by Moroboshi Hiromi as a way of helping the tōshi as a whole overcome the "fate," she was in line to make a visit up to Amenoukihashi Station as soon as she could spare some time to undergo the procedure. Currently, Tsukasa Setsumi — as an alumnus of Nan'yō — was arranging for such trips in the future for those members of the current student body and other alumni who hadn't got the chance while they were aboard _Bismarck_. "I'll be quite frank, Nodoka," the grey-eyed, raven-haired woman stated. "Your son has incredible scholastic potential…but he has got so much to catch up on. What on Earth was Genma…?" She then stopped herself before sighing. "Forgot! Read it in the papers last week…"

"He can be loaded into the freshman high school class, can he?" Haeko wondered.

A nod. "Yes, he can…but he'll have to undergo considerable additional tutoring to get his scholastic knowledge up to a level where he could then move on to the second year next spring. If not, he'll be forced to repeat this year. He shows excellent promise in several fields: English, mathematics and biology being the ones I took note of the most." A shake of the head. "I know of Fūrinkan High's reputation. It's a wonder to me that people can actually graduate from that place; Kunō Godai pretty much ran it into the ground before he went off to Hawai'i. How did…?"

"It was a threat by Tendō Sōun to withdraw poor Akane-chan from the school if my son wasn't accepted. That was something that could not be accepted by Kunō Tatewaki, the monster that was stalking Akane-chan at the time," Nodoka evenly answered. "When he finally realized what really must happen for someone to enter high school — especially a private high school — Ranma was quite ashamed." A sigh as she gazed on both Indiana Jones and Hayashi Chiaki; they were now in the headmistress' private office as everyone relaxed after the entrance examination was completed by Ranma, Kikuko, Shampoo and Ukyō. "Well, hopefully…"

"He'll be able to catch up quickly enough," Shunmi affirmed with a smile. "If he puts his nose to the grindstone and works hard at it, I think that — by the time the Centre Test comes around in a couple years — he'll score in the top five percent."

Jaws dropped. "He'll have to be encouraged," Chiaki noted.

"Mimōko can handle that," Indiana stated. "What about Kikuko, Ukyō and Shānpú?"

"Ukyō completed middle school, so she doesn't have that much to catch up on," Shunmi answered. "I know she wants to still run her restaurant; that's allowed here. If Shānpú's great-grandmother is intending to stay in Japan, she can help out, so Ukyō could concentrate on schoolwork. As for Shānpú and her wife, they're pretty much in the same boat as any student who's been raised in isolation. That's happened with many tōshi in recent years, Jones-hakase; we have the means to help them adjust."

"That would apply to Ranma-kun as well, I think," Haeko noted.

"Hai, Haeko, it…"

The door to the office was then flung open. "_There_ you are, you stupid…!"

_KK-KRACK-SNAP!_

A shocked scream echoed from the somewhat-dignified kannushi who had just stormed in before his neck had been snared by Indiana's trusty bullwhip, making him fly against one of the walls of the headmistress' office. As he sank to the floor — leaving a trail of blood there thanks to a shattered nose and broken teeth — Nodoka sighed. "What are you doing here, Ichihara-_san_?" she demanded, putting a waterfall of scorn in the honorific as she gazed dispassionately at her paternal cousin.

Saotome Ichihara was a Shintō shrine cleric who worked at a temple in the mountains of Gunma, not far from the family's ancestral home in Minakami. A couple years older than Nodoka and her twin sister Hisayo, Ichihara was the eldest son of Nodoka's uncle Isao. And like Nodoka herself had been until she had finally met her grandfather earlier in the day, Ichihara's head had been filled with the lies concerning the circumstances surrounding his family's relationship with Indiana Jones. Ichihara had effectively become the head of the Saotome Clan of Minakami on the death of Isao at the turn of the millennium. He always did his best to make sure Nodoka always toed the "party line" when it came denying that relationship with the famous American archaeologist…which, no doubt, made the revelations on the television news broadcasts this morning quite galling to him.

"Amazing it took him _this_ long to get here," Haeko mused as she shared a look with her lover. "In the past whenever you questioned what was going on, he was practically there in the blink of an eye. Remember what it was like when Hisayo got married?"

Nodoka nodded…before she perked on sensing someone come in. "What's going on here, Kōchō-sensei?" Mimōko asked. "Some idiots came along just now and they're trying to harass Ranma." She then gazed quizzically at the downed priest. "Who's he?"

"My cousin Ichihara, Mimōko-chan," Nodoka explained. "Unlike my sister and myself, he's never accepted our family's relationship with Ojii-sama. No doubt, he's here now to try to upbraid me for allowing such 'lies' to turn me against my family."

"How dare…you…!"

A gloved hand grabbed Ichihara by his neck and yanked him up, spinning him around to make him stare into a pair of burning dragon-slit eyes. "_**You DARE impose yourself on my treasure's mother, grandchild of RAPE?!**_" Mimōko/Zǐmíng snarled as everyone else in the room to gasp in shock before Indiana's eyes narrowed with rage.

Ichihara — who knew well what those tōshi who were possessed by a haōryū could be like when their anger was aroused — tried not to soil himself on realizing how close he was to having his throat ripped out. "Th-that's n-not t-true, G-great O-one…!" he sputtered in horror, stunned that this being would accuse his grandfather of THAT.

"_**MIYAMI WAS RAPED?!**_"

Everyone stared at a shuddering Indiana Jones as he glared murderously at his would-be wife's grandson. "_**Aye, Master Indiana, she was**_," the possessed Mimōko snarled as she gazed on him while keeping Ichihara suspended in mid-air. "_**At the order of her cowardly and dishonourable parents who — so filled with their false sense of**_** kokutai **_**that condemned these beautiful islands the Immortal Master once called home to near-total destruction — cared not that their daughter desired to marry you!**_" She glared once more at the shaking priest. "_**A pity for you that the Protector of All Life — who is, under the ancient laws of feudal service, also sworn to the service of the Son of Heaven as the great mistress of the School of the Stars of Heaven as she is to the service of the Daughter of the Pendragon as a flying general of the Land of the Peaceful Silence — is here in the Land of the Wa now, along with the Soul-Eater of the Dnipro.**_" As Ichihara turned sheet-white on hearing that oblique reference to Jessica Dover, Mimōko/Zǐmíng added, "_**Methinks we should feed this one — not to mention his oafish sibling, his brat children and lazy nephews — to the Soul-Eater to ensure they will NEVER plague my treasure or his accepted family ever again!**_"

"No, Zǐmíng-sama, please don't."

Eyes locked on Nodoka. "_**Why not, Mother of My Treasure?**_" her possessed future daughter-in-law asked.

A smirk. "The great alien archaeologists who came to our world and left their many artifacts at Akator — to say anything of the poor kami living within the Ark of the Covenant, not to mention the cup that bore the divine blood of the Son of Kami-sama Himself — have already judged them," Nodoka coldly stated. "And, to quote Sir Geoffrey of Monmouth many years ago, they all declared with a united voice that my relatives — save my twin sister and my nieces, of course — chose poorly." To Ichihara. "_Never_ darken my door again, _eta_!" she snarled, making him gasp in shock on hearing that vile insult delivered unto him. "I will ask Raeburn-shihan to report this immediately to the Heavenly Sovereign so that _**your**_ part of the family is forever shamed by the actions of _**your**_ filthy grandfather! Zǐmíng-sama, please kindly remove this filth from our presence!"

"_**As you desire!**_"

Shunmi was quick to get one of her office windows open so that the possessed Mimōko could throw the wailing Ichihara physically out of the building. A second later, a distant _crack!_ echoed through the open window indicative that he had struck something quite hard…and didn't weather the impact well. With that, Mimōko — her eyes now back to normal — smiled. "Excuse me, please." With a bow, she headed out.

Quickly making her way to the front doors, she went outside…then stopped on seeing five broken bodies scattered around Ranma, Kikuko, Shampoo, Ukyō and Tsueko. One of them was a man Ichihara's age who looked like a retired sumotori; the others were all teenagers around Ranma's age. "Ah! Mō-chan!" the new student leader of Nan'yō called out as Ranma's fiancée came over. "You were the one who tossed out the trash from Kōchō-sensei's office?"

A nod. "They were here to force Ranma's mother to renounce openly acknowledging Jones-hakase as her grandfather," Mimōko stated. "Turns out that…"

"These things were descent of an act of _rape_ upon the Dàshīfù's beloved back during the Greater East Asia War," Shampoo coldly declared. In her hand was her dàdāo; on seeing the blood covering that blade, Mimōko was quick to note the brutal wounds delivered to the crotches of all of Ranma's and Kikuko's downed relatives. "Your honoured friend's other-self told us already. Please excuse me for a moment while I go castrate the one you had to deal with, Sister-in-law." With that, she headed off in the direction where Saotome Ichihara had fallen.

Mimōko smirked, and then she tensed on feeling a surge of deep fear from her lover. "Hey! You okay?" she asked as she walked over to embrace Ranma.

He scowled. "I never liked rapists, Mimōko," he confessed. "Especially after I got the curse and could be transformed into a girl with water, then had to meet up with all the stupid idiots Akane had to deal with back at Fūrinkan" He then sighed. "It ain't right to blame them for what their bastard of a granddad did to Hiibā-chan…but if they're so freakin' blind when it comes to what the things Hiijii-chan found that've been killin' them over the years, I don't want nothin' to do with them."

"Which is something you've got to learn real quick," she warned. "You allowed that garbage with Hibiki and Kunō to go on because you didn't see them as serious threats to you or those you were honour-bound to protect. That's why they kept coming after you like they did; since you didn't put them down fast and hard the first time, they felt they still had a chance at defeating you. Hell, that's what happened with Shān when you were coming out of China! Look where it got you!" She then thumbed Ukyō. "What might have happened if U-chan caught up to you here, huh?!"

Ranma winced before he gazed at his former fiancée for a moment. "Well, given how incredibly beautiful U-chan is, Mimōko, I think that — if we fought and I discovered she was a girl under her gi — I might have called her 'cute' or something like that." He smirked as the okonomiyaki chef's cheeks turned a deep crimson. "As to how she'd react to it, well…" A shrug. "You better ask her about that."

A sigh. "I'd probably declare the engagement still on…which would have trapped Ran-chan in THREE legitimate engagements since he'd be probably still staying at the Tendō place." A shake of the head. "Well, as folks from the West say, 'There but with the grace of God go I.' Much that part of me would have liked to be engaged to Ran-chan, I'm pretty happy as I am now." She smiled as Tsueko hugged her from behind.

"Well…"

Eyes locked on Mimōko "What?" Ranma asked…before he blinked as images and thoughts came through their bond. "You're kidding me!"

"What, Mō-chan?!" Tsueko asked.

"Ever hear tell of a place called Mirror Mansion out in the Kiso Mountains, Sonsaku?"

The young sophomore blinked before whispered words from her magatama came to her. "The old home of the Saru family? Somewhere close to Gero?"

"The same place," Mimōko stated.

By then, Ukyō had got the same level of information thanks to her bond from Tsueko. "Um, Tsueko…is that a good idea?" she wondered.

"What are you all talking about?" a very confused Kikuko asked.

"I don't intend to share your brother with anyone, Kikuko-chan," Mimōko advised.

The youngest Hayashi sibling blinked in confusion…

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home, suppertime…

"Your witless cousins made their way to Nan'yō in an attempt to force you to renounce any blood relationship with your grandfather?!" Hiromi frostily asked.

Nodoka nodded. "Hai, Hiromi-san. The announcement made by those fine fellows at Yokota concerning the coming of Raeburn-shihan and her friends from Canada didn't sit too well with Ichihara or Ryūzuke. Ever since their father passed away in 2000, they've seen themselves as the joint heads of the Saotome Clan. Always coming by the house in Nerima to make sure I never 'strayed' from the family's 'party line'…" A snort. "In one of the few things my soon-to-be ex-husband did right, he personally put both of those louts into the hospital when he saw them try to abuse me once."

"He did do that, didn't he?" Chiaki stated with a wry chuckle.

"Wish the damned panda remembered that sort of thing when he took us out on the trip," Kanami — who had come to Tomobiki after writing her own entrance examination for a high school close to her grandmother's home in Taitō — muttered as she crossed her arms.

"Are you still going to go through with this, Ranma?"

Eyes locked on Akane. The Miyamoto sisters and Ebisu Kyoko had come to Tomobiki shortly after business was finally concluded at the Tendō home. On Monday, Miyamoto Shigeru would approach the Tōkyō Family Court to have Tendō Sōun declared mentally incompetent, thus allowing Kasumi to take formal control of the property even if she was still somewhat shy of her twentieth birthday. Of course, the property would be immediately sold to developers as soon as property taxes were dealt with and any hidden treasures — such as things Happōsai might have placed there — were taken out. The Tendō property had caught the eye of several real estate agents over the years, eliciting quite high bids for it to be sold off…which Sōun had turned down again and again even if maintaining such a large plot of land within _**Tōkyō**_ of all places nearly proved too much for the family's internal finances to support. After an initial estimate, Shigeru and Nabiki both concluded that the amount of money earned from the sale after property taxes were paid off would be enough to pay for BOTH Kasumi's and Nabiki's university education in Canada all the way to a medical degree for the former and a master's in business administration for the latter, plus leave a tidy nest-egg in case Akane and Karin wanted to attend university in Japan when they finally graduated from high school.

"There's no choice, Akane," he said before smiling as Mimōko reached over to squeeze his hand in reassurance. "Your old man never once tried to accept what's happened to you in the last couple of weeks, right? Especially with Kyoko-san there taking over your training?" At his former fiancée's nod, he shrugged. "What makes you think that Oyaji would be any different? Especially now that he's got no back-up plan to fall onto once he learns of how much Kodachi's ready to double-cross him?"

She considered that, and then she sighed. "Still, using _that_…!"

"Killin' him's too easy, Akane. Look what Hiromi did to Ōgi."

Akane blinked, and then she nodded…just as footsteps echoed from the direction of the new guest bedroom located under Ataru's expanded bedroom. "Whoo! You guys look great!" Tsueko — who had, with Ukyō and Haeko, come with Ranma, his fiancée and family to Tomobiki in a show of moral support — whooped as she walked over to give Mith Sijo and her bond-mates intensive looks. "You sure you're okay in them?!"

"I wish I could stash a Lawgiver inside this straightjacket you guys are making me wear," Sijo said as Miyu and Hama both giggled in amusement. "I wanna have a crack at Ranma's idiot old man…and I don't wanna go tiger 'cause of how he'll react."

"You won't need to," Ranma said as he walked over to gently grasp the Oni-turned-Avalonian's hands, allowing a surge of friendship and support to flood her from that contact. "Like I said, it's just like Hiromi did to Ōgi. Killing Oyaji won't really do anything to him. It'll actually make him think he's probably won."

"Indeed, he needs to suffer, Ranma-san," Hama stated as her stormy grey eyes flashed with outrage. Even if she was Oni-Urusian in form, she was Avalonian through and through. And what Ranma had endured at his father's hand was child abuse, plain and simple. The traditional punishment on Sagussa, as it was on Noukiios, for such a ghastly crime was death. Such beings didn't deserve any better; after all, there was the terrible risk of re-offending, which would only make more children suffer. And that didn't count what psychological after-effects would still haunt the abused children far into their adult lives, with possible issues arising if the abused children elected to have their own children.

But given what Ranma and his siblings had in mind now…

"He'll certainly suffer once we're done with him, Lady Hama," Hiromi stated. "Just like that witless dullard Kunō will suffer once he awakens to the fact that he cannot play at being the noble samurai anymore without hands to hold a sword."

Ranma sighed. "Narumi-chan's okay with what she did, Kasumi-san?"

"She's alright," Kasumi stated, touched by his concern for her lover. That willingness to think about the welfare of others had always been one of the many wonderfully good points about her sister's former fiancé that his father hadn't been able to beat out of him. _Thank the gods for that!_ the elder Miyamoto daughter then mused on considering that. "Since the start of basic training for her and her all friends won't be until the twenty-sixth this month, she'll have time to recover from shooting off that awful boy's hand." _And I'll be helping recover every step of the way_, she added with a secret smile of her own.

Nabiki tried not to smile herself as she sensed her sister's intentions to spend as much snuggle time with her sexy, gorgeous lover as possible before Narumi would be off to boot camp. The starting date of Sasamoto Narumi's Basic Military Qualification course at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School would be the same day that Ikusawa Kyōko's Basic Military Officer Qualification course would commence. Given that there were a total of 213 plank owners from _Haida_ who needed to undergo basic training — with ten of them being officers — before the end of the current year, the whole mass of prospective ordinary seaman and private recruits would be split into three large groups of fifty people and one group of fifty-three; the standard recruit platoon at CFLRS always was sixty at the beginning…even if various problems such as medical and psychological issues easily whittled those numbers down a lot before final graduation. The four blocks of potential recruits had scheduled start dates every Monday from the date Kasumi just indicated to ensure that all could be phased through and graduated well before the end of November. While it would give Nabiki only a week after the start of summer vacation to spend time with Kyōko on _Haida_, Kasumi — who certainly deserved a chance to start a meaningful relationship after being effectively isolated as she had been for years — would have at least _**three**_ weeks to spend with Narumi as she did a mandatory English-language proficiency test before going off to McMaster University in September.

She then blinked on feeling Karin's hand squeeze hers. Surprised by that, she gazed on Akane's twin. «We will NOT deny Onē-sama her happiness,» the reborn poet advised.

«Damn straight!» Nabiki sent back…

…just as the muffled rumble of motorcycle engines echoed through the open back door of the old guest house. A lot of the people inside the living room all tensed on sensing the auras of several powerful fighters now massing together by the west gate of the Moroboshi property, and then Hiromi hummed. "Now, whatever are you doing here, cousin?" she asked as she got up, making her way out of the guest house. Heading over to the gate, she tapped the meson crystal that controlled the powerful blood-ki wards that protected the property from outside intrusion, then opened the gates to see a small group of machines driven by members of the Kōshi Kasshi come to a stop on the street. Riding with them side-saddle were a small group of Seito tōshi, including Koro Sonami…all of whom were, much to Hiromi's complete surprise, in kimono. Still riding with the reborn Yellow Turbans was Sandi McLugh, with her new lover riding side-saddle behind her. Sandi herself was in a formal ladies' business suit, sunglasses over her eyes. As the machines were parked and people allowed to disembark, Hayashi Miiko headed over to grasp the hand of a very handsome and muscular man in traveller's clothes, a large backpack slung over his shoulders, topped with what Hiromi was quick to see was a war umbrella built in the traditional style. She then turned as Sonami came up, hand-in-hand with Katsura Tōko. "What brings all of you here to visit, cousin?"

Sonami giggled. "Well, Miiko-san told us about this omiai Ranma-san's silly father is trying to force on him with this girl from Nerima," she said as she waved to the reborn governor of Yízhōu as she waited for Koeru Kumomi to join her. "Since Ryōga-san there wandered by Seito yesterday and told us about his friendship with Ranma-san, we decided to bring him with us before he got lost." She gazed in amusement at a blushing Hibiki Ryōga. "He wanted to make sure everything went well."

Hiromi nodded as she stared in amusement at the wanderer. "Hibiki-san, we meet at last," she said with a bow. "I am Moroboshi Hiromi; welcome to our humble home. I can sense right away you're not here to restart your previous fights with Ranma-san; I believe he'll be more than pleased to see you. Do come in and make yourself at home."

A deep bow. "You are too kind to me, Moroboshi-himesama," Ryōga stated. "And while I'm sure that you may be aware of my past actions concerning Miyamoto Akane as I sought to press my feud with your guest, please know that I am now quite ashamed by what I did concerning her and have properly apologized to her for what I did."

A nod. "Well said, good sir. Do come in, please. Ladies, I hope you can make sure he doesn't get away from us before he can enjoy the entertainment."

"We fully intend to make sure of that, oh High King," Sandi said, grinning.

People laughed. Once the Seito people parted from the members of the Kōshi Kasshi who had brought them here, they headed into the guest house to join the others. Ranma was already on his feet and moving to grasp Ryōga's hand as the wanderer slipped off his shoes in the genkan. "Hey, man!" the former greeted, grinning with delight. "You're looking pretty good! Where've you been since I saw you last?!"

"I stayed at the Tendō place until your idiot father and Akane-san's idiot father tried to make me their heir," Ryōga admitted. "Just right after you met up with your mom, Akane-san and the others figured out my curse. I apologized to them — not to mention made the idiots realize I wasn't going to play along with what they wanted — then headed off on my own to do some thinking. After hearing about all the crap that panda put you through — I saw the newspaper articles and got some details from Miiko-san and her friends — I realized that while I always thought I've been through Hell, you've actually _lived_ through it!" He leaned close as he whispered, "Like the pit?"

Ranma slightly shuddered. "Yeah. Oyaji's first big bad moment of many," he then said as Ryōga nodded on seeing how fast the other man recovered from being yet again reminded of the Cat Fist. "Wait until you see what happened on Yaminokuni."

"Miiko-san and her friends told me about that. Is that girl okay?"

A smirk. "See for yourself," Ranma said as he waved to Sijo.

The Oni-turned-Avalonian starfighter pilot-turned-air cavalry officer was already giving the wanderer an appraising look as her pregnant lovers both came over to meet the newcomers. "Damn! Are all fighters on Earth like this, Red?!"

Ryōga blinked. "'Red?'"

"She wants my girl-side for herself," Ranma explained before he flashed Sijo an amused look, which she returned with a throaty purr before her lovers bopped her on the head to make her behave.

"Pity I don't share," Mimōko coldly mused as she sipped her tea.

"I ain't goin' to Mirror Mansion, Mimōko!"

Ryōga gargled. "Mirror Mansion?! Who told you about THAT creepy place?!"

"You know about it, Ryōga-kun?" Seki Haneko asked.

"My mother found the place once a couple years ago, Haneko-san," the wanderer said. "Lucky thing for her that she didn't touch the covered mirror that's in the drawing room. If she did, it would have been WAY too embarrassing!"

"We know about that place," Tariko stated as she walked over from the kitchen with a tray of snacks for people to enjoy; both she and Miyake Shinobu had volunteered themselves for snack duty as they awaited Negako finishing up preparations in the dōjō. As Ryōga nodded his thanks before taking a takoyaki ball and nibbling on it, Ataru's twin added, "People in this town are already scared enough of the idea of the 'Cancer of Tomobiki' being armed with the fighting skills he inherited from Onē-san. If you add that sort of thing to a _**totally**_ out-of-control libido…" She shook her head.

"Yeah! Your brother's already got a pretty bad rep in and around this town, Tariko-san," Ryōga stated; he had recognized Ataru's twin sister from pictures of her he had seen in his wanderings when news of her existence broke out on Earth in late February. "Hasn't anyone ever explained about what the Promise of Bunka Go-nen was all about?"

"Negako-san did give quite a detailed explanation as to what was going on the morning after she and Kyech-san cleared out the Niphentaxians from Tomobiki, Ryōga-kun," Shinobu answered. "Not to mention a very detailed demonstration on all the basic manoeuvres in Saikō Jinseijutsu, right up to the soulsword. That just scared way too many people…though I think, deep down, Shikuko-sempai's and Miyako-san's living with Ataru-kun now will scare them a lot more."

"Your parents okay with that?" Ryōga asked Tariko.

Tariko smirked. "It's Onē-san who's our legal guardian, Ryōga. Not Baka Tō-san or Baka Kā-san." She then shook her head as she took the tray into the living room. "'My daughter's such a stud'…" she muttered. "What a pair of total idiots…!"

"What did you expect from those two morons?" Haeko breathed out. "Did Negako-sama ever tell you what your mother was like when she was your own age, Tariko-chan?"

"In very lurid detail, Oba-chan," Tariko said with a smirk as she placed the tray on the table for people to get at. She then made a face that seemed a mad parody of some sort of sexy bombshell. "'It's the Age of Aquarius and mystic crystal revelations, girls! Your Goddess of Total Love needs you to worship her now!'" Back to normal. "Someone forgot to tell the stupid slut that the Age of Aquarius was back in the _**Nineteen-Sixties**_, not the early 1990s!" She then gazed on Hiromi. "Then she turns around and gets pregnant with Ataru and Kaeru right out of high school! It's a wonder to me why she never got knocked up long before that with all her other lovers! The Pill wasn't available back then even if boys could get their hands on condoms!"

The reborn emperor of the Hàn smirked. "So the Kuromoroboshi told me when I asked them about it once, Onē-san, our late grandmother — when she was in the 'let's make our baby boy happy' phase — made sure that any possible pregnancies which might have ultimately seen Otō-san marry a better woman were terminated long before they would have been noticed." A snort. "I think she later came to regret that."

"Is that something you should say about your mother and grandmother, Hiromi-san?" Nodoka asked, stunned at such vehemence being directed towards one's parents.

Hiromi gazed at her, and then she looked up towards Ataru's bedroom. "Onii-san!" she called out. "What's the count at this time?!"

"Two thousand, nine hundred and forty-nine!" he called back; he had been meditating.

"What's the count for?" Indiana Jones asked.

"The count of how many times since Onii-san took up the Promise and allowed Onē-sama's soul to be inserted into his mind — on his sixth birthday — that our witless mother has said 'I wish I never had him' or words to that effect, Jones-hakase." Hiromi then sipped her tea. "Both to his face…and behind his back. Onē-sama helped him keep count."

"Holy…!" Haneko breathed out. "That would be…!"

"An average of once every _**two days**_, Sempai," Shinobu answered.

People gaped in shock as several of the tōshi present all shuddered in outrage. "What in Heaven's name possessed you to come back here to live with them?!" Indiana then snarled.

A tired smile answered him. "Because we understand what ultimately provoked that, good sir," Hiromi stated. "If you'll recall, Onē-san mentioned that Okā-san gave birth to TWO children out of high school, not one. Onii-san's twin brother Kaeru died on the evening of New Year's when he was just three years old."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"So they turned their grief towards a lost son — when they should have been pleased beyond belief that the other son was still alive — into _**verbal abuse**_?!" Haeko snarled.

"It's actually no different than what Otō-san did to us, Oba-san."

Eyes locked on Kasumi. "What do you mean?" Sijo asked.

"Otō-san may not have been verbally abusive to any of us, Sijo-san…but he did all he could to ensure that all of us could not progress beyond the roles we were forced to assume after our mother died," the eldest Miyamoto daughter explained. "I became the home-maker. Nabiki became the breadwinner. Akane became the living symbol of his dreams to carry on the Tendō-ryū once she was forced into marrying Ranma-kun." A shake of the head. "Well, it's all over for us. I assume, Hiromi-san, the problems your parents forced on Ataru-kun is what led to the installation of the walls blocking off the northeast side of the property from the rest of the grounds. Not to mention the very powerful ki wards you have active in the walls all around the property."

"You assume correctly, Kasumi-san," Hiromi affirmed. "Okā-san is a bit of a control fanatic, even more so than most mothers who feel themselves queens of the household. If it doesn't go her way, she wants it either suppressed or be rid of. Hence the statement she made to Onii-san after he won the Tag Race last summer when Hensō-san declared they were married: 'Make sure you write home.'" As people scowled, she then smirked. "Pity that the house was turned over to Onē-sama's control in March to lift the need to pay the mortgage from Otō-san's shoulders…and that the Tōkyō Family Court had legal custody of Onii-san turned over to Onē-sama. Neither Otō-san nor his wife had any custody over Onē-san or myself." She nodded towards the upper floor of the guest house. "Okā-san was happy when Arami-chan was restored to life…but didn't like it one bit when Kanami-chan was given her life back, especially since her mother was a different person than Arami-chan's. She doesn't know yet about Yayoi-chan." She then smiled at Shinobu. "And thanks to Shinobu-san here, she won't learn that for a while."

"Well, what did you expect me to do, Hiromi-chan?" Ataru's former girlfriend asked, her voice awash with disgust over what she had witnessed on Wednesday when news of Moroboshi Kanami's rebirth got to Tomobiki. "Just stand there and allow the idiot to think she could get away with heaping abuse all over you in front of your children just because you have _three_ potential bond-mates in Miwaka-sempai, Mioko-san and Takara-chan?"

"You sure you're not a tōshi, Shinobu?" Haru Asumi then asked.

Laughter filled the room…and then people tensed on hearing footsteps echo from the direction of the dōjō, which could now be reached thanks to an internal hallway that formed an "L" shape around the old home's ground floor storage room. Everyone turned to see Negako walk into the room, with both Happōsai and Cologne riding on her shoulders. The grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū was in her normal midnight-black gi. "I do believe we will not have accidents with Jessica now. Are you prepared, Ranma?"

Ryōga shivered on hearing that cold voice. "Um, R-r-Ranma, who's th-th-that?"

"The lady who literally gave me my life back. The _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ herself, man," Ranma said with a smirk. "Now living as she always deserved to live. Yeah, we're all ready, Negako. Where's Oyaji?"

"He is about fifteen minutes away. And totally unaware that he now walks right into a trap. I would suggest we move with alacrity," Negako stated with a grin.

The others all laughed…

* * *

Minutes later…

"Oh, my! What a beautiful dōjō!"

Staring at the simple yet traditional structure behind the conjoined detached bungalows that currently served as the home of the Moroboshi family from their place at the west gate, Saotome Genma found himself nodding in appreciation at the functional design of the building that now took up much of the property of the old home that had once stood in the northwest part of this particular city block until all three neighbouring properties to the original home had been bought up in March. All that remained of the four homes was the original Moroboshi home and the house to its immediate south; the house on the southwest lot had been taken down and the grounds re-landscaped to form a simple lawn complete with a pond in the middle, three benches around it to allow people who trained here to come out and relax, meditate in this calm place for a while before returning back to practice.

"It is that," Genma noted as he, Kodachi and the Dōjō Destroyer took a chance to examine the whole property from their vantage point. All three had been quick to note a sign hung on the south frame of the west gate:

**SAIKŌ JINSEIJUTSU-RYŪ — MOROBOSHI DŌJŌ****  
**_**Those who wish to challenge any fighter here in combat MUST have their last will and testament composed and properly submitted to the appropriate Family Court to be probated before entering**_

Shuddering at he took in such a dark declaration and its implications, Ranma's father took a breath. "I suggest we go inside and see if everyone is there," he said.

"H-hai!" Kodachi — whose nerves were starting to act up again as she found herself standing right at the threshold of the sanctum sanctorum of _**Moroboshi Negako**_ herself — stated as she moved to walk through the gate and head to the dōjō itself.

Genma moved to follow…

…and then the breath caught in his throat as he finally sensed _**them**_.

"You alright, Genma-san?" the Destroyer innocently asked.

The master of the Saotome-ryū was now as white as a ghost as he felt the several nexi of pure ki now waiting within the dōjō building itself. Nexi that _**each**_ shone like the noon Sun…and had totally been invisible to him before he had fully passed through the gates into this place! If _**one**_ of them was the Black Death…?!

It…was…a…!

"_**NO!**_" he cried out as he moved to draw his ki around him to vanish under the cloak of the Umisen-ken and flee for his life. "_**DAMN YOU, BOY…!**_"

"Saotome-san."

He jerked as he turned, sensing something almost as bright as the monsters within the dōjō — and in many ways, _**very**_ familiar! — appeared _**behind**_ him. "No…!"

A silver-haired beauty with dragon-slit eyes — dressed in a very lovely kimono that was clearly designed for combat — smiled as she drew her katana.

"_**The Earth Angel did not grant you permission to leave!**_"

Kodachi calmly turned around…

…and then she moved to shield her face from the burst of air that resulted from the focused blast of know slamming into Genma's back, which nearly folded his body in half as all of his senses were overwhelmed by Koeru Kumomi's surprise attack. As the self-professed "master" of the "Saotome-ryū" blinked, he then felt his eyes lock on the young man now standing at the doorway of the dōjō, staring at him with dark blue orbs that had no life in them whatsoever. "Boy…!" he rasped before he collapsed to his knees, feeling his whole body start to go stiff as consciousness began to fade.

"Oh, honestly, _Oji-san_…!"

Genma jolted on hearing the sarcasm in Kodachi's voice as Ranma came out to gently draw a protective hand around her shoulder. Giving him a smile, she took a small folder of papers out from under her kimono sleeve to hand to him. As another chill warped through him on realizing that his would-be daughter-in-law had _**also**_ conspired against him, she then gave him a haughty laugh, the mad cackle of the Black Rose of Saint Hebereke. "Can't you do a simple thing like remember your own son's _**name**_?" Kodachi wondered.

"Indeed," the solemn voice of the Dōjō Destroyer then mused before a disgusted snort escaped him, which made Genma's heart drop to somewhere deep within his bowels as he then understood that he now had _**no one**_ on his side in this place. "It shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could NEVER claim young Ranma there as his student as he NEVER was his father in the first place! And that, more than anything else, will ensure that the _so-called_ 'Saotome-ryū' — _**which never existed in the first place!**_ — would never succeed in the long term. Now, the _**Hayashi-ryū**_, though…"

And with that, a meaty hand came down _**hard**_ to smash Genma's head into a rock. As the older martial artist finally passed out from the overwhelming pain and the shock of the betrayals he had endured now, the Dōjō Destroyer straightened himself and walked over to stand before Ranma. The two gazed into the other man's eyes for a moment, and then the man born Michiba Hatatsu shook his head, the sadness in his eyes all too apparent.

"What happened to you, Ranma-kun — and your sisters as well, especially your twin sister — was a crime truly beyond measure," he stated. "While I would have gladly done my duty to put down the false school your father stated he had founded, I would have done it with a heavy heart…hadn't fate intervened and revealed to you the truth of what was going on and the sheer level of _**lies**_ your father and his friend were forcing you, your former fiancée and her sisters to believe." He then smiled. "_**That**_, young man, is the lesson I — or my own prodigy — will desire to make sure you have learned! By being a martial artist — especially of such an esoteric school as Musabetsu Kakutō — you have elected to take up a code of conduct that gives you great leeway when it comes to dealing with threats against the peace and order of this land. But it _**also**_ imposes an equal if not greater level of _**responsibility**_ on your shoulders to ensure that what you control is used in the best way possible. When you finally gain your mastery at Watari-shima sometime in your future, you will be facing either myself or my successor to ensure that what you create with your own hands is good."

"I don't know if I'll ever properly form a dōjō when I do get my own mastery, Michiba-sensei," Ranma said. "But I _**will**_ welcome the challenge none the less."

Hearing that, the larger man laughed with delight. "That's the spirit, son!" he said as they exchanged bows. "Now, I'll leave you all be."

"Would you care to stay and watch what else happens with this fool, Sensei?" Kodachi said as she indicated the unconscious Genma with her hand.

A snort. "Thank you, Kunō no Mae, but I must regretfully decline. These damn formal kimono and hakama always make my skin break out in hives." He then nodded polite greetings to Moroboshi Negako as she walked up to the doorway to join them. "Duty also calls; there are at least a couple places I must look into that have engaged in questionable practices." The Destroyer then smiled before turning to leave. "But the entertainment was quite enjoyable none the less. Do take care of yourselves, everyone. Oyasumi nasai!"

Ranma, Kodachi and a now-human Kumomi bowed as the Dōjō Destroyer headed off, and then the Seito sophomore turned to gaze on her future brother-in-law, her eyebrow arching in amusement. "So, Ranma-san, what would you like to have done with this carcass?" she asked, indicating the unconscious Genma with a nod of her head.

"How knocked out is he?" he asked.

"If he recovers and tries to flee, his spine will be badly compromised to the same level Shānpú unleashed on you two weeks ago," Kumomi stated.

"If you wouldn't mind, Lady Kumomi, I have some things we can use to make sure this waste of male flesh behaves himself," an aged voice then offered.

Ranma smiled at Cologne, who had come up to join them. "We can't have him as a panda yet, Hiibā-chan," he warned.

An eyebrow arched. "And why not, my student?"

"'Cause we got the media coming in pretty soon!"

Cologne gasped, and then she clapped her cheeks. "Oh, dear! I have no makeup!"

Hearing that, Kodachi blinked, and then she nearly collapsed in laughter…

* * *

Minutes later…

"Wake up!"

Genma jolted as a fist smashed into the back of his head, sending him face-first into the hard wood floor at his feet. As a moan escaped him, a hand snared him by the back of his tunic and yanked him back up, revealing that his shattered glasses were now knocked askew and that his nose was badly bent thanks to the impact with the rocks outside. Sensing a ton of people — with many of them ki powerhouses, especially the two _**very**_ powerful ones in front of him — he shuddered before opening his mouth…

…and realizing he was making no noise at all. "Your larynx was disabled to prevent you from speaking, Genma," a cold, neutral woman's voice declared. "And you have been paralysed from the neck down so you cannot move any parts of your body in either an attempt to flee what will happen to you or attack anyone here. Tsueko, his spare spectacles are in the right trouser pocket. Remove the damaged pair and replace them with the good pair so he can witness what we will now do with him."

"Okay, Negako!"

Genma jolted as the glasses were removed from his face and replaced by his other pair, which cleared his vision up and allowed him to see who was there.

It was quite the crowd.

Right in front of him knelt a woman in a solid black gi, a black belt with the kanji **地** in gold at one end. Noting the similarity to the young man seated to her right just beyond Happōsai, he was quick to realise this was the Black Death herself, Moroboshi Negako. Standing behind both the Black Death and Happōsai was Genma's own mother. To Negako's immediate left was the so-called "grandmaster" of the Tensei-ryū and the last student of the Immortal Master, Dean Raeburn, dressed in a simple aikidō-gi, that infernal alien necklace which gave this gaijin monster the power of a major kami visible around her neck. Behind her was one of the Canadian's friends from World War Two — Genma had seen pictures of this woman before, but couldn't recall her name…though he could sense that her total ki power equalled the Black Death's easily! — who was dressed like her old co-worker. Between that woman and Hayashi Chiaki was a raven-haired tomboy with runes on her face and a tiger-striped bandanna wrapped around her hair, dressed in a black gi like the current grandmaster of this dōjō.

To Raeburn's left was a very old, dwarfish woman dressed in Chinese robes, a large wooden cane supercharged with ki in one hand. Beside her was Moroboshi Hiromi, the spiritual leader of all tōshi. Seated in a row in front of her were three women in beautiful kimono, all of whom were tōshi — with one bursting with the power of a dragon, no different than what Mago Katahiko had felt like to Genma years before — and all of whom now glared at him with looks of total disgust. Off to his right were Tendō Sōun's daughters — including a clone of Akane with a green magatama hanging off her ear — along with several other tōshi, including the silver-haired bitch that had ultimately turned Akane against her father. Also standing there was an American woman in a formal lady's business suit whose ki levels were just as great as the Black Death's, she now with an arm wrapped around one of Hibiki Ryōga's. Kuonji Ukyō was also here today; she was now holding the hand of Mago Haeko's bimbo daughter. Kunō Kodachi herself sat in front of Raeburn, directly facing Ranma. Nodoka was to the boy's right while Sebone Mimōko was to his left, the latter warmly holding his hand. Much to Genma's frustration, both of the girl's eyes were uncovered and human-looking even if he could sense the dragon power still inside her; as to what might have happened, he just didn't know.

If the presence of the damned gaijin that had literally _stolen_ the leadership of the Tensei-ryū back in 1937 and one of her friends wasn't bad enough, Indiana Jones himself was now kneeling to Nodoka's left, seated between her and Happōsai. Nodoka's would-be lover herself was seated behind Genma's wife. Now separating Ranma from Kodachi was a covered body lying on the floor. Behind the boy were his so-called "sisters," each with a female companion…including the dragon-possessed silver-haired bitch that had nearly crippled him minutes earlier. And to his immediate left were three Oni women, all in formal kimono, two quite visibly pregnant.

"Asumi," Negako then called out.

One of the two girls flanking the dragon-possessed bitch with the glasses off to the Black Death's left perked. "Hai, Negako-sama?"

"The television news crew just arrived. Escort them in."

Hearing the words "television news crew," Genma's face turned a ghostly white as the girl rose and headed outside. She soon brought in two people, one a female news reporter, the other a male cameraman, the markings of the local NHK station all on their clothes and equipment. As they slipped off their shoes and formally bowed to the dōjō spirit, the reporter then smiled. "We came as soon as you called us, Negako-sama."

"You have my thanks for responding so quickly to my request, Momoko," Negako stated as she nodded greetings to Sakurayama Momoko, and then she gazed on Momoko's cameraman. "Tamoichi, set your camera at the corner of the room where Hama is sitting right at this moment." She pointed. "That will give you the best possible angle."

"Hai, Negako-sama!" Kanetaka Tamoichi said with a smile, and then he headed over as he drew out the pouch containing the stand for his camera.

As Momoko drew out her microphone, she then blinked on noticing the racial details of the three women now seated by her camera. "You're all Oni!"

"Actually, they are all Oni-form Avalonians, Momoko," Negako stated. "Thus, they are not subject to Ataru's edict concerning that race. The young lady in the middle was born as Oni-Urusian, but she was forced to become Avalonian due to a rather dangerous after-effect of a martial arts training form one of my guests was forced to ensure when he was seven years old." She indicated Ranma with a hand. "You will see the full results of that training in a few minutes when Tamoichi has his equipment prepared."

Momoko nodded, and then she hummed as she walked over to gaze intently at Ranma for a moment before she gasped. "You're Hayashi Ranma, aren't you?" she asked.

He looked over, and then he nodded, giving her a smile that made her blush. "Yeah! You're the local news reporter for NHK here in Tōkyō, right?"

"Hai! I saw that advertisement your grandmother put out in the newspapers last Friday." She then turned to gaze on the unmoving man she had walked by when she had come inside. "I would assume this is Saotome Genma, right?"

"That is correct, Momoko-san," Chiaki declared. "Although I'm please to note that my daughter-in-law will soon begin the process of seeing him properly removed from the Saotome family _koseki_ as soon as the lawyers can persuade the family judge in Tōkyō to render such a verdict." She then lightly smiled at Genma…but such an expression didn't have any sort of humour in it. "Which will ensure that if you refuse your wife's request for divorce out of some desire to gain vengeance over her for finally accepting what sort of monster you are, Genma, Nodoka will _**still**_ have the power to remove you from my family. That — since I refuse to allow you the right to take up the Hayashi name once again — will make you the first _true_ rōnin since the Meiji Restoration, I believe. How truly unfortunate for you, Genma."

Genma gaped wide-eyed at her, and then he turned to start screaming — again without noise — at Ranma. The latter simply ignored him, gazing fondly at Mimōko, which was making the raven-haired tōshi blush as he squeezed her hand. Noting he was being ignored, Genma then tried to surge ki through his body to break the locks on his limbs so he could lunge over to attack his son. Nothing worked, which made many of the people there watching this all laugh at his frantic actions. "Stop wasting energy, ye daft moron!" the American woman holding Ryōga's hand then snarled. "You can't move, you can't speak…and, oh! The parts of your brain where you memorized your Sen-ken forms have been destroyed!" As Genma's head snapped over as he stared wide-eyed at her, she smirked. "That means you can't sneak away and you can't use vacuum blades to try to kill any one of us. If you did, I'm sure those of us packing Lawgivers will be glad to shoot you down…_**like the rabid dog you are**_!" she snarled, eyes aglow.

"To say anything of what I'd allow my friend to do to your _soul_," Dean coldly added.

The bespectacled tōshi behind Kodachi gazed on the Protector of All Life and her friend, eyes glowing. "_**I only pray that you don't suffer a stomachache when you consume this creature's soul, Bright Lady,**_" she declared in a rumbling voice that made Genma's bowels nearly let go as he then recalled THAT specific detail about that woman.

That woman's blue eyes turned into twin pools of black trimmed in dark crimson fire. "_**Regretfully, friend Zhāoliè, he's nothing more than a selfish fool!**_" she declared in an echoing voice that sounded like a cold Arctic wind, which made many in the dōjō shiver in horror. "_**Because of his pettiness, he would not provide me a good meal.**_"

"_**A pity, indeed.**_"

Genma turned a very sickly grey as that dire threat sank in, and then he turned back to continue to try to scream at Ranma…who still ignored him…

* * *

Watching him from her position behind Mimōko, Shampoo hummed before she turned to Kanami, who sat behind Ranma. "Sister-in-law, what is he trying to say?"

"He's yapping 'Boy!' all the time," Ranma's twin said as she felt Tariko gently squeeze her shoulders. "Which is to be expected since he rarely if _**ever**_ called us by name!"

"Which proves very much that the swine was _**never**_ Onii-sama's or Onē-sama's father in spirit…but just an abusive, selfish monster that cared not for anything save his stomach, much less his wallet," Miiko added. "What a terrible pity that he never learned of the quite large _**inheritance**_ that Ojii-sama left Onii-sama in his will."

"How big was it again, Mii-chan?" Kanami asked as Genma gaped at them.

"Oh, at least nine figures in Japanese currency, I believe."

"Pity you weren't around when you lost your granddad, Ranma," Ryōga mused as a look of surprise crossed Genma's face, and then he began to grin as he considered what all that money meant. "He sounds like a hell of a lot better father than the one you were stuck with until your grandma came in to get you away from the bastard finally."

"Yeah. Pity Oyaji's _**never**_ going to see _**any**_ of that money at all," Ranma noted.

"So what will you do with all that money?" Mimōko asked as Genma paled on hearing his son's vow, and then he started to silently scream once more at him.

"Well, I gotta split it with my sisters, of course; they deserve their share, too," he answered. "After that…I guess I'm gonna need to ask you for advice on that when the time comes. After all, you're one of the smartest girls around, so you should be able to figure something out that could do a lot of good."

Many of the tōshi nodded in appreciation as Mimōko's cheeks instantly flared to the **Don't Point That at MY Planet!** stage. "Ranma…!"

Laughter echoed through the room, and then Ranma jolted on seeing pained tears glistening in the eyes of the woman now seated across from him. Sensing Kodachi about to break down and cry, he flustered. "Oh, damn…! I'm sorry, 'Dachi…!"

She shook her head. "No, Ranma-sama, don't apologize." A pained breath escaped her before she wryly smiled. "I had hoped that when your grandmother removed all the other would-be contenders for your hand in marriage, I would have a clear field ahead of me to claim your heart." A shrug. "Obviously I was too slow to react. And while I now know I deserve to have lost — if I say I _**do**_ care for you, why didn't I immediately respond after your sister-in-law struck you down? — I must ask this." Her eyes focused on Mimōko before she looked at Ranma. "Why her, Ranma-sama? Why a tōshi?"

"Why not her?" Ranma asked, and then he sighed. "Look, 'Dachi, I sure as hell aren't the world's greatest…" A self-depreciating smirk then crossed his face. "Hell! I'm actually the world's _**worst**_ person when it comes to saying something that don't hurt someone — just ask Akane! — but…" A shrug. "Why not her?"

As Akane blushed on noting that — despite their no longer being engaged — Ranma cared for her opinions…even if her opinions were in error, Kodachi waved at Mimōko. "Aren't you aware of what her fate could be?! I can sense she is a good person deep down, but she is _Ryomō Shimei_!" She then waved to Seki Haneko. "There sits _Kan'u Unchō_! You've read the _Romance_, haven't you?! You _**know**_ what might happen between them! Do you wish to weep over Mimōko-san's _**grave**_?!"

Silence fell as Kodachi lowered her head and began to cry…and then she jolted on feeling a hand warmly squeeze her shoulder. She turned to see Haneko now kneeling beside her, a light smile on the Seito senior's face. As Kodachi gazed at her, Haneko then turned to stare at Hiromi. "You chose very well, Majesty."

"I thank you for that kind observation, Unchō-dono," Hiromi stated, which made Kodachi blush. "Kodachi-san, your love for Ranma-san shines like a star to all of us. But you paused when you heard of his grave injury at the Lady Shānpú's hands. Mimōko-san did not pause. Supported as she was by her own noble cousin — one of Ranma-san's trauma doctors that were there for him — she took the chance and gained his love and respect. If you were like that, I am sure he would have asked for your hand in marriage without hesitation, especially since you were so willing this day to help see to it this beast…" — she nodded towards the still silently-yapping Genma — "…would never gain any advantage over his son's life. You are a lovely woman. And I am sure there is someone out there who would gladly take his or her chance with you, especially now that your brother is presently facing the consequences of his actions against Miyamoto Akane and you will at last be free from any potential threat from that quarter."

She then smiled as Kodachi gaped in surprise at her. "What Ranma-san needs now, Kodachi-san, are _friends_. People who are willing to help a lonely young man — one who was deliberately _**isolated**_ from all human contact for over a _**decade**_ in hopes of turning him into a mindless killing machine that would serve a lazy father that has always believed the world owes him for all the suffering he has endured! — adjust to being in civilization again. He is lost in a world you and I accept as normal. Mimōko-san is as much his friend as she is a potential future wife. Others will enter his life to try to be his friends now. Can you be such a friend, Kodachi-san? You are a martial artist, which automatically gains his respect. You understand far more than he does of the pain of losing your parents, so you share something already with him. And you can teach him about the society he was separated from for so long. He will, in fact, spend the next _**month**_ as a woman as that is a requirement the noble Elder Nǚ Kělún requested of him for her to observe her noble clan's laws when it comes to teaching outsiders the ways of the Nǚjiézú." She waved to Shampoo's great-grandmother in emphasis. "Surely, my friend, you can guess what _**that**_ will mean." A smirk. "Especially at the end?"

As Genma paled on hearing that his son was actually going to spend a _**month**_ as a weak GIRL of all things, Kodachi blinked, and then she stared wide-eyed at Ranma. "You're prepared to do _**that**_?!" As he nodded, she giggled before gazing on Nodoka. "I do believe, Oba-sama, that will _**definitely**_ qualify your son to be a 'man above men!'"

Nodoka looked confused. "I don't understand, young lady."

"Why, Oba-sama, it's quite simple! If any man is willing to endure a 'crash-course' (so to speak) on what being a woman is about in body — especially to _**that**_ particular point in our monthly lives! — then your son will certainly make Mimōko-san the happiest woman in all of the world!" Kodachi explained. "He will know deep in his heart what a woman goes through every month, month after month, as she lives her life. He will be there to comfort her when she requires it, let her be when she desires some solitude and he will support her in ways that I sincerely doubt ANY man will be able to equal! Would _**that**_ not qualify Ranma-sama to be a 'man above men' in that case?!"

As Genma rapidly shook his head, Nodoka considered that, and then she hummed before gazing at Mimōko. "What would you say to that sort of comment, Mimōko-chan?"

"We'll see if he — or pardon me, _she_! — survives it!" the Nan'yō senior said as she picked up a glass of water and dumped it over Ranma's head to transform him.

Ranma sighed as she adjusted the aikidō-gi she was wearing; since the chances had been very good that she would have had her curse triggered at this meeting, it had been chosen because of how easy it was to adjust it in comparison to a man's dress kimono. "Hai."

Kodachi laughed. "There! He's already being trained!"

Almost everyone in the room laughed. "My dear child, there _**must**_ be some Nǚjiézú ancestry in your background somewhere if you can think of something like _that_!" Cologne then stated before she took a deep of her pipe. "So tell me, young lady," she then mused as she gazed on Sakurayama Momoko, who was now standing beside the working camera as Kanetaka Tamoichi trained it on the elder warrior from Qīnghǎi. "After you read that missive in the papers last week about this waste of flesh's actions against his own blood…" — she contemptuously waved her hand towards Genma, which made him pale as the camera trained on him — "…do you believe he deserves any chance at all to be allowed back into his son's life? To try to influence him away from the new path he's chosen for himself? To try to pull him away from someone who cares for him and is willing to help him mature as he deserves to mature? To _**steal**_ from him?"

Momoko sighed. "No, he doesn't. But since he clearly doesn't care a bit for what has been done _**legally**_ against him, what can we do? The laws don't cover something of _this_ nature, I think. And even if it did, what would be an effective punishment?" She gazed on Happōsai. "Much that I hate to say this to you, Sensei, you _**did**_ train this man twenty years ago to be a dangerous martial artist. Would a normal prison hold such a man? Isn't it _**your**_ ultimate responsibility to do something about this?"

A nod. "You are quite right, my dear. So, if you'll excuse me…"

And then he _moved_!

"Whoa…!" Sandi McLugh breathed out.

"Um, Ojii-san, what did you just do?" Koro Sonami then asked.

Happōsai cackled as he walked away from the now-prostrate Genma, who was silently moaning as the smell of burnt mugwort herb filled the dōjō. "That, my dear, is called the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion," he declared. "Watch this." With that, he pulled out a stone brick from nowhere and then placed it on Genma's head. Everyone watched as the face of Ranma's father contorted in horrible pain, even though said brick was only several pounds. "As of now, even lifting a carton of milk will take _**all**_ his strength."

"Or actually _**no**_ strength," Mimōko amended.

"Indeed! And what's even more, I possess the _**only**_ copy of the only way to remove the effects of the moxibustion from his body," Happōsai said as he pulled out a folded sheet of yellow paper, opening it to show the chart diagram needed to perform the necessary shiatsu needed to forever remove such a crippling effect from the human body. Of course, he didn't show any of it to Genma before he pulled out a long match and lit it up. "Oh, dear!" he sarcastically whined as he allowed it to burn up right in front of Genma's face, which made him silently scream out. "It's gone, now…!"

"Would you care to add to that, Kělún?" Negako asked.

"Indeed I shall," the Nǚjiézú elder said as she stepped up to join her would-have-been husband in front of the paralysed Genma. Reaching over to brush the brick off the man's head — which made Genma break out in tears of relief — she moved to poise herself beside him. "I think we'll do _**this**_!" she said as her staff lashed out.

Happōsai winced. "Oooh! Nasty one, Cologne-chan!"

"As I stated to our joint student earlier, Happy, we have many ways of making sure those cursed by Zhòuquán-xiāng do not become a nuisance," Cologne stated. "What you have just endured, male, is the activation of the Full-Body Cat's Tongue shiatsu point." She gazed over to the cup of tea sitting beside Sijo's wife. "My dear Miyu, will you please splash the rest of that tea over the male's head? I'm sure more can be made for you."

The Oni-form Avalonian blinked, and then she nodded. "Of course, Elder Mother," she said as she stood, taking up the cup and then dropping the contents on Genma.

The effect is instantaneous; Genma turned an ashen grey as a silent wail of near-mortal agony escaped his lips. "Ah, I see," Sandi then stated. "You made the bloody idiot's whole _body_ as sensitive as the tongue of a cat's, right?"

"Quite correct, Lady Alexandra," Cologne said with a smile. "With that — given that this useless male _**is**_ cursed by the spring of Xióngmāonìquán! — sooner or later, he will revert to being a panda again! But when he tries to transform back, exposure even to a _**drop**_ of even _**lukewarm**_ water will be sheer AGONY for him!"

On hearing that, Genma turned totally grey before he shuddered, and then screamed out silently at Ranma. Looking at him, everyone was quick to interpret what he was saying, even if no noise was escaping his lips: "_**BOY! HOW DARE YOU JUST**_ **SIT **_**THERE WITH THAT POSSESSED FLOOZY AND ALLOW YOUR POOR, SUFFERING FATHER TO ENDURE THIS?! COME HERE AND HELP ME NOW! YOUR DUTY IS TO**_** ME**_**, NOT TO THE LETCH OR THE OLD CRONE OR YOUR STUPID HALF-GAIJIN MOTHER OR THAT TŌSHI! HELP ME, BOY! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?! LOOK THIS WAY, BOY! BOY! BOY! LOOK HERE, BOY! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY…!**_"

"What a pathetic jerk!" Tamoichi spat out.

Genma jolted, and then he shuddered as he tried to focus some ki into making his body move once more. He was then stopped as a voice said, "It gets worse."

Eyes turned to Ranma as she rose. "How so, Ranma-kun?" Momoko asked.

The redhead sighed, and then she walked over to offer her hand to Mith Sijo. The Oni-turned-Avalonian allowed her to let her stand, and then she walked her over to kneel down on the floor to Kodachi's right front. "We asked you guys to come here to make sure that whatever Obaba did last Friday when it came to Oyaji always stays in people's minds," Ranma stated as she gazed on Momoko. "There's always a chance that he'll find some way to overcome what Jijii and Hiibā-chan just did to him. And he won't give a damn whatsoever about what Ofukuro and Obaba do with the _koseki_ and all that. After all, what does Oyaji care about the laws of society?! He feels himself _**above**_ such things!" People were quick to sense the ki in her body begin to surge as her voice took on a haunted, growing aspect that made some of those around her shiver in fear. "But let me ask you all this: Would you trust a man that gladly took a seven year-old boy, cover him in fish paste and meat, then dump him into a pit of starving c-c-c-CATS to teach him how to do _**THIS**_?!" With that, she pulled the blanket covering the body lying on the floor away to expose the mutilated corpse underneath.

Momoko cried out and Nodoka fainted on seeing that ghastly sight, though most of the others in the room barely winced on seeing Sijo's shredded old body. As Mimōko and Indiana moved to help Ranma's mother recover, Ranma sighed as she stood, holding Sijo's hand as she rose to allow the redhead to give her an embrace. "When we were on Yaminokuni, Sijo-chan here was marooned in a place called the Dead Grove. She was fighting us on the side of the Urusian Imperials, but she had very honourable reasons for doing that; that's the reason she's been allowed to live here on Earth. We faced off in the Grove. Sijo's a shape-changer; she can transform herself into a t-t-t-tiger! And she did it in front of me." A deep breath. "Because I was dumped into that pit _**twenty times**_ when Oyaji tried to 'teach' me that so-called 'invincible technique,' I become a c-c-c-cat in my mind when I'm in close range to one of them for any long time! And since Sijo was fighting for what she saw then as an honourable cause, she kept at me, provoking me while I begged her to run away…" She then knelt down to take the blanket and drape the corpse with it again. "Until this happened." A sigh. "If those girls from Manitoba didn't show up in time, not only would Sijo-chan have bled out from what I did to her, I would have — by extension — killed Miyu-chan and Hama-chan because they're bonded soul-to-soul…" A sniff. "And their kids, too!"

Momoko grimly nodded as Ranma turned to gaze at Genma, who had been staring wide-eyed at the shrouded corpse. "And while he may look shocked now, _**it's all a damn lie**_," she then added, which made him jolt as he stared at her. "He knows he's on _live_ television now, so he's trying to show that _**he's**_ the victim here. Being picked on by very nasty tōshi, evil old sensei, a disloyal wife and a disrespectful child. Well, what about all the girls he engaged me to? What about all the places he stole food and supplies from, making sure that when they came to collect, they'd come looking for me since it was 'Saotome Ranma' that was said to have done all the stealing? What about the bar bills in Saotome Ranma's name when I wasn't anywhere close to being old enough to drink alcohol?" She waved to Ryōga and Akane, and then indicated Kodachi. "And what about people like Ryōga and Kodachi and Akane, who were also victims because he never taught me how to behave like a normal person. What about folks back in my old high school class in Nerima, who wanted to be my friends…but never could ever _**truly**_ be my friends since I didn't really understand what being a 'normal' kid was about?" She turned to Nodoka, who was now sitting up and being comforted by Mimōko. "And what about my mom? Who was tricked into agreeing to let her only child be taken from her when I was just barely able to walk? Who never heard a damned _**thing**_ for over a decade, save for the odd postcard?! And became so lonely and desperate to see her baby again that she believed that her only hope to get me back was to adhere to what her husband had vowed he would do if he failed to make her son a 'man above men'…even if it meant becoming my kaishaku-nin if she found out I didn't meet that standard?"

Momoko gave her a sympathetic look. "Do you want him to die?"

Ranma blinked, and then she shook her head as she gazed on Momoko. "No. He's not worthy of seppuku like he promised Ofukuro ten years ago. He's not worthy of being allowed to live in polite society. Hell, he's not even worthy of being put into a zoo with all the captive pandas there!" She then blinked on hearing Kodachi laugh out. "Was that what you wanted to do with him, 'Dachi?" she asked as she looked over.

A nod. "Admittedly, yes, Ranma-sama." She then sighed as she gazed in disgust at the shrouded corpse before her; seeing _that_ had unnerved her greatly as she had no real idea that the man she cared for had endured something as ghastly as the Neko-ken training. "But after seeing what happened to poor Sijo-san, I believe no _civilized_ panda would tolerate such a filthy beast's presence."

"So let's place him with the wild beasts in Sìchuān!"

People gazed on Shampoo, and then nods touched the heads of many there. "That, my dear Lady Shānpú — to borrow Shigi-dono's eloquent words — is truly righteous," Hiromi then said. As most of the tōshi laughed, the reborn emperor pulled out her cell phone and tapped a control, her eyes fixed on Genma. "Now, be taken from this place, Genma. Go knowing your child will never trust you — your words, your actions, _**anything**_ about you — ever again. And _never_ darken this noble land again with your presence. _Yamato_, execute!"

He silently screamed as a materialiser beam whisked him away. "A befitting end to his kind, indeed," Kodachi then stated as she rose. "Moroboshi no Mae, we must speak again about items of mutual interest at a more convenient time. I will send my servant to speak to you when I am ready to hear what you wish to offer." She then gazed on Ranma before walking over to kiss her on the cheek. "You are stronger than I ever could be, Ranma-sama." A glance to Mimōko, and then she sighed. "Do take care of him, Mimōko-san. You truly have a prize that I would suggest you do not let go of. Oyasumi nasai."

She bowed before walking out of the dōjō. "Will she be okay?" Akane asked, stunned that the woman she had once viewed as totally insane had behaved like _that_.

"She'll be fine, Akane-san," Mimōko said as she walked over to stand beside Ranma. "She's got good people watching out for her." She slipped her arm around her lover's, and then walked her out of the dōjō, heading for the guest room under Ataru's bedroom so they could be alone and away from the rest of the crowds as Ranma recovered from today's events.

Even if she had just totally rejected her father in a public forum, it still hurt.

"I love you," Ranma whispered.

Mimōko smiled. "I know…"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Shushun Kōi** (**Aka Shunmi**) is the current incarnation of **Zhū Jùn** (149-195 C.E.), a politician in the latter years of the Hàn Dynasty. In _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, he was attributed to having performed certain deeds which he did not do in real life…though what he did in real life was quite impressive none the less; he was one of the many leaders who rallied to support the central government during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, earning the rank of Flying General — the commander-in-chief of all cavalry — under the overall command of Hé Jìn. He was also a close friend to Sūn Jiān and was the person who sponsored the Tiger of Jiāngdōng for a high post to the imperial government. In this life, Shunmi was a close friend to both Sonken Bundai (Mago Katahiko) and Goei (Kureru [_later_ Mago] Haeko), not to mention Saotome Nodoka.

2) Translations: **Kannushi** — Literally "master of kami," this is the name applied to the person responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of a Shintō shrine; **Dnipro** — Ukrainian spelling of the name of the **River Dnieper** which rises near Smolensk in Russia, then flows through the heart of Belarus and the Ukraine before entering the Black Sea; **Takoyaki** — A popular Japanese snack which is composed of octopus flesh, tempura scraps, pickled ginger and green onion, all cooked in a wheat flour-based batter like chicken balls are prepared in Chinese sweet-and-sour chicken.

3) The first versions of **Saotome Ichihara** and his brother **Ryūzuke** — though given a different family name at the time — appeared in _Lonely Souls_, as did the first version of their father, **Saotome Isao**.

4) The concept of **Kokutai** (literally "national structure") is a rather controversial one these days in Japan. First introduced in the Tokugawa period (1603-1868) as a way of enforcing a sense of national pride on the Japanese people in the wake of both the end of the Warring States period and the threatening encroachment of the Western powers, the term _kokutai_ was meant to make people believe in a national order of things with the Heavenly Sovereign at the apex of the social pyramid, with all the people living in the country at the time having an assigned place in the pecking order. This concept was updated after the Meiji Restoration in 1868 effectively transformed the national government as the leaders of Japan strove to force the nation to catch up to Europe and America technologically. Here, _kokutai_ was made to literally represent "rule by the Heavenly Sovereign," thus extorting the people to hold the Son of Heaven as the sole source-point of national sovereignty. All had to be done to support the maintenance of _kokutai_ in the eyes of the Meiji reformers; to do anything else was seen as an act of **Lèse Majesté** (literally meaning "wounded majesty"), thus treasonous against the nation. This would ultimately stifle any sort of democratic discourse, thus allowing the militarists to literally hijack the national agenda in the 1930s and plunge Japan into World War Two. After the surrender in 1945, the emphasis on _kokutai_ was eradicated as a way of ensuring such militarist nationalism could never rise again in the nation.

5) The term **Daughter of the Pendragon** implies **Queen Elizabeth II** (born 1926) in her place as the Sovereign of the United Kingdom and the other nations of the Commonwealth; this implies she is the spiritual inheritor of the legendary king **Arthur Pendragon** (the family name comes from a Welsh term that literally means "chief dragon").

As an aside, the term **Land of the Peaceful Silence** is a poetic nickname I came up with for Canada as using the term "Great White North" — which was made famous in the comedy television series _Second City Television (SCTV)_ which ran from 1976-84, always in the filler sketch of the same name that was hosted by **Bob and Doug McKenzie** (as played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas) — didn't have the gravitas which might be employed by a haōryū like Zǐmíng.

6) **Mirror Mansion** and what lies inside was first introduced in the _Ranma_ manga story "Two Ranmas" (manga episode #367); the actual site of the mansion itself is my creation. The **Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion** was first introduced in the story "The Legendary Moxibustion of Evil" (manga episode #125). And the **Full-Body Cat's Tongue** technique was first introduced in the story "Cat's Tongue Got You?" (manga episode #45).

7) The **Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School** (**CFLRS**) is the combined basic training and leadership training institution for the whole of the Canadian Forces. Located at **Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu** (about fifty kilometres southeast of Montréal), CFLRS was first formed at Unification in 1968 as **l'École de Recrues des Forces Canadiennes Saint-Jean** (**ERFC Saint-Jean**, literally "Canadian Forces Recruit School Saint-Jean"), the French-language basic training academy for non-officers and the counterpart of the English-language **Canadian Forces Recruit School Cornwallis** (**CFRS Cornwallis**) in the town of the same name in Nova Scotia; this is where I went for basic training in the winter of 1985-86. When CFRS Cornwallis was closed down in 1994, all basic training was amalgamated at ERFC Saint-Jean. Officer training — which had been conducted at the **Canadian Forces Officer Candidate School** (**CFOCS**) in Chilliwack, just east of Vancouver in British Columbia — was shifted over to Saint-Jean in 1996, thus forcing ELFC/CFRS to assume its present title and role as the basic training institution for ALL new recruits in the Canadian Forces, officers and non-officers alike.

8) Tariko's quoting her mother when she was a teenager is a nod to one of my first attempts at a lemon fanfic, the ASFR-influenced _The Galatea Syndrome_, which I wrote back in 1997. It can be found at the Legacy of Timeless Beauty Archive.

9) The idea of actually freezing Ranma in place as a girl so she could be better accepted amongst the Nǚjiézú and receive special training by Cologne has been a particular plot point in several fanfic stories I've read over the years. One of them is the funny _Girl Days_ by **Kenko** at this website; it's marked as one of my favourites. It's from that story that I got the idea of having Ranma remain locked as a girl until she experiences menarche; given how he was raised with such a male-centric worldview, hitting him with _**that**_ has always been a question many fanfic writers often explore. Another story that explores this idea is the storyline _Coupled Union - Tick Tock_ at the Anime Addventure, which is one of **Kwakerjak**'s more prominent story-lines there.


	64. The Chains of the Past Are Broken

Once they were gone, everyone else in the dōjō relaxed as Momoko motioned to have the camera stopped, and then she proceeded to take things outside so she could conclude her story and return to the studio. Ranma had lied when she had said that the taping was done live; no doubt, the newscast depicting the fall of Saotome Genma would appear on a Sunday talk show. Nodoka took a deep breath as she rose, and then she turned to follow some of the crowd into the living room. She was quiet as people went in, simply listening to the others chatting away as they discussed what just happened. Ranma's mother said nothing; she was just glad it was all over save for the paperwork she would have to file with the Nerima ward office on Monday. Even if Genma was now stuck in the mountains of Sìchuān — no doubt having fallen into some river or spring to become a panda — there still was the stain of his presence in her family's _koseki_. That had to be removed so that — if, on the barest chance that Genma somehow DID get back to Japan — there could be no chance at all for him to use the Saotome name again…

…but would it matter given how dishonoured the Saotome name itself was?

"You alright?"

She perked on hearing that tired voice, and then she turned to see Chiaki standing now by the picture windows on the west side of the living room. "Haya-…!" she began before sighing. "Was it as painful for you when you did that years ago, Okā-sama?"

Her mother-in-law nodded, her eyes twinkling in amusement on hearing the younger woman call her "mother." "Yes, it was. Even more so." She then held out a folded piece of paper for Nodoka to take. "I would dispose of that if I were you."

The younger woman blinked on seeing what paper that was, and then she nodded as she took her copy of the seppuku agreement back and then slipped it under the obi of her kimono. She would destroy it at first opportunity, not even bothering to tell Ranma about it. With that, she moved to take a seat in the living room as Chiaki went into the kitchen to talk with Tariko and Shinobu, who were now preparing tea and snacks as everyone allowed themselves to wind down before heading home. Her grandfather soon joined her. "So, magomusume-chan, what do you intend to do now?" Indiana asked.

"Live with Haeko, of course," she stated as her cheeks reddened slightly on hearing him address her as "granddaughter" yet again. "Try to come back together with my son…not to mention come together with the daughters Fate handed me." As he chuckled — Nodoka was aware of the circumstances concerning how her grandfather had learned of his own son through his eventual wife, Marian Ravenwood, in 1957 — she shrugged. "I don't know if I should keep the Saotome name, though. Now that I know…"

He hummed. "Have you ever been outside the country?"

Nodoka shook her head. "No." She then blinked. "Ojii-sama, I don't…!"

"Summer vacation's starting next week," Indiana stated. "I'm sure that our gracious host would allow us the chance to use the materialiser to travel back to the States." He nodded to Hiromi, who was now meeting up with her lovers in the foyer close to the old guest house kitchen; all three of them were now holding their sleeping daughters in their arms as Hiromi's reborn parents from her first life came down from upstairs. "Sure beats flying on a Gulfstream across the Pacific," he added as Chiaki headed over to meet with Koro Chōmi and Tadasu Takemi. "We'll even invite Haeko, her daughter and Ukyō if they want to come. You've got cousins who've wanted to meet you for some time." As she gaped at him, he smirked. "Much that I was hurt because of what your grandmother's relatives did, I had friends here in Japan keep an eye on you all. We'll invite Hisayo and her family, too. Make it one big Jones Clan get-together."

His granddaughter hummed. "'Nodoka Jones?'" To Haeko, who had sat down beside her lover while she had been talking to Indiana. "What do you think?"

"Well, it's either that or 'Hayashi Nodoka,'" Tsueko's mother mused.

"What's this?"

Everyone turned as Dean came up to sit down beside her fellow Medal of Honour winner, with Jessica Dover relaxing against the wall nearby. "Nodoka's trying to decide what to do now that she knows about how she got cousins in the first place," the American archaeologist explained. "Does she take my name or her mother-in-law's? I'm telling her to hold off until she's had a chance to meet her relatives in the States."

The Canadian air cavalry officer hummed, and then she snapped her fingers…

…as a flash of energy transformed Nodoka's kimono into the usual field uniform her grandfather wore when he was exploring lost places: Khaki button shirt over darker khaki slacks, pouch slung over the shoulder with a leather strap that was similar to the old British gas mask carrying bag that Indiana once used as a small cargo bag, wound bullwhip hooked to the belt on her right hip and a barnstormer's leather jacket similar to the A-2 pilot's jacket worn during World War Two. Nodoka blinked before she looked down at herself, and then she got up to take a detailed look at herself. All the people in the living room stopped to gaze on Ranma's mother, which instantly made her blush. Noting that, Mago Tsueko was quick to let out a whistle of admiration. "Oba-chan, that really looks sharp on you!" she declared with a thumbs-up.

Nodoka's cheeks turned a deep red as the others in the room laughed…

* * *

"Won't you spend some time with him, Kanami-chan?"

Kanami blinked, her eyes wet with tears as she watched what was going on in the living room through the west-side windows from the dōjō doorway, and then she shook her head. "Not yet, Sensei. There's loads of time available we can do that," she mused as she turned to gaze on Happōsai, who was relaxing with Negako, Kaga, Ataru and Cologne in the dōjō enjoying evening tea, along with Miiko, Kumomi, Kikuko and Shampoo. "Yes, he's my great-grandfather. Hearing about all the stuff he's done, I'm honoured to be related to him. But…" She gazed at the scene inside the living room once more. "Okā-chan needs him more right now. She's lived a life full of lies for so damned long, she needs help in trying to accept the truth since she feels so lost now."

"Well, if Oba-chan helped Okā-chan get her life back by making her an Avalonian, we could do that with Hiijii-chan and Hiibā-chan here, too," Kikuko mused.

Happōsai and Cologne blinked, and then they shook their heads. "No, child, that won't be necessary," the latter said as she closed her eyes. "While I won't speak for Happy here, I have lived a good and long life. I have no need to start a whole new life as your sister, the Emperor, her Empresses and all their fellow noble spirits of the Sānguó have been forced to do over the last eighteen hundred years." She sighed. "I believe I'll live long enough to see our first colony established on a world under another star before going to be with the Mother Goddess. When that happens, I will be happy to embrace my next great adventure, knowing our tribe will be safe at last."

"Besides, the bioroid factory only can create girls," the grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū added. "I don't want to undergo a sex-change."

Laughter filled the room from almost everyone there save Negako…though the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū had smiled at her friend's comment. Happōsai took a gentle puff on the herbal solution in his pipe, and then he gazed on Kaga. "Atop that, with Tamami-chan back on her feet again thanks to Negako-chan, I could easily adopt her as my daughter while I help her adjust to being fully human at last."

"I think she'll like that," the Angel of Destruction stated with a nod.

"Speaking of future space colonies, what do you know of the negotiations with the Seifukusu? I read about that once in the papers," Kumomi then asked Ataru.

He smirked. "As slow as a snail, Kumomi-san." A sigh before he noticed the curious looks on some of the other people's faces. "While we were all on Okusei, we learned that the Seifukusu Dominion — they've been seen as the local cluster's 'rogue state,' to quote that moron Bush, for centuries by all the peoples in the Galactic Federation — own thirty star systems to our galactic west and southwest. It's run by a council of fifty high princes — it's called the Magate Round as a group; they're the patriarchs of all the Noble Families of Dominos, the Seifukusu home world — who ALL have to agree on something like surrendering territory they've claimed for over a thousand years to another power, even a power that will be fundamentally neutral to them." A shrug. "I hope the Men In Black tell 'em about what just happened on Yaminokuni; it might actually be the thing to convince the Round that we're serious and we have the capability of being a big roadblock to anyone who'd want to attack them."

"But since it's led by _men_, it'll probably take _**years**_ to move them!"

Eyes locked on Happōsai. "You're being the cynic today, Happy," Cologne noted.

A sigh. "Cologne-chan, there are times — and I felt this even when I was cursed by those damned priests over a century ago when I tried to help Negako-chan here — that I think you and the others of the Nǚjiézú were right all along when you decided all those years ago to let women run the show instead of men!" the grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū said as he gave her a tired look. "These boys sound like they're more concerned about their self-image before their subjects rather than seeing it rationally and understanding that tightening their border in that area of space will save them loads of money in the long term. While you were off having fun on Yaminokuni going after Sijo-chan's pals, Negako-chan let me take a look at what Hiromi-chan hopes to do if the Seifukusu finally see reason. The colonies on those planets we need are not much bigger than your village is these days! The military garrisons are all throw-away troops! Hell, we could _**conquer**_ the whole damned lot in a cakewalk with just the ships Tsukihana and Ayami-chan built, never mind the new ships that the Avalonians are building now!" A shake of the head. "This planet is getting way too overcrowded. We need colonies _**now**_! It's nice that the Neptunians are helping prep Mars, but that won't be enough! We need defence in depth. Hell, the _Neptunians_ need defence in depth, too; we share this solar system with them…so we have to be partners even if they're part of the Galactic Federation! We can't have it since most of the habitable planets around us are claimed by other people. I doubt the Noukiites would surrender their frontier worlds; there's just too many people living there to move them elsewhere! The Ipraedies sure won't do anything like that with the planets that are close to us even if ones close to us are practically empty! So that leaves what the Seifukusu have!"

"What about these Ipraedies, Ataru-kun?" Kumomi then wondered. "They're the ones who kidnapped people like Tsukihana-kun and Ayami-chan — not to mention your own back-door neighbour, I believe — over the years to prepare for an invasion of Earth. It was because of that plot that the Urusians launched their tag race last summer."

A nod. "Yeah, them!" A smirk. "Right now, they're led by this decrepit old geezer named Schwartz; he's their emperor…but to borrow Hiromi's words for it, he certainly does NOT possess the Mandate of Heaven." As the others nodded, he added, "His potential successor is a nice guy named Schwartzkoff. He's friends with a lot of people, including Lum, Ran-chan, Benten-san and Oyuki-sama. Like Ojii-san just said right now, the five solar systems the Ipraedies own closest to us are practically empty even if they all have Earth-like planets on them; the Ipraedies just don't have the population base to colonize them. So hopefully when Schwartzkoff takes the throne, we could approach them to make an offer for those worlds. Like the Seifukusu, the Ipraedies are spending way too much money in maintaining the necessary defensive measures that keep those systems under their control." A sigh. "But there are the conservatives — who are also unbelievably racist, too! — on Ipraedos as well. They won't like it if 'pale skins' are allowed to take control of solar systems their 'great race' currently call their own…even if doing such would geographically split the Galactic Federation right in half." He shook his head as he sipped his own tea, and then he perked on hearing footsteps approach from the living room.

People turned to look…and then Happōsai whistled in awe on seeing Nodoka now in a version of her grandfather's field clothes. "You look hot, Nodoka-chan!" he leered as an admiring wolf-whistle escaped Ataru, thus making her blush right to her toes.

Ranma's mother giggled. "Well, this IS the first time I've ever worn slacks!" She then sighed. "We just ran out of ginseng tea, so I'm going to get some."

"When you step out, head right and go up two blocks to the Family Mart, Oba-san," Ataru said as he pointed to the northwest. "They've got it in stock."

"Dōmo." She then saucily grinned as she knelt behind him, drawing her arms around his neck. "Ne, Ataru-kun, am I a very sexy woman?" she mewed playfully.

He laughed. "I can tell you're bonded to Tsueko-chan's mom, Oba-chan!" he said as he gave her a rakish look. "And I have to admit I would be seriously tempted by such a vision of loveliness. Your bond-mate's a very lucky woman." He then winked. "And I will also say this, Oba-chan: When YOU play the sexy lady, you do it with class and sass! When Baka Kā-san did it when she was my age, she was just being a moron!"

Nodoka preened as Happōsai roared with laughter and the others all grinned, even Negako. "I will say that Shikuko-chan and Miyako-chan are both very lucky people," Ranma's mother then stated before she rose to head outside, slipping on her sandals at the entrance before racing off to the local convenience store.

Ataru smirked as he sipped his tea. "'MILF?'" Happōsai wondered, his eyebrow arching.

"The term's too lewd, Ojii-san," the Terran tag race champion stated, earning him an understanding nod from the aged grandmaster. "I'd say 'MILD.'"

"What does that mean, Ataru-kun?" Kikuko wondered.

"'Mothers I'd Like to Date,'" he translated. "I won't mention the other term as it's just too crude to mention in polite company…eh?!" he then tensed.

"«_**SHĀNPÚ, MY LOVE! I'VE FOUND YOU AT LAST!**_»"

Shampoo gasped. "Oh, no! That's Mùsī!"

* * *

Just beyond the west gate…

Nodoka gasped in fright on hearing that lust-filled cry in Mandarin, and then she found herself suddenly wrapped up by a heavy chain. She blinked as she turned to gaze upon the person who had now captured her, noting he was a very passionate — and admittedly, quite handsome — man her son's age, possessing long black hair and dark brown eyes, dressed now in a flowing white robe with coke-bottle glasses perched over his forehead, as he moved to tightly embrace her. Footfalls then echoed from behind her as people came out of both the house and the dōjō to see what was going on. "Why, Nodoka-chan!" Haeko declared with a whoop of delight on seeing who her lover was now with. "What a handsome young stud you've just caught! Well done! Well done!"

Hearing that cheerful voice, Liào Mùsī jolted, and then he pulled away as he lowered his glasses to gaze on the person he had captured with his battle chains. On seeing Nodoka up close, he then screamed out in fright. "«_**AAAAAAH! AN OLD WITCH!**_»"

_KK-KRANG!_ "«_**THAT'S MY LOVER YOU JUST INSULTED, BOY!**_»" Haeko shrilled.

_KK-KRACK-SNAP!_ "«_**AND MY GRANDDAUGHTER, TOO!**_»" Indiana snarled.

Mousse moaned after being smashed into a telephone pole thanks to the archaeologist's handy five-metre bullwhip atop Nodoka's girlfriend smashing in his head with a sledgehammer. As the dazed weapons-master tried to pick himself up, Nodoka turned to stare at Haeko and her grandfather. "Why did you two just do that?!" she demanded.

"He called you 'an old witch!'" both of them replied, and then they jolted as they looked on each other before they laughed in embarrassment.

"So who IS this jerk that just decided to get his bones crushed for insulting my mom like that?!" a new voice then snarled from somewhere to Nodoka's right.

Everyone turned to see a shuddering Ranma standing there, her body now aglow with ki as she cracked her knuckles. Mimōko, who was now slipping on her fighting gloves — and looking quite annoyed at having her wonderful nookie time with her lover interrupted by this fool — then sighed. "Obviously, he must be Mùsī, Ranma!" the latter noted.

Ranma blinked, and then she turned to stare at Shampoo as the latter came up, hand-in-hand with Kikuko. "Hey, Shan! Is _**this**_ the honourless jerk that's been stalking you like the Blue Blunder liked to go after Akane all the time?!"

"'Honourless'…?" a voice then snarled in slightly-accented Japanese. "Funny hearing that from a worthless foreigner like YOU, _**Saotome Ranma**_!"

Ranma turned as Mousse got up and moved to poise himself, a smirk crossing the latter's face. "Oh, poor, widdle baby!" she then moaned, which made Mousse jolt as she approached him, hands on her hips as she stared in unveiled contempt at the weapons-master. "Can't stand the fact that the lady he has wet dreams about every damned day — the same lady he's _**disrespected for years since he refuses to listen to a damned word she says about him!**_ — is now married to my sister! Awwww, too bad!"

He growled. "Let's hear you say that…_**WHEN I FREEZE YOU AS A GIRL FOREVER!**_"

People gasped as Mousse pulled out a bottle marked with three Chinese characters, uncorking it as he moved to fling the contents at Ranma.

"_**RANMA, LOOK OUT!**_"

Ranma gasped as a black-and-orange blur slammed into her, knocking her clear.

"_**RYŌGA-SAN!**_" Kikuko screamed out…

…as the shower of Niángnìquán water came down on Hibiki Ryōga's head!

"_**GOT YOU**_…huh?!" Mousse gasped…

…as a sputtering red-haired woman in Ryōga's clothes landed on her butt as the people around them all gasped in horror on seeing what had just happened. As the weapons-master blinked on realizing that his attempt at destroying Ranma's life by forever freezing her as a girl failed, he then tensed on sensing an explosion of hot ki from the dark-haired woman that had been standing beside his target. Looking up, he then blanched on seeing her normal blue-green eyes turn into golden dragon-slits.

"_**That…was a mistake!**_" Mimōko/Zǐmíng snarled.

As people quickly backed away, Mousse waved his hands. "No, please…!"

"_**YOU ATTACKED MY TREASURE!**_" the possessed Nan'yō senior then roared as she charged…

* * *

Minutes later…

"_**WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?! WHERE'S MIMŌKO?!**_"

"Shikuko, do not shout. You are distracting me. Mimōko is recovering."

Having just teleported into the Moroboshi Dōjō thanks to Chìtùmǎ, Sebone Shikuko blinked on noting that Negako was currently examining a very pretty yet well-built red-haired tomboy with brown eyes, a tiger-striped bandanna wrapped around her head, now wearing an orange traveller's shirt and black pants. Noting the dazed look on the poor girl's face, the Rakuyō senior blinked, and then she turned to see her cousin now in the lap of her boyfriend — as a boy — at one corner of the room, she being comforted as he held her quite close to him. A gaze around also revealed a sad-looking Koro Sonami, with a stern Seki Haneko — with Reienkyo in hand and at the ready — standing behind her near one entrance to the dōjō. And in another corner, there was a critically wounded man in white robes, tied down by chains and looking almost as bad as what had happened to Mith Sijo thanks to Ranma's cat-self, now being guarded by Shampoo, who had her dàdāo out, a murderous look etched into her face. Taking a deep breath, Shikuko allowed the Hōten-gageki to rest on her shoulder as she walked over. "What the hell happened here?" she asked Shampoo as she thumbed the wounded Mousse.

The Nǚjiézú warrior-maiden snorted. "The stupid male here was a man who always wanted to marry me," she stated as she gazed on Shikuko. "He didn't like hearing what had happened to me when I came here chasing Brother-in-law, so — _**ignoring**_ the fact that Brother-in-law is _**also**_ the great-grandson of Professor Jones — he came here with a casket of Niángnìquán water in hopes of freezing him as a girl forever." She then gazed on the transformed Hibiki Ryōga. "Brother-in-law's friend there pushed him clear and took the curse himself. The Lady Negako's trying to determine how that will affect him since he was also cursed by the Hēitúnnìquán when he travelled to Zhòuquán-xiāng some months ago." She shook her head. "Poor man…to be _**double-cursed**_…!"

"He…shouldn't have…interfered…!"

"_**BE SILENT!**_" Shampoo snapped as she smashed the flat of her blade on the side of Mousse's head, which knocked him out. "Stupid Mùsī!"

"What's going to happen to him…?"

Eyes locked on Ryōga, who had muttered out that question before Sonami reached over to gently squeeze her shoulder in a show of sympathy. That made the transformed wanderer blush slightly. "The standard punishment for the improper use of waters from Zhòuquán-xiāng in an attempt to permanently freeze someone in a cursed body is to face the springs and be subjected to a curse themselves," Negako noted. "_Not_ with the waters of the Niángnìquán, as that spring is often viewed as blessed by the Mother Goddess of the Nǚjiézú. Mùsī will be deported back to China and made to face his grandmother, who is one of Kělún's peers on the high council of their tribe. And considering the fact that Ranma is also Henry's great-grandson, there is _**that**_ to factor into whatever final decision of punishment will be made by Kělún and her peers."

Ryōga nodded. "So how do I get rid of this extra curse…?"

"You cannot," Negako affirmed. "However, I can do _**this**_…"

A soulsword erupted from the grandmaster's hand, which made Sonami scream out as she was pulled clear of the deadly weapon's range by Haneko. Before Ryōga could ask what was going on, Negako made a simple cross-cut with it, thus allowing a bubble of ki — which soon formed into a quasi-representation of P-chan — to emerge from the wanderer's body before it faded into nothingness. Negako then dispersed the soulsword as she moved to tap several points on Ryōga's body. "There. You will have to remain in your female body for the next twelve hours to allow the energy of the Hēitúnnìquán curse to fully dissipate from you. I cannot use the soulsword again to remove the Niángnìquán curse, though. Once someone is touched by Zhòuquán-xiāng, the only _**true**_ cure for its touch is to locate a person of the opposite sex to mate with, thus allowing the cycle of death to be complete with the gestation of new life." As Ryōga blinked in confusion at her rather complex and scientific explanation to what she had to do, Negako took a deep breath. "You need to get married and have a child with your wife."

"What if I changed back into a man now?"

Negako sighed. "Then the energy of the Hēitúnnìquán curse — which needs time to fully disperse now that I have used the soulsword to 'clear the path' and allow the energy of the Niángnìquán curse to fully integrate itself into your body — will return full force. There is a very high probability in that case that you will be forced to endure _**three**_ transformations at different water temperatures. From male to female and then to piglet and back again. And you will endure _double_ the amount of incidents where you will be forced to assume a cursed body, just as what happens to any other victim of Zhòuquán-xiāng until such time as he or she helps parent a child." She then took a deep breath. "There is also the possibility that the curse energies will _**merge**_, thus creating a 'mixed curse' situation. Thus, you could be made to transform into an anthropomorphic porcine, either as an adult or as a child. A female one at that."

"In other words, you'd become a living pig-girl," Sonami explained.

Hearing that, Ryōga paled. "No, thanks…I'll stay a normal girl."

"A wise decision," Negako noted.

"You okay, man?" Ranma asked.

Ryōga stared at her former rival, and then she sighed. "Well, it's a lot easier to take than what I did when I was first cursed and nearly got eaten by the panda and that guide over at Jusenkyō," she admitted. "I just hope I don't get hit on by some berk like Kunō did to you." She then blinked. "And how the hell am I supposed to get a girlfriend when I've got my direction curse?! I can't walk ten metres without finding myself across the country or even across the damned whole _**planet**_!"

"It is not a curse, Ryōga."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Wh-what…?!" the transformed wanderer sputtered.

Negako smiled. "What you and the members of your family possess, Ryōga, is the ability to mentally link into the very ley lines of the Earth itself, thus giving you the ability to literally teleport yourselves anywhere on Earth if you so desire." As Ryōga's jaw dropped in shocked disbelief and everyone else gazed at her, the ninjutsu grandmaster added, "Did you believe the Donn Cúailnge was able to teleport yourself, Alexandra _**and**_ Alexandra's motorcycle from outside her home in the Bronx to where Sumiko and her friends were camped out on Cape Sunosaki two months ago?" She shook her head. "No. A phoenix's power is considerable, but it is limited in some ways, especially when it concerns the _**mass**_ of moving objects via teleportation. What the Donn did was use his powers to subconsciously make you use _**your**_ powers to bring _**both**_ Alexandra _**and**_ her motorcycle to Japan so she could be here when she was required. And since it was quite easy for an entity such as the Donn to do that, it is also possible…"

"For me to learn how to master that power myself!" Ryōga gasped, and then her eyes glistened with tears as she began to shudder. "I won't be lost anymore…"

"And you will — once you are properly instructed on the means to control your gift — be able to locate your parents and instruct them on how to master their own gifts," Negako stated as she stood. "Your sister will assist you in that matter."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Um…I don't have a sister…" Ryōga protested, and then she scratched the top of her head. "Well…at least I think I don't…"

Negako turned away before she gazed over her shoulder. "At this time, you do not have a sister. In twelve hours, that will be changed," she declared before waving to Ranma. "Enquire with Ranma as to how he acquired a sister in Kikuko. However, note that in _**your**_ case, your sister's maturing spirit requires a chance to be properly influenced by the Niángnìquán curse energy, which is another reason you must remain as a woman for the next twelve hours. In the meantime, I will prepare tea that will allow you to regain some sense of emotional equilibrium and enjoy a good night's rest. I will have Asumi come here from the kitchen so you may have some company."

Sonami and Haneko blinked. "Why Asumi, Negako-san?" the former asked.

Negako smiled. "When Ryōga was brought into the dōjō in the wake of Mùsī inflicting the Niángnìquán water on him, she endured what you two endured with Tōko and Alexandra upon your acquiring your new bodies aboard _Arizona_. Excuse me."

And with that, she walked out of the dōjō. As Shampoo and Shikuko both grinned and Sonami and Haneko exchanged shocked looks, Ryōga blinked a few times before she turned to stare wide-eyed at Ranma. "Um, Ranma…what did she mean by all that?"

Ranma sighed. "Well, man, it's kinda like this…!"

* * *

The Moroboshi home, Sunday 11 July, early morning…

"Ohayō, Ryōga! How are you feeling right now?!"

Ryōga perked on hearing that cheery voice, and then she turned to see Haru Asumi standing at the doorway to the guest bedroom on the ground floor of the old guest home which they had shared overnight, after Negako had given the transformed wanderer some tea mixed with a sedative that would allow her to sleep, plus give the ninjutsu grandmaster the chance to examine her ki pathways. The Seito freshman was in a tank-top atop a stylish pair of form-fitting jeans; Ryōga was quick to recognise that the fabric was of a very stretchable mix of polyester/cotton that would make sure the crotch didn't get ripped in half during a high kick and give someone a cheap thrill.

Noting that, the transformed wanderer then blushed as she felt a slight surge of anger arc through her at the thought of _this_ beautiful yet tomboyish girl being so publicly embarrassed like _that_! She then blinked as Asumi walked in, knelt before her and gently leaned in to kiss her, which made Ryōga's eyes go very wide for a moment before the sincerity of the other woman's actions made her relax as she drew Asumi into her lap and hugged her. Of course, Asumi was _**not**_ going to refuse that; Ryōga was quick to sense the smile tugging her lips as their tongues played with each other.

Finally, reluctantly, they parted to gaze into the other person's eyes. "How are you feeling?" Asumi then repeated as she gave the other woman a worried look. "I mean…I know you're really kinda scared about this happening to us, but…" She shook her head. "When I fully saw you after Ranma picked you up after you got splashed and changed, I…" Her voice then caught in her throat as her cheeks reddened, and then she breathed out. "Whoo! You know, I'm really glad Hiromi arranged to do this for all of us, but getting used to _**this**_ is gonna take me a while!"

"You're not the only person feeling that way," Ryōga advised.

A nod. "Yeah, I guess I can understand that. So how're you feeling?"

The transformed wanderer sighed. "Well, I'm kinda starting to get used to what this body means. I…" A sigh. "I'm used to dealing with cold water changing me. It's nice — well, it _**will be**_ nice! — that I won't wind up becoming a piglet anymore, but it's still kinda bothers me when I change into something I'm not!" Ryōga then chuckled. "Then again, why am I complaining?! Ranma has to go through this! So do all the other people that've gone into that valley and got cursed!" She then pulled up her hands — which really shocked her given how slender they were despite the obviously muscle development in them — to gaze at them before she returned them to rest on Asumi's hips, which made her smile. "Still, like I said, it is nice to be a girl now instead of a piglet." She then paused before bowing her head. "Um, you know…"

"'Bout the whole 'P-chan' thing?" Asumi asked, and then she nodded. "Yeah, I do. If you had pulled that on me, I would've done way worse than slap you. I may not have the Jōhachi-dabō like Haneko's got the Reienkyo and Shikuko's got the Hōten-gageki, but I could have hurt you really bad if I wanted to." She then took a deep breath as the transformed wanderer shuddered at the reference to the famous spear once welded by Zhāng Fēi, the Zhàngbā Shémáo. "But then again, I have to keep in mind something else about you. You've been forced to wander on your own almost ever since you were old enough to walk on your own. Where the heck were your dad and mom to teach you these things?! If you were lucky, you got to see them maybe once per _**year**_! Ranma had least both his parents up until he got taken away from home, and then it was just his dad even if all the life lessons he learned all got pretty badly screwed up! Who was there to teach _**you**_ about these things, huh? You had to learn it all on your own. In a lot of ways, you're the toughest person I've _**ever**_ met in _**all**_ my lifetimes, Ryōga! You've survived shit that would've broken many a lesser person!" She leaned over to gently place her forehead against her companion's. "And I want to know that person. I'm _**compelled**_ now to know that person. Right now, I so desperately want you to take my clothes off and touch me everywhere on my body, make love to me and make me a woman!" As Ryōga's cheeks flared deep red on hearing something like that from the other woman, Asumi then took a deep breath. "And I gotta really slow myself down…!"

"Um…w-well…" Ryōga stammered before her eyes then started to tear as she lowered her head. "No one's ever _**said**_ anything like that to me before…!"

"Which could have become quite unfortunate."

Both blinked, and then turned to see Negako standing at the doorway to the guest room. "Negako-san!" Ryōga gasped, and then she gaped as a very shaggy dog with mixed white-and-black fur — a dog that was noticeably pregnant with puppies — walked up to stand beside the ninjutsu grandmaster. On seeing the only element of her family that was NOT affected by the direction curse, the wanderer then gaped. "Shirokuro…?!"

Negako gazed down at the Hibiki family pet, who sensed the gaze of the strange yet very nice human that had come for her to bring her once more to her beloved pack-mate, yipping once in thanks for what she had done. "Given that it has been quite some time since you have been together with any of your family members, Ryōga — and given the current state of Shirokuro's pregnancy — I believed it would be best that you spend time with her. Yoiko's body has been prepared and currently awaits the remaining time that is required for the energy of the Hēitúnnìquán curse to fully vacate your body so that — once her soul is allowed to transfer to her own body — she will be totally under the influence of the Niángnìquán curse and be a woman in her heart and soul. _**Do**_ avoid hot water until I summon you to the living room for the _tre'cha_."

And with that, she walked away as Shirokuro yipped again and scampered into the room, moving a little slower than normal given the extra mass she was caring, as she came up to sniff Ryōga for a moment before yelping in delight and moving to lick her. Watching her transformed boyfriend get a facial from the dog, Asumi laughed…

* * *

Later…

"Welcome to the world, Yoiko-chan. Dōzo!"

"Arigatō, Nē-chama!" Hibiki Yoiko — the name had (much to Ryōga's shock) been actually chosen by Ranma, though Tariko had been asked for her input so that the kanji for the name ("Yoiko" literally meant "good child") would not be offensive — took a breath, and then she sniffed back the tears in her eyes as she took the offered milkshake Sonami had just created in hand before she gently slurped it up through the straw.

"Do it slowly, young lady," Cologne then advised as she watched the newest member of the Hibiki Clan of Shigama begin her first meal. "Your new body has been in a non-templated state for quite some time. Too much will shock your stomach and give you quite the tummy-ache. You don't want to spend your first day of life throwing up!"

Yoiko giggled cutely — she had a bit of a lolicon voice, which Negako had described as natural given that her spirit (which had originated in a spring where a very young animal had died) was that of a child despite the teenage body she had now; it would eventually mature with time — as she shook her head, and then she turned back to gently slurping her milkshake. As everyone relaxed in the living room with some wine cream cake the leader of Seito had brought with her to celebrate the literal birth of the sister to her oath-sibling's new boyfriend, Shampoo — who had remained in Tomobiki with Kikuko, who didn't want to miss a moment of Yoiko's birth given their shared origin as living spirits that had been trapped within the waters of Zhòuquán-xiāng — took the chance to gently feel Shirokuro's bloated stomach, not putting too much pressure in the dog's flesh as it could threaten the unborn puppies within; she had been taught from childhood how to deal with animal husbandry issues, especially the birth of newborns. "Hmmmm…Shirokuro's litter will come soon. How is it she has been able to survive at your family home if neither you nor your parents are there?"

"Well, our neighbours, the Yamadera family, know all about the direction curse, so they're glad to make sure Shirokuro-chan's fed and watered, not to mention living in a clean doghouse," Ryōga — back to being male and glad of it — then said before he sipped his own milkshake, which was downright heavenly; while Asumi was a pretty okay cook, Sonami was an artist when it came to sweets…according to both Asumi and Haneko; Katsura Tōko and Sandi McLugh were also present. "We pay them by finding all sorts of exotic things to give to them; they're just your normal retired salary man and his wife, so they don't get out much from their hometown since the children moved away."

"Yeah, I remember that back from middle school," Ranma noted. "Mrs. Yamadera was always asking questions about all the places I had visited on the trip with Oyaji. She was a pretty hard lady; almost like Obaba in a way. Oyaji was scared of her."

"Speaking of which, where exactly in Sìchuān did you drop the moron?" Ryōga asked.

"The Emperor had the male placed in the Jiǔzhàigōu, a valley in northern Sìchuān, young man," the Nǚjiézú elder answered. "He is not the first one to have experienced the touch of the Xióngmāonìquán ever since it was formed. Many others — all people like that waste of flesh that raised you, Ranma — have also fallen in that specific spring and eventually made their way to Jiǔzhàigōu." She then hummed. "Let me ask you something. Take the time to consider it: _**Why**_ were you cursed by the Niángnìquán?"

Ranma snorted. "That's easy. I was a sexist jerk that was made to believe by Oyaji for the longest time that women were weak and had no use other than to be mothers and run the home." She then sighed. "And I apologize to every woman in this house for saying something as rude as that, especially with how skilled you all are in the Art."

Laughter. "No need to apologize. But I must confess, that was a rather blunt statement. We _**will**_ have to work on your tact over the next month, Ranma. Much that I'm sure the Lady Mimōko will tolerate much from you, she clearly has her limits as she so nicely demonstrated yesterday with that twit Mùsī." Cologne then took a deep breath before she stared at Ryōga. "And what you, young man? Why the Hēitúnnìquán?"

The wanderer hummed. "I really can't answer that, Elder…"

A hand went up. "I can!"

Eyes locked on Yoiko. "Alright, my dear! Help your brother," Cologne bade.

Ryōga's new sister giggled. "Well, it's quite easy! Onii-chama — because he's lived out on his own almost his whole life — has never learned how to really control himself, especially in a fight. He never learned how to properly clean up after himself since he was forced by his power away from any potential battle scene before he could have done something like that. And being out along in the wilderness for so long doesn't really teach one good manners." She then stared at him. "Remember what you did to Akane-san when you finally got the chance to fight Ranma-niichama?"

He considered that, and then he sighed. "Right. Make a mess and don't bother to clean it up after it's all done. I can see that now." He then crossed his arms. "Genma is pretty easy to figure out. Despite all the travelling he did when he was taking Ranma on the training trip, when I saw him back when we were in middle school, he never did any cooking or anything of the sort to help support himself or Ranma while they were staying in town so Ranma could go to school. Ranma that did all of that. Genma's lazy! He wanted Ranma married to Akane-san so that he and his pal could enjoy their comfy 'retirement' while Ranma and Akane-san did all the work running their dōjō!"

"Excellent," Cologne stated, and then she sighed as she gazed once more on Ranma. "And look what might have happened hadn't Shān crippled you like that two weeks ago." She took a deep breath. "Say you actually succeeded in revealing to her your being touched by the Niángnìquán without her killing or severely injuring you or young Akane. That would have caused a very huge conflict in her concerning what she was sent out to do. She had to fulfill the Kiss of Death on your female-self…and _**also**_ fulfill the Kiss of Marriage on your male self. She would have had simply no choice but to return to the village for new instructions. And since she _**did**_ invoke the Kiss of Death at the tournament, she would have been seen as having failed her task. That means she would have to face Zhòuquán-xiāng. What might have happened if she, when she was being punished, fell into the Māonìquán, the Spring of Drowned Cat?" She was quick to sense that Ranma was consciously trying to keep the shivers down on her saying that word. "And if she came back here to pursue your hand in marriage?" A shake of the head. "That would have been one very ugly roadblock in her trying to win your heart given your ailurophobia, Ranma. Perhaps so far as to make her desire to win your heart ultimately impossible to achieve, especially with the pressures of you dealing with your other fiancées since our laws wouldn't recognize such honour obligations…especially given that it was your witless father that instigated them." She then sighed. "The Fates are truly strange at times. You were crippled at Shān's hand. Had you _**not**_ been sent to a hospital where young Tariko worked as a nursing assistant and where the Lady Mimōko's noble cousin Lord Kazua works now to learn the ways of being a doctor, I now find myself shuddering at what _**might**_ have happened to you!"

"Yeah," Ryōga breathed out as he gazed at Ranma. "Especially with your mom and how she viewed that seppuku contract at that time. Would either your grandmother or your great-grandfather have been contacted if she marched in, declared you 'unmanly' and disowned you? Who would have helped you at that time? Would the hospital staff have done something if you'd been abandoned? Would they have alerted the police to all this? What about Shampoo? She was still trying to claim you as her 'Àirén!' What would she have done if she learned of your curse _**that**_ way?" A shudder. "Damn…!"

"While it's a good mental training exercise to contemplate that — since it teaches people how to better predict things in the future — it's best to not think TOO much about those sorts of things," Mimōko noted. "After all, what might have happened if Ataru-kun _**never**_ found Hiromi's magatama? Or had Negako put into his mind? Or actually live with a fully intact soul and not suffered from a split-personality between himself and Tariko?" A shake of the head. "This is the universe where we have to live in. We have to not let ourselves be weighed down by 'what might have been.' That's in the past and we have the future to think about, all of us." She then turned to tap her transformed lover on the nose with that, which made Ranma jolt. "Okay?"

The younger woman nodded. "Hai!"

Chuckles. "But what of the extra souls Zhòuquán-xiāng inflicted on Ranma and Ryōga, Elder?" Haneko asked. "The souls that became Kikuko and Yoiko at the end? Did Genma not receive an extra soul when he fell into the Xióngmāonìquán?"

"He did not, Haneko," Negako answered. "The underlying spirit of Zhòuquán-xiāng is most often reluctant to release the souls captured within its springs when people or animals die there. But at certain times, a potential victim comes along that is quite mentally compatible — for whatever reason — to the soul of whichever spring implants a curse on said victim. In Ranma's and Ryōga's cases, they were compatible, thus they were able to receive new sisters in Kikuko and Yoiko. Genma was not, so he will not have to worry about sharing his mind with the soul of the panda that had drowned all those centuries ago in the Xióngmāonìquán as he contemplates what his flawed decisions throughout his life ultimately unleashed during his time in Jiǔzhàigōu."

People looked at her. "You mean that awful man might come back?" Yoiko gasped.

"The possibility is there," Negako stated. "Genma, despite his many emotional deficiencies, is a very resourceful man. One cannot, after all, truly enjoy a life of luxury without building up the necessary support structures to ensure such a life can be sustained. He might find his way out of Jiǔzhàigōu and even out of China itself to return eventually to Japan. Would he seek out Ranma anew?" A shake of the head. "At this time, I doubt it. What Ranma said after she revealed Sijo's original body — about how Genma seemed not to care ultimately about what the training in the Neko-ken unleashed on his own child — hurt him in a way that he has never been hurt before, even after enduring all of Happy's more radical training lessons. Even if he still felt that he had been robbed of all that he believed was his…truly for the first time in his life, Genma was made to finally realise he had long ago lost something he could never regain: The love and trust of his child." A nod. "I will monitor him for the next while. I do not believe he will be hurt or killed even after enduring the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion. As Kělún just said now, there are other Xióngmāonìquán victims in Jiǔzhàigōu; the climate of that location is quite pleasant and since it is a nature preserve that is heavily monitored by the Chinese government, Genma would not have to fear being hunted down for his pelt or anything of that nature as happens elsewhere with other animal species."

"So he might finally learn his lesson, you mean," Ranma mused.

"There is that possibility."

Considering that, the transformed martial artist then sighed. "Well, that's good. Much that I hated all the things Oyaji did to me, I never wanted him dead."

"And that proves you are no monster, if that is what you fear now," Cologne then stated. "You are a young person who has come to realise that he must seize his destiny with his own hands and make a life for himself. You are doing that at this time, with support of family, your lover and many new friends." A shrug. "Perhaps Genma might, if he does ever come back to seek you out once again, realise that it is ultimately a good thing. Perhaps he will learn something." She smiled. "I doubt it, though."

"Oh, speaking of idiots that needed to learn lessons, what about Mousse?" Ryōga then asked. "I didn't see him anywhere on the property after I work up."

The Nǚjiézú elder's eyes narrowed. "That male has been returned to the village and the care of his grandmother, Liào Lǚoé. From what she told me when I spoke to her last night via communications relayed through _Yamato_ and _Zhèng Hé_, the boy was stripped of his warrior support status and then taken to Zhòuquán-xiāng for punishment." A cackle escaped the old woman. "He was thrown right into the Yāzǐnìquán, the Spring of Drowned Duck." She then nodded as if in approval. "His curse was frozen and he will be caged for some time to force him to contemplate what he has done and could have done. I doubt he'll be much of a problem in the future; the boy may be a master at Hidden Weapons, but Lǚoé knows all his tricks and she is quite good at creating traps that will keep him restrained, much less prevent him from seeking out a chance to return to human form, then fleeing the village to try to harass Shān and her wife anew."

Ranma and Kikuko both nodded. "That's good," the former said. "Hiibā-chan, would you please tell Elder Aloe — and I apologize if I mispronounced her name — that I'm sorry that she's forced to do this to her own grandson. Much that I can't help but think of him as a stalker at the same level as Kunō Tatewaki was concerning Akane and my girl-side, I can understand why he loves Shan so much." He gazed on his would-have-been wife and now sister-in-law. "She's beautiful, loyal, passionate and a great martial artist." As Shampoo turned deep crimson at the redhead's words, Ranma added, "Much that I know now that I love Mimōko, I feel envy for Kikuko-chan for having won the heart of such a person…and having done it with such great ease."

Kikuko blushed as Shampoo looked away in embarrassment. "Onii-chan…!"

Giggles and laughter filled the room. Gazing on her new student, Cologne could only nod, her own eyes glistening with the tears of pride she would not publicly shed; as an elder of a warrior tribe with many old traditions, it wasn't seen as dignified. "And again, you've proven my point, my student. You are no monster." As people around her nodded, the Nǚjiézú elder took a deep breath. "You have a great heart and a great capacity to care and forgive others' mistakes, Ranma. Even that of your father's, which still surprises me given how much pain and misery he caused not only you, but your sister, your mother and your grandmother as well." She reached over with the tip of her cane to tap the place between Ranma's breasts to indicate her heart. "_That_ is your greatest strength, my student. Not your skill in the Art. And you must learn how to not allow that to become a weakness. You will learn that over time. There will be other quite painful lessons. You understand it and you're prepared to face them."

"But you won't face it alone," Mimōko said.

They gazed on each other for a moment, and then moved to tenderly kiss as everyone else — even Negako — smiled at that romantic image…

_**To be concluded…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) As fans of _Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull_ know, Indiana Jones never knew that his would-be wife Marian Ravenwood had given birth to their son — officially **Henry Walton Jones III**, though more commonly known as **Mutt Williams** — until the two finally met in the movie, which is set in the year 1957.

2) Indiana's "field clothes" contained several anachronisms that fans have noted on over the years. The shoulder bag used in the film was a British Mark VII gas mask bag, which was not designed and created until after the start of World War Two. Also, the pilot's jacket that Indiana wears could NOT be the A-2 model flying jacket that some sources say it was; that model didn't come out into mass production until World War Two as well.

3) Those people familiar with _The Children of Oki-shima_, the first main sequel story to this story, would note that it IS possible to create male bioroids aboard the Avalonian bioroid factory. However, as shown in that story, it requires a powerful outside energy source to override the factory's DNA-moulding controls to accept the "Y" chromosome…which, in the time period of THIS story, is not available.

4) The very male-dominated culture of the Seifukusu Dominion — shown quite prominently in _The Senior Year_ story "Surprise, Darling! You're A Father!" — effectively ensures that all true leadership roles with power are held by men. As an aside, the current crown prince of the Ipraedies Empire, **Schwartzkoff**, was first introduced in the _TSY_ story "Oyuki's Story."

5) The idea of mixing curses from Zhòuquán-xiāng was explored in the character of **Pantyhose Tarō**, who first appeared in the _Ranma_ manga story "Spring Demon" (manga episode #180); he would later augment his original curse — inflicted on him by accident thanks to Happōsai when the latter bathed the newborn baby in the waters of the **Níuhèmánmáorénnìquán** ("Spring of Drowned Yeti-riding Bull Carrying Crane and Eel"); as fans also know, it was Happōsai who also gave Tarō his moniker "Pantyhose" (which the later came to despise) — to make him even more powerful. Tarō would seek out the waters of the **Zhāngyúnìquán** ("Spring of Drowned Octopus") as revealled in the manga story "The Black Secret" (manga episode #236).

Hopwever, like a lot of things in the _Ranma_ manga series, the actual mechanics of how the curses Zhòuquán-xiāng unleashes on its victims has never been properly explained; this has allowed fanfic writers over the years to make all sorts of speculations in their own stories. In my eyes, the curses of Zhòuquán-xiāng _**cannot**_ mix…unless the actual temperature of the spring waters of the "add-on" curse _**matches**_ the temperature of the spring waters of the original curse. This is the reason why Negako later warns Ryōga that his now having BOTH the Hēitúnnìquán and the Niángnìquán curse would result in multiple transformations from man to piglet to girl and back again. Ryōga got his original Hēitúnnìquán curse in late March in the timeline of this story, which is just the start of spring. The waters of the Niángnìquán curse that Mousse obtains to freeze Ranma as a girl forever were drawn from the spring at the start of _July_, which is early summer. Thus, the three-way transformation that Ryōga faced would have seen him changed into a piglet with very cold water and a girl with lukewarm water.

As for Tarō's situation, that could be explained either by luck (Tarō was able to get the water of the Zhāngyúnìquán at around the time of his birthday to ensure that curse would mix with his original Níuhèmánmáorénnìquán curse)…or by simple willpower. I've always believed that magic — which Zhòuquán-xiāng is ultimately all about — depends on willpower first and foremost to make it work. Thus — when Tarō elected to "upgrade" his cursed body with extra abilities — his desire to allow the curses of both the Zhāngyúnìquán and the Níuhèmánmáorénnìquán to mix together as one form made it happen.

However, as I stated before, I believe that the only true "cure" for a curse that is based on the death of a living thing is to allow new life to come into the world. Zhòuquán-xiāng can be controlled to the benefit of the one so cursed (as shown in the _Ranma_ manga as well as many fanfic stories such as Robert Haynie's _Girl Days_ and _Paragon_)…but not defeated any other way. Atop that — as I showed in _Lonely Souls_ — splitting the cursed body from the original body would only result in the original body dying in a short while.

As an aside, Mousse's willingness to use waters from Zhòuquán-xiāng to curse his opponents was well-demonstrated in the manga story "Duck, Ranma, Duck!" (manga episode #96).

6) Hibiki Ryōga's ability to get lost at the blink of an eye — not to mention appear almost by accident at times he might be needed — has always been one of the many running jokes of the _Ranma_ manga series. However, like the whole question of Zhòuquán-xiāng and how the curses actually work, the actual mechanics of his directional curse have never been properly explained. After all, Ryōga has been reported to have travelled all the way down to Okinawa…which is on an ISLAND many kilometres away from the main Home Islands. Now, unless Ryōga lucked out and managed to make his way aboard a ferry to avoid being splashed and transformed into P-chan, there had to be something else involved. Negako's explanation about Ryōga actually being able to mentally tap into the ley lines that criss-cross the Earth is my theory on that particular subject.

7) **Shirokuro** first appeared in the _Ranma_ manga story "Ryōga, Come Home" (manga episode #103).

As an aside, the concept of **Hibiki Yoiko** was first introduced in the manga story "Oh, Brother!" (manga episode #104); in that story, "Yoiko" was actually Ranma in disguise.

8) The cooking skills of Ryūbi Gentoku (Koro Sonami) are assumed from the extra story put into Volume 14 of _Ikkitōsen_; she could have easily purchased the cake at a bakery…but something tells me that she is quite skilled in domestic affairs and would want to show her appreciation to people such as Kan'u Unchō (Seki Haneko) in that way.


	65. New World In The Morning

**EPILOGUE**

_Everybody talks about a new world in the morning.  
A new world in the morning so they say…!  
I myself don't talk about a new world in the morning.  
New world in the morning, that's today…  
I met a man who had a dream he had since he was twenty.  
I met that man when he was eighty-one.  
He said, "Too many folks just stand and wait 'til the mornin'!  
Don't they know tomorrow never comes…?"_  
Roger Whittaker, _New World In The Morning_ (1970)

* * *

Kimitsu, Sebone Mimōko's private apartment, Monday 12 July 2010, early morning…

"Oh, gods…!"

"Was that good?"

Mimōko's eyes were fluttering as her mind tried to regain control over herself as her nude body quaked from the powerful orgasm Ranma had just given her with only her tongue. "Oh, Ranma…" the senior student moaned as she allowed her equally nude lover to take her into her arms. "You do that to me every morning, I might die…!"

"Can't let that happen," Ranma said as she leaned up to kiss her beloved's right earlobe. "And besides, we're going to have to get used to oral sex, especially after I get unfrozen when I experience my first period. That'll be the time your body will be ready to start bearing children. Or if we do it normally, we'll need protection."

A nod. "Hai…much that it would tickle my parents pink and make your mom the happiest woman on the planet, I'm _**not**_ ready to be a teenage mom."

"And I'm not ready to be a teenage dad _**or**_ mom!"

She blinked, and then gazed at her. "Would you consider that? Being a mother?"

Ranma blinked, and then she shrugged. "Maybe not…but the chances are there. Especially if someone really catches me unawares and I get raped." A shudder raced through the redhead's body; as Mimōko knew, that had become a deep fear of hers — even if she then didn't understand the actual mechanics — ever since she had returned to Japan and had started attending classes at Fūrinkan and interacted with guys like Bosabosa Daisuke and Chanpatsu Hiroshi, who boasted all the time about 'making the C mark' with a girl. "After all, skilled as I am, I can be beaten. Shan proved that."

Her lover nodded. "Are you angry at Akane because of that?"

A shake of the head as both moved to get out of their shared bed and proceed into the bathroom to wash up and perform their morning ablutions. "Nah! I was willing to let her blow off steam when I realized how much she hadn't learned how to control herself. 'Sides, none of us back then could predict how far Shan was willing to go."

Mimōko nodded as she headed in first to relieve herself, Ranma pausing at the door to give her some privacy. "Yeah, that's true," she mused as she sat down at the toilet. "Well, don't worry about it. Kyoko'll knock it out of her eventually. You can't be a successful ninja if you can't keep control over your temper."

"Or any type of martial artist."

"Hai, true."

After they had finished with the porcelain goddess, they got the shower going and spent a very luxurious time under the spray of hot water worshipping the other woman's bodies again as they washed themselves down. That had been pretty much what they had done ever since they had left the Moroboshi home in Tomobiki in the wake of Hibiki Yoiko's birth the previous morning. After Ranma had written the entrance exam on Saturday just before they had come to Tomobiki to deal with Genma and Kodachi, the couple took the time to get Ranma's new school uniform — she wouldn't be allowed the luxury of using her tang and trousers for the next month…though after her body was unlocked and she was once more subject to the full effects of the curse she gained at Zhòuquán-xiāng, that might change — as well as something of a wardrobe for her to wear outside school. And while there had been a chance to get out and around to mingle among normal people now that all the questions about engagements had been dealt with finally thanks to Genma's banishment to China, Ranma simply wanted to be at her beloved's side in bed or in the shower, learning more and more about the many intimate arts as she finally overcame her considerable initial shyness about being so close and personal with a woman with the same passion she had once dedicated simply to fighting.

Once they were clean of both sweat and the more heady smells of sex, they dried themselves off and dressed…or rather, they dressed each other, pausing to kiss as they put on each item of clothing. At the end of it, after Mimōko's silver magatama earring marking her as a fighting A-rank tōshi was put on, they headed into the kitchenette of the small apartment they now lived in — the building was owned by the private consortium that helped administer the Nan'yō Academy; the other apartments here were used by other tōshi attending that school who actually hailed from other parts of Japan — to prepare breakfast. Fortunately for them, there was no need to make lunch bentō as the school had a fully-staffed cafeteria that was well-supplied and stocked.

As they enjoyed that — holding hands, of course — the doorbell rang. "Mō-chan! Ran-chan! Are you two still in there?!" a familiar and very cheery voice called out.

"Door's unlocked, Sonsaku! C'mon in!" Mimōko called back.

The main door opened to reveal Mago Tsueko. "I'm sorry to disturb you!" she called out as she led in a small group of people: Tsueko's cousin Meguru Ichiyu, her lover and bond-mate Kuonji Ukyō (also now in a proper Nan'yō girl's uniform), Ranma's sister Kikuko and her wife Nǚ Shānpú (who were also dressed and prepared for school).

"Aiyah! The Lady Mimōko has such a warm home!" Shampoo mused as everyone took off their shoes in the genkan and headed into the kitchenette.

"It's a temporary home as long as I'm attending Nan'yō. Once I'm off to university, Ranma can live here on his own full-time…if we don't get our own apartment," Mimōko said as she nodded to her schoolmates, and then she grinned on seeing how a certain okonomiyaki chef was now dressed. "Hey, U-chan! Looking pretty good!"

Ukyō laughed. "Well, even though I'm a little behind in my schoolwork, I decided that I needed to spend some time in classes. 'Sides, Shan-chan's great-grandma is going to watch over Okonomiyaki U-chan's while I'm in school. Two of her cousins are actually coming in from the Joketsuzoku village to help run the place; they're actually pretty excited to meet the 'Noble Spirits of the Sangoku' and present themselves to Hiromi-chan when they get here and get a chance to tour around." A smirk. "They're actually descendants of Hiromi-chan's past-self, if you can believe that!"

Tsueko giggled. "Oh, I'm sure Kōtchi would love to meet more of her 'beloved kinsmen,' just like she did the captain of the _Zhèng Hé_. Remember that?"

Laughter filled the room. "So what do you think's happening now with Ka-chan and Mii-chan?" Ukyō then asked as their hosts finished up their breakfast.

"Miiko should be facing her own 'reception committee' at Seito sometime today; they're a little more laid back about it than we are…but still, Haneko will insist on it," Mimōko explained. "As for Kanami, well…" A shrug. "Much that I can understand why she wanted to live with her grandmother in Taitō, I hope she won't get bored." Kanami would attend her first class at Shinobugaoka High School, a public school near Ueno Park, this morning as well. "Surprises me that Tariko and Shinobu went along with it; Shikuko and Miyako were happy to transfer to Tomobiki."

"Obaba's as lonely as Ofukuro was," Ranma stated. "Especially now that Ojiji's gone from Obaba's life. Kanami doesn't mind it." A grin then crossed her face she winked at her lover. "'Sides, she'll be probably racing between Taitō and Tomobiki on the tops of all the trains every time she wants to go on a date with Tariko and Shinobu!"

Hearing that, people gaped at her, and then they laughed…

* * *

Close to the front gate of Nan'yō, later…

"Hey, Mō-chan!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Mimōko blinked, and then turned to gaze on a sheepishly-looking man with shaggy hair — which was now a few shades darker than Ranma's hair as a girl — and rugged looks, though he wasn't currently dressed in a proper Nan'yō man's gakuran. Gazing at Wan Yuruji — whom she still thought of pretty much as "Hidari Itsuji" — Mimōko blinked before she took a deep breath, and then she walked over to stand in front of him, fists to hips as she glared at him. Staring at her, Yuruji blinked before he lowered his eyes. "It's so odd to see you without that eye patch anymore, Mimōko," he said with a contrite voice. "You look good."

"Don't try that with me, _Shishi_!" she said, sneering out his actual battle name as she fought down the urge to unleash Zǐmíng on him, and then she took a deep breath before she relaxed herself. "You, buster, owe me an explanation."

He nodded. "Yeah, I do. Look, Mimōko, I'm really sorry for what I did when it came to making you fight Tsueko, much less goading Shikuko to take down Suguta." A shrug. "Then again, think about it, huh? That was me — Ōin Shishi — following the fate _**I**_ was cursed to acknowledge as my own until Hiromi came along and knocked it all sideways." He then smiled, a little of his old devil-may-care attitude flashing back, which actually made Mimōko smile. "And I'm glad it's over now…though I know — hell, we _**all**_ know! — that some dork out there won't accept it." He then gave her a stern look. "But I will _**not**_ apologize for taking up the battle-name 'Saji Genpō,' much less using the real name 'Hidari Itsuji.' I had a reason for doing that, Mō-chan."

She gazed at him for a moment, quickly sensing that he was unapologetic about that, and then she sighed as she nodded. "Hiromi says you had an honourable reason for doing that, Itsu-…" She caught herself, and then breathed out, "Sorry, Yuruji." A nod up towards space. "And Michiko-san backs it up. So does Negako-san. Now, please — if our friendship still has meaning to you — tell me everything."

He returned her gaze, then he nodded off to his left, towards Mimōko's right rear. "It's because of her, Mō-chan," he said as she looked over.

Standing by a nearby telephone pole was a very pale, slender girl about the same age as Oka Yuzuko. Dressed now in plain civilian clothes, she had a black cape draped over her body, which matched perfectly her long raven hair, tied now in two high ponytails behind the temples of her head. Her face was pierced with pale green eyes. A guarded — almost frightened — look was now etched on her face. On noting that all the people standing close to Yuruji were looking her way, she winced as she tried to hide herself behind the telephone pole. "Damn! Skittish little thing, ain't she?" Ukyō mused, her heart instantly aching on seeing the terror in the younger girl's heart.

"Who is she?" Ichiyu asked.

Yuruji sighed. "She's Hidari Mijiko," he declared. "The real Saji Genpō."

Silence fell as people took that in, and then Shampoo turned to gaze on the reborn Minister over the Masses during the early reign of the Xiàoxiàn Emperor of Hàn, the man who had conspired to unleash Lǚ Bù against Dǒng Zhuó, using his adopted daughter Diāochán to entice the legendary Flying General to turn against his own adopted father. "Then why is it, Lord Yuruji, that the Lady Mijiko doesn't attend Rakuyō? Or perhaps even here at Nan'yō or over at Kyoshō? Why do you keep her away from school?"

"Because she would be eaten alive, Shānpú," Yuruji explained. "In many ways, she's like Ten'i over at Kyoshō. Atop that, the magical power she inherited from Master Fǎngyuán manifested itself pretty early in this life." A sigh. "She has telepathic capabilities, almost like Charles Xavier does in the _X-Men_ movies. Atop that, she can manipulate a form of genjutsu. Illusion magic. The same type of stuff you read in _Naruto_, believe it or not!" A shake of the head. "She has no control."

The others took that in, and then they exchanged looks. Ranma then sighed as she walked over to place a hand on his shoulder. "You did the right thing, man."

Yuruji blinked, and then he smiled, nodding his thanks. Looking at Mijiko, Tsueko was quick to see the younger girl relax, though she was still on guard. "Yeah, Saj-…!" She caught herself, and then giggled. "Ooops! Sorry, Ōin-san! You did the right thing!" The new leader of Nan'yō then hummed. "But if Saji-chan doesn't have control over her powers, why didn't you go talk to Negako about this?"

He jolted, and then laughed as Ranma pulled her hand away. "Hakufu, why would I do that?! Actually go over to ask the **Black Death** to help Genpō?!"

"You can do it now."

Eyes locked on Ranma as they absorbed her words. The redhead then shrugged. "After all, isn't the 'Black Death's' own _**sister**_ your reborn _**emperor**_?" she then asked.

Yuruji gazed at her, and then he sighed. "Maybe." He then straightened himself before nodding at the transformed martial artist. "Take care of Mimōko, Ranma."

A nod. "I will."

Smiling at that, he headed off. As people watched him go, Mijiko ran off to follow him, moving to avoid anyone else that came close to her. Included among them were Tano Tsukuhito, Oka Yuzuko and Oroka Shikumi. They paused to watch as their schoolmate headed off with his current companion, and then moved to join the crowd around Ranma and Mimōko. "You were right, Sonsaku," the tallest of Nan'yō's "four divas" then said as he gazed on Tsueko. "Maybe Saji will get the right help she needs from Negako-sama." A sigh. "I ran into Ōin yesterday. He told me everything."

"And you were right as well, Ranma-kun," Shikumi said as she stared at Mimōko's lover, smiling in approval. "He did do the right thing in the end."

The others nodded. "You think they'll be back?" Ukyō asked.

"I believe so," Tsukuhito said, and then he took a deep breath. "It's time."

With that, everyone turned and walked the last twenty or so metres to arrive at the front gates of the Nan'yō Private Academy. Once there, Tsukuhito then moved in front of the others to face off the large crowd of students awaiting the arrival of their new leader and their new schoolmates, the first non-tōshi to attend Nan'yō for quite some years…and, in Shampoo's case, the first ever member of the Noble Tribe of the Nǚjiézú to _**ever**_ attend a school filled with students touched by the souls of the S nguó.

Taking a deep breath, the giant fighter then screamed out, "_**ATTENTION, ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE TIGERS OF DŌNG WÚ! PRESENTING NOW — WITH THE BLESSINGS OF OUR FORMER LEADER, ENJUTSU KŌRO-SAMA, AND OUR RETURNED EMPEROR, RYŪKŌ KYŌREI-SAMA — THE NEW LEADER OF THE CHILDREN OF THE TIGERS OF DŌNG WÚ AND NAN'YŌ ACADEMY: SONSAKU HAKUFU-SAMA!**_"

Immediately, all the students there bowed their heads as they saluted Tsueko with right fists pressed hard into their left hands. Seeing that, the new leader of Nan'yō sniffed back tears — even to now, she felt she hadn't really done anything truly leader-like for these people despite many of them having gone with her on the mission to Yaminokuni — and then she made a salute with her own hands as she bowed her head in thanks. After a moment, she took a deep breath as something from many years in the past whispered into her mind, and then she screamed out, "_**WHAT ARE WE?!**_"

Everyone jolted on hearing that bellowed question from Tsueko, and then — to the surprise of all the tōshi who had come with Tsueko this morning — a clear-eyed Amai Mushiro smiled before screaming back, "_**WE'RE HUNGRY TIGERS!**_"

Tsueko smirked…and then looked annoyed on seeing all the confused looks among the others. "_**I didn't hear the rest of you lazy idiots!**_" she snarled out, which made them all jolt in fright as her eyes turned into dragon slits. "_**WHAT ARE WE?!**_"

They got it _that_ time. "_**HUNGRY TIGERS!**_" all of Nan'yō bellowed out.

Hearing that response, Tsueko nodded as she allowed the beast within her to relax and her eyes went back to normal. "Good!" she snapped as people around her grinned, quickly sensing she was trying to make this specific moment in their lives as lighthearted as possible. "Now _**that's**_ what I want to hear from you guys no matter what we're going to face in the future!" she declared. "Believe it or not, I never really understood what this whole stupid 'fate' business was about when I first came here!" She pointed to the where the rock that had been destroyed three months earlier by Moroboshi Hiromi had stood; it had yet to be replaced despite people not knowing until quite recently what had happened to it. "I looked at what was written on the rock Kōtchi wrecked when she came to get Jutsu-chan's old body and help Kannei-san here get control of his life back…and I said to myself, 'Hey, this is one cool place I can _**live**_ with!'" As whoops, cat-calls and cheers echoed from the crowd, she then allowed the smile to slip from her face. "But right now, my tigers, we face something much different than what we faced in our past lives. If this life played out like it did for me before, I'll be soon dead at Tsu-chan's hand and my sister — and yes, she's out there! — would have to come in and take over." A shrug. "And if this life played out like our first lives did, Kōtchi and her wives would be dead, Fu-chin would have killed Taku-san, then get killed herself by Sō-chin later! Mō-chan here would have to kill U-chan, then die too! And…" A shake of the head. "Well, to hell with that 'fate!' _**I WANT TO LIVE! WE ALL WANT TO LIVE! AND WE'RE GONNA LIVE! RIGHT?!**_"

A thunderous roar of approval echoed from the crowd, and then they fell silent as a tear flowed down their new leader's cheek. "You know, for those of you who were there with me down in the Dead Grove or heard what happened down there…" A sigh. "I _meant_ what I said when I quoted King Henry when he said that speech before he kicked the hell out of the French at Agincourt! You — _**ALL OF YOU!**_ — are my brothers and sisters!" She allowed another whoop and cheer to echo from the crowd before adding, "And yes, my tigers, I _am_ proud to call Sō-chin my brother! I _am_ proud to call Ryūbi-chan my sister! And I'm _sure as hell_ proud to call Shigi-san my most righteous brother and Tsu-chan my most wonderful sister! And if we _all_ are to survive and live on past our years here just like Setsu-sempai and all the Attendants — and yes, my cousin Sonchū-chan and all the Kōshi Kasshi, too! — to get on with our lives and live to happy old age, we're gonna _have to_ be brothers and sisters!" A deep breath. "I'm not the smartest cookie in the jar, guys, but I know enough to borrow another quote from Shakespeare. Right now, we all face an undiscovered country. And I'm right now as scared of that as you all are. And if you _aren't_ scared, then you're _**stupid**_!"

Raucous laughter echoed from the crowd as people slapped each others' backs and hugged each other as they cheered their new leader's words. As silence finally fell, Tsueko took a deep breath. "The Great Master said a long time ago that a long journey starts with one step. Let's take that first step now and if something comes along to try to turn us away from the trip we wanna take for the rest of our lives…" She then grinned. "Well, my tigers, we know what to do about _**that**_, don't we?!"

"_**HELL, YES!**_" someone yelled out.

Another wild scream echoed from the crowd, and then they applauded before a voice barked out, "_**HOLD!**_" As people stopped to gaze on Amai Mushiro, the tonfā fighter took a breath before he saluted Tsueko. "Sonsaku-sama, before we head off to classes, we _do_ have business to attend to this morning." He indicated Ranma with his hand.

Tsueko blinked, and then she laughed in embarrassment. "Oh, that's right! Silly me! I forgot!" As people howled with delight at her show of her normal genki self, the new leader of Nan'yō turned to gaze on Ranma. "Ran-chan, you ready?"

The redhead nodded. "Why not? You bringing this, Kannei?"

A nod. "I am," Mushiro said before he gazed at Ukyō, Shampoo and Kikuko. "And please don't worry, ladies. You also have reception committees ready for you when you wish to face them before we go to first classes. But let me say this first." He then gazed on Ranma. "Hayashi-san, we all here at Nan'yō have heard what you've endured! That any person could live through all of _**that**_ speaks highly of you! You may not have been reborn from the time of the Three Kingdoms and the fall of Hàn as we — and your sister now going to Seito, whom we all know as Ryūen Kunrō — were, but I will say this and personally beat the shit out of _anyone_ who denies it!" He then saluted the redhead with his hands. "You, my friend, have the heart and soul of a true tōshi. Therefore, may I — no, may _we_! — have the honour and privilege to spar with you today?"

Ranma blinked, and then nodded, saluting the tonfā fighter back. "Let's do it."

Whoops from the crowd. "All at once or one at a time?" Mimōko asked.

The redhead smirked. "You gotta dive into the deep end sooner or later!"

Hearing that, a roaring cheer of approval came from the crowd as people immediately moved back to give the thirty tōshi who wanted to test their mettle against a student of Musabetsu Kakutō — and one also trained in the Neko-ken! — opportunity to take up positions. The crowd around Ranma also moved back, though Mimōko, Kikuko, Shampoo and Ukyō all gave her kisses for good luck before they got clear. Once Ranma was quick to note whom she was going to face — atop Mushiro, it was quite the crowd, a hell of a lot better than the idiots Akane once had to face at Fūrinkan; _Hope the girls at Yoshū are giving her a good challenge_, Ranma then mused on thinking of her former fiancée — she nodded as she took up her own stance. "Fu-chan, you wanna call the dance?" she asked.

"Okay!" Tsueko chirped as she moved to place herself between Ranma and Mushiro, the latter drawing out his tonfā and preparing himself. Once they were all ready, the new leader of Nan'yō raised her hand. "Everyone, _**ASSUME**_!" On noting that people were now braced and ready to charge, she then smirked as she made a fist and dropped it.

"_**BEGIN!**_"

And the fighters all charged…

_**The End…For Now!**_

* * *

**WRITER'S POSTSCRIPT**

_I will end the story here, but will add short side stories — I won't call them omake as they may not be as lighthearted as omake should be — to explain what happened to some of the many characters brought into this story. I am also planning both sequels and prequels, which will see this universe crossed over with one of my favourite television series, the universe of a very controversial book that came out in Japan in the late 1990s and the universe of a series of alternate history adventure books from the 1980s and 1990s that — in its own way — influenced my early writing, that inspired by a fanfic story I read at this website in the_ Airwolf _listings. _

_Until then!_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The final _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Ōin Shishi** (**Wan Yuruji**) — who was known more commonly as **Saji Genpō** (**Hidari Itsuji**) — was one of the initial instigators of the early battles Sonsaku Hakufu (Mago Tsueko) faced in the manga after she transferred to Nan'yō at the start of the series. He first appeared in manga episode #2; he reveals himself as to what he truly is in manga episode #80 and ends his life by throwing himself off a mountain cliff at the end of manga episode #82 after helping Tsueko's dragon awaken. His past-self is **Wáng Yún** (137-192 C.E.), who was the Minister Over the Masses at the time of the start of the reign of the Xiàoxiàn Emperor of Hàn; this position was one of the so-called **Three Ducal Ministers** (_Sāngōng_) who directly served the Dragon Throne and helped administer the government bureaucracy. He was the man who instigated the assassination of Dǒng Zhuó by Lǚ Bù…though the assistance of his adopted daughter Diāochán (first mentioned in Part 50) is fictional as the person used to seduce Lǚ was reported to be a simple servant girl. Wáng wouldn't live far beyond Dǒng's death; he would allow himself to die when people threatened Liú Xié.

The real **Saji Genpō** (**Hidari Mijiko**) is an anime-only character; she was the primary antagonist in _Ikkitōsen - Great Guardians_. A young girl who — just like Ten'i Orai (Sakan Somumi) as hinted above by Yuruji — had suffered profound abuse and hazing in her life, she would soon come to demonstrate considerable psionic and magical power; it was Mijiko who effectively brought back the dead Ryofu Hōsen (Sebone Shikuko) at the request of her "Onii-san" to effectively allow the reborn Flying General to settle all things with people such as Ryomō Shimei (Sebone Mimōko) before ascending to the next life. Mijiko's past-self is **Zuǒ Cí** (unknown dates of birth and death). Historically seen as a native of Lójiāng, he was believed to be a Taoist sage and mystic who had lived all the way to his _three hundredth_ birthday. Zuǒ was pretty much a background character in China during this time, though he supposedly earned the interest of both Sūn Cè and Cáo Cāo before he finally retired and returned to his beloved mountains to continue perfecting his art. In this life, due to her total lack of control over her powers, Mijiko allowed Yuruji to assume her battle name when he wanted to mask who he really was from other tōshi.

2) The **hungry tigers** nickname for the Children of Dōng Wú is taken straight from _Dynasty Warriors 6_ (known in Japanese as _Shin Sangoku Musō 5_). In the first cutscene concentrating on Sūn Jiān, the Tiger of Jiāngdōng demands to know what his warriors actually are spiritually.


End file.
